Family Dinner Table

It’s time for another Tablescape Thursday with Susan from Between Naps on the Porch! You know what to do … dash on over and see what our gracious hostess has prepared for us today. Be sure to visit all the other participants. The tables are set, and they’re waiting to entertain us!
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My father's older sister was our unofficial family historian. When she passed away a few years ago, I stepped into the role. I'll always be grateful to her for the work she did. She meticulously documented at least three generations (back to her great-grandparents) on both sides of the family. She exchanged letters with distant cousins, wrote down her personal recollections, and did it all by hand ... no computers. She did have a copier, so she made copies of the lineage pages, newspaper obituaries, and old family photographs similar to the one below. Then she organized the pages in loose leaf binders and gave one to each of us.

She was a talented artist, did beautiful crafts, wrote a self-published cookbook (sold every copy), and taught Sunday School for 50 years. She was my inspiration for this post.

I decided to set a table for eight in the solarium. It was late afternoon when I took the photographs, so I went ahead and lit the candles.

I printed some old family photographs on card stock and framed them in silverplated frames from estate sales. The frames cost from fifty cents to two dollars.

I feel fortunate to be the keeper of our old family Bible. It was published in 1893 and belonged to my grandparents. It contains all the records of their immediate family. Obviously, it's old and tattered, so I handle it very carefully. For the record, I wouldn't really use it on a table where food and drink were being served. As soon as the pictures were taken, I whisked it away ... back to its usual place.

The photographs are of my great-great grandfather and his second wife, two of their daughters, and a daughter with her two young sons.

My great-great grandfather was a country doctor in Coffee County, Tennessee. His grandparents had been among the first families to settle the county. I’ve been to visit their (my 4th great-grandparents’) graves in the old family cemetery. The cemetery has a state historical marker, and it’s located in a rather posh subdivision near where the family’s grist mill and paper mills had stood.

If the young woman appears to have a less-than-gleeful expression, it could relate to the fact that, at the age of 16, she married this man, 42 years her elder. She bore him seven children, five of whom lived past infancy. Sarah, (or “Sallie”) was the younger sister of the doctor’s daughter-in-law. My father remembers her (Sallie's older sister), Nancy Adeline Priscilla ("Nannie," his paternal grandmother). My dad's father was fifty when he was born. The men in the family were certainly .... vigorous, weren't they?

In those days men didn’t travel far to find their brides. I’ve read that staying within a twenty mile radius was typical. “Allied” families often migrated together and settled in the same community. The doctor married Sallie the same year his first wife died (he already had seven children who needed tending!).

My brother made the tall candleholder in the center of the table for me. He used our grandfather's forge and blacksmithing tools. He's often invited to demonstrate at craft/heritage fairs and does commissions. He made a beautiful wrought iron arbor for his daugher's outdoor wedding last year. It's now in her garden at the house she and her husband are renovating (her mother's great grandparent's house). The metal candleholders (with wooden bases) flanking the center one are Hobby Lobby clearance finds.

He also made the small candleholders you see in this photo. It appears that I need to invest in some dripless candles, doesn't it?

The smiling young woman with her two young sons is my (half) great-great aunt, Grace, who was also a cousin, many times removed, on my great-grandmother’s side. Genealogy can become very complicated, can’t it?

My brother works in metals, and I dabble in watercolor from time to time. I thought the solarium was a good place for some of my more colorful efforts. For the lily painting, I worked from a photograph I had taken. The others are abstracts.

The plates are "Countryside," English transferware by Enoch Wedgwood, manufactured from 1966 to '68. Enoch, a cousin of the more famous Josiah Wedgwood, founded his company in 1860. It's less valuable than "real" Wedgwood, but I think the quality is perfectly acceptable.

I bought an "almost" service for 12 at a local antique mall on sale for $50 recently (it was on sale for a bit more than that, but I made an offer, and it was accepted). It's missing a few bowls and small plates, but has plenty of dinner plates and cups ... all in very good condition.

The flatware is "South Seas" by Oneida (1955-'65), another antique mall purchase. The silverplated goblets are from an estate sale. They were priced at $8 each, but I ended up purchasing 8 for $20. It was the end of the last day of the sale ... when prices become VERY negotiable.

The crosses are all from Hobby Lobby, purchased at 80 to 90% off. The water glasses are Fostoria's "Puritan" pattern, manufactured from 1957 to '71. I like the clarity and the clean lines. They came from an indoor flea market in Illinois ... 8 for $20.

The crochet-trimmed cloth and vintage napkins were estate sale finds. The brown faux-leather fabric came from a yard sale and cost fifty cents.

I think that about covers it. I hope you enjoyed dining (sans food and beverage) at this Family table.

I'd love to hear from you! Who was your family historian? Who inspired you to be creative? Who was your most fascinating ancestor?