Description: Letter, typed, from George Hadlock, Registry of Deeds, Hancock Country, to Elva Lagoutte, about re-deeding A.D. Stanley house to Addie Duren, after fire in courthouse destroyed original deed
Description: Document, from "pad 45" (Peter Donald) to "pkw2@myfairpoint.net" (Phil and Karen Whitney). Subject: "Donald House" Document mentions that that Moorfield Storey bought 2 or 3 buildings that were part of the Bulger Farm in the early part of the 1900's when he first came to Cranberry. One was the house that is now the Donald Trust house (Barbara's). The other is the Pressey house next door which the Frank kids now own jointly. We sold it to the Frank family in the late 1980's after Barbara died. The house that Susie and Gidda Bancroft now own were possibly part of the the Bulger Farm and may have been bought from the Bulgers by some member of the Storey family. The Pressey and Trust house were passed on to Barbara by her father, Malcolm Donald (married to Katherine Storey) in the mid-1940's. I don't know much about the Lyman/Storey house on the hill. Bruce Komusin will be asked to investigate as he has organized a lot of the history on these properties. I will also ask my sister, Debbie, when she is there later this month, to take a look at some of the old pictures stored in the house for a picture of Barbara. [show more]
Description: Post card, Interior of Great Hall at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia. (Post marked October 1937) Item # 1602a is the other side of the post card. Author-unknown
Description: Wooden commode (potty seat/toilet chair) with lid. One of several items from donors in summer 2016 prior to selling their house on The Lane, GCI. Many items pertain to the Lulu Alley family. Items were in the house when donor's parents, June and Ed Sampson, bought the house from Lulu in November 1969. The house was built for Lulu Steele when she married Lewis Alley 1914(?); Lulu died in 2004. House is said to be a ca. 1914 Sears Roebuck modular home, similar to several others on GCI. The garage on the property was built by Mike Westphal in the 1980s. Big cook stove in kitchen is original. It was the only heat and only stove in the house originally. Rocking chair in house is original. Kitchen cabinetry on right of sink is original. Woodstove in the living room is 1973. [show more]
Description: Trinkets or toys. Collection of four small, wooden items recovered from the debris of the wall from the north-facing fireplace along with four concealed shoes (2013.252.1979) during the 2013 remodeling of the Great Cranberry Congregational Church parsonage house (177 Cranberry Road). Miniature boat hull: wood, 3 ¼" long x 1 and 1/8" wide x ½" deep; Spool: wood, 2" diameter x ½" thick; center hole is ½" diameter; Tube: wood, 1 ¾" wide x 2 ½" high, with ½" diameter hole drilled through center; Semi-circle: wood, 5 ½" long x 2 ¾" wide x ¼" thick with black, stamped letters: 'SCHUYKILL LEAD C[?] EXTRA'; half of a circular lid with a hole in the center.The shoes and wooden trinkets would have been intentionally concealed between the stud wall and the brick of the fireplace on the first floor ca. 1840. These items were found under the demolition rubble against the inside of the stud wall that had surrounded the fireplace on the first floor when the chimney was being removed. The four shoes date stylistically to 1820-1830s, likely hidden inside the wall by Enoch Spurling's family when the house was constructed ca. 1840. The shoes and trinkets were repatriated to a spot in the new decorative chimney in October 2013 along with three other modern items in a plastic 'File 'n Go' carry case with latching lid. The three modern items are: one pink-and-white flip-flop sandal with “2013” written on it; one church roster; one church bulletin; and the initial report from the GCIHS about finding the concealed shoes and trinkets. (See also 2013.252.1980 - remnants of shoes from the kitchen crawlspace; 2013.252.2000 - metal implements; 2013.252.2001 - wooden implements; and the report of parsonage house research - 2015.304.2062.) [show more]
Description: Wallpaper, three remnants of wallpaper (A), (B), and (C), from the Dowling/Meyers house recovered from under the floor during renovations in 2000. (This house was previously owned by Edith Drury and Sam Chapman and dates to ca. 1840.) Remnant A: (10" L x 5.5" W) the top layer is a beige, textured felt-like daffodil-and-leaf pattern of yellow, red, blue, brown, and green with a striped border piece applied at one edge. One corner lifts up to reveal two earlier layers of wallpaper. The middle (second) layer is yellowish-green with gold lines. The bottom (third) layer is a bright greenish wallpaper pattern on linen backing. (The bottom layer of Remnant A matches Remnant C and the middle layer of Remnant B.) Remnant B: (9.5 L x 3.5" W) is the same as the top layer of Remnant A, and has one sub-layer visible at corner. This sub-layer is a greenish tan pattern of plants on paper with linen backing and matches Remnant C. Remnant C: (11" L x 5" W) is a green and gold clover, flower, fleur-de-lis, textured pattern with linen backing. There are no sublayers on Remnant C. (See 1000.27.734 for matching wall paper from the nearby Ladies Aid building.) [show more]
Description: Furniture. Rocking chair with swivel tray. Wood. Original black rocker with gold scroll work on seat and back has been modified with addition of a swiveling, wooden tray affixed to the chair arms. Rocker blades may have been shortened. Rocker may have had a signature, Stanley, visible on it at one time. Phil Whitney recollects in 2015 that this rocker was rescued from his family's house (across the street from his present home) during their house fire. It may have been his mother's rocker (d.o.b. 1911), or perhaps his great great grandmother Sidney Hamor Bunker who died in 1918, or his great grandmother, Julia Bunker Spurling. (From Ladies Aid 2000) [show more]
Description: Letters and deed. Collection of documents relating to inheritance of Enoch Spurling property. (A) one original letter from C.M. Richardson 12 Mar 1906, to Moorfield Storey, Boston, describing circumstances surrounding her father, Enoch Spurling's, death, his estate, and the Stanley graveyard (a.k.a. Stanley cemetery), and asking for his legal help, for free. (See transcription 100.46.259.txt.). (B) Scanned print of letter from Carrie Richardson to Moorfield Storey April 2, 1906. (C) Scanned print of a handwritten statement by Carrie M. Richardson about the will of her father and inheritance of nine house lots. (D) Scanned print of a handwritten note appointing Lewis Stanley to act for them until March 3rd 1906, continuing his duties as administrator of the will which expired March 3, 1905. (E) Scanned print of a handwritten Warranty Deed given by John Stanley 2nd and Lucinda G. Stanley to Leonard Holmes March 5th 1866 referring to the Stanley burial ground January 19, 1870, Vol. 135/Page 504. (F) Deed Book 0135 Page 505 Stanley to Holmes 1870 which refers to the "family's burying ground" (i.e. the Stanley cemetery). [show more]
Description: Davis Grimm stands behind a canoe. Inscriptions on back read "Davis Irvin [sp?] item/ 4 pix/ Spiker" in blue pen, and "III 2," "100%," and "3 col" in marker. People Depicted: Davis Grimm Black and white
Description: Robert Lincoln works on a canoe outside a log cabin. Inscriptions on back read "Robert Lincoln item/ 4 pix/ Spiker" in blue pen, and "100%," and "3 col" in marker. People Depicted: Robert Lincoln Black and white
Description: Six people sit and stand on the porch of an unidentified two-story house. Inscription on the back reads "R. H. Hyson" in blue pen. Black and white
Description: The Woodlawn Inn was built by George Henry Fernald for George and Edna Gilley, circa 1893. After Edna's death it was closed in 1909. James Ray and Ada Dwelley reopened the inn in 1911 and ran it for over 40 years.