Perhaps one of the most valuable treasures a person can have is a family heirloom passed down through the generations. Anthony Coyan discovered several such treasures and shared the story behind them. I hope that someday I’m personally able to connect with this branch of the family myself.
Written by Anthony Coyan:
Coyan family heirlooms
One thing that has begun to fascinate me since I began working on our family genealogy, is the question of whether or not there may be precious family heirlooms still in existence that can be “documented” (either written or verbal accounts from someone who has/had first-hand knowledge) as to the items having belonged to and been passed down from our ancestors. I never dreamed that when I travelled to Fort Scott, Kansas in 1999 to seek out distant Coyan cousins that I would have my “fascination” at least partially fulfilled. Below are some of the Coyan heirlooms that (thank God) have been passed down through the generations and still reside in the homes of present-day Coyan family descendants in Kansas and Missouri. Please let me hear from you if you have pictures of family heirlooms to share that we can add to this page! My many thanks to Conley and Joan Coyan for the pictures and documents!
I have purposely placed these 3 pictures first on this page. To me, this may well be the oldest and – potentially – most valuable item (genealogically) in existence that can be traced to any of the children (or their spouses) of our common Coyan ancestors, Edward and Sarah Coyan .
These pictures are of a dinner table (?) pitcher that was brought to Jackson county, Ohio from Allegheny county, Pennsylvania in the early 1840’s by my 4th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Coyan (wife of Hugh Coyan). Why was it that she felt she had to carry this pitcher “in the bosom of her dress”, as her great-grandson , Fernando Coyan, stated on the note. It’s seems to me that this pitcher carried great sentimental value and thus it is my guess that this had been passed on to her from a family member a generation or more older. Could this pitcher have made it’s way from Maryland to Pennsylvania in the mid/late 1790’s before it came to Ohio in the early 1840’s, to Iowa during the Civil War, then on to Kansas in 1879?? Fernando hints in this note that the pitcher was possibly made before the Revolutionary War!
The SIZE of this “pitcher” gives much credence to the statement that Elizabeth carried it in the bosom of her dress. It is only 3 inches tall, 2 1/4″ wide at the base, and 2″ wide at the top. It has nothing stamped on the bottom or elsewhere that might “identify” it. I hope that we can have an expert in the field to narrow down when and where this may have been manufactured. I can’t wait to make my next trip to Kansas in the fall to hold this priceless Coyan heirloom!
This wallet belonged to my 3rd great-grandfather, William Coyan (1821-1882), and was passed down to Fernando Coyan, his grandson. According to Fernando’s letter, dated 1917, he suspected the wallet to have been 75-100 years old at that time. This is another heirloom I can’t wait to see when I next travel to Kansas and Missouri. The design on this wallet appears to be very intricate and I’m curious if this wallet also may have come out of Pennsylvania in the early 1840’s or Maryland in the late 1790’s with our ancestors as they migrated west. At the very least, it left my native Jackson, Ohio during the Civil War and ended up with William in Kansas in 1879.
read more: coyan.info/CoyanHeirlooms.html captured 1 Sep 2018