The results of a short trip

[Dave Anderson NH]

I took off last week for the Rochester NY area to visit my aging parents and to spend some time with one of my sisters and my nieces. It was a great trip and I came home with something very important to me. Over the last two or three years my Dad has been turning over to me tools which have been in the family for a long time. They vary in age from 50 years to over 150 years. This trip home my Dad insisted I take with me a tool chest. According to family legend (Mom's conversation with Great grandfather) this chest came over from Ulster with my Great -great grandfather James Draper Anderson when he emigrated to our country around 1850. While this might or might not be true, it has been in the family at least since my great grandfather's time. The only flaw in this chest is my parents refinishing of the exterior, the interior is original. I am moved almost to tears to think that I am the fifth generation of my family to be the custodian of this joiners chest. It has been used by family shipwrights and home handymen and now I am entrusted with its care.

I have decided that this will not become a display piece, nor will it become enshrined. I will keep it the bench room of my shop and it will be used for the purpose for which it was built. It will store tools and I will cherish it, use it, and care for it with all the love I can muster. When my time comes (hopefully many years hence) it will be passed on to the next generation who I hope will cherish it as much as I do. I'll post the pictures now before I start bawling like a baby.

[Lloyd Robins]

What a great chest. I love the history behind it. As for your plans, isn't that what family heirlooms are for? They should be used with loving care and then passed on to future generations. Thanks for sharing.

[Doug Evans]

I know that feeling Dave...

It is also such a superb looking piece to boot!

Happy for you,

Doug

[Tyler Howell]

Wow!

What a heritage
Thanks for sharing
TJH

[Mark Mazzo]

Dave,

That's a great story and a great heritage for the chest. I wish I had as much family history in woodworking to draw from. Hopefully I can generate that for my children, and theirs. Too bad I did not know you were coming to town. It would have been nice to meet you and get some "neander pointers" ;)

-- Mark

[Dave Anderson NH]

I come out to my parents home in Fairport twice a year. This trip was a bit rushed with visiting the sister and nieces out in Walworth, but I'll try to post the next time I go in the Spring. Getting the chance to visit with other woodworkers is something I really enjoy doing. I'll try to remember to let you know about my next trip out.

[Mark Mazzo]

Dave,

Sounds good. I actually live in Webster, not too far from either Fairport or Walworth.

-- Mark

[Alan Turner]

Dave,
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful chest, and story, with your net friends.
Alan

[Doug Littlejohn]

Wow, what an honor and a priviledge.

[Marc Hills]

Wow, Dave. You mentioned your great-great grandfather in a post about a marking gauge almost year ago now. I was struck then by how fortunate you are to have that sort of family connection to working wood.

The chest and those tools are beautiful, and I wholeheartedly support your decision to use the chest for its intended purpose. Maybe someone else's chest belongs in a museum, but you alone have the bloodright to use that piece as James Draper Anderson did.

It's been said that our interest in the old and the desire to create things that last beyond our own lives is a reflection of our own mortality. That our interest in those things represents a desire to remain connected to both those who came before and those who live after.

You and your great, great grandfather never met, yet in a way, you two have.

[scott pollack]

dave, thats a neat story. i applaud the fact that you are going to use the chest. thats what it was made for, enjoy it and enjoy passing it along with your wonderful stories.

scotty

[John Allman]

Hi Dave:

What a wonderful piece with which to be entrusted. I am sure you will treasure it for a long time and find another good home for it one day.

Can I suggest you print out this thread and stick it in a corner of the chest so one of your ancestors, a hundred years from now, will have the provenance to treasure along with the chest?

John

[Todd Burch]

Dave, I'm glad you stopped your story when you did, or I was going to start bawling!

I know how you feel. My grandfather was born in 1915 and died in 1998. He was my most significant father figure growing up, and I cherished spending summers with him. He was a journeyman carpenter. When I was young, I would play in his workshop for hours upon hours.

In 1996 when I was visiting, I was 34 years old, and he handed me a small Stanley hammer. I knew it was his special hammer that the had bought back in 1935 at a hardware store for $0.75. He told me that when I was 12 years old, I had asked to have it. He said I could have it, but not yet.

Well, 22 years later, I guess he figured I was old enough to appreciate the gift and take care of it. He was right.

Anyways, that is a great treasure and by the looks of your picture, you too appear old enough now to take care of it! :)

Todd.