GRANDMA STURGILL’S TRUNK
Ann S. Brown © 2025
After my Grandma Sturgill passed away, her steamer trunk came to our house to stay. It sat in the living room beneath a window where I could see it every day. That trunk fascinated me. At twelve years old, I had a big imagination and lots of questions. Why did Grandma’s trunk have metal latches, a lock and key, strips of leather that bound it up and buckles that closed it tightly? Did it hold secrets or treasures?
Mom told me it was a steamer trunk used to carry a person’s belongings in and keep them safe while they were traveling on board a ship or train. “So, did Grandma cross the ocean on a steam ship?” I asked. Mom said, “No, the only trip she ever took was by train. In 1920 Grandma and Grandpa boarded a train in Tuckerdale, NC and went to Pennsylvania to visit their sons who worked there.”
“So do you know what’s in Grandma’s trunk?” I asked. Tired of my questions, the day finally came when Mom opened the lid of Grandma Sturgill’s trunk. Evening sunlight shining softly through the window gave the room a warm glow. The faint scent of roses drifted up from a bouquet of flowers lying there in the trunk. Their blooms had withered, their colors had faded, but their perfume lingered on. Then I noticed two small white boxes. Inside the first one lay a curl of fine blonde hair tied with a narrow black ribbon. The curl was as light as a feather in my hand. A note in Grandma’s handwriting said, “Lee, my sweet little boy.” Mom said Grandma had a baby who died of pneumonia at three months old. The other box held Grandma’s jewelry. There were two small brooches. One had a black stone set in a background of silver. Mom said that was a piece of mourning jewelry. Women wore those when a loved one had passed away. The other brooch was gold and shaped like a horse shoe. It held five stones of different colors.
Now I wonder if those were the birthstones for Grandma’s family. Grandma’s white collar was there. She wore it to brighten up dark colored clothing. There were Grandma’s glasses and her precious Bible. She loved God’s word and read it every day. Oh! A sea shell laying in some old lace. I had never even seen one, except in pictures. There was Grandma’s cherished photo album, filled with pictures of her family. She was the youngest daughter born to a family of thirteen children. Many of her older siblings moved away years ago to California, Oregon and Canada. They kept in touch through letters and photographs.
There was a tintype photograph of my great uncle, Lowery Stuart. He went west as a young man. Mom lifted the top tray out of the trunk. The bottom compartment held Grandma’s songbooks and booklets of minutes from meetings held at the Zion Hill Baptist Church on Helton Creek. There was Grandma’s good shawl along with her black crocheted drawstring purse. Inside the purse were two of Grandma’s good handkerchiefs, two used train tickets to Pennsylvania and a few pennies.
The oddest thing was the shell of a baby armadillo. It held a pin cushion made of pink velvet. That is where Grandma kept her hat pins. Grandma’s good hat was there. The hat was black basket weave with two black ostrich feathers on the front.
In the photograph above, Grandma is wearing her good hat. The little boy she is holding is her nephew, Steve Sturgill. Grandma and Grandpa had just been to Steve’s mothers funeral. They brought Steve home with them to keep and raise to adulthood. So I was right, Grandma’s steamer trunk did hold treasures, not in monetary value, but rich in family history and keepsakes. I loved it.
