Big Boys Hobbies

Personalized Mystery Relic

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct)

Wildcat1750 (nyjrbethelct)

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Oct 20, 2008
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4,983
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Bethel, CT
Here’s one I found yesterday in the yard. It is heavy, probably made lead for the most part. The top looks like printer’s typeface. It reads Mary Baldwin with script font in reverse. The middle initial may be missing. There is a scallop designed handle or knob on the side and a cylindrical projection from the base. My guess is that it is for printing or embossing but the decorative knob suggests that it might have been for personal use. It definitely looks old.

Mary Baldwin is an old name in Town going back to the late 18th and middle 19th centuries. I hope to research the land use records for my property to see if there is a personal connection.

Any thoughts from the experts out there??? Thanks.
Nick
 

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That is certainly the coolest find I've seen in a while. Let us know if you find out more information.

Thanks for the great pictures.
 
Yes, Mary Baldwin College is in Staunton, Va........Home Sweet Home......well grew up there and my bride graduated from that beautiful college in the Shenandoah Valley. Most of the students come from other places then Staunton....a few local gals attend...but not many. It would be neat it that item happens to be from the school....... Hope you find out...for sure! Good Luck


Rick (Rookie)
Ace 250
 
I'll take a stab at it: It looks like a book nameplate - you place it over the front cover of the book with some gold foil under it, hold it by the little handle in place and tap the top firmly with a hammer, and your name is stamped in gold on the bottom right corner of the front cover of the book.
 
Texaspast said:
I'll take a stab at it: It looks like a book nameplate - you place it over the front cover of the book with some gold foil under it, hold it by the little handle in place and tap the top firmly with a hammer, and your name is stamped in gold on the bottom right corner of the front cover of the book.
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty feasible to me, Texaspast...

...I Googled early on and found Mary Baldwin College too, as Ferrous and Rick did, but I'm also finding leads for a couple of Mary Baldwins that lived in my town in the early to mid 1800s. If it is indeed a book nameplate then it would be more likely to be a local person's name than a college?
 
I agree with Texaspast that it is a sort of name stamp.
That's the first thing that came to my mind, but I'm no expert.
Definitely feasible though.

Very neat find!
 
Maybe check the public records of who has owned the property in the past... if you find the name Mary Baldwin or one of the owners' occupations was at the college, you may get closer to solving the puzzle!

emdees
 
emdees said:
Maybe check the public records of who has owned the property in the past... if you find the name Mary Baldwin or one of the owners' occupations was at the college, you may get closer to solving the puzzle!

emdees
Click to expand...

Great suggestion, emdees!:yes:

Our 2001 deed doesn't go back very far but ownership of the property goes back to the 1700s. I'm planning a trip to the "vault" at the town clerk's office as soon as I can get time off from work.
 
Thanks for the tip!

Lowjiber said:
Go here:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ct/county/fairfield/deathb3.htm

Let us know what you find. I'm interested...a lot!!!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Thanks for the website, John! I love this forum. Here you're sending me info about my town in CT from California. :wow:

I see a James D. Baldwin for 1888 and it gives his parents names. He was married but it does not mention his spouses name...could it have been Mary? None of the death records for the 1880s-90s show a Mary Baldwin. Well, now I have more leads to check out on this website, so I better get 'digging'. :yes:

BTW, my neighbor across the road is a descendant of the original property owner 50 or 60 years ago. I'll have to ask how far back his family owned this property and was Baldwin an an ancestral family name.

Nick
 
I Googled "Mary Baldwin Bethel Ct". There are several sites that may prove interesting. I think she was born 30 May 1867, but the links are there.

Good Luck!!!
 
Getting warmer!

Lowjiber said:
I Googled "Mary Baldwin Bethel Ct". There are several sites that may prove interesting. I think she was born 30 May 1867, but the links are there.

Good Luck!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks, John!

That was one of the first clues I came up with last week. Mary was born in Bethel on 30 May 1867 and her father was Abraham Lines Baldwin, born on 15 February 1827 and her mother was Susan M. Abbott, born 4 Sept 1837. Her parents married on 9 April 1861. Now I need to link this family to the property! It was a farm on the outskirts of town. The house dated back to the 1700s.

Nick
 
AM Land Records Visit Links Baldwin Name to Property!

I spent all AM in the Town of Bethel Land Records Vault and finally struck ‘gold’!!! :spin:

I had to work back six ownership transitions to get to this point:

Susan A. Baldwin sold the property to Iris Kollmorgan Garst on Nov. 1, 1943. She was one-time garden columnist for the New York Times according to neighbors.

Susan A. Baldwin inherited the property for $1 from Janette Baldwin Windsor on June 17, 1933.

Janette Baldwin Windsor inherited the property for $1 from Martha B. Douglass (married to Lawrence A. Douglass 20 April 1877).

:spin::tumble::bouncy::grin:

Next I need to research the ancestry of this branch of the Baldwin family to see where Mary fit into the picture.
 
nyjrbethelct said:
I spent all AM in the Town of Bethel Land Records Vault and finally struck ‘gold’!!! :spin:

I had to work back six ownership transitions to get to this point:

Susan A. Baldwin sold the property to Iris Kollmorgan Garst on Nov. 1, 1943. She was one-time garden columnist for the New York Times according to neighbors.

Susan A. Baldwin inherited the property for $1 from Janette Baldwin Windsor on June 17, 1933.

Janette Baldwin Windsor inherited the property for $1 from Martha B. Douglass (married to Lawrence A. Douglass 20 April 1877).

:spin::tumble::bouncy::grin:

Next I need to research the ancestry of this branch of the Baldwin family to see where Mary fit into the picture.
Click to expand...

Great reserach!!!! Keep going!!!!

emdees
 
That looks like a hot stamping die. The name was made from a lead and you should be able to remove them. The holder fits into a machine which would heat it to about 175 degrees and then stamp the name onto the front of a book in gold foil.
 
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