My recent visit to my cousin’s home turned into an unexpected treasure hunt, revealing a collection of photos from his mom that sparked pure joy! How often do we promise to reconnect with family and delve into shared memories, only for life to get in the way? This time, I made it happen, and the reward was beyond measure.
Thanks to my wonderful first cousins, Gary and Karen, who were just as eager to reminisce, we dove into a box overflowing with old photo albums, loose snapshots, delicate snippets of hair, and even a remarkable old Bible brimming with hidden keepsakes. The adventure began with Karen picking me up, setting the stage for an hour-long drive filled with anticipation to Gary’s house – her older brother. Gary, older than me, and Karen, much younger, along with my late brother Mark, who fell between us in age, formed a tight-knit group during our childhood. Our mothers, sisters Catherine and Delores, were inseparable, forging a bond that extended to us, their children. Knowing this history, I had a strong feeling that whatever Gary had inherited from his parents would hold deep significance for me.
Sadly, Gary shared that much had been lost over time. Aunt Catherine, the cherished aunt who ignited my passion for family history at the tender age of 12 with her captivating stories, notes, and pictures, passed away first. Years later, when Uncle Eddie moved, some of Aunt Catherine’s precious keepsakes were unfortunately discarded. Although Gary tried his best during the move, convincing Uncle Eddie to preserve certain items proved challenging.
So, as the boxes and bins of photos were unveiled on the kitchen table, my heart raced with excitement. Gary and Karen sensed the potential value of these relics, but the identities of the people in the pictures remained a mystery. Together, we embarked on a collaborative journey of identification. Karen, having spent considerable time with her parents and relatives featured in the photos, became our expert identifier. My forte lay in recognizing familiar homes, furniture, and occasionally, the exquisite doilies – handcrafted treasures by Grandma and Aunt Catherine, some of which Karen and I are fortunate to possess today.
Older Louise Villeneuve Elliott in a patterned dress, a cherished pic of happy dance discovery.
The photo above encapsulates the gems we unearthed! A picture I had never before seen of my great-grandmother, Louise Villeneuve Elliott, in her later years. I already possessed a group family photo from around 1914, featuring 13 of her 16 children, depicting a younger Louise. But this newly discovered image, showcasing an older woman in a chair, adorned in a patterned dress, is Louise in her later years – a widow by 1919, already raising her large family where her elder daughters played crucial roles. She later faced health challenges following a stroke, becoming dependent on her daughters’ care. It’s believed she lived with them in rotation, perhaps spending six months with each as they supported her through her declining health. She passed away at the age of 60, suggesting this photo might have been taken not long before.
Among the other remarkable finds was a colorized image of my grandmother, Elsie Elliott Sutinen (later Niemi), Louise’s fourth daughter, the largest colorized picture in the collection. This portrait fills a gap in my visual family history, representing a period for which I had no prior images. While I have a picture of her in her youth, perhaps in her 20s, and another from her 60s, this image likely captures her in her 40s – a vibrant mother of five, my mother being the youngest.
The adorable baby picture at the very top? That’s me! A truly heartwarming find and a pic of happy dance from my early years. The “little rascals” nestled between Grandma and Great-Grandma in the middle are Aunt Catherine and her brother Doug – their mischievous expressions hinting at some playful plan brewing when the photo was taken. My Uncle Jerry, sprawled out on the picnic table bench as a young man, exudes youthful joy. He was my mom’s youngest brother. And the handsome gentleman in the black and white photo below great-grandma is my step-grandfather, William “Bill” Niemi – the grandfather I knew and loved deeply. A quiet Finnish man, this picture likely dates back to around the time he married my Grandma Elsie, after her first husband Warner (Waino) succumbed to tuberculosis. Grandpa Bill became a loving and steadfast presence in our lives.
Villeneuve-Elliott family dates and notes on a paper tucked in Aunt Catherine's Bible, a pic of happy dance for family historians.
Nestled within Aunt Catherine’s beautiful and treasured commemorative Bible, we found this fascinating piece of paper! It was filled with notations familiar to any family historian – dates of family and extended family connections and births. But at the top right, some rather amusing annotations caught our eye! “Aunt Eugenie – old maid – never had a hair on head ever” and “Mary Laura died of Black Diptheria hair was so long had to pull it out of …”. An intriguing family trait also emerged – most of the women in this lineage possessed dark brown or black hair that retained its color until their passing. Karen, from my matrilineal line, still boasts undyed brown hair, mirroring her mother who passed with nearly black hair, and my grandmother who also retained dark hair until the end. My mother and I, however, clearly inherited different hair genetics, both of us experiencing gray hair for quite some time. :::::::::::grin:::::::::::::
For genealogists and family historians, discoveries like these are more valuable than any material wealth or fame. They breathe new life into our understanding of our families, placing them in new timeframes and enriching our comprehension of who they were. The conversations with Gary and Karen about these unearthed treasures were incredibly enjoyable and insightful. We each brought unique pieces to the puzzle, sharing knowledge and perspectives. This shared time, filled with family memories and joyful discoveries – these are the moments we will truly cherish.
