Valentine Redux

Remember the antique valentine?  The owner has come forward!  I had traced her several weeks ago.
I found her easily enough on Facebook; however, she apparently isn't on there very much.  Her Thurber cousin, mentioned in the previous post, passed on the message.

I received a great email from Jennifer, the granddaughter of the then-child for whom the valentine was intended.  She told me her mother - Elizabeth's daughter - is still alive!  The family now lives in California.

The English couple who rescued the valentine are mailing it to the family.  Jennifer is thrilled to receive it; she plans to preserve and frame it for her own small granddaughter - born, she notes, 100 years after Elizabeth herself.

Jennifer relayed a brief family history to me; in it, she revealed that Elizabeth Lockwood's sister, Rosamond, married a man named Norman Vaughan - a polar explorer!

Vaughan served with the infamous Admiral Byrd on his expeditions to Antartica. Vaughan only died a few years ago; he lived to be one hundred.  His incredible life is outlined in his obituary:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E6DB1230F934A15751C1A9639C8B63

So, at long last, a valentine has made its way home - not to its intended address, but to its intended family - whose roots now stretch from England to New England, and from the baked earth of Arizona to the sparkling shores of California.

Too, those roots are woven into the history of our country - from the 18th century slave trade (see previous post) to 20th century polar adventures.

After my recent trips to the South, I have been compelled to personally revisit the issues of slavery, race, and the civil rights struggle.  More on that in an upcoming post.

The legacy of the DeWolfe family - and their modern-day gifts of education and openness - adds still more fuel to the fire of my curiosity.  I've got to see their film and read that book.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/tracesofthetrade/links_books.php

People sometimes ask me why I trace the origins of these "orphan items".  After all, it doesn't pay, they say.

No, it doesn't.  But in countless ways, I am so much the richer for it.

My "Funny" Valentine: The Sequel

Ah yes, My Funny Valentine - "funny", as in strange.  You won't believe the turn this story has taken.

So, the descendants of "Sky" Thurber (I just love that name!) are contacting the descendant of Elizabeth Lockwood in order to facilitate the reunion between valentine and family of origin!

As it turns out, Elizabeth's nickname was "Licky".  Licky and Sky!  I have a feeling this couple was, in the parlance of their time, the cat's meow AND the bee's knees!

Licky's daughter is still alive!  I hope to talk to her and learn more about them.

On a more serious note - Licky's husband, Sky Thurber, has an amazing link of his own to New England history.

The Thurber who spoke to me told me that she is a descendant of the DeWolf family of Bristol, R.I. - which declares itself "the largest slave trading dynasty in U.S. history".

Several years ago, a Dewolf descendant made the shocking discovery of her family's history.  The family has produced a book and a PBS film on the topic; they have used both as educational tools in lectures about racial inequality.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/tracesofthetrade/links_books.php

One of the consultants on the film was Edward Ball, renowned author of Slaves in the Family and The Genetic Strand, an amazing account of the DNA testing of his ancestors' hair clippings that Ball found in an old family desk.

What do I happen to be reading right now?  The Genetic Strand.  Strange.

Soon, a child's holiday postcard will be winging its way across the Atlantic, bound for the family of a woman long dead.  Its penny postage stamp is no longer sufficient to carry it across the Atlantic, but its legacy spans one hundred years.

The discovery of a tiny fragment of one family's history - the smallest plop of a pebble in a pond - has grown in concentric circles to encompass the broad and profound issues of slavery, shame, redemption, and race relations.

A funny valentine, indeed.

(Photos courtesy of The Jamaica Plain Gazette)

"A Year in Provenance"

Is that totally clever, or what?! <crickets>


With apologies to Peter Mayle, whose book by a similar name I bought years ago and still have not read...


But back to provenance.  According to Dictionary.com, its definition is:  a place or source of origin.


For years now, I have been obsessed with the idea of reuniting old items with their families of origin.  
So you can see why I went slightly gaga when I saw this article in my old hometown newspaper:



http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2011/05/27/century-old_valentine_seeks_its_jp_home/


In short, a couple in England found an antique valentine at a flea market.  It had been addressed at the time to a young child in Jamaica Plain - Elizabeth Lockwood.  The couple want to return it to one of Elizabeth's descendants.


In his article, reporter John Ruch did a great job researching the family, thereby laying the groundwork for  my fairly quick discovery of living relatives.


Just this morning, I just spoke to a woman in Atlanta who is a descendant of "Sky" Thurber, the man who eventually married Elizabeth Lockwood.


(An aside - he, of course, swept her right out of Jamaica Plain and resettled her in the Wild West.  And really - would you expect anything less from a guy named "Sky"?)


The Thurber in ATL was delighted to hear from me, and told me that her mother would be really interested in the saga.  She promised to put us in touch.


It's very gratifying to return a piece of family history - albeit small - to its provenance.  That feeling is a gift in itself.


But in this case, there may be another gift.


The lady tells me her mom is coincidentally coming to Boston next month.  The purpose of her trip?  To attend a small convention of sorts dealing with an aspect of genealogy - the same topic I am currently passionately reading about.


My hope is that the lady may let me sit in on one of these meetings - but we shall see.


What are the chances?


However it turns out, I still get that small thrill of solving a puzzle.


The smell of victory is sweet - as sweet as the lavender that blooms in Provenance.