Friday, May 27, 2011

A surprise in the mail…

Last week I got an email from my cousin in Traverse City, Michigan. She informed me that she had dropped a little surprise in the mail to me so I should keep my eye out for it! Low and behold, a few days later I got this small box. So I opened it and this is what I found!




I’ve had only a small amount of time to research this week to see if I could find out more about this item. It appears to be a paper weight which commemorates the dedication of the Uniondale church in Indiana.  Today this church is the United Methodist Church of Uniondale and is still operating.  Back in 1917, it was likely my great, great grandparent’s church, John and Emma Crites. It also shows the original church built in 1888.  It is an interesting piece of our family history which has been kept for five generation now.


John and Emma outside their Uniondale home.

My cousin said that she is slowly going through her mother’s china cabinet and deciding what to do with the family items which have been kept for all these years…Helen Jane, (my cousin) told me that since I had done such a good job of uncovering who our family really was and where we came from, that she thought I might enjoy having this on my desk!  And I do!  It gave me goose bumps when I opened it, wondering how many family members had handled it before me…and who exactly kept it as a treasure before Uncle Fred and Aunt Hazel did! 


It’s a piece of our family history which I can touch everyday!  Now, it is time to clean my desk off and give it a tidy place to stay at least for a few days until I uncover my next mystery and find my next family story.  My desk is almost always piled with papers, photos and copies of old documents.  Everyday there is a new fact to be found and a new story to uncover.

With that in mind this paperweight now presents me with a new mystery! One of these days I will spend some time discovering more about the company who made this paperweight.  It’s the Keystone Badge Company which is still in business today in Reading, Pennsylvania.

This item may well be a one of a kind!


My wish to each of you is to have a safe and wonderful Memorial weekend!

Happy Hunting!

Love Jan

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