Tiny Treasure, Big Legacy: Revealing the Story of My Cherished Family Heirloom

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 8 – February 19th – 25th

Heirlooms

I am lucky to have several heirlooms from my ancestors, a few from my paternal side but more from my maternal side. This one is my favorite.

As heirlooms go this one is not particularly valuable in monetary terms, it is not stunningly beautiful, nor is it of regal beginnings, but it is valuable to me in other ways. It has been passed through six, possibly seven, maternal generations. Merely a 9 ½” hexagonal tatted cotton yarn doily, it has resided in two countries, two U.S. states, several counties, and quite a few towns, cities, and boroughs. My own mother passed this down to me at least forty years ago. I had no idea it even existed until then!

As a fragile family heirloom it has not been handled, preserved, and cared for in the best way, having been pinned and stapled to an old piece of gray cardboard, most likely from an old “department store box” that was probably added by my maternal grandmother in the 1940s. I recognize her handwriting to this day.

In a small way this heirloom reflects the lives of the women to which it has been passed. Each of these six women who inherited this piece had challenges in their lives but also much joy, success, and rewards. All but one lived to old age just as this doily has survived. These, my ancestral female ancestors, were strong women who lived their lives through challenging eras in history, yet they were sentimental enough keep this fragile piece of tatted cotton threads enabling them to pass it on to future generations of women in their families.

That being the case, this cherished family heirloom originated from “Grandma Tippett,” as my grandmother had recorded. That makes this small piece of decorative cotton tatted into a doily possibly 150 to 200 years old. It has survived a number of British wars, two world wars, a trip of over 400 miles in the 1800s from Cornwall, England to North Yorkshire, England, alone as a woman with small children, and a family journey across the Atlantic Ocean in 1887. Lurking in small chests, trunks, and drawers in various homes, this doily has also survived at least nine marriages!

As I wrote above, the original artist of this piece was Elizabeth Dalley Tippett, b. 21 May 1780 in Weldon, Cornwall, England, my maternal fourth great-grandmother, the “Grandma Tippett” to whom my grandmother attributed this piece. Elizabeth was married to Benjamin Tippett, a farmer. She passed away on 27 July 1855 in Gwennap, Cornwall, England, her

death attributed to “old age.” She was buried in St. Just Cemetery, Cornwall near the western

most point of Cornwall.

In 1861, perhaps the year that she created this doily, she resided in Truro St. Mary, Cornwall, England. Truro was a bustling market town with its economy centered around agriculture and mining bringing together people of different walks of life to this town in Cornwall. It boasted impressive

Cornwall farmer 1840s

architectural marvels and the Royal Cornwall Infirmary, established in 1799, the hospital provided essential medical care to the community, especially miner and farmers. Despite

being a relatively small city, Truro had a vibrant cultural scene including the Royal Cornwall Museum, founded in 1818 that housed an extensive collection of artifacts, artworks, and natural history specimens. From 1850 to 1865 Cornwall was enjoying its greatest period of mining prosperity and even though her husband was a farmer, the family most likely benefited from the mining prosperity. Her life was probably still far from easy.

Royal Cornwall Infirmary

The next woman who this piece should have been passed on, according to succession, was Charity Tippett Jewell, also listed as my maternal third great-grandmother, born in Cornwall, England. However, she is not listed as one of the recipients of this heirloom. Perhaps her mother, Elizabeth Dalley Tippett kept it to herself until she passed it down to her own granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane Jewell Paul White, also recorded as “ "Grandma White/Mrs.

Henry White” on the cardboard scrap who is listed next on the succession list.

Interestingly, my own mother said it was passed to the oldest female child or granddaughter. It seems this was not the case as Elizabeth Jane had an older sister by the name of Mary Jane Tippett Jewell. Elizabeth Jane was born in 1842 and her sister, Mary Jane was born in 1839. Again, a disruption in the line of inheritance. In one of my previous blogs, I discussed Elizabeth Jane's life and her immigration to the United States in 1887. And so, the small doily was carried with her on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean immigrating to America.

Elizabeth Jane Jewell Paul White

Anna Charity White, my maternal great-grandmother, b. 18 September 1878 in Lingdale, North Yorkshire, England, was next in line to inherit the doily and so she did. Her name is recorded as “Grandma Harris/Mrs. William Harris.”  Annie, as she was known, received the heirloom when she was married to William H. Harris Sr., my maternal great-grandfather, most likely when she lived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Annie lived through WWI and WWII, immigration to the United States as a child, as well as The Great Depression during her life span, times of uncertainty for families and businesses. Annie Charity White Harris

Next in line was my maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Olive Harris Lord, b. 4 June 1904 in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, also known as “Grandma Lord/Mrs. Clarence Lord.” It is definitely her handwriting that I recognized in the ancestral lineage heritage list. I remember her well. I was just thirteen years old when she passed away at only 61 years old on 15 June 1965. Again, the line of succession was broken as my grandmother had an older sister, Mabel Ellen Harris, born three years before her and living beyond my grandmothers demise.

Elizabeth, or Grandma Lord, as I called her, also lived through World War I, The Great Depression, and World War II. Elizabeth worked in a lace mill as a young woman. Textile mills were demanding workplaces for young women during the time of her early adulthood, the safety and labor laws

Elizabeth Olive Harris Lord

were lacking yet she worked there to help support her family. She was a frugal woman as I recall, probably due to living through those formidable historic times.

My own mother, Lorraine Elizabeth Lord Allen, recorded as “Grandma Allen/Mrs. Joseph S. Allen” on the old, attached cardboard. She was born on 24 January 1926 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and lived until 22 May 2011. Lorraine also lived through The Great Depression and World War II, but she triumphed and became the salutatorian of her large high school class, then she met and married my father who served in World War II during the beginning of their relationship. Lorraine went on to have three children, worked several types of jobs during her lifetime, and became the foster mother to over fifteen children. When she retired, she was working in one of the local school districts as an aide in special

Lorraine Elizabeth Lord Allen, glamour shot , age 70

education classes. She truly experienced challenges and successes spending her life giving to others.

And finally, it was passed down to me! I have two daughters, one of whom will receive this heirloom, perhaps the line of succession will again be broken! My life has been a journey of challenges and successes just as my female ancestors endured.

And so, in a metaphor of sorts, this meager heirloom parallels the lives of women in my family through travels and tribulations, journeys of many miles over land and water, challenges, successes, and quiet, peaceful times, yet it is still here just as the stories of my ancestors are still here!

Oh, and I have promised myself that I will finally preserve this heirloom in the style to which it deserves!