The basic problem with old documents, especially those stored in low-humidity environments like an attic, is that the paper itself dries out and becomes brittle. Just opening a document or newspaper article can destroy it. Photos, in particular, should never be unfolded or uncurled without some TLC. And by TLC, I mean archival gloves at the very least, and the use of a do-it-yourself humidification chamber if you have any hope at all of salvaging something usable.

You can buy humidification chambers at archival supply stores, but who’s got one of those in the neighborhood? And besides, you’ll pay through the nose, i.e. several hundred dollars, for the privilege.

You can build your own humidification from basic plastic storage containers, light grids, and a few Tupperware containers. The chamber needs to be large enough to hold the documents in question, but those stackable containers we all hide our Christmas ornaments in should be about right (aprox. 2x2x3 feet with a lid).

Next, you’ll need a “shelf” on which to place the dehydrated pictures or documents. I prefer to use the plastic lighting grids you typically find covering fluorescent light fixtures set into the ceiling. These are available at most hardware or Home Depot/Lowes stores and can be cut to size roughly 18×28 inches. You might also use metal screen or “chicken wire” as long as it lies flat. The shelf should be a couple of inches narrower on each side than the chamber itself.

Next, set the “shelf” on four or five Tupperware containers in the bottom of the chamber. Any support will work, as long as its waterproof, because the last step is to pour 1-2 inches of water in the bottom of the chamber. NOTE: Find a suitable location where the humidification chamber might sit for a day or two before you pour any water. That’s how long the documents/chamber will have to sit without being bumped or jostled.

Finally, after pouring the water, making sure not to get any on the shelf itself, place your pictures or documents on the shelf just as you found them and carefully snap the lid on the chamber.

Monitor the progress every twelve hours or so until the documents once again become flexible, but never wet enough to feel wet. Rolled documents like maps will generally start to unroll on their own, but you want the paper flexible enough to flatten without breaking.

Once the papers are flexible enough to flatten, its best if you place them between two sheets of plotter paper and lay some books or a sheet of plexiglass on top to complete the flattening. Give it another 12-24 hours and voila! You’ve got something worth saving!

Now, if none of this makes any sense, you can watch a YouTube video of the whole process right here:

I know, I could’ve started with the video and saved all that reading, but what fun is that?

Happy salvaging!

No, I mean an honest-to-goodness, pass it around the coffee clatch letter from home? I’m ashamed to admit it’s been years. But a recently discovered letter, mailed in 1889, just might inspire me to write a few of my own. To wit…

My g-g-grandfather Uncle Dan Leonard, wrote an eight page letter to his aunt in 1889. Eight pages! To an aunt! That letter turned up in his brother’s Bible, so we know it was passed around the family long after it was sent. His brother Isaac saw fit to immortalize it in a book he knew would be kept. Perhaps best of all, it was mailed from Leonard, Iowa, a post office named for Uncle Dan and housed in a neighbor’s home just two miles to the south.

The salutation reads simply, “Dear Aunt.” Uncle Dan had three aunts, but the presumption is that he was writing to his Aunt Luzanna, who stayed in Pennsylvania with her aging mother when most of the family moved west to Ohio. He regrets that enough time has passed that it’s unlikely his aunt will ever get to visit him in his new Iowa home. So he sent pictures and rather verbose description of the property. (The pictures, apparently, have been misplaced.)

None of that would have been particularly remarkable, if not for the fact that the house he described in 1889 is still standing and occupied 120 years later. Uncle Dan commissioned a painting of the place ten years after he sent the letter. Side-by-side comparisons show how little it has actually changed.

As an extra-special treat to my family, Uncle Dan described the HUGE stone slab at the base of the front porch.

“If you look closely, you will see Mrs. Dan Leonard standing on a rock (sitting to the front and right of it in the painting) 9 inches thick, 8′ long and about 4′ wide, the largest stone in South Western Iowa and on said rock is inscribed as follows: Daniel and Jane Leonard 1856 (the year Dan and Jane settled in that very spot).”

That rock appears to be granite, and it’s still in place. It’s been a source of great curiosity in my family. My parents and I often wondered if there might be a time capsule of some sort underneath. We’ve offered, more than once, to pay the current owner for the stone and whatever may lie underneath, but to date, no deal. Below is a little closer look.

The letter goes on to describe a picture of the original log cabin that “was the finest residence for twelve years on a stretch of land 16 miles long and eight miles wide.” That picture was also a commissioned painting, drawn from the pioneer couple’s own memories.

This post is getting a tad long, so I’ll save more on that painting for next week. That, and Uncle Dan’s description of the poor souls passing along the trail in front of his house, dragging their meager possessions back from failed settlement attempts to the south and west in Kansas.

Your assignment, between now and next week… Go write a letter!

So what’s that got to do with family history? It reminded me of some of my Dad’s favorite expressions, grandad’s, too.

Now, my family being what it is, me being who I am… things could get a little more, uh, earthy.

• Colder than a witche’s t*t.
• Colder than a well-digger’s ass.
• Tighter than the bark on a piss-ant tree. (Ever seen one?)
• North end of a south-bound mule.

Yunno, this topic sounded a lot funnier in my head. So how ’bout you? Got any weird only-in-my family expressions?

Odds & ends
Haven’t had much time to research lately, but I can tell you we’re working on getting some daguerreotypes converted to digital photographs. One of them is a picture of Mary (Van Ort) Leonard, mother to Edmund, Isaac, Uncle Dan, et al. Given the fact that she died in 1868, this will be one of the oldest photographs ever taken of a Leonard!

Please vote!
Never shy about prostituting myself, I’d like to encourage you to vote for Leonard Family Legends & Legacies in Family Tree Magazine’s “40 Best Genealogy Blogs” poll. Polls close Nov. 5th, results published in the May 2010 magazine! We’re listed in the Personal & Family category about halfway down in the last category. You’ll have to click inside the voting window and then scroll down. While you’re at it, go vote for FootnoteMaven in the much tougher All-Around Category. fM came out as one of my “mystery visitors” earlier this week.

Coming soon
Personal memoirs & archival materials. I bought a do-it-yourself memoir book (hard back, acid-free paper) for my Dad last Christmas, sight unseen. The idea is to answer questions about your life right IN the book. Last week, I ordered one for myself. Then it occurred to me, I have no idea what type of pen or pencil to use for the best results. Researching that now.

Until next time… Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

But that’s what happened. Who knew?

To the best of our knowledge, that’s Isaac Leonard… the very man I was trying to locate… over there on the left! (Go ahead. Mouse-over the picture to see larger versions of the front and back.) But there’s more! Pictures of long-lost Joseph Leonard, who married an Indian maiden and dropped out of white society… his brother William… and the two-story Leonard log cabin where they all grew up!

All of these photos will appear here in the coming days/weeks, but I’ve got to tell you where and how these photos were found!

Our newest cousin was taking care of a relative’s affairs after a death in the family. As part of those duties, he was cleaning out a shed in the back yard of a south Florida home. In the shed, he found a cabinet and in that cabinet were two boxes. In the boxes… dozens of photos and some old letters! I don’t know about you, but this is my genealogical fantasy!

He knows exactly who owned the photos and how they were most likely handed down through the generations. Hint: They are descendants of the only Edmund Leonard on the books, thus no confusion about the sixteen gazillion Williams, Isaacs, and Lots. And best of all, most of the photographs are labeled. My ancestors should’ve been so considerate.

Now. Consider this. Those photos and letters have survived, some of them for a century-and-a-half, despite a few decades’ exposure to south Florida humidity, rodents, bugs, and last but not least… hurricanes. Shouldn’t we all be digging around in sheds and basements and attics… before it’s too late?

Just a thought. Who knew?!

Cheers!
Rick