Week 8: Heirlooms

A couple of weeks ago the prompt for the 52 weeks 52 Ancestors was: "Is there a special item that's been passed down in your family? I wanted to share the three special pieces I have. 

This is my maternal grandmother Minnie Elizabeth Chaplin cameo ring. It is very tight on my little finger,either she had small fingers or I have big ones. I have worn it on very special occasions but never for daily use. Being a nurse rings have to be practical, this is beautiful but not practical. This ring was given to my mother's older sister Beatrice but she had three boys and when I was born she gave it to my mother. The setting sits up almost 1/2". I have never seen this worn by any family member, not even in pictures. It was saved for me. My Aunt Bea was a lot of fun and made be feel like part of the family.


This Cameo pin belongs to my Mom's mother or grandma Mildred Corkish. (My second Mom) I do remember my Mom wearing this pin. Again since I was the only girl I was given this pin also. I think maybe I worn it once. Mostly it lives in the safe. I'm not a fancy dresser so I have no idea what I would wear it on. It sure is a beautiful cameo. I might just have to find something to wear this on!!



My Mom (second-mom) Annette Carolyna Corkish worked as a nurse. She was an army nurse during World War II and she was the nurse who took care of my mother Edith Inez Chaplin, when she died of breast cancer. I can remember her working at Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing. This is a picture of the charm bracket her co-workers gave her in 3-6-1959 from the OBS staff. This is just before we moved to Florida. She obviously was well liked by her co-workers. And yes she is the reason I became a nurse. She never wanted me to be one, she said the work was hard. I never regretted my decision to be a nurse.

When I was looking for my treasures and after I saw them again I realized I had forgotten how many I really have. Finding all these things made me feel very blessed. Something I think I tend to forget. My family tried hard to make traditions to have and to pass down. I trying to survive after the lost of two mothers before age 17, I felt the pain and lost but forgot the good stuff. This has helped me to remember.

Favorite Name Week 6

From Amy Johnson Crow's email this week. 

Favorite name could be a name of an ancestor that makes you smile. Perhaps it's an unusual name.

Minnie Elizabeth 

My Favorite name is Minnie Elizabeth from my ancestors. She is my maternal grandmother. The family lore is she didn't like her name Minnie. I don't know why she didn't like it. Maybe she didn't like it because there was an older sister who reportedly died at sea as the family came to America, who was also named Minnie. I have not been able to prove or disprove that story yet. I know a lot of countries used the same name over and over. I am glad we no longer do that. 

So because I learned she did not like Minnie I always refer to her as Minnie Elizabeth. I was named after both my grandmothers, so I am Mary Elizabeth. So our middle name is a common link. 

There are several posts about her on my side bar, just look for Minnie Elizabeth. She sounds like a bit of a dynamite person. She was a suffragette for the right of women to vote. She was a widow at a young age. 

She died too young. 

Favorite Photo

This weeks prompt from Amy Johnson Crow: The prompt is "Favorite Photo." Tell the story of the people, place, and event in a favorite photo. Where did the photo come from? Who has the original now? How did you get a copy of it?

This is my favorite photo of my maternal grandparents. To me the pose is one of a very comfortable couple, who love and care for each other. That line that looks like a pipe is really a pen mark. The corner ripped when I took the picture out of one of those disgusting magnet photo albums. 

The picture is in my possession and was given to me by either my father or my Mother's sister Aunt Bea. 

This is the same William Thomas I introduced on Sunday. Who was the first immigrant on this line.

I don't remember what year it was but it was about 1980, I copied the few family photos I had of my ancestors and sent them to my two Aunts, Bea my mother's sister and Emma my Dad's sister. They told me about the pictures and who was who. 

Here is the copy of the page with this picture. The black is my writing the blue is my Aunt Bea's. 

Here is a transcription of what was written,

Who Are These People:

Transcription My additional information is in Italics

Couple on Roof

Who: Grandpa & Grandma Chaplin: William Thomas Chaplin b1884, wife Minnie Elizabeth Spahn b1885.

Where: Borough Park, Brooklyn on the roof of Apt. building we lived.

Year: circa 1919 or 1920

Occasion: Visit by co-worker of Grandpas’ who took the picture.

Anything Else: The building in the background is the Convent of the Precious Blood. Building and grounds ran for a whole block across the street from our house, Believe Uncle Bill gave your Mother a prayer book? From there when she married your Father. My Mother converted to Catholicism when she married my Dad.

Here is a street view of the apartments and the now called Monastery of the Precious Blood.

Bird's Eye View of the apartment and Monastery.

Google Map. 

My Mother died a week before my first birthday so there are very few photos of her. My Dad saved a few, but I have none of her holding me as a baby. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 6 months old. The only stories of know of her and her family were from her brother and sister.