My great-great-grandmother Alice Paak (the brave woman who survived a horrific near-tragedy that I wrote about last spring) gave her middle child Cora a gift for Christmas 1907. Perhaps she gave one to each of her three children.
You can see from the photo that it’s a hand-painted genealogy shell.
My grandfather and grandmother inherited it, and my grandmother gave it to me.
Let’s take a look at what she wrote over one hundred years ago, and how it relates to the information I have received more recently.
Alice Paak
If you remember my story about Alice’s near tragedy, you might also remember the post I wrote about her beautiful handmade shawl. Or the post I wrote about Alice and all her sisters.
On the shell, she names herself “Alice Paak ,” which is the name Grandpa had told me. But genealogical research in the Netherlands shows that she was born Aaltje Peek. The source used for that name was this:
Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands, birth record, 1852, 36, Aaltje Peek, 9 September 1852; digital images,
Familysearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-159370-202016-19?cc=1576401&wc=6426532 : accessed 23
December 2012)
Apparently, she accepted the American name “Alice.” Her granddaughter, Alice Leeuwenhoek, the daughter of Jennie and Lou Leeuwenhoek, was named after her. Later, my own aunt, the granddaughter of Alice’s daughter Cora, was given the name Alice.
Alice Paak’s birth date is given on the shell as 17 September 1852. But my genealogical information (the source I listed above) shows that she was born on that same month and year, but on the 9th, not the 17th. Wouldn’t she know her own birth day? That confuses me.
On the shell, she lists her birth place as Leksmond, Nederland. That sounds right, and I think it’s the same place as Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.
Richard DeKorn
My great-great-grandfather Richard DeKorn was born Dirk de Korne. But he clearly changed both his first name (Americanized it) and the spelling of his last name (maybe to make it easier for others).
He was born on 21 Aug 1851. The shell corroborates the date.
However, his birth place is listed on the shell as Goes, Zeeland, Nederland. But wait! In another post I mentioned that I had always thought he was born in Goes, but the genealogical documentation shows that was born in Kapelle, Zeeland, the Netherlands! This is the documentation:
Kapelle, Zeeland, the Netherlands, birth record, Dirk de Korne, 21 August 1851
Jennie DeKorn
Born March 18, 1873. That’s according to the shell. But my information is March 8, 1873. I have to check on this!
Cora DeKorn
Born January 2, 1875. That’s according to the shell and to my records.
Joseph Peter DeKorn
Born June 30, 1881. That’s according to the shell and to my records.
The treasure itself
The design is beautiful with holly branches. The berries are raised to look like real berries. Originally there was a gold leaf paint trim around the shell, but it has worn off in many places.
Her use of “Xmas” because it fit better on the small surface seems astonishingly modern, as does the use of metallic gold and red and green for Christmas.
What I find particularly poignant, though, about this family heirloom is the date. She gave this gift to her daughter on Christmas 1907, and on May 5, 1908, a little over four months later, she passed away.
What a treasure!
Isn’t it, though?! Thanks for stopping by!
What a treasure is right! How sad that “a little over four months later, she passed away”. Her descendants are very fortunate that she made this family heirloom when she did!
It is so sad. I don’t even know why I checked the date, except 1907 seemed to me to be pretty late for her lifetime dates, to my patchy memory. To see it was such a short time before she passed away was pretty shocking.
Believe me when I say if you find, proof like this beautiful shell plate you inherited, the truth lies within, You’re absolutely right your Grandmother knew when she was born, some of the genealogy records about my family is so screwed up, peole put on there what ever they want, and in some cases its totally wrong.. Believe the plate, I had a few arugements with a few of my family memembrs over the years about why they put this or why they put that on ancestry or roootsweb or where because it us never happened or was just plain wrong. Here’s a little example, my Great Grandmothers sister name was according to everything people had written, but I had found my own proof with my Grandmothers Bible, they all said on ancestry and roots web and a few othrer places my Great Aunts name was Maude, infact it was Nora Maude, and since her full name was written at her birth in my Great Grandmothrs Bible, that was her given name. No one could ever come up with a birth certificate, so I say that is all the proof I need, Grandmothrs Bible.. My Grandmother had 14 children, but according to family records she only had 12 and one died at the age of 2 1/2, and that was it til I found my grandmothrs death notice which stated she had 14, and they digging and digging, I found she had, had 3 sets of twins, the first set one died as the young child mentioned above and the other two was never talked about, because she only brought 1 baby home, because the second two sets of twins only one survived, end of story.. Back in the old days people did things for what ever reason to save pain and grief, if they didn’t know that had a dead sister or brother they wouldn’t be sad..
And your gift from your mother that your Great grand mother made is so priceless, but yet PROOF, undoubted proof.. Do you have any picturtes of your Henry Waruf’s store down town Kalamazoo, when he had the gun shop?
I have two if you email me, I would be most happy to share with you.. gizmo021244@aol.com just put your name in the RE; line, so I will know its from you and not delete it.. Hank & Carrie were two fine people, according to my parents and a couple of other people.. My brother in law was one of Hank’s Pallbears at his funeral.
Paula, thanks for your great comment! I’ll email you.
What a beautiful treasure! I wonder where she had it made? Those discrepancies can be so frustrating to try and sort through.
gg, i’m pretty sure that she made it herself! The discrepancies drive me crazy because they end up throwing me off track when I’m searching for something,.
I am even more impressed! As someone who always gives genealogy gifts to my family at Christmas I know the challenge of finding a special gift idea. This is really cool. And, I’m Amberly. 🙂
Hi Amberly! Is your whole family into genealogy?
They are not into genealogy – but they find it important and interesting so I try to come up with something that will be meaningful but not overwhelming.
Quite unique.
Thanks, Mrs. P! Yes, it’s so unique! I’ve never seen anything like it, and yet I wonder if it was typical of crafts of the period.
What a groovy shell! I love it!
WJ, thank you! Me too :).
That is very cool, Luanne! I’ve never seen anything like that as a genealogical heirloom. The hand-painting is exquisite!
It’s mysterious about the discrepancies between the shell and your records though…
Thanks, Ian! Exquisite is a wonderful word to describe it. It’s all so tiny and careful and beautifully done, and yet it’s clear that it’s handmade and not made by machine or a super seasoned professional. I think it’s true that we should trust the shell except that I don’t understand why Richard’s birth records show Kapelle. Alice certainly would have known that her husband was born in Goes like most of the family.
This is a very touching story. Alice was very meticulous with the lettering and the way the lines all flow. The symbolism of the shell is manifold. I think it it’s an oyster shell, then the message is that the family is the pearl (treasure) inside.
EmilyAnn, I am kind of blown away by your explanation of the shell’s symbolism. I didn’t pick up on that, and I thought I was so good with symbols and metaphors haha. What a beautiful idea you’ve shared!!! You’ve given me a gift of appreciating this treasure even more than I did before. Thank you.
You’re most welcome. I got the feeling that Alice wanted to pour all her love into that idea. No matter how much sacrifice and hard work she undertook, no matter how much she had to develop a shell (or coping strategies) in dealing with the difficulties of life, there inside the shell were the pearls, her treasures, her children, husband and family. Especially as she was entering her last days on earth this has such a spiritual side to it.
I am even more glad than usual that I shared something on the blog. The way you describe this is so lovely.
Amazing, Luanne – really beautiful and a fabulous treasure!
I am trying to figure out why I don’t receive your email post alerts any more?? Is there something different about WordPress that i’ve overlooked??
Sheila, yes, isn’t it gorgeous? I would love to display it, but I feel I should keep it the way it’s always been kept–hidden.
I had that happen with another blogger’s notifications. I had to unfollow and refollow 3 times before it worked. One of those ridiculous WordPress glitches.
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