Back on the third of this month I wrote a blog I titled curated. In that I talked about my stuff. I'm expressing my concern for its' well being after it leaves my care. Well, I'll be leaving it one day is the truth of the matter. One of the items is a model of a loom made by my great uncle Fred for his sister. I have made a display case for that. Over the years it has gathered quite a bit of dust, the thread beginning to deteriorate. I don't know the exact year it was constructed, but Great Grandmother Lucy passed in 1956 so it is at least that old. I see it as an old relic, until I realize I'm possibly older than that model is. But it is what that model represents to me that is the real concern. That is the part I really want to save for future generations.
To explain that you first need to know a few things. Lucy's father was James Terry whose father was Phineas Terry whose father was Caleb Terry. The story begins in Morris New Jersey where Caleb was living in 1780. As was the custom at that time Phineas was indentured to learn the trade of "cordwinder." That is what we know today as a shoemaker. Phineas completed that indenture and by 1880 had moved to Bridgehampton, NY. It was there that he had his son James, along with five other children.
Now in August of 1862 James went off to war with Company G of the New York Volunteers. He spent a great deal of his time in the hospital suffering from disease, not combat injuries. He was just 19 years old at the time. A small man he was a bit frail. While in the hospital he did learn "nursing" and tended to many of those combat wounded, something that affected him for the rest of his life. After the war he married Agnes King in 1865 at the age of 22. They lived in Sag Harbor were James had a job in the "mill" where he learned the art of weaving. By 1890 James has moved to East Hampton, NY and built a home. In that home he had that loom making rag rugs, among other products.
He was industrious as he also did male nursing, taking care of the "menfolk's" that didn't like the idea of women nurses. He carried a small black bag, like a doctors bag, that contained knitting and darning thread and needles, something he did while sitting with his patients. James suffered from "nervousness" as it was described in his obituary and had suffered a mental breakdown. Perhaps that was the result of his time in the war, I don't know. He had three daughters. Sarah was the eldest and married George Watson and eventually moved to California. There was Jessie who married a local man and she remained in East Hampton all her life. And there was Lucy. Lucy also married a local man, Floyd P Lester.
Lucy learned the trade of weaving from her father. As a young girl she was expected to "help out" with that business venture and did so proudly. When she married Floyd in 1898 it was in the house that her father had built. Floyd had a small home on the same street and they went to live there. Lucy continued to help with the family business and Floyd started a "taxi" service with two horses and a buggy. One of the horses died and they were unable to replace it. Hard times hit and Floyd lost his home. They moved into Lucy's parents home where they remained. Great Grandmother Lucy would pass away in the parlor of that house in 1956 when she was 76 years old. She had that model loom close at hand when she passed. A portion of her weaving is still on that loom to this day.
In about 1968 the home had developed plumbing issues and was in need of repair. Now Floyd was never given ownership of that home, a deal made when he moved into that house. Lucy's dad, James felt that Floyd wasn't responsible enough and had already lost one home and he wasn't going to lose this one. That home was titled to Lucy and her two sisters. There was Sarah, Jessie and Clara. Sarah was living in California and had signed off on her portion of the house to her sister Jessie. My Grandmother Clara had passed away in 1924, a few weeks after giving birth to my father. Jessie had sole ownership. For whatever reasons she had she evicted her father from that home. The house needed to be emptied of at least 70 years of family possessions. There was no where to store any of that.
The local historical society was contacted and many items donated to them. Among them is the original loom that was in that house. There were also spinning wheels and other strange looking machines used in the trade of weaving. The list of things is long and I've never seen a catalogue of them, if one even exists. My father did take some of the things that he could save, mostly just small personal items. A great deal of other things were simply discarded, thrown away as junk. Lucy was quite active in local history when she was younger and had volumes of old pictures, newspaper clippings and the like. All went into the trash! No telling all that was lost.
Lucy spent the last year of her life bedridden, suffering from bedsores and the effects of cancer. As a child I remember seeing her bed in the parlor, still there all made up with a heavy quilt on it. A strange looking contraption shaped like a U with light bulbs shining down provided warmth for her legs, at least that is what I was told its' purpose was. Lucy passed when I was three and so I don't remember her, just all the stories I've heard and a handful of relics. My sister remembered her and would tell me about sitting next to that bed, visiting.
That is why I built that display case. That is what I'm trying to preserve. It's insurance. My thinking is it is less likely to be discarded if it is displayed in that fashion, a case attaching some importance to the object. An object built by my great uncle Fred, for his sister, and then saved by her great grandson, when he is a great grandfather himself! Perhaps my great granddaughter will carry it forward. That is what I'm saving, what my concern is. I want the story to continue and visual aids are always helpful when it comes to that.
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