Friday's Faces from the Past: Lois Chapin (approx 1904)

This family photo is a lost heirloom discovered by a good Samaritan in an antique store in Ashland, Oregon that found its way "home" to my cousin Gentsia.  

It shows Lois Chapin, the daughter of Alyce (Keys) and Paul Chapin.  (Alyce was the daughter of Henry Armistead and Sarah Frances (Lynn) Keys of Prince William County.)

Lois was born 19 July 1902 and married Solomon L. Van Meter, Jr.  She died 22 August 1963 and is buried along with her husband in Lexington, Kentucky.

(Thank you, Gentsia, for sharing!)

Friday's Faces from the Past: Genevieve and Alyce Keys Chapin

This family photo is a lost heirloom discovered by a good Samaritan in an antique store in Ashland, Oregon that found its way "home" to my cousin Gentsia.  Dated 1901, it shows Alyce Keys Chapin with her daughter, Genevieve.

Alyce was the daughter of Henry Armistead and Sarah Frances (Lynn) Keys of Prince William County.  She married Paul Chapin, son of Gurden and Julia Paul Chapin, on 7 October 1896 in Washington, DC.

(Thank you, Gentsia, for sharing!)

Genevieve and Alyce Keys Chapin, circa 1901
(used by permission of  Gentsia Zimmerman)

Newspaper Tidbit: Pocket-Book Lost (1823)

Alexandria Gazette
30 September 1823

POCKET-BOOK LOST

Lost, between Fairfax Court-House and Alexandria, or in Alexandria, a Green Morocco Pocket-Book, containing three notes of Five dollars each, on the Farmers' Bank in Virginia; two bonds of William Grigsby for four hundred and twenty-five dollars each, one payable on the 1st of March, 1824, the other on the 1st of March, 1825; on the former credits are endorsed to the amount of 150 dollars. Also, a bond of Walter Harrison, due on the 1st of January last, for sixty-four dollars; and several other papers, of no use to any one but the owner. The finder will receive a reward of five dollars on leaving the pocket-book and its contents with Charles Chapin, at the Mechanics' Bank of Alexandria; or giving it to the subscriber, residing near Haymarket, Prince William county, Virginia.

Foushee Tebbs

sept25-3t

Friday's Faces from the Past: Alyce Keys Chapin and Children

This family photo is a lost heirloom discovered by a good Samaritan in an antique store in Ashland, Oregon that found its way "home" to my cousin Gentsia,  Dated 1906, it shows Alyce Keys Chapin with her children, Genevieve, Lois, and Paul.

Alyce was the daughter of Henry Armistead and Sarah Frances (Lynn) Keys of Prince William County.  She married Paul Chapin, son of Gurden and Julia Paul Chapin, on 7 October 1896 in Washington, DC.

(Thank you, Gentsia, for sharing!)

Friday's Faces from the Past: Keys-Chapin Family (?)

Below is another of the photographic treasures found in a California antique store that I mentioned in my January 10, 2015 post about Lost Heirlooms.  Like many lost heirlooms, this photo had nothing written on the back to identify the subjects or the place where the photo was taken.  This photo was included with a cache of prints identified as belonging to the Keys-Chapin family, so for the moment I am assuming that this grouping represents members of that family.

Do any of of these faces look familiar to you?  Does the location?  Can you estimate the year the photo was taken by the style of clothing?  If you found this photograph, alone and unassociated with a family name, how would YOU determine who/what/when?

Again, many thanks to my cousin Gentsia for permission to post and share her photos!

Sibling Saturday/Lost Heirlooms: Genevieve and Lois Chapin (circa 1904)

If you take a stroll through an antique store or flea market, you're likely to turn up an old shoe box full of photographs, papers, diaries, and other ephemera that were once someone's pride and joy.  It's sad to see what was once a family's treasure treated as so much junk, to be sold or discarded without regard to the history or memories they contain.  Fortunately, there are good Samaritans who love to rescue such heirlooms and try to return them to a descendant who will treasure them once again.

One of the most recent online trends is the discovery and re-homing of "Lost and Found Heirlooms."  Some websites are devoted to lost photographs, such as DeadFred, while others are more comprehensive.  Not every site is altruistic, however.  There are quite a number of dealers who are out to make a profit on what is now a trending hobby, but for the most part I've found that there is a genuine desire in the online genealogy community to restore an heirloom to its rightful family.

My cousin Gentsia was the recipient of one such gift from a genealogical good Samaritan.  She received a notice via Ancestry.com from a gentleman who traveled frequently and loved to visit antique stores looking for lost heirlooms.  While in Ashland, Oregon, he came across a large cache of photographs, many of which were identified via handwriting on the back.  He then set about trying to identify living family members via Ancestry's family trees and found Gentsia's Keys/Lynn genealogy.

The photographs (18 in all) date to the early 1900's and appear to include members of PWCo's Keys/Chapin/Lynn family.  Gentsia has kindly given me permission to share the photos on this blog, so keep an eye out for them in future posts. (Thank you, Gentsia!!)

Today, I'll begin with a photograph of young Genevieve Chapin and Lois Chapin, daughters of Alyce (Keys) and Paul Chapin.  Genevieve was born 8 September 1897 in Washington, DC and sister Lois was born 19 July 1902.  The photo below is marked as "Genevieve and Lois about 1904."

Genevieve and Lois (Chapin) about 1904

If you're looking for a good starting place to find or share lost heirlooms, I suggest Cydi's List  - Lost & Found General Resources. 

Once again, a big THANK YOU to Gentsia for sharing the photographs and to Mr. M. Cassara for taking the time to rescue them (and for sending them to Gentsia free of charge at that!).

Marriages: Dumfries

Alexandria Gazette – 13 April 1810

   Married on Wednesday evening last, at Dumfries, by the Rev. Mr. O'Neal, Doctor Thomas Triplett, of the U. States navy, to Miss Margaret C. Tebbs, of that place.

Alexandria Herald – 3 April 1816

   Married at Dumfries on Sunday the 31^st ult. By the Rev. Mr. Lathram, Wm. R. Chapman, Esq. to Miss Martha Hayes, only daughter of Captain James Hayes, of that place.

Alexandria Herald – 17 July 1816

   Married in Dumfries, on Thursday evening last by the Rev. Mr. Sedwick, Mr. James Macdaniel to Mrs. Margaret Tomblin, both of that place.

Alexandria Herald – 27 August 1817

   MARRIED on Sunday evening last by the Rev. Mr. Griffith, Mr. George A. Smoot, merchant, of Dumfries, to Miss Elizabeth Bland of the same place.

Alexandria Heralad – 15 September 1817

   MARRIED At Dumfries, on Sunday the 7^th instant, by the Rev. Mr. Kankey, Mr. Henry M. Smoote, to Mrs. Phoebe Huber, all of that place.

Alexandria Heralnd – 10 Augus t1818

   MARRIED on Tuesday evening, the 28^th ult. By the Rev. Mr. Allen, Benjamin Plummer esq. merchant to Miss Margaret Alexander, all of Dumfries.

Alexandria Herald – 7 December 1818

   MARRIED At Dumfries, VA on Thursday last, Henry Fairfax, Esq. to Miss Sophia Scott, daughter of Jessee Scott, Esq. all of that place.

Alexandria Herald – 10 May 1819

   MARRIED on Thursday evening, last by the rev. Mr. Wilmer, Foushee Tebbs, esq. of Dumfries to Miss Nancy R. Chapin, daughter of the late Curden Chapin, esq. of this town.

Genius of Liberty – 12 October 1819

   MARRIED, In Dumfries, on the 30^th ult by the rev. Wm. Steel, John Robert Wallace, Esq. (late of the United States' Military Academy) to Miss Elizabeth W. Macrae, the former of Warrenton, Fauquier county, the latter of Dumfries.

Alexandria Herald – 13 November 1822

   At Dumfries, VA. On Sunday week, by the rev. Geo. Lemmon, the rev. Stephen Wilson Presstman, of Baltimore, to Ann, youngest daughter of the late Timothy Brundige, esq.