Sneak Peek Friday

I love the idea of decorating with items that have a history or a story behind them. We've often said that almost anywhere you will choose to look in our new house, you'll be looking at something with a story connected to it - including the walls, ceilings and floors! I'm really excited to be the current caretaker of one of the most important furniture pieces in my family, and I plan to use it in our new house.

My Great-Great Grandparents were James Eugene Hoyt (1845-1907) and Ellen Esther DeVoll (1854-1940). James was a veteran of the Civil War, and they were married in 1883 in Dane County, Wisconsin.

Another wedding portrait of Ellen is one that I blogged about cleaning up back in 2013.

James and Ellen had a son named Clifford James Hoyt (1890-1971). Clifford married Cleo Mae Dykes (1892-1918) and had a daughter named Thelma Esther Hoyt Hall (1917-2012) - my maternal grandmother. My grandma's mom, Cleo, died in the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, so Grandma was raised by her paternal grandmother, Ellen. 

When Ellen passed away in 1940, one of the items Grandma inherited was the "Tall Stand." That's what Grandma always called it. It was made for Ellen and James by Charles P. Wilcox - James' nephew, the son of his sister. This piece was always in the house when my grandmother was growing up; it was always in her house when my mother was growing up; and it was always on the stair landing of my grandmother's home when I was growing up. When Grandma died in 2012, I became the caretaker of the Tall Stand. It's an item that is very important to me and will be passed on to my brother's kids one day.

 

It will find a place in the foyer area of our new home, but it has been in our storage unit for the last 2 years since my grandmother died. Unfortunately, our storage unit is still packed enough that it was impossible to back up far enough to picture it in one shot for a better peek. Sorry about that.

All is well in the Keweenaw.