It is a Ketchum & MacDougall 14K yellow gold probably made around 1900. It has her name "Kate" engraved on the side. I know nothing else, just that I was the only one in the family that sewed, so I got it. It fits me perfectly, so I do use it for hand quilting or piecing.
This is a picture of my great grandmother taken around 1903 - I believe she is holding my grandmother's older sister who was born in 1901. They lived in an area in southern Wyoming called Red Desert - a very arid, hard country. My great grandfather was a sheep rancher. I always thought that it was "special" that my great-grandmother had such pretty things living in such a barren setting.
My great grandmother also had a J & C Fischer upright piano that I also inherited. I was always told that the piano was bought in 1911, but my research shows that it was in family photos that would date about 1907. But which ever date, it is one of my "Vintage Treasures". Note the "scarf" on the top of the piano - it is original with the piano.
Blessings
3 comments:
How fantastic you have a few treasures of your GGrandmother. My grandma was a painter and embroiderer and I have a few of her paintings and patterns. Not heirlooms but precious to me.
What wonderful family heirlooms. You are lucky to have them! I had ancestors farming not far from your ancestors in southeastern Idaho, but they barely eked out a living and had no treasures to pass along.
What precious heirlooms and what a great photo of your great-grandmother.
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