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"Along Those Lines"
11/2/2001 - Archive
Cousin Maggie's Dishes
Probably no one else in my family living today knows the story of Cousin Maggie's
dishes. They are an heirloom set that I inherited from my mother. She in turn
had inherited from my father's sister, who inherited them from Cousin Maggie
Parks herself. The family story, too, was told to me that Cousin Maggie inherited
these same all-white English bone china dishes from her mother.
I recently saw this china in our kitchen cabinet and wondered just how I could
preserve the history of these dishes for future generations. The search for
the information I uncovered was long and interesting, and in "Along Those Lines
. . ." this week, I want to share the tale. Perhaps it will inspire you to delve
into the history of one or more of your own family heirlooms and record their
stories.
Who Was Cousin Maggie Parks?
All my life I can remember those delicate white bone china dishes. They
always occupied a particular place of honor in my aunt and grandmother's home.
They were considered very 'special' and were seldom used except for the most
honored of guests. Since my grandparents had lost nearly everything in the Great
Depression, anything of value was treated with a kind of reverence and with
meticulous care. Cousin Maggie Park's dishes were definitely in that category,
although I had no idea who this Cousin Maggie was.
Growing up in the South, we were accustomed to all types of family members,
both living ones we could see and dead ones immortalized in family stories.
There were real "blood" relations that included aunts and uncles of varying
levels of "great"-ness and many cousins, some of whom were described with the
degrees of "removed"-ness. We also were well acquainted with, and sometimes
afflicted by the visits of, various fictive kin. You know what I mean. These
were people who really were unrelated to us but who, for whatever reasons, had
been 'adopted' into the family circle, bestowed with the affectionate familial
title of 'cousin,' and addressed as such by every member of the family, regardless
of generation.
My Grandmother Morgan and my aunt, Mary Allen Morgan, began me on my family
history odyssey when I was ten years old. Cousin Maggie died two years before
I was born, and I failed to ask who she was until both my aunt and grandmother
also were gone. Since the PARKS surname was one I had not heard discussed, I
made the assumption that Cousin Maggie Parks was one of the family's numerous
fictive cousins. Boy, was I wrong, and it took me more than twenty-five years
to know it.
Hunting the Facts
My Grandmother Morgan was born on 24 January 1873. She was the last of nine
children born to her parents and was named Laura Augusta Wilson, a lovely name.
One of her mother's friends, another fictive cousin named Minnie, was on hand
at the time and is reported to have said, "Oh, I wish you would call her after
me!" Unfortunately this became the case, and my grandmother went through her
entire life with the name Minnie, a moniker she personally despised. (She also
hated her age and lied about it on every census beginning in 1900.)
I had always known the names and vital dates of my grandmother's siblings,
the names of their spouses, and the names and dates of the children of their
unions. I knew the names and vital dates of my great-grandparents, Joseph McKnitt
Wilson (1 October 1832-26 July 1910) and Lydia Lenora Patterson (13 November
1833- 28 August 1914), as well as several generations of their antecedents.
What I didn't know, though, was anything in detail about my great-grandparents'
siblings, and that was where my discovery began.
In researching my Wilson ancestry, I located a book by J. B. Alexander titled
The History of Mecklenburg County [N.C.] from 1740- 1900. This is one
of a number of old county histories I have seen over the years from various
states which includes references to some of my ancestors, and I am always on
the lookout for these volumes. The book provided information about my great-great-grandfather,
Isaac Wilson, M.D., his wife, Violet Elizabeth Lee Alexander, and his children.
From this list of names, I began working on those children and their descendants.
Using the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), I located an amazing treasure trove
in the form of the Daughters of the American Revolution's American Monthly
Magazine (the previous name) from 1952. It turns out there were a series
of articles published that year listing all the known descendants of the signers
of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a document signed in Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina, on 20 May 1775 and preceding the national declaration
by more than a year. I ordered a copy of the single article listed in PERSI
from the Allen County [Indiana] Public Library, only to find that it was one
part of several articles. I then ordered those as well.
In one of the magazine's articles, I found the list of descendants of one John
McKnitt Alexander, the secretary of the group who drafted the Mecklenburg Declaration
of Independence and my great-great-great- grandfather. Following the descendants
on each line, I found the children of Isaac and Violet Wilson, including my
great-grandfather, Joseph McKnitt Wilson and one of his sisters, Isabella B.
D. Wilson. There, on paper at last, I saw that Isabella B. D. Wilson had married
one Andrew Parks, and that there were two children, Margaret Parks, who never
married, and Arthur Parks, who married a Mary Davison. I had found the connection,
and Cousin Maggie Parks was fictive no more! She was, in fact, my grandmother's
first cousin and my own first cousin twice removed. Not only was she a cousin,
she was a close cousin, and since she died childless, it seemed appropriate
that something of hers should have been left to someone on our side of the family.
Preserving the Story of the Dishes
As the family historian, I feel it is important to preserve not only the
information about the people, but also about the heirlooms they left behind.
I inherited a drop-leaf table made by one of my ancestors in the 1700s and once
owned by a great-aunt and -uncle. My great-aunt wrote the history of the table,
enclosed it in an envelope, and attached it to the underside of the table, where
I found it when I inherited in 1976. Since that time, I have often written down
what I know about family artifacts such as quilts, a candle mold, silverware,
and furniture. These include who owned them, when they were acquired and where,
and any other facts I can glean.
A great winter project suggested by an Ancestry Quick Tip writer recently concerned
creating an album of photographs of family heirlooms. You can take a picture
of the item, write the history, and indicate the date on which the photograph
was taken, who owned the item, and their address.
Photograph the heirlooms in your relatives' care as well as those you have.
And don't limit the project to just old ancestral items; photograph and write
about contemporary items that you have acquired and which are special to you.
This project can provide a visual and written history of your family possessions
that may be cherished by future generations.
Cousin Maggie's dishes caused me a lot of work over the years, but they spurred
me to learn more about my extended family. As a result, my family tree is more
full, I know more about the people, and those dishes are more precious to me
than ever before.
Happy Hunting!
George
George G. Morgan is a proud member of the International Society of Family
History Writers and Editors, Inc. (ISFHWE) at: www.rootsweb.com/~cgc/cgc2.htm.
He would like to hear from you at atl@ahaseminars.com
but, due to the volume of e-mail, he is unable to answer every e-mail message
received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual research.
Visit George's Web site at http://ahaseminars.com/atl
for information about speaking engagements.
Copyright 2001, MyFamily.com. All rights reserved.
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