I have been planning for what seems like forever to go thru papers that were salvaged from Granny Cooke's Scrapbooks. To tell you what all the scrapbooks have been thru would take up more time than I wish to spend on this post. Let's just say it's a miracle any of the contents survived. I've had manila folders full of the contents in a file box for a number of years. This weekend I processed a good bit of them. I took each of the papers and put them in sheet protectors. After arranging the pages in chronological order in a 3 ring binder, I began the process of cataloging each page. I've finished with this notebook for now but I think it's safe to say there will be more added once I am able to get to some of the other files.
The papers cover the time period from 1943 to 1976. The following is a list of some of the types of papers that were included.
- Report Cards
- Certificate of Life Insurance(National Service Life Insurance)
- Employment History Draft of my Uncle
- Certificate of Promotion(School)
- Letter Home while in Army(my Dad)
- Television Repair Receipt
- Receipt for purchase of Portable Record Player
- Bill of Sale detailing financing for 1960 Rambler
- Bank Note(Third National Bank)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Itemized Insurance Statement for Hospital Stay
- Correspondence from Veterans Administration
- An Employment Application filled out by my Dad
- Proof of Auto Insurance from Allstate(1967-1968)
- Letter acknowledging transfer of Church Membership from Old Hickory 1st Baptist Church
- Letter from Dupont about Pensioners' Day
- Loan Papers from First American National Bank
These papers all had dates on them and most even had addresses. This captures what was going on with the family at that given point in time.
Wow! What a treasure!
ReplyDeleteWow, looking at that list, I'd say that your Granny Cooke was a saver for sure. Do you have a sense of the impulse behind it? My grandparents were savers, too, and as I've been going through their papers, I've wondered whether they saved for the sake of personal record-keeping, posterity, or sentiment--or did they just never look at the stuff again once they'd tucked it away?
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate for you that your Granny saved all that information. Sounds like a huge job of catalogue going but what a resource you have created. You have reminded me that I need to do something similar #geneabloggerstribe
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the treasure trove, Marie! Always wonderful to have ancestors who were savers - I'm sure you'll have a great time going through everything. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's a treasure trove. Lots of little stories in those details.
ReplyDelete