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Inherited antique jewelry in family photos

stracci2000

stracci2000

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
8,893
A few years ago MIL passed away and I was given all of her jewelry.
Included were two wedding rings with inscriptions. After some digging through the family tree, we found out the names that match the inscriptions.

This weekend, we discovered a treasure trove of family photos at the old house. Several boxes were filled with photos dating about 1900-1910.
They were all marked on the back by old grandma. Now I can put faces to the names!
This was all very exciting to me, and I just wanted to share!

These are the rings in MILs jewelry box.
The top ring says B.F.G. to L.E. (Frank to Liz)
The bottom ring says
W.E. to E. L. -'08 (William to Erma)
IMG_20230619_182336705.jpg

And finally a photo.
Frank and Liz are on the left. (You can barely make out the ring on her hand)
Their young son is DH's grandpa Howard.
Will and Erma are on the right.
This photo is about 1908.
IMG_20230619_151824035.jpg

Another thing we found was this beautiful ladies pocket watch.
IMG_20230619_151058665.jpg
We weren't sure who it belonged to, until we came across this photo of Frank, Liz and DH's grandpa Howard, who looks to be about 1 year old. This photo dates to about 1900.
Liz is wearing the watch on her blouse.
IMG_20230619_150912485.jpg

A close-up of the watch.
IMG_20230619_150946989.jpg


And if you've stayed with me this far, here's one more.
In a cigar box out in the garage, we found this commemorative pin, from 1910.
IMG_20230619_150553577.jpg

And here is the pin on little Howard's jacket.
IMG_20230619_145232976.jpg

I was just amazed to match the names, jewelry and photos.
Thanks for letting me share!
 
Last edited:
Thank you for sharing -- this is super cool and really emphasizes the intrinsic significance of family jewelry handed down through the generations!
 
Love the story of the items as well as your story on the search that gave faces to names and more objects to link their stories to yours!! Thank you for sharing and continuing to cherish these tangible connections to family. Really makes them come alive as people, adds depth to their portraits.
 
@finerthings @WhoaNelly @marymm
The funny thing is that DH never knew these photos existed.
His parents never said "Would you like to see pics of your ancestors? They're right here in this antique trunk in Dad's room!"
Nope, not a word. We stumbled upon all of this just yesterday.

There was a lot more, like tie bars, cuff links, old coins, etc. All in a gorgeous travel trunk from that time period.

I'm just happy to have Liz and Erma's wedding rings, and now know what they look like!
And those hats!
 
It's super exciting! How wonderfully rare it is to have pictures like this. It's an amazing treasure. I desperately want to talk to them to hear their voices and see what they thought. So much was happening during this time period! Flight, Ford cars, movies, baseball. Women in the Olympics. Suffrage in full swing.

*I love historical fashion, they all looked fabulous.
 
This is so cool! Thank you for sharing. You might consider uploading these photos on something like ancestry.com or familysearch so that other relatives can see the connections and the photos. I have not done family history myself, but I have enjoyed looking up “memories” on familysearch of my relatives so much. Photos are the best, and photos like these of my ancestors would blow me away!
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
It's super exciting! How wonderfully rare it is to have pictures like this. It's an amazing treasure. I desperately want to talk to them to hear their voices and see what they thought. So much was happening during this time period! Flight, Ford cars, movies, baseball. Women in the Olympics. Suffrage in full swing.

*I love historical fashion, they all looked fabulous.
Click to expand...

There was paper lining the old trunk.
Dress making pattern catalogue from 1908!
IMG_20230619_225613529.jpg

IMG_20230619_225637136.jpg

IMG_20230619_225831941.jpg

IMG_20230619_225749168.jpg
 
stracci2000 said:
A few years ago MIL passed away and I was given all of her jewelry.
Included were two wedding rings with inscriptions. After some digging through the family tree, we found out the names that match the inscriptions.

This weekend, we discovered a treasure trove of family photos at the old house. Several boxes were filled with photos dating about 1900-1910.
They were all marked on the back by old grandma. Now I can put faces to the names!
This was all very exciting to me, and I just wanted to share!

These are the rings in MILs jewelry box.
The top ring says B.F.G. to L.E. (Frank to Liz)
The bottom ring says
W.E. to E. L. -'08 (William to Erma)
IMG_20230619_182336705.jpg

And finally a photo.
Frank and Liz are on the left. (You can barely make out the ring on her hand)
Their young son is DH's grandpa Howard.
Will and Erma are on the right.
This photo is about 1908.
IMG_20230619_151824035.jpg

Another thing we found was this beautiful ladies pocket watch.
IMG_20230619_151058665.jpg
We weren't sure who it belonged to, until we came across this photo of Frank, Liz and DH's grandpa Howard, who looks to be about 1 year old. This photo dates to about 1900.
Liz is wearing the watch on her blouse.
IMG_20230619_150912485.jpg

A close-up of the watch.
IMG_20230619_150946989.jpg


And if you've stayed with me this far, here's one more.
In a cigar box out in the garage, we found this commemorative pin, from 1910.
IMG_20230619_150553577.jpg

And here is the pin on little Howard's jacket.
IMG_20230619_145232976.jpg

I was just amazed to match the names, jewelry and photos.
Thanks for letting me share!
Click to expand...

i love this :kiss2:
also compaired to a lot of photos of the time, your realitives are smiling

i have my great grandma's wedding ring but i dont know what she or the great grandad look like
 
stracci2000 said:
A few years ago MIL passed away and I was given all of her jewelry.
Included were two wedding rings with inscriptions. After some digging through the family tree, we found out the names that match the inscriptions.

This weekend, we discovered a treasure trove of family photos at the old house. Several boxes were filled with photos dating about 1900-1910.
They were all marked on the back by old grandma. Now I can put faces to the names!
This was all very exciting to me, and I just wanted to share!

These are the rings in MILs jewelry box.
The top ring says B.F.G. to L.E. (Frank to Liz)
The bottom ring says
W.E. to E. L. -'08 (William to Erma)
IMG_20230619_182336705.jpg

And finally a photo.
Frank and Liz are on the left. (You can barely make out the ring on her hand)
Their young son is DH's grandpa Howard.
Will and Erma are on the right.
This photo is about 1908.
IMG_20230619_151824035.jpg

Another thing we found was this beautiful ladies pocket watch.
IMG_20230619_151058665.jpg
We weren't sure who it belonged to, until we came across this photo of Frank, Liz and DH's grandpa Howard, who looks to be about 1 year old. This photo dates to about 1900.
Liz is wearing the watch on her blouse.
IMG_20230619_150912485.jpg

A close-up of the watch.
IMG_20230619_150946989.jpg


And if you've stayed with me this far, here's one more.
In a cigar box out in the garage, we found this commemorative pin, from 1910.
IMG_20230619_150553577.jpg

And here is the pin on little Howard's jacket.
IMG_20230619_145232976.jpg

I was just amazed to match the names, jewelry and photos.
Thanks for letting me share!
Click to expand...

Wow, fabulous heirlooms with pictures to prove the provenance. That watch, though, is magnificent! You are so lucky that you found the photos.
 
I absolutely love this and what a wonderful reminder to wear our things and get photographed with them.
 
So cool, like what are the chances you would find the jewelry and pictures and be able to put it all together?!

Liz was a lucky lady to wear that pocket watch!
 
YadaYadaYada said:
So cool, like what are the chances you would find the jewelry and pictures and be able to put it all together?!

Liz was a lucky lady to wear that pocket watch!
Click to expand...

I have other things from MILs jewelry hoard that we assume belonged to Liz.
I will post those later today.

They owned a business and were merchant class people, so they could afford a few baubles.
On the other hand, my ancestors were poor immigrants who probably thought jewelry was a waste of money. If they had anything nice, I never saw it.

But this family saved everything! Our eyes were glazed over looking at everything.
We found paperwork (house deeds, medical bills, store receipts, etc) from current times, all the way back to back to about 1902. Crazy!
 
@stracci2000…paperwork from 1902 and here I looking up how long I have to save stuff so I can toss it ASAP :lol:
 
How fabulous! My relatives were poor immigrants too. I have one old cameo ring (really poorly made) that was my grandmothers and that's about it. You found such a treasure trove of family items. That's so lucky. Also, that the house is still in the family (I assume).
 
Lookinagain said:
How fabulous! My relatives were poor immigrants too. I have one old cameo ring (really poorly made) that was my grandmothers and that's about it. You found such a treasure trove of family items. That's so lucky. Also, that the house is still in the family (I assume).
Click to expand...

The family moved into a new house in 1987. But they brought all that old stuff with them.
DH's Mom and Dad are both recently deceased, and we are trying to deal with all their belongings.
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
i love this :kiss2:
also compaired to a lot of photos of the time, your realitives are smiling

i have my great grandma's wedding ring but i dont know what she or the great grandad look like
Click to expand...

Isn't it sad when they don't leave any pictures for us to see?
At least you have her ring....she would be happy about that!
 
stracci2000 said:
Isn't it sad when they don't leave any pictures for us to see?
At least you have her ring....she would be happy about that!
Click to expand...

i have seen her as an old lady with mum on her wedding day but she must have been a widow by then ,it used to sit on a shelf in the lounge and i took no notice of it
my sister has all the family photos
but i would love to know what the great grandad looked like
i ddint even know their names - i had to google oen of those ansestory sites after i inherited the ring
 
stracci2000 said:
I have other things from MILs jewelry hoard that we assume belonged to Liz.
I will post those later today.

They owned a business and were merchant class people, so they could afford a few baubles.
On the other hand, my ancestors were poor immigrants who probably thought jewelry was a waste of money. If they had anything nice, I never saw it.

But this family saved everything! Our eyes were glazed over looking at everything.
We found paperwork (house deeds, medical bills, store receipts, etc) from current times, all the way back to back to about 1902. Crazy!
Click to expand...

you know before you chuck out all those old documents there may be historical societies who might like them
 
Here are Liz's parents.
Anton (died 1897, age 55) and Katherine (died 1898, age 57) They were from Germany. They were both living in Ohio when they died.
These are memorial cabinet cards, and all this information is printed on the back of each card.
IMG_20230620_210619868.jpg


Then we came across this German religious book. Google Translate says it is a first holy communion hymnal presented by the recipient's godfather. It was printed in the Duchy of Hesse in 1853.

The initials K B are embossed on the front. But who is KB?
IMG_20230620_210751588.jpg

IMG_20230620_215845104.jpg

I went to several free ancestry web sites and found out that Katherine was born in Hesse, Germany.
Her maiden name was listed on one website, and started with a B.
So KB is great great grandmother Katherine!
I don't know how much more excitement I can stand over here.......!

This is all DH's family, and I am way more excited about these photos than he is!
 
Last edited:
This is amazing and so special. Thank you for sharing. Old photos and information from my grandparents and parents about our ancestors have been so very important for me to know. How many of us really stop to think that we wouldn't be here if not for the vagaries of lives traveled on this rock before us?
 
natasha-cupcake said:
This is amazing and so special. Thank you for sharing. Old photos and information from my grandparents and parents about our ancestors have been so very important for me to know. How many of us really stop to think that we wouldn't be here if not for the vagaries of lives traveled on this rock before us?
Click to expand...

I agree. I have a few photos of my immigrant grandparents and great grandparents,
but nothing like all these fancy studio portraits we found of DH's ancestors!

And all this time, we really knew very little about them, till we opened that chest.
We did know that Great grandpa Frank and Grandpa Howard were in the candy/chocolate business.
 
Last edited:
@stracci2000 I thought you might enjoy this. These are some pearls hubby inherited from his G-Grandmother. His Grandmother wore them in her wedding in 1925. They desperately need to be restrung and cleaned. The clasp is 14kt gold with a tiny diamond chip.

1688317701793.jpeg


1688317752312.jpeg

1688317826017.jpeg
 
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