I've been known to tell people I meet that when it comes to finding anything you want to know about in your family history, you can either google it or you can look at Facebook. That's right. I said it. Facebook. We have a love / hate relationship. I can get really bothered by the political and personal drama, or if I work it right, I can find amazing things to further my love for this hobby. Or any hobby.... but I happen to love research, cemeteries and old items!!
I find myself envious of the items that I have found in other people's collections and inventories. Many of us do not have items to feel and touch and hold and smell..... The internet has those of us with little to no visual identities of our ancestors, together with others who DO hold these items! How fabulous is that when you stop to think about it? One of my favorite places to spend time looking at family treasures has been on Facebook in a group run by Don A. Howell. He runs a moderately sized group by the name of West Kentucky Genealogy. Don's been collecting family photos, negatives, bibles, documents, newspapers and other items for more than 30 years hoping to reunite them with their rightful heirs.
Over the years Don has been rescuing items from auctions, flea markets, yard sales and websites like eBay amassing some 500,000, "Give or Take" he says, photos and thousands of family bibles. Don's collection of old newspapers from Graves County, KY is near a full completion of what existed at nearly 90%. He estimates that he's been able to return to family, several thousand items though, admittedly, he's never really kept track of the statistics. Don't let the name of this fool you! Don at WKG has items from all over Kentucky and all over the US in all time periods including pretty modern times. Don has purchased the remaining contents of several major portrait and photography studios. Typically those will contain photos that were unclaimed, unpaid or forgotten as well as negatives. Don also shows this inventory on his Curtis & Mays Studio Facebook Page! I can tell you that with 55,106 images on Facebook page alone, you will have no problem looking for something interesting! Yes, I counted them. My bean counter and my fingers took over an hour to go through the numerous albums of photos counting! As I was counting, he was adding hundreds more.... I gave up. Sorry, I tried. [HINT: Use Facebook page and group search features for any item that may be labeled. Those that are not labeled or are unknown will have to be browsed through. ]
Beside the Facebook page he also maintains The West Kentucky Genealogy website where you can see items in his inventory. A wonderfully laid out and informative website with even more items to mesmerize for hours and hours on end. All the searching, looking and browsing will hopefully find you staring one of your own family ancestors in the face! At least, that's Don's hope. Also take a moment (or a month or two)... at West Kentucky MagCloud for unique reproductions of some items that are available. This image of a Confederate Soldier was in an estate sale in Paducah, Kentucky. As Civil War photos are a huge collector's item, this one cost Don $375 to save. Over the years, Don admits, that he's spent quite a large sum on some items and has often put his auction paddle in the air and just left it there until he was the buyer. "I try to put myself in the shoes of the family. If they were there, would they keep going for grandma's old 1700's Bible? I would..." Though those large purchases are rare, sometimes large collections may cost a collectively large amount. As Don saves these items, he catalogs them, inventories them and then scans them on to hard drives. With some collections, Don will occasionally make a book with the items so that more than one family member can have copies.
Though this is Don's hobby, it is not without risk and expense! The purchases he says first came out of the own pockets. As years went on, he has had to tighten the budget a bit. The money to save more items now comes mostly from the rescuing of family heirlooms by their living families and relatives. WKG does ask for a recoup of expense paid and shipping if it is needed, but no profit is obtained from those sales. Donations in both a physical form and a monetary form have been received in the past. Don has also taken on an apprentice to keep the mission going in the future. For those of you who venture into the wild wild web you may want to take a look at the West Kentucky Genealogy RedBubble page as well, see even more items that you can order online, and find out how you can help Don save these memories for future generations. Go out there and Enjoy those Adventures In Genealogy! Let Don A. Howell at West Kentucky Genealogy know you appreciate what he does. I hope you are reunited with YOUR family soon! ~M
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Help Me Keep this Website Free. Donate from just $1 to any amount of your choice!
AuthorMichele is an obsessed mother of 4 residing in North Alabama. Hobbies include long walks in the woods, on the beach and in strange cemeteries and libraries. Genealogy friends need only apply. Categories
All
|