Anyway, I'm getting a huge pile of stuff ready to take to the D.I. (like the Goodwill), and I decided to go through some old books that have been in a box in the closet for years and years. (Yes, I'm tackling that closet today. The one that is piled sky high full of stuff you don't know what to do with, so you stash it in there. Every time I open the closet, something threatens to fall on my head.) So I was flipping through the books, seeing if there happened to be any money in any of them - er, I mean, writing in the front signifying it was a gift to me or someone in my family, when I found something interesting.
I found a book, entitled "One for Life," and I have no idea where it came from. It has a copyright of 1902. Apparently it is a book given to a husband and wife when they were first married. One paragraph in the book says, "And will the wife forget her former conduct? She was always at her best when she greeted him. And, when he must depart, it was with loving looks that she followed him to the door and in sweetest accent bade him farewell. In those days it was always 'please, sir,' and 'I thank you, sir.' But how will it be now? Shall poorer manners be put to use? Heaven forbids! May all your conversations and greetings, your conduct towards one another, at home and abroad, be so gentle that angels might envy." It's so interesting to read through the advice of a getting-married book from 1902.
But the most interesting part was in the back - there is a handwritten list of the people who attended their wedding, and a list of the gifts that people brought them. And on the very back page is a wedding certificate dated June 8, 1927. The groom is named Henry A. Tatzke, and the bride is Mildred Creamer, and they were married in Saint Joseph, Missouri. There is no way I could give this book to the D.I.! I want to find their descendants so they can have this awesome piece of history from their family! (I don't think I'm related to them... am I? Any relatives of mine know these people?)
Does anyone know where I can begin to look for descendants?
(Just as soon as I finish cleaning that closet.)
21 people wanted to leave a comment:
Holy smokes, that is amazing! I would love to read the book, but even more so, I love that you are trying to find the family that it belongs to. How kind of you. And what an amazing gift. The treasures you find while cleaning. :)
Wow, that is seriously awesome! And really, that marriage advice is pretty dang good advice!
What a very cool find! Someone is going to be happy that you found that and got it back to the family!
BTW i'm with Ethan - it's a holiday = no cleaning! ha ha
Erin, you can get on the church's new family history website, and if any work has been done in either of your families, you will be able to find all of their names there.
Wow, that is quite the score. I love stuff like that. Have fun finding the descendants!
VERY cool! I love that you want to find the family! I would love to have something like that from my grandparents. Neat!
And I'm glad your head will be safer now. :) Happy cleaning!
Very cool find! We're cleaning today too. And we tackled "that" closet - the one under the stairs that was our own catch-all. But now it looks nice. Now we're going to disassemble the crib!! No going back.
Very, very cool! I know MMB just posted something about geneology and some tips. You could start there.
SO COOL! I agree about looking at the church's family history website. The bride and groom might still be alive!
That sounds really interesting! And actually super great advice:).
Very cool! Make a post on genealogy message boards. Here on your blog is good, too, because hopefully google will catch it if someone googles the names.
My friend got an old photo album that someone found in a thrift store this way. It turned out to be her ancestors, and someone just posted the names that were on the backs of the photos on a genealogy board.
And I really, really wonder how that book came into your hands!
What a cool little adventure you're about to have. How fun!
Cool discovery. And closet cleaning has become my new thing.
I would be the State of Missouri would have some records online too. You know their names and wedding date. Perhaps you could call the vital records office in Missouri? The Church website is good too of course (my own spouse helped get it up and going a few years back) but there are many other resources too.
Oh- and the answer is YES! Worse manners WILL prevail now!
I hope you find their descendants. That it amazing!
My cousin forwarded me a magazine clip from the 1940s or so one year that had similar instructions and admonished women not to complain, to always have a clean house but never let your husband see you working, have dinner ready as soon as he gets home...awesome.
What a unique find. I love that you posted part of it. I think between the names, marriage date, and location, you should be able to find something about their descendants.
really? I'm wondering how you got it also. Very cool find.
That would be worth paying for a month of ancestry.com to find them. You've got both names, including her maiden name, and a place and date of marriage. You should be able to follow the records from their marriage cert to census after that. What a fun project that will be!
What an awesome find! Almost makes me want to start going through my old books...
And have you heard of paperbackswap.com? You list your books to send to other people but then get to select books you'd like sent to you. I love it.
oh my! i am just IN LOVE with a couple parts of that excerpt! especially the part about "...so gentle that angels might envy."!!! i love that! what a thought. i'm already trying to figure out how to use that as wall art or something.
thanks for sharing! and good luck finding the family!!
Erin -- try ancestry.com. It's a good place to start. What a cool find!
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