The old trunk lurked patiently in the garage for years, after the original owner passed on without direct heirs. Various relatives left to coordinate the disposition of property, quickly liquidated a crumbling house and withered remains within.
It might have been just as easy to drop the trunk at some thrift store or another and be done with it. However, one of the relatives had inherited their name from the original owner and ultimately, became somewhat of an adopted child and finally, heir to the trunk.
The new owner understood the content within, somewhat. Relocating the trunk from the residence of its original owner, the trunk sat relegated to an out of the way space until the moment someone could invest time towards investigating the contents.
. . .
The expedition associated with that trunk began in coordination with a similar project, though it was many years after acquisition by the current owner.
Working through the attic one afternoon found a collection of photos and negatives that had missed their intended storage target within the neatly categorized family albums. The onset of digital technology had caused these images to land in various folders and shoeboxes in the attic, mostly neglected and forgotten.
This small discovery set in motion a chain of events that would consume innumerable hours reviewing, categorizing, and scanning thousands of family photos over approximately five years or so. Indeed, the project continues sporadically today as new relics surface.
The initial findings took very little time to organize into a sincere effort at preserving the personal cache of family photos and storing into a more shareable space. They were familiar and fond memories, after all.
Thoughts soon turned to a relatively familiar layer that existed at the parents’ house. It only made sense to expand the project scope to include that content. That seemed more pressing though, considering the age and source, and work began immediately and in parallel. Time is often limited for those with the knowledge and capacity to perform the required facial recognition and work began immediately.
As part of that situation, the trunk emerged.
. . .
Cracking the lid, one cold winter morning, the myriad of artifacts within the old trunk begged immediate cataloging. However, excess fascination with the contents of the sarcophagus prohibited any regimented effort at the time. A deeper dive into the trunk at a later date carefully documented each little treasure and the relationship to the whole and proved no less intriguing than the first review.
The greater part of the treasure consisted of family photographs down through the years, quite a few of whom were identified through notes scrawled across the back or at the bottom. Those would prove crucial in helping to match others unidentified. Unfortunately, a good portion of them remain lost forever to the memories of those already passed.
An odd array of artifacts made up the remainder of the treasure in this little time capsule. Items included stock certificates from companies that had failed in the crash just before the Great Depression, hair pins that could have been weapons (we later found they sometimes were), hand-beaded purses that were apparently all the rage in the 1920s, telegrams, railroad time tables, postcards, auto service manuals, 45 rpm records, musical scores, maps, company letterhead, product designs, remnants of shopping bags from departments stores long gone, tiny military manuals designed to aid the serviceman abroad, and a few little news clippings, mostly related to the aforementioned trunk owner. Some included other family, as well.
A good chunk of this paraphernalia included a cache of photos and other memorabilia associated with a journey the original owner of the trunk made to Washington, D.C. with his comrades from Battery D. They had enjoyed the trip of a lifetime, witnessing the inauguration of friend and former commander, President Harry S. Truman.
All of this required great care in documenting, due to age, state of decay, and the manner in which pictures had been mounted within some of the photo albums the trunk contained. Glued directly to the black pages, more often than not, photographing entire pages turned out the best that could be done. After documenting each, photo albums and other artifacts were sealed away from the torments of oxygen in giant plastic zipper bags. While likely not the most ideal means of securing the information permanently, it is something more than nothing.
The oldest identified in the collection is a hand-written letter written home in 1863 from Suffolk and the 164th Regiment, otherwise known as the Irish Legion. In the most fluid and neatly flowing cursive, the note tells of a few of their trials and a meeting with group of southern troops numbering 10k more than themselves, which forced their group to pursue a hasty retreat.
Later in the year, the same individual writes from Sangster’s Station about scouting and skirmishes taking place near Centerville and the Fairfax courthouse in Virginia. Another just a few months later hopes for an end to the Civil War “for the good of the country.” Deeper research uncovered the individual passed on only abpout a month later after injury and capture during the Appomattox confrontation.
The owner of the trunk first appears after a gap of about 40 years and piles of unidentifiable people in tintypes. He stands with another unnamed individual on one of his first assignments on border patrol in or near Mexico during the Mexican Revolution noting on the back of the photo, “This isn’t Villa, but a typical Mexican.”
He joined the American Expeditionary Force in Europe shortly thereafter. Involvement with balloon reconnaissance with the 8th Aero Squadron and 6th Army Corps Observation Group, he was also connected with the infamous Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, 35th Division, commanded by lifelong friend and President of the United States of America, Harry S. Truman.
After The Great War ended, he took a little bit time to enjoy and explore the nation he had defended. Peace did not last long though, as things often go. He returned to service once again as adjutant of the pre-flight school in San Antonio, Texas. This would be later known as Lackland Air Force Base, the initial training center for all Air Force personnel.
An entire scrapbook of glued photos represented that part of the life of the owner of the trunk. It includes a wide array of personal photographs on military assignment, random training materials from the Heavy Bomb Group, and other assorted and amusing military artifacts. Some of the photos were recognizable from contemporary peers in circulation. It was somewhat breathtaking to actually hold the originals.
Others bit and pieces of family began to blend in from there, offering their own unique contributions to the trunk. Multiple, sometimes crumbling, scrapbooks documented the life and times of family throughout the 1940's.
The owner of the trunk made more sporadic, though more high-profile appearances in the trunk too. In addition to attending the inauguration of President Truman, the boys from Battery D would continue to meet on numerous occasions at the Muehlbach Hotel in Kansas City. One instance in which Mr. Truman made an appearance, is fully documented and bound in 8x10 glossy black and white.
These volumes and artifacts offered a unique view into lives not entirely different from our own and a few welcome surprises. It offered us a first glimpse at great grandparents and even a couple of their parents, siblings and cousins. They smiled back at us across a century or more, posing in front of homes long gone, with friends long passed, or while on some great adventure to various parts of the country, some changed and some still the same.
Again, a good portion of the folks were easily identified. Someone along the way had written names and places above or below most of the photos. Funny little notes were included occasionally, too. This all proved to be a stroke of luck, helping to identify various individuals. Loading the digital copies into an online photo service later, facial recognition further identified photos that would have remained unidentified otherwise.
A satisfying project that continues today, the first group of artifacts are now stored in a Google Photos album. Not everything is included. Some things are too personal to share in public just now. Descriptions are added to those we know a little something about.
There is more too; or, rather, will be more. Another trunk recently surfaced from another side of the family. This development promises an equally entertaining trip through the previous century, to include glimpses into the Aleutian front of World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam confrontations. There is also rumor of another trunk.
This may never end but will certainly enable a certain level of fascination for years to come for those of us documenting this cache, as well as our descendants and theirs. Everyone should be as lucky to have such encounters and probably are but probably do not know it yet. The whole thing has us planning our own little treasure chest.
