Memorabilia & Ephemera

Merriam-Webster Dictionary definitions:

• Ephemera
  Paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles.
• Memorabilia
  Things that are remarkable and worthy of remembrance. Things that stir recollection or are valued or collected for their association with a particular field or interest.

The Oxford English Dictionary says this:

• Ephemera
  Items of short-lived interest or usefulness, especially those that later acquire value to collectors. Origin Greek, ‘things lasting only a day.’
• Memorabilia
  Objects kept or collected because of their associations with memorable people or events.

The following is our collection of bits and pieces of Boone County Ephemera and Memorabilia. Many of us have things that were found tucked in Grandma's scrapbook or an old shoebox or cracker tin in the attic that were saved for sentimental reasons. Often these items yield significant genealogical information and historical interest. This is the place to post your old family notes, letters, diaries, journals, programs, rosters ... anything that gives us a an interesting and informative glimpse of our Boone County ancestors!

Please contribute your typed transcripts or scanned images to add to this collection.

• Memories of Boone County by William Beach
  Mr. Beach relates his impressions and memories as a young lawyer in Boone County.
   

• "This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage." ~ Ellen Goodman The Boston Globe

  Nannie (Dixon) Bohannon's Autograph Book - 9/7/2007
  Signed by relatives and friends during the years 1900-1909, and includes some birth and death dates. Many of the signers are shown in photos and data elsewhere on the site (or will be soon!)
   
• Brenton Family History Letter
  A letter to Alma Caldwell in 1939 from a relative discussing their Brenton family history.
   
• Brenton 1911 Family Reunion Report
  The Brenton family were early settlers in Boone County and this report read at their 1911 family reunion documents their history and that of various other related family names; Prater, Plummer, Caldwell, etc.
   
• Click Family History Letter
  A letter dated 1930 from John Daniel Hodges tells much about the Click family history.
   
• William Davenport - Bill to Congress - 9/15/2007
  A bill introduced for a claim against the government to reimburse him for "greenbacks" destroyed in the burning of his home in 1863. [source]: H.R. 3438. United States. Cong. House. Proceedings. 42nd Congress. 3rd sess. Bills and Resolutions of the House and Senate. American Memory. Lib. of Congress. 13 Sept. 2007 <http://www.loc.gov/index.html>. Submitted by: T. Stover.
   
• Poem by David Dunlap Cohee
  A poem written in 1933 contemplating life on his 80th birthday.
   
• A True Story by David Dunlap Cohee
  Written in 1932 in his 80th year, Mr. Cohee looks back on his life, his parents and his grandparents.
   
• Civil War Letter - Philander Main Curtis
  A letter written during the Civil War from Philander Main Curtis to his sister, Isabella J. Curtis.
   
• William Wheatley Moore's Autograph Book
  Many Boone County residents wrote sentiments and short poems as a farewell to a friend in 1882.
   
• Certificate of Honor from the Knights of Pythias to Thomas L. Neal - 9/7/2007
  This 1905 certificate was rescued from a Plainfield, Indiana flea market!
   
• Civil War Letter - Powell & McCann
  A letter written to Esie Powell from James McCann from Camp Lafayette in 1862.
   
• Carl Riner Public Auction -1929
  The flyer advertising the public sale and auction of farm animals, implements and household goods when Carl Riner decides to quit farming in 1929.
  
  Submitted by: Louise Thompson - 3/31/2007
   
• Soldiers Letter - Charles Taylor, 1900
  A letter written by Charles Taylor to his mother while he was stationed in the Philippines.