I have a small antique store and always enjoyed collecting old canning jars. A distant cousin sent another cousin a poem that was found in my Grandmother’s things about Old Canning Jars, and now I know why I was drawn to old kitchen items, and old canning jars! I still have the poem that says “I’ll never give up my old canning jar”, written by Susanna’s Grandmother. And we still live on property that was theirs, but given to their children, one being my Mother, so my Roots are deep here, on this country road. But the City of Hillsboro, Oregon is moving in on us very fast, not carring about lifetime residents of 74 years! Thanks, Susanna Keith, Beaverton, Oregon

Leave a comment
I have been mesmerized since I was a child…by ‘stained’ glass. Wonder if that tells anything about my 9+ ethnicities.
Not mentioned in the article are family photographs. I would suggest never giving up on finding photos of family members as 2017 yielded a bumper crop for me. One family had kept old tin types that included a civil war photo of my double great grandfather. The had been unable to identify them, but
I was able to determine 100% of them. Another search found unknown marriages and cousins and
I located a distant cousin only 90 miles from me. He had saved old photos and tin types from going into the garbage when his mom died and among them was a confirming photo of my triple great grandfather. That tin type confirmed the one that I had that I assumed was the same man. I have scanned and digitalized all these photos and now they are available for all of the relatives. I am still on the hunt for photos of several other double and triple great grandparents who lived into the
age of paper photography and who had the resources to pay for photographs. I would suggest not
being shy about asking relatives if they have or know others who might have old photos. My solution to shy relatives is to take my scanner to them and at the same time bring them copies of photos that
they do not have. Good hunting.And then you have those of us who do want things but the spouse deprives us of them. My cousins wanted their grandmother’s china which was passed to their aunt (my mom’s cousin). I wanted certain pieces of jewelry that I had designed for her (once the design was done she would come pick me up & we would go down to Tijuana to a silversmith she knew & have a “girl’s day out”). But her husband locked us out and sold everything!
I CARE. I find it sad that so many items have been tossed or given to someone who is not a descendant. I did get a broach from my grandmothers things that has a picture of her sister who died as a child, but that isn’t much. When I dad was ill, I wanted till he died to approach my step mother to ask if I could have some of his things. Her daughter from another marriage had already thrown everything of his out, before he died. I was heart broken. .
Thank you for this article it was such a joy to read.I’m wondering if there’s a British equivalent of justajoy.com? If anyone knows the answer, I would be very grateful. Thank you so much. Jacqueline Cook
It’s great that there are people who still care about family artifacts. When one watches those ‘make-over’
home shows and without a second thought family heirlooms get thrown out just to achieve the contemporary look. Family heirlooms do matter. the only difficulty is how to create a space to store and keep them without having to hide them behind locked doors.Great read
I’m not sure if you reach any Canadians or not, but here it goes
Many years ago at my Grandmother’s sale of household goods, there was a set of Large serving plate and several small plates — with PHEASANTS on them. After the sale my dad (now deceased) said he would have liked that set. Too bad he hadn’t told any of us. Anyway just wondering if anyone knows who bought this set and are they willing to give it back to our family.
Joy
August 7, 2017
Thank you for the opportunity to write about “Antique Hunting in the Family Tree”. It was a delight to work with you!.