How a 1946 ‘The Joy of Cooking’ added to my family tree

My mom and I frequent the antique stores in Murphysboro, Illinois.  We’re almost never looking for anything specific … but almost always find something interesting. On our most recent trek, I found a 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking that seemed to call to me from the bookshelf.  Have you ever had that feeling? It’s really odd.

This poor book was on the bottom of a forward facing bookshelf in Sis’ Memories.  It caught my eye because it looked forlorn, bandaged together with several pieces of silver duct tape. I almost turned away, but I had this strange feeling I needed to look at it.  I’ve had this feeling before, about different things, and have learned never to ignore it. 

I picked up the cookbook and immediately noticed the spine had separated from the book – the pages were all still intact. The book is stained with grease spots, marked with ink, and stuffed with various notes and papers … treasures from the past. 

 

I opened the book to check the edition date and found this:

It’s that top name that is important.  Anna Reeves Naegel. I didn’t recognize it, really, rather had one of those shivers up my spine that told me I needed to rescue this book.  It has been well loved and well used and didn’t need to be sitting on a bookshelf in a store.  So, I bought it … for $2.00.  

This morning, I finally sat down with the book to determine its original owner.  Anna Reeves received this cookbook as a wedding present in 1948. Thankfully, I had that much information just from the book. It led me to a snapshot of her life. 

Anna’s Story

Anna Mae Reeves was born on August 18, 1927 in Carbondale, Illinois (where I live) to Hiram and Frances (Parks) Reeves.  She had two sisters and two brothers.  She married Charles Naegele on March 18, 1948. Together, they raised three children.  Anna worked as an accountant here in town at the Kroger Brand office and also managed the family rental property.  She was apparently a doting grandma … she had five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren at the time of her death on November 17, 2010.  I didn’t know Anna, had never even heard the name, but I am certainly glad I found one of her early treasures.  

A Twist in the Tale

While reading Anna’s obituary this morning, I read that she had a sister named Essie Raines.  That certainly caught my attention given my own Raines connection.  I made one of those bewildered sounds, then left my project to make breakfast.  Genealogy is an “always on” process … you take breaks when you get hungry!

When I returned to my computer, I checked Facebook and had a friend request from a David Raines. Now, I have an uncle named David Raines that I’m pretty close to … so it struck me as odd that he would have joined Facebook (not his kind of thing!).  It wasn’t him.  I accepted the request and read the accompanying message.  That message named David’s parents … William and Essie Raines.

Did you catch that? 

The sister of the woman who received this cookbook as a wedding gift. 

I think I actually let out a slight squeal!

I’ve managed to trace David and his Father (and mother by virtue of marriage) to my ancestor, James Madison Rains (Raines).  We are 3rd cousins, once removed … okay, we’re cousins. That’s much easier to explain!

The Moral of the Story

Don’t ignore that shiver up your spine when you’re standing in front of something in an antique store.  You never know who it might have belonged to … things have a strange way of finding their way home … or almost home.