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!

Wednesday Treasures: Vanity, Oh Vanity! (not what you think)-Recycled

Good Morning Friends! Today is my Wednesday Treasure day, and I thought I would go back in time to a previous post about one of my favorite treasures.  This was originally posted on November 1, 2013, for what was then a blogging group called "Random Journal Day".  I am not sure if the link to that will still lead you anywhere since many of those bloggers have moved on to different blogs and may not have the same posts still available...so just disregard that part of this recycled post and move on to the real story, which was an excerpt from one of my old journals.  I hope you will enjoy this story about another special treasure.  I may make a few edits throughout to update it to today.

Original Post 11/1/2013:

Today is "Random Journal Day", when many of us old journalers look back through the dusty volumes of our past and randomly choose something to share with the rest of the world.  You never know what you are going to get on Random Journal Day!  It could be something sweet, or something sad. It may even be profound, or words written from a struggling soul...or like mine today, just some pleasant memories that were meaningful to me and I hope will have some lasting value for you as well.  So here we go...

I thought I would look for something written around this same time of year, so I landed upon a journal entry written on October 30, 1990 at 8:21 p.m.  However, in my first paragraph of this particular journal entry I referred to a previous entry, written a couple of months earlier, but referring to this same topic..."My Vanity".  So, in order to help this little story make sense, I must go back to the previous writing and go from there...please bear with me...this may be a long post!

August 4, 1990:

My bedroom at the time of this writing, 1990.
(Remember to click on pictures to enlarge for viewing)

"Right now I'm sitting in our bedroom on our lovely country blue and white bed and comforter, enjoying the freshly finished mahogany vanity.  I have a blue candle and sconce (chimney) centered in front of the mirror, and it's so lovely to watch the reflections of the flickering candle. It gives off such a soft glow which reflects on the shine of the rich wood and the many glass bottles of perfume and jars of pot pourri on the vanity.  Such a warm, cozy feeling it gives!  It helps me to enjoy and appreciate this little corner of my room.  I also have the lovely cut glass vanity lamps lit on my Grandma Tedlie's dresser~and they add a romantic and nostalgic aura to the room.  Someday perhaps my granddaughter (?) will enjoy and appreciate these links to the past!  I hope whoever receives them will feel a kindred spirit with the author of this book!  It would be fun to watch and see!  I wonder if we'll have that privilege from heaven?  Perhaps heaven will be too full of glory to be concerned with such things.  I hope to leave more of a heritage than just old furniture. Perhaps a love for the Lord."

Move ahead to October 30, 1990:

"After re-reading page 80 about my corner of the bedroom, I see I failed to give the details of the history of my newly-refinished vanity.  So, just for the record~the lovely mahogany vanity was given to me by my Dad for my 18th birthday~my last birthday at home before I got married!  Only when Daddy gave it to me he had "antiqued" it in the popular style of the day~a sort of light avocado green antiquing.  It was lovely, he did a wonderful job of finishing it.  I was so proud of that gift~the only piece of furniture I was to take with me from my old home to my new home.  The only gift I can really remember that my Dad prepared especially for me.  I remember the day he bought it.  We were shopping at a used furniture and antique store in the little town of Eustis.  I bought a special old fashioned plaque for my Mother...to give to her on Mother's Day.  It still hangs in her bedroom (at the time of this original writing...I have it back with me now.)

Anyway, as we were browsing around through the dusty, dark storage rooms of used furniture, Daddy discovered this vanity, and called it to my attention.  It was rather worn and faded looking, somewhat forlorn among all the cast-off furnishings of days gone by.  But it had a "regal" look~a graceful beauty that beckoned to me.  I'd never owned a "real" piece of furniture before~my room at home was rather simple~2 twin beds with no headboards, a large desk Daddy had made for my sister Doris and me to share~and a built-in dresser and closet. Neat, but plain.  The vanity had curves and style~I loved it~it made me feel like a princess.  Daddy bought it.  I don't remember how we got it home, but he set to work on it right away~smoothing down the rough edges and scratches~and then the finish~it was beautiful!  What a happy birthday it was for me!  18!! I don't remember anything else about that birthday, but about 12 days later I met my husband to be...and less than one year later~we transferred that vanity in a U-Haul trailer from my old home to our new apartment~our first home together!  It really didn't match any of our other furnishings, but then, none of our other furniture matched anything else!  We set up housekeeping with odds and ends of used furniture~which is another story in itself.  My Dad again came to the rescue in seeking out "good sturdy furniture" at a low price!  But the vanity stayed with us~through some 24 moves (then...many more now)...from house to house, apartment to house, state to state and back again!

For 21 years it sat in my room and held my jewelry, scarves, perfume, knicknacks and other special memories.  The right top drawer had bits of rice that was from our wedding day...

It sustained many knicks and bumps~the antiqued finish began to chip and peel off.  The mirror frame sustained a major injury and lost one of its Queen Anne curves~but I held on to it in hopes of someday restoring it.

Finally, after realizing it had become quite an eyesore, I determined to refinish it to its natural beauty.  So I began the process of stripping off the green antiquing~under that was a white coat of base paint more stubborn to remove, and under that a coat of varnish-and finally the original mahogany veneer.  During the stripping process I accidentally splashed some stripper into my eye and had an awful time waiting for it to heal.  You can believe I wore safety goggles after that!

Then we moved again~I had only finished the vanity table...not the mirror or stool.  So once again we move it, careful not to put any new scratches on it's freshly stained and tung-oiled surface. It sat in the corner of our new bedroom about eight months without its mirror or stool.  Finally during the summer I made up my mind to get it finished once and for all.  I took the mirror and stool to a professional stripper to remove the finish.  Then I brought it home and stained and oiled it to match the rest.  I covered the cushion of the stool to match our new bedspread and drapes, and then I stood back to admire this "old" friend who had become like new again! Transformed into a thing of beauty and pleasure to behold!

The Refinished Vanity, as she looked at the time of this
original journal entry in 1990

Oh, I know an antique dealer would probably snicker at the "value" of this piece of furniture~it's really not that old, or that good, but to me it is a treasure chest of memories--an old friend who's been by my bedside now for 22 years ( add another 23  30 to that today! (10/14/2020)...a precious link to my past...and my Dad."



 Well, today, this vanity has been with me for about 45  (52) years!  (I really was only one year old when I first got it! Ha!!!!)  It has a few more scratches and bumps and lots of dust.  It has traveled quite a journey with me...and I still hope to pass it down along with my Grandma Tedlie's dresser to a granddaughter someday...if I ever get one...(I currently have one wonderful grandson, and he just may have to take it someday)  or maybe to a great-granddaughter or niece.   I hope this little story will go with it wherever it goes...and that the recipient of this inheritance will possess something even more precious than this story:

1 Peter 3:3-4- A gentle and quiet spirit

"And let not your adornment be merely external-- braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. "

Proverbs 31:30- Fear of the Lord

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

This is how my vanity looks today...a bit cluttered...and
the bench disappeared sometime ago, and I think I
finally cleaned all the wedding rice out of the drawers.
I also have added an antique chamber pot...just in case...

I know that my Daddy, who is now up in heaven, would be pleased to know that I still treasure this gift and honor his memory by sharing this story.  I know my Heavenly Father, Who is also up in heaven, would be pleased to know that I treasure His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ...and that I honor HIS memory by sharing His Story every chance I get!

I hope you have enjoyed this little journey back into my past.  What kind of special treasures and memories do YOU have to share?  

Here's a link to another story on restoration that you may find interesting as well: "Cracks in My Soul"

Friday Foto Friends - A Visit to Micanopy

I am writing this on Thursday evening, and praying now for the people in the path of Hurricane Florence. They have a rough weekend ahead of them, and I pray that God will spare their lives and homes. I do pray that those in harm's way have gotten to higher, safer ground ahead of the storm. As I heard many people on the news saying, "Your lives and the lives of your family members are more important than things. Things (stuff!) can be replaced, but people can't. So be safe! Take care of people first"

Speaking of "stuff",  I've been looking around at all my "stuff" lately, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all. I envy those who are able to downsize and walk away from too much stuff and begin anew with a cleaner slate.  I am truly praying about this, and seeking God's help in "letting go" and beginning the process of "downsizing". One thing at a time. Gotta start somewhere. I look around and really don't know where to begin, but I pray that God will direct my path and give me the courage to do this.

Again, speaking of "stuff"...last week we spent a very enjoyable day with our son and his sweet wife, a.k.a. "The Newlyweds", on a little day trip to the very interesting historical town of Micanopy.  If you have never been there, you might want to add it to your day trip list, for those of you who live in Florida. I would advise going in the fall or early winter or spring...not summer. Not only is it too hot, but many of the stores are not open in the summer. They open back up in the fall as they anticipate more visitors and shoppers when the weather cools down a bit.  But, even though it was a warm day, we had a wonderful time, and it was well worth the time spent.  So here are some pictures from our day:  (Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away...there are quite a few pictures!)

Each of these old buildings had unique and interesting kinds of stores. The one above had antiques and also sold guitars and other musical instruments.

Most every store had some kind of antiques and other decorative type of merchandise. Here's my family pondering the architecture of the buildings around them..

Interesting...

I want one of these:

"The Newlyweds"...this week they celebrated 10 months of married bliss!!

I told the family that this is what I want for Christmas...

 Or maybe even one of these...

This was the little cafe' where we ate a very delicious lunch...Their chicken salad is delicious, and they make their own salad dressings...

An old Hoosier Cupboard...it was a bit worse for the wear, but still a "treasure"

I thought of all my coffee drinking friends here...but they did also sell tea...(I had iced tea, of course, on this warm day)

This is the outside of the building where the cafe' is. We could have sat on the porch to eat, but it was very warm, and there were bees buzzing around, so we opted to eat inside where it was cool...maybe next time we'll eat on the porch...

Next was a house full of many antiques, dishes, dolls, books, teacups, etc....I refrained from buying anything for myself.   Anyway...the walk into the place was through a very tall butterfly garden. Most things weren't blooming right then, so it just looked rather weedy. But I can imagine it being beautiful while in bloom...

This was one of the flowers blooming there...

Here's the old Stage Coach stop...

 Just another view of the town and one of the many beautiful old homes...

It says Private, but I wanted to explore...

I love the old brick buildings and vines...and we wondered about "Seminary" Avenue...not sure what kind of Seminary they had there...need to look that up.

Another colorful shop

This little garden was behind that shop above...

 I know my sister would be in plant heaven here...

Next we visited the Micanopy Historical Society Museum.  Micanopy is a very old town, originally home to the Potanos and Timucuan tribes, and later the Creek Indians and Seminoles.  Micanopy is the first inland town, (not on a river) and it is the first United States town in Florida. For more information on the history of this town please go to www.MicanopyHistoricalSociety.com     You will be amazed at all the history of this little village.

Here are some pictures from the museum:

This is a picture of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  Her home at Cross Creek, Florida, is not very far from this area.  You may remember her as the author of the story "The Yearling", which was also made into a movie , and many of the scenes were actually filmed here in the Salt Springs area where I live. Some were also filmed in Micanopy.  She also wrote the book, "Cross Creek", which also became a movie of her life story.

Here are pictures of some of the Indian Chiefs from this area.

Some of the flora and fauna written about by the famous botanist William Bartram, as he traveled inward to Micanopy back in the 1770's.

These are some old farm implements discovered when they cut back the brush and found the trees growing up inside the implements. So they left them that way for the display at the museum.

 Sort of an old farm tool cemetery...

It was a hot and thirsty afternoon... Royal Crown Cola, anyone?

It truly was a delightful day. For me, the best part was spending time with our sweet adult "kids"...enjoying them and rejoicing in the fact that we have them nearby to be able to do this occasionally. That is a true blessing for us "old folks."

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the little town of Micanopy. If you are looking for it on the map, it is just off of highway 441, a little south of Gainesville, Florida, and northwest of Ocala.
You might also be interested in the Herlong Mansion, which is a Bed & Breakfast in Micanopy. Here is a picture...I didn't take this picture, but it gives you a glimpse of the beauty:

Now let us travel over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace  and visit our other Friday Foto Friends and see what they've been up to.  Have a blessed and wonderful weekend, and if you are in the path of Florence, we are praying for you right now.