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January 19, 2016

A Suitcase of Memories: The Start of a Journey



Last night my husband came home from visiting his parents with a small suitcase. Inside are papers, documents, school notebooks, letters and who knows what else! 

We have not done anything more than open the case. What you see on the left is the top layer.

We had a quick look in the Note Book and it is full of school essays written by Florence Elgie when she was a young girl.




Ann, Luella & Florence Elgie

Florence was the sister of my husband's grandmother. She was born in 1914 in St. Mary's Ontario and lived her entire life there, dying in 1996.  Florence married Wilbert George "Wib" Hooper (1913 - 1993). The Hooper family was fairly well known in St. Mary's as the owners of Hooper's Dairy. 

George and Florence had no children so her papers were passed down to her niece and now to my husband. 

William Elgie 1876-1946
We are excited about seeing what memories this little suitcase holds. We have been told that one of its treasures are original songs written by my husband's great-grandfather William Elgie.



4 comments:

linda lemons said...

how exciting! my parents once gave me a similar box - in it were receipts for funeral expenses and cemetery records , what bank they used and lots of wonderful and useful information - i hope yours provides you with the same!

Anna Matthews said...

Yes! I can feel the excitement of my genealogical finds (boxes and envelopes in my step-mother's basement) all over again. My stash also contained a hymn written by my paternal great-grandfather. It was such a thrill!

Crissouli said...

How wonderful, especially since you still have someone to ask about the contents.

http://martinroe.com said...

What a treasure trove! I have my grandfather's old steamer trunk that crossed the Atlantic many times. My grandmother was a collector so it id filled with old photos, letters, deeds and various records. The problem is to find the time to organize all the material :-)

Thanks for sharing!
Martin