Family history, a strong interest of mine, is a rich source for stories.

I don’t have to go far back in my family tree, for example, to uncover the story of my maternal great-grandfather’s mysterious disappearance or my great-grandmother’s many years in an insane asylum.

Yesterday, I polished my coin-silver tea set in preparation for packing it for our upcoming move (coin silver was the standard before sterling). My father handed down the tea set to me on his 70th birthday (he must have somehow known that he was near the end of his life because he died a few months later). My dad expressed his wish that I would pass the tea set down to my eldest child someday (I plan to do it on my 70th birthday). Before my father had the tea set, it had sat on the buffet of his parents’ dining room and had been passed down through the family via his mother’s lineage.

One piece in the set that tells of its origins is a chalice. Now, I can’t tell you why a chalice is part of a tea set. Inscribed on the chalice are the initials ECH and the following:
In memory of her sister, Mary A. Hartt
Died July 21, 1845
Aged 15 years, 7 months
(You can see a detail of the chalice inscription in the photo.)

So, the tea set came down to my grandmother through this Hartt clan. Just one problem … Extensive genealogical research has revealed no Hartts in our family tree. The story of the tea set is veiled in mystery:

• How am I related to Mary A. Hartt?
• If I’m not related to Mary A. Hartt, how did my family come into possession of the tea set?
• Who was ECH? H was obviously Hartt. If we consider popular 19th-century names, we might conclude that E was for Elizabeth or Emily.
• Was it customary in 1845 for people to be given tea sets or other keepsakes in memory of dead siblings?
• What was the story of Mary A. Hartt and her brief 15 years of life? How did she die?
• Why is a chalice part of a tea set?

I’ve conducted some research on Mary A. Hartt on Ancestry.com and have come up empty.

Given that stories are how we make sense of the world, it’s not surprising that my mind wants to spin stories in response to the tea set’s mysteries.