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I recently did a piece on Squidoo, a writers’ website, telling about a special piece of family history that I am lucky enough to have in my home: it’s a lovely antique cherry wood slant-top desk from the mid-1800’s or earlier. The known history of the desk is that it traveled with my great-great grandfather David Greacen Kennedy, along with his wife and family, from Pennsylvania to Vinland in “Bleeding Kansas” in 1861 by covered wagon. In the piece, I follow the desk as it is handed down through the generations until it was passed on to me in 2002.

I also take the reader along as I explore resources to try to date the desk and discover its origins prior to 1861.

I wrote the piece as part of a “RocketSquid” challenge on the site (The RocketSquid program is a mentoring program for new Squidoo members). It was featured as one of the top lenses (webpages) in the challenge and subsequently earned a Purple Star.

Purple Stars are fairy dust. They’re magic. They’re surprises. They’re trophies celebrating authentic, original, fantastic content on Squidoo. They’re given out by our editors and community organizers, whenever they find a lens that makes them smile. You’ll never know when or where a purple star will arrive–but you’ll get a special email if you’re bestowed with one. Squidoo

You can read the entire piece at Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/kennedy_family_desk/