In case you thought there were no good guys out there (present company excluded), I have a great story of how an important piece of my wife's family history was returned to us this week. As I have mentioned in the past, my wife's family were Coca Cola Bottlers for four generations before selling their operation back to Coca Cola. The company was Wyandotte Coca Cola in Wyandotte, MI and they also had a plant in Port Huron, MI. In any event, last Friday I was talking with Slider Bob about some items that he had purchased on EBay that were from a Coca Cola Bottler. For the heck of it, I searched Wyandotte Coca Cola on EBay and much to my surprise somebody in MD had some stationary from Wyandotte Coca Cola listed for sale. I showed my wife and we both about fell over. The stationary listed her great uncle (William E. Kreger) and grandfather's (John C. Kreger) names on the bottom. I immediately contacted the seller to ask him how much he had and to also inquire as to where he may have acquired it. The seller immediately responded that he could not remember where he got it but that he had 3 sheets with the round Coke emblem and 67 with the fishtail emblem but there was also 6 sheets that said "Southwell's Service" in Portland, MI. Now I was really surprised; because, the Southwell family is the other side of my wife's father's family. This additional bit of information helped me solve the mystery though. Both my wife's grandmother and her aunt have lived in the DC area for quite a while. Both of them were essentially family historians as Grandma's maiden name was Southwell.
Grandma passed several years ago and most of her belongings were passed on to family members but items were also sold at an estate sale. My wife's aunt recently moved to a smaller condo so she has been gifting, donating and selling many items as well. My suspicion was that the box of stationary was inadvertently included with some items that were donated or sold by my wife's grandmother's estate or by her aunt. So I sent the seller the following message:
Ron,
I would like to buy all of that. The Southwell family is the other side of my wife's father's family. I think I have solved the mystery. My wife's aunt lives in the DC area and she was the Kreger/Southwell family historian. She moved recently and I fear that she may have inadvertently included that stationary box in with some items she either sold or donated. Please let me know your price for the lot as I would like to reunite these family documents with my wife's aunt. Thanks!
Tim
He responded:
Since this box of stationary was accidently donated or sold I think the right thing to do would be to get them back in your wife's family. I don't think it would be right to sell them to you either. I buy a lot of stuff from various individuals, estate sales, antique shops etc., all the time and can't always pinpoint where I get stuff. I think I know where I got these from but am not sure. Why don't you send me you address/ phone number and I will mail this box of stationary to you. You don't have to pay me anything. Take care. Ron
Well the box arrived yesterday and it is amazing the steps he took to make sure it arrived safely and undamaged. Even though he said I owe him nothing, I am definitely going to send something his way. There are still a lot of good people out there and this is a brightly shining example of a good deed in a weary world!
Tim
