I wanted to share a few more finds from my visit to the Southwestern University’s Special Collection from last week’s blog post. I had so much fun and got to see and hold so many cool things!
This is probably one of the best examples for visiting the archives…you truly never know what you are going to find! This leather pocketbook belonged to Thomas Jefferson Johnson. On the inside:
The transcription: “Thomas Johnson’s pocket book living in St. Louis County state of Missouri this 4th of July 1829 –– Thos. Johnson was born Oct. 8th 1805.”
Ok… when you are looking for those vital records for your ancestors, did you ever think to look in their leather pocketbooks? I didn’t.
Now, will you find your ancestors’ birth information in a leather wallet? Probably not. Will you find some other cool items in an archive near you? Most definitely!
Genealogy Pants 
Wow what an amazing find. I need to go to more archives and see what they have.
Very jealous! What a fund!
Wow! That is so cool!
Wow, that is an amazing find! This is a great example of why we need to look beyond online collections — you might just find your ancestor’s leather pocketbook!
I know, right!??
Wow, great artifact! I will definitely give special collections another look going forward. Thanks!
Wow – you surely have a great archival find. I’ve not turned up anything that personal yet, in an archives, but I’m not giving up.