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 Silver Ephemera & Documentation
 Perusing a leaf or two from the family tree
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| Author | Topic: Perusing a leaf or two from the family tree |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 12-24-2005 04:20 PM
  
As our regular readers may have noticed, I take a certain pleasure in reading other people's mail, albeit long enough after the fact to escape the attentions of the postal authorities. There is something fascinating about these small glances into the intimate lives of people long past, doubly so when they bear upon my other passion, American silversmiths. Such a pity that so many have disappeared with time or, worse yet, fallen into the dusty clutches of stamp collectors whose only interest is the postmark. Facing this paucity of material, I often turn to reading wills and estate papers, which are still preserved in remarkable numbers in city and state archives and record offices. Luckily, for those of us languishing on the west coast, many, especially of the colonial era, are now making their way online through the efforts of genealogical societies and the like. One that sparks all sorts of idle daydreaming is the will of Mary [Chilton] Winslow, grandmother of the silversmith Edward Winslow, who died shortly before 11 May 1679 in Boston at age 71. I have made up a web page of a recent transcription, which can be found here. As can be seen, Mary Winslow enjoyed a long and comfortable life for the day. Her husband John was one of the wealthiest merchants in Boston and she had inherited a sizable portion of his estate in 1674. The fact that Governor Simon Bradstreet took the witnesses' oath personally is some indication of her standing in society. Of immediate interest to us are the numerous pieces of silver she passed down to her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, only a bare description is given of the pieces and no maker is mentioned. As far as I have been able to ascertain, none of the pieces are known to survive -- does anyone know to the contrary? I have to wonder if one or more might not be by the hand of Jeremiah Dummer, whose recently discharged apprentice, John Coney, helped appraise the estate. And what exactly does a "beer boule" look like? A caudle cup all grown up? [This message has been edited by wev (edited 12-24-2005).] IP: Logged |
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