What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Wednesday Treasures: Discovering Hidden Treasures -Updated AGAIN!

Okay! I hope you will indulge me tonight!  I made another amazing discovery today regarding this old chest of drawers, lovingly known as "Aunt Dode's Dresser".  



Today my hubby and I were watching some interesting YouTube videos from "The History Underground", in particular 

"The Home & Deathbed of an Underrated President | History Traveler Episode 116"

which is about our 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. (1833-1901)  (President from 1889-1893) This is a tour of his home in Indianapolis, IN.  

Go to  scene 17:21/24.30 "Mary's Room" to see what I want you to see.

If you look very quickly at the chest of drawers just inside the door of "Mary's Room" in this section of the video, you will see a chest of drawers remarkably like the one I have above. Specifically look at the front legs design.  You will see that it has almost the exact same curvature as "Aunt Dode's Dresser".

(sorry, our chest of drawers is missing a front wheel, so that block of wood is holding up that leg. One of those "projects" that needs to be done.)

I was so shocked to see that chest of drawers in this video, which according to the curator of the home most every piece of furniture in the home is original to the home, which dates from the 1870's.   If you continue on to read my original post about "Aunt Dode's Dresser" below, you will see that I figured this chest of drawers could be as old as the 1860's or thereabouts.  Now that I see this very similar design of chest of drawers in the President Benjamin Harrison home, I think perhaps the date could be more like in the 1870's...but still VERY OLD, don't you agree?  I just thought this little bit of new enlightenment was so interesting that I wanted to share it with you!

Previous Update, 10/21/2020:
This post was originally written back in 2011, not long after my father had passed away and we had sold our family home and taken home special things we "inherited" from my parents' estate. Today I would love to share with you the history of this beautiful chest of drawers, which now stands in our master bedroom, and as you can see, it is decorated with some of my other special treasures, some of which I have already told you about in other times and places.  So today's focus will be upon this chest of drawers and why it is so significant:




Originally written May 20, 2011


Have you ever been on a "treasure hunt"?  I remember having such fun with my classmates years and years ago searching for treasure as we discovered clues in secret places and followed the instructions written on the notes hidden therein.  Sometimes the instructions told us to walk so many paces to a certain tree and look for the next clue, or to go to the next spot and look up or down or all around and find another clue stashed some clever place.  Then there would be a mad dash to the next destination to see who would be the first one to discover the hidden treasure.  What a thrill to be the one who found it...no matter how insignificant the treasure, it became a a grand prize in the hands of the discoverer!

I loved those exciting events and enjoyed the searching for the mysterious prize almost as much as finding the treasure.  The thrill of the hunt...the challenge of the competition to get there first...and laughter and glee of all my friends running about seeking the treasure...kind of like an Easter Egg Hunt...such happy memories. 

Recently I've been on another kind of treasure hunt as my siblings and I have been seeking out the "treasures" left behind by our parents in our family home upon the departure of our father on his journey to heaven, where he joined our mother who was eagerly awaiting his arrival.  My parents' home was quite a menagerie of collections of so many interesting things that it was almost mind boggling to even know where to begin to sort it all out.  My parents' idea that all their earthly goods should be sold and the proceeds divided equally between their four children sounded good on paper, but in reality it became a complicated problem for us to fairly decipher when there were so many special memories tied up in all of their "earthly goods".  I mean, how can you just out and out sell to strangers the family heirlooms, no matter how "valuable" or lacking in monetary value but precious to our sentimental feelings...things that have our family history inscribed in the nicks, chips and scratches on dishes and furniture, and worn pages and signatures, faded pictures and scribbled notes on old letters, books, diaries...so many memories...

There was one particular piece of furniture in the house that I had always admired, and I kept thinking in my mind that I really would like to have it, but I just wasn't sure if I would have room for it, or if it's "assigned value" might make it cost prohibitive for me to add to my "list" of things I wanted to keep.  But I knew that it really shouldn't be sold out of the family because my mother had told me that it had belonged to one of her ancestors and had even perhaps been built by a family member years and years ago.  Although I wasn't certain from which ancestor this beautiful chest of drawers had originated, I knew that I just couldn't let it slip away from our family.  So I finally made the decision to take it home with me, with the blessings of my other siblings. 



Can you see the handwritten signatures which I found on the side of one of the drawers of this chest?   Written in pencil, and yet still there over 100 years later!! A little to the right and above their signatures is a note engraved by my father, stating, "Refinished by William F. Mursch, July 1968", which explains why the chest is still in such beautiful condition.

As we removed the drawers from the chest to make it easier to transport into our house, I began to search for any hidden clues that could help identify the origins of this wonderful old antique.  I knew that sometimes people used to write their names on the undersides or insides of their furnishings to identify them, so I scanned each and every surface of the dresser for an answer.  Lo and behold! There it was, written upside down on one of the sides of one of the drawers was the treasure I was seeking!  Scrawled in the old fashioned script of yesteryear, written in pencil, were the names of two significant people:  Dora Johnston and Flora B. Johnston.*  Now, I know that probably doesn't mean much to you, but those two names solved the riddle.  I originally thought that Dora and Flora were sisters,* (see below for corrections to this) born in 1860 and 1857 respectively.  I assumed that *Flora Belle Johnston married John B. Sheets, and she then became the mother of my grandmother, *Flora E. Sheets Tedlie, the mother of my Mother, Dorothea May Tedlie Mursch!

*BIG UPDATE TO THIS, 5/7/2020:     Now I have to make a huge correction to this information! I have recently been doing some genealogy research, and I have discovered that I had this all wrong!   Flora and Dora Johnston were NOT sisters, but they were mother and daughter!  Flora B. Johnston was actually Dora Johnston (Gorseline)'s mother.  This is her picture below. Her maiden name was Flora Elson.  She was born in 1826 and died on February 19, 1900.  She married Joseph Johnston on March 25, 1848.  So this would make her my Great-Great Grandmother. 
So then, who was my Great-Grandmother? That was a bit confusing to me.
I assumed my Great-Grandmother was named "Flora Belle" Johnston, but no,
her name was "Lela Belle" Johnston, and she went by the name of Belle.  She was the older sister to Dora, and was born on April 19, 1857, and died on December 28, 1911.
She married my Great Grandfather John B. Sheets on July 4, 1878.

In this picture below (taken around 1903) we see my Grandmother, Flora Sheets Tedlie, standing on the back left. 
Next to her is her Aunt Dora Johnston (Gorseline).
Seated is my Great Grandmother Belle Johnston Sheets, sitting next to my Great Grandfather, 
John Benjamin Sheets.



So this beautiful chest of drawers that I somehow just couldn't leave behind for strangers, belonged to my maternal Great Great Grandmother, and probably dates back very possibly to before 1860.   I believe the piece was actually in the home of my Great-Great Aunt Dora** Johnston Gorseline, and she left it to my Grandmother when she willed her home and all it's furnishings to her upon her death in 1932.  (**Aunt Dora was affectionately known as Aunt "Dode" to my mother and her siblings. And my mother, Dorothea, was named after her and another great aunt on her father's side, Althea, so you have Dorothea as a combination of the two names!)

(Current Update:  You may have noticed these interesting tiles (below) in Pamela's Victorian Cottage, which have become the hearth and interior of the fireplace in the living room. Well, those little tiles actually came from "Aunt Dode's house", and were literally a part of the fireplace in her home. My mother had saved them and they were found in the drawer of the dresser when I started cleaning it out to search for "treasures".  What better place to use them than in another old fashioned house!)



Although I still don't know who actually built the chest of drawers, that doesn't really matter as much as who used it and filled it with their own precious treasures, lingerie, dainty hankies, gloves, jewelry and maybe even their secret diaries.  I can imagine that both sisters Belle and Dora may have used this dresser.  Oh, if those drawers could talk, I'll bet they could tell me the dreams of first, a young bride, and then of her two young daughters who never in their wildest dreams knew that one day, some 160 years later, their great-great grand daughter, great granddaughter, and great great niece would be sitting here writing about this on a computer for all the world to see!  Wow! That even excites me and gets my imagination flowing!  Could be the start of that book I keep wanting to write...hmmm...I'll just have to think about that!

What a treasure!  Oh, by the way, when I finally got this chest of drawers set up in my guest room, (which I call "The Grandma Room"), I know I heard some giggles and sighs and hand clapping from somewhere up in heaven...and I could definitely feel my mother smiling down at me and heard her whisper, "Thank you, Pam, for carrying on the family heritage and finding the treasure hidden therein." 

You are welcome, Mama...and I'm so glad you kept nudging me on to not give up on it!
Good night!  Sleep Tight!


The Chest of Drawers as it looked in my guest room in a previous home.

The Chest of Drawers that belonged to my Great Great Grandmother Flora Elson Johnston and her daughters, Belle Johnston Sheets and  Dora Johnston Gorseline, passed down to my Grandmother Flora E. Sheets Tedlie, and then to my mother, Dorothea May Tedlie Mursch, and now to me, Pamela Anne Mursch Steiner. I wonder where it will go from here?  Time will tell...


The Buster Brown Tea Set on top of the dresser belonged to my Aunt Margaret Tedlie Moss, and my mother remembers playing with it when she was a child.  The two pictures are: Flora Sheets Tedlie, my grandmother as a little girl about 5 or 6 years old, and the other is a picture of my Great Great Grandmother, Flora E. Johnston, the mother of Dora and Lela Belle Johnston!  The doll is a doll that I gave my mother as a birthday present on her 85th birthday.  The books are from my mother's collection of old books, including a very old edition of Little Women, wrapped in plastic because it is literally falling apart and beyond restoration.  I am looking forward to placing more "treasures" in and on this chest of drawer as I discover them...!

Back to the present:  I hope you enjoyed this little walk back through history and down memory lane. This discovery today (9/8/2021) has only made the significance of "Aunt Dode's  Dresser"  even more interesting and entertaining, don't you agree?  Now I will always think of it as "Aunt Dode's President Harrison Dresser!"   LOL. 
   
I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.  It is pouring down rain here right now.  Tomorrow I go see the neurosurgeon about my neck issues. I will update you when I know something worth sharing.  All thoughts and prayers are welcome!!  God bless you all!!  Good Night!

45 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you kept the chest, and that you found the "history" behind it. I do believe, like you, that my Grandma is looking down with pride that you are keeping its history alive with family that can appreciate it a bit more than a stranger. (I love all the special things sitting on top of it too!) Thanks for sharing this post!

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  2. I'm happy you enjoyed the story AND the history behind it! I know you treasure these memories too, as do your children. BTW, the Great Aunt Dora Johnston Gorseline was my mother's famed "Aunt Dode" she used to talk about. And the house that Grandma Tedlie inherited was the house in West Lafayette, OHIO, where Mama lived when she went to high school and graduated from West Lafayette High. She may have even used this chest herself while living there.

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  3. It's a beautiful dresser. I'm glad you found the names. Good blog.

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    1. This comment was from my son Matthew. I hope I never lose this. He is also in heaven now. (since May 25, 2014) I love that he was reading my blog back then. Thank you, Matthew. I'm sorry I didn't reply back then...but I may have talked to him on the phone about it at the time. We tried to talk every day even though he was living in Maine and I was in Florida. I sure miss those conversations...

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  4. Great story Pam! I'm so glad you found a good place for that chest--I loved it too, but just didn't have the room for it, but somehow, someway, it was not going to be sold to strangers!! We will figure out the rest of the story, I'm sure! I know I must have notes somewhere!! I know you will treasure that treasure!!

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    1. Thank you, Doris. Somehow I never responded to your comment either back in 2011. There was a lot going on then, if I recall correctly. Not only were we still settling Daddy's estate, but I was also taking care of my mother in law at our home as she had just had some surgery and was in a rehab center until we could bring her home with us...yes, there was a LOT going on then. I'm surprised I had time to write anything at all.

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  5. Beautiful. I just love the photos of your family, Pamela. You could always do a deep research on that chest drawer, start with looking over the it again; see if there are any dates or a company name. USUALLY it is listed on the underside or even on the back. smiles

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I will check again, but I don't think there was anything written on the back of the dresser. My mother was under the impression that some ancestor actually built it. If so, he was a master craftsman. But they were way back then because they couldn't just always go to a furniture store and buy what they wanted. So they became very good at building things. Thank you for these clues. I will look again.

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  6. How amazing to discover so much about your ancestry that's tied to this beautiful bureau, Pam! I'm so happy you heeded that nudge to keep it in your family, and that you are the lucky recipient of it. It is irreplaceable!
    Blessings!

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    1. Thank you, Martha. Little by little I am piecing things together, but there is so much we don't know about our ancestors. It's really sad to think that someday our future generations won't know anything about us either unless we leave them some piece of furniture or some nice books like you have written! It really makes you think.

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  7. What a beautiful story and the chest is absolutely gorgeous too. You've really done your homework on family history. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

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    1. Thank you, Martha. I am still working on the family history a little at a time. It is very interesting, and it is sad to me how little we really know about our ancestors lives. Someday the future generations won't know anything about us either unless we keep writing and sharing our stories with them. The problem is, most of us just don't pay attention while the person is still among us...it's after they're gone that we start wondering about who they were and what they did and so on and so on. Kind of sad. I'm glad you enjoyed this.

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  8. Very interesting! I have had to correct mistakes in my family tree. One thing I find very puzzling about the photo of your grandmother Flora, her aunt Dora, and her parents. Why does Dora have her hand resting on her brother-in-law's shoulder? Not usually done...is it possible that you have Dora and Belle reversed? Just wondering.

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    1. Wow, Vee, now you have me checking...but to the best of my knowledge and also after checking with another relative who also does our ancestry, I believe I have it correct. Dora was younger than her sister Belle and much healthier. So by looking at this picture, I believe Dora is the one standing in the back. Why she has her hand on her brother in law's shoulder I cannot answer. They must have been a friendly family. I know after my great grandmother died, apparently my great grandfather remarried someone. Aunt "Dode" went to live with my grandmother and family the last couple of years until she died, and then she willed her house to my grandmother, and my mother lived there throughout her high school years. That's all I know, but that was an interesting observation. I know she was well loved and she has a bit of a mischievous smile about her that the other women don't have. I think I would have loved her. I know my mother did.

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  9. I love how much you treasure the past. That chest is absolutely gorgeous and I am so glad you decided to keep it as your own. What a wonderful history to the piece.
    Loved this 'family treasure' post. xo Diana

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    1. Thank you, Diana. Yes, I am very thankful I was able to keep it as well. All I knew before about it was my mother kept saying it was "Aunt Dode's dresser". Little by little I have learned the whole story of why it was so special. I hope my kids will appreciate it someday.

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  10. Beautiful! Seeing those signatures and learning about your ancestors was so enjoyable; I didn't want this post to end. (*smile*)

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    1. Thank you, Myra. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I write these things as much for me and for my family as for everyone else. I need to print a copy of this and put it in the dresser for future generations...note to self...print it now while you are thinking about it. LOL.

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  11. WOW! What a treasure you have in that lovely dresser. It looks to be in great shape as well.

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    1. Thank you, Ruth. My father refinished it in 1968, so that is why it is still so nice. I am so glad I kept it. Yes, it is a treasure. Thank you.

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  12. A fascinating read, Pam. I love the chest and the family photos. You must be thrilled to find out this latest info. Thanks for sharing about the treasures upon the dresser, too. Oh, and the tiles in the doll house are perfect.

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    1. Thank you, Mildred. Yes, I was thrilled when I figured out who was who and who had actually had this dresser in their home. It really makes it special when you think about the ones who had put all their personal things in those drawers before you...Makes me wish they had left a little hanky or something in there. Thank you for appreciating the tiles in the doll house. I never quite knew what to do with them until I got this doll house, and then it just seemed perfect because they came from a fireplace and now they are a part of another fireplace!! Have a blessed and happy day. Hope all is going well this week.

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  13. It's a beautiful dresser and the tiles are so pretty.

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    1. Thank you so much Penny. I am glad that you like it. I guess I like it mostly because of its history...the tiles too. Now they are serving as fireplace tiles once again!

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  14. That's an interesting story about the chest of drawers. It is a handsome piece of furniture.

    It's also curious to see the facial expressions of people in the very old photographs. We see that all the time and I just wonder, did they not realize their expressions were being captured? So few of them would smile.

    Well, we've figured that one out and now do we not only try to look our best for photos, but we even are so vain as to take "selfies"!!

    Ah well.

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    1. I was told that people didn't smile for photos back then because they had to stand still for such a long time for the picture to take. I do see a bit of a smile on my Aunt Dode's face...she looks a bit mischievous if you ask me. I know she was a widow fairly young and she had her own little farm that she took care of by herself. She left her home to my grandmother and my mother lived there while she was in high school. She always spoke very fondly of her Great Aunt "Dode". They were a different "breed" of people back then...they had to work very hard to keep house. I also wonder if people didn't have as nice of teeth as they do today and maybe that's why they never showed their teeth much. Anyway, I'm just thankful to still have some of these old photos regardless. It is a little window into who they were.

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  15. That chest is beautiful and so full of history for you! I love that you have all of that information and have been able to really drill down on so much family lore. Great photos. Thanks for sharing your treasures with us, Pam!

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    1. Thank you, Terri. I guess I am just an "old soul" who wishes she could go back and meet all these people who came before us. I would love to sit down with them and have a cup of tea and have them tell me all about their lives. It's sad that so much is lost when people die and no one bothered to write down their story. I am glad that you enjoyed this little story of my family's history. It kind of makes them come back to life just a little.

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  16. A beautiful narration Pamela! You had me crying when I read about the clapping & your mother's thank-yous.

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    1. Oh, thank you, Anni! I am glad you enjoyed the story. I guess I'm kind of sentimental and I think thoughts like that, especially since my parents died and I can imagine them thinking and saying all kinds of things as they watch what goes on here today. Perhaps it is a mercy that they really don't see, or maybe they only see the happy times...who knows? I guess we will find out some day! I like to have happy thoughts about them anyway. I'm so glad you enjoyed it too.

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  17. That is just the kind of piece I would want to keep as well. IT is a true treasure. I love to think about those ancestors and think what their life might have been like. I am trying to do a bit every other night on the genealogy stuff. Wow- it is amazing.

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    1. Oh, isn't it fun? Once you start you get hooked on the ancestry stuff and you start learning about people you didn't even know existed. I've really enjoyed it so much. Thank you for your kind comments.

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  18. What a treasure this chest of drawers is to you (and your family)--so much history in it. Treasures are in the eye of the beholder--one person's treasure is another's "junk". The greatest treasure of all is Jesus!

    Love and blessings!

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    1. Or, "one person's junk is another's treasure!" LOL. Either way, yes, treasures are in the eye of the beholder. And yes, the GREATEST treasure of all is Jesus. Nothing can be compared to Him!

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  19. Hi there Pam, I hope you are having a good week? so glad you stopped by. Yep...I had to wonder the same thing about the bridal dress.....?? LOL. The dresses the young women wear today to their weddings, we would only have worn many of their "current styles" not AT OUR WEDDINGS---but in the privacy of our honeymoon NIGHT!! ha ha LOL Seriously....! I'm not a total prude....or try not to be anyway...but there's still something to modesty in my opinion. I loved reading all about your special chest of drawers in this post.....just lovely! I love hearing the stories and the history of my friend's families....so interesting. What a TREASURE that chest is....(get it?--treasure chest?!) LOL Anyway, the chest ended up with the 100 percent right owner/keeper for sure, you are taking care of it, keeping it safe for future generations along with the sweet stories that travel with it. Loved all the pictures.....and the pictures of the dolls too! Gosh, you and Diane and me are going to have to get together someday and PLAY DOLLS!! right?

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    1. I think it would be so much fun to get together and play with dolls! I would love it! So glad you enjoyed the story about this "treasure chest"! LOL. I hadn't thought of it that way, but that is definitely what it is! I hope you have a great weekend, and keep taking those pictures of what you see. I love seeing your town!

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    1. Thank you for asking. The last I heard is she is doing okay, still in the hospital, and they are giving her that remdesivir. Please keep her in your prayers. I've noticed she's said a couple of things on Facebook, so she is still alert and able to do that, so that is good news. Her daughter said they are taking very good care of her there.

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  21. Pamela ... I'm SO glad you visited my blog today via Dawn's journaling prompt. I think we have a LOT in common, and I look forward to connecting in the future :)

    I have a similar story about a piece of furniture that I inherited from my mother. Quite honestly, I never thought much of it, but now that I am researching her parents and their struggles, the antique dresser has more significance.

    I love the genealogy research is so much more than a bunch of dates. I love that it prompts me to research not just the people but the time period in which they lived. I am learning far more history through now than I ever learned in high school.

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    1. Oh, thank you for visiting my blog. I am glad you chose this one to read first! As I said, I do a lot of other things on my blog besides just genealogy, but I am trying to categorize them now with that in mind so I can find them easier and also for future generations to explore. I have many pieces of furniture that have a history to them and I've shared about them quite a bit. I just need to go back and label them for the genealogy tab. Yes, often if you can explore the history of certain items that were handed down to you or others in your family, you can get a glimpse of what was meaningful to your ancestors . Although to them these furnishings and dishes were just the things they used in their day to day lives, much like we use our everyday dishes, etc., and don't think much of them. But when they are passed down to future generations and that is perhaps the only material link they have to you, it becomes more precious. So that is what I've been writing about on my Wednesday Treasures posts mostly. Someone called them "Stuff with a Story"...which I think is an apt description! I am excited to meet you and look forward to more conversations in the future!! Thank you so much for responding!

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  22. Now, how cool is that?! I know y'all are thrilled. So glad the furniture survived all these years too. Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings. xx

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    1. Thank you!! It was fun seeing that dresser on that video. I about jumped out of my chair! LOL. Crazy, I know.

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  23. What an amazing story of family treasures and history, Pamela! I'm so glad, as I know you are, that you decided to keep this dresser and that you've learned so much about its origin. One day, you can pass it on to another family member who will value it as much as you do.
    Blessings!

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  24. What an extraordinary likeness to the one in the Harrison home! I certainly enjoyed the video, Pam ... and now I'm coveting those pieces from his law library. LOL. Yes, I remember playing the treasure hunt game. My father actually introduced me to that when I was a little girl -- something he and his brothers used to play, hiding notes in the underside of their parent's antique end tables. My former husband and I sold all to an antiques dealer; now I sort of regret it.

    BTW, have you heard of the movie 306 Hollywood? Another blogger who's recently cleaned out her late mother's home in preparation for a sale mentioned that. And now that I'm doing much the same -- on a much smaller scale -- I'm interested in watching it. Oh, the things we leave behind!

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