Passports, Programs, and Fun Finds in the Archive Closet

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It's been a while since I have shared any of my finds from the family archives. Here are a few found items that have some genealogical value. Do you have items like these?

Property Survey—We built a house in Corinth, Denton County, Texas, back in the late 1990s. I ran across the survey map of our property at 3201 Mulholland Rd. dated 8 July 1999. It was fun to see all the dimensions, the setbacks, easements, lot lines, and so forth which were part of this wedge-shaped property, especially since we moved on to a new home in 2018.

 

Expired Passports—I got my very first passport for a trip to Ireland that the Hubs and I took in 2006 for our 15th Anniversary. There are only two stamps in mine, one from 15 July 2006 when we arrived in Dublin, and one from 1 August 2006 when we reentered the U.S. Happy to say that my more recent passport has a few more stamps in it! My old one not only has biographical information but also serves as a snapshot in time in my life.

Thank You Card—I'm reminded that we celebrated my husband's grandfather's 90th birthday by these thank you cards that we made to send to the attendees. Harold E. Casey (1915-2009) turned 90 years old on 15 October 2005. We were very fortunate for eight years after our son was born to have four generations of Casey men living at the same time.

 

Graduation Program—Our daughter Anne was part of the 8th grade class of 2007 at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Denton, Denton Co., Texas. This graduation program not only included all the ceremony details but also included the names of all of her fellow graduates, musicians, altar servers, and other participants in the occasion. All those names form Anne's personal FAN club—friends, associates, and neighbors—who were part of her life then. 

Old Santa Letters—I get the biggest kick out of reading what the kids wrote for their holiday wish lists to Santa and I've kept them all. Somehow they've gotten scattered here and there so I'm trying to collect them all in one place. Here's a random one I found...somewhere! I need to put it with the others which are with the Christmas decorations.

Baby Book—Baby books are given and received with the best of intentions. But as any new mother will likely tell you, time to complete all the pages in a baby book can prove scarce. Alas, such was the fate of both my children's baby books, including the one I received for son James in 2000. My failed attempts at naming the ancestors in his family tree represents how little I knew about them! It wouldn't be too much later that I became interested in family history and began to "fill in the blanks." 

Stories by Anne—Our daughter was a prolific writer/illustrator of her own little books back in early elementary school. We rolled quite literally on the floor laughing as we read these out loud a few months ago. Precious. Will never part with these!

The clean out and decluttering continues over time around here. Progress is slow and sporadic as the tempo of daily life speeds up and slows down. It will get done eventually, right?

What about you? How have your own closet/archive clean outs been going? What treasures have you found? Drop a comment and let me know.

P.S. I've been waylaid by a project in my McAndrew line but hope to get back soon to researching another woman in my family tree very soon.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.

 

IMAGES: All photos by Nancy Gilbride Casey unless otherwise noted.