Tag Archives: Theme: Saturday in the Attic

This is my mom’s first paycheck she received while working for her dad’s miniature company.  She would have been just shy of 15 years-old when she got this check.

This is a Valentine’s Day card from my grandmother, Marie ROTTMAN Miller, to my grandfather, Harold MILLER.

This is the obituary for my great-grandmother, Anna E STOFFEL Rottman.  She died on 12 June 1936 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

This is a copy of the marriage record for my  third great-grandparents, James MULLIGAN and Sarah Norton WEBSTER.  They were married on 5 November 1865 in Pontiac, Oakland, Michigan. To my knowledge, James was married twice prior to marrying Sarah.  He was first marriage to a Margaret, and had at least four children:  Maria, Patrick, Michael, and Bridget.  He then married a Sophia, and had three children:  Joseph, James P, and Julia. Sarah was first married to Abram Marshall COFFINGER.  The were married on 5 May 1850, in Michigan.  Together […]

I really do wish this item was in the attic, as opposed to where I actually found it.  It would be so neat to have an artifact this old in my personal collection. It’s a letter written by John Hopkins to Gov. John Winthrop.  It was found at the beginning of the book John Hopkins of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1634 and Some of His Descendants (by Timothy Hopkins, Palo Alto, CA, 1932).

This is the obituary for my third great-grandmother, Margaret RYAN Murnane McMahon.  It, along with the 1880 census helped me to identify that she was married prior to marrying my third great-grandfather, Timothy McMahon in 1873.  The 1880 census provided the maiden names of the two daughters born to the first husband.  This obituary provides the married names for those daughters.  Eventually, this led me to discover an old friend was in fact a fourth cousin!

My grandmother, Joan McMAHON Cahill made many ceramics.  This one was made for me when I was born.  It’s in the shape of a large mug; my mom thinks it was meant to be a planter.

It’s a new year, and time to get back to my Saturday in the Attic column! This is a large pasta bowl that belonged to my grandmother, Joan McMAHON Cahill.  I have no idea where or when she got it, but it sure is a pretty dish.