Owen Family Heirlooms: the Lamp, the Bowl, and the Quilt

heir·loom

noun \ˈer-ˌlüm\ : a valuable object that is owned by a family for many years and passed from one generation to another

I only have a few "heirlooms" from the Owen Family. It is tangible evidence that real people I know mostly from pictures once lived.   I keep most of my heirlooms in an oversized trunk I once bought at Goodwill.  Some heirlooms are a bit harder to keep than others.

1929 photo of the Owen Family.  James in the middle with his mother, Ida, in the back.  Velma, Delcie, and Harold are pictured, but Ancil is missing.

The oil hurricane lamp was passed down through the Owen descendants.  I believe it was used by the Fish family.  It is easily over 100 years old.  I move it from my living room when the quadcopters are being flown at Christmas!  We forget that it wasn't that long ago and this was the only source of light for our ancestors.   Imagine reading and studying by the light of this lamp.  Maybe we'll try it out one of these days.

Oil Lamp from the Owen-Fish family

This bowl is from a set of dishes that once belonged to Ida Ellen Fish Owen.

Bowl that belonged to the Ralph and Ida Owen family

Ida Ellen was my grandmother and she died when I was nine years old.  She seemed a quiet woman and I really don't have many memories about her.  I know she was a great cook and supported her family as a single mom working in the kitchen at a nearby college in Lincoln, Nebraska.   She would often invite others to dinner.

Ida Ellen Fish Owen  (October 16, 1885-September 12, 1961).  This photo was taken at James Owen's wedding in 1948.

My father (James Owen) was attending Chiropractic School in Portland, Oregon and he talked his mother, Ida, into moving from Nebraska to the Northwest where two of her children then lived.  She was there from about 1955-1961.  I remember enjoying Thanksgiving at her home when we lived in Portland.  I think I "remember" that because we have pictures of that time with her. 

1957 Thanksgiving at Grandma Owen's house. Steven Owen is the baby.

This shell and the glass bowl were among the items Delcie Owen O'Grady (Ida's daughter) gave to Diane Portnoy and I when we went to visit her Nebraska in 1993.

Note the July 1909 written in pencil inside the shell.

I had a note from Delcie that said, "French Lick, Indiana"  and she said she really didn't know the story behind this keepsake.  I imagine the shell was found at a gift shop in French Lick, Indiana when Ida's future husband, Ralph Eugene Owen, proposed to her and so she saved this shell.   We don't really know, but we can see the July 1909 penciled inside.  Maybe it was something Ralph kept and it ended up in the Owen cedar chest (in Diane's possession). We do know that Ralph and Ida Owen were married on August 21, 1909 in Jackson, Indiana.

This quilt top was a crazy quilt patchwork made from clothes the Owen family no longer used.  Note the wool pieces that were possibly from men's suit scraps.  Maybe they were from clothing once worn by Ralph Eugene Owen.  Ralph died in 1928 and as the Owen family lived through the depression.  I'm sure they would "reduce, reuse, and recycle" just like we should today.   Putting this quilt top together (probably in the 1930's) likely brought back memories of Ida's happy years with Ralph and her five children. It has moved with me from Redmond, WA to Vancouver, WA to Logan, UT always calling for me to repair it.

This summer the Ida Owen granddaughters will redo the backing and restore this 1930's quilt to a better state.

Ralph and Ida Owen were on a business trip/retreat in Scottsbluff, Nebraska celebrating almost 20 years of marriage when he went fishing, was chilled, got fevered, and died from pneumonia on July 20, 1928.  His death left Ida a widow for 33 years.  

We still have lots of research to do to find out more about our OWEN lines.  I feel blessed that we have the histories of three of the children (Delcie, Velma, and James).  It seems that "touching" these "real" items reminds me of my heritage in a different way.  They were real living, breathing people with hopes and dreams and lamps and bowls and quilts.  I am grateful to know that the Owens were a God-fearing people and taught us of the Master by word and by example.