When I was a kid, my dad told of a story that their neighbor knocked on the door of their homestead-farm in the middle of the night. Dad said he was only about 5 or 6 at the time, born in 1917; it would have been in the early 20s. The neighbor told my grandad that he and his wife had had a terrible argument and he wanted to get these out of his house before anything awful happened. He handed my grandad an ornate wooden box. Inside was a pair of dueling pistols.
Dad told us that his dad hid the box in the barn in a place that he (my dad) and his brothers were never able to discover. He believed the box was still hidden somewhere inside because he didn't know of the box ever being returned.
Whenever we visited our uncle at the old house (grandad died in 1946, long before I was born). My brothers and I spent hours searching the barn for the wooden box of dueling pistols. It was a great adventure.
The house and barn have long been sold - My family recently visited home (Western upstate NY). Driving by, I pointed out the old property to my son. He was as fascinated with the legend of the dueling pistols as me and my brothers were in our youth. It's still a great memory.
Today I suspect it was a story invented by dad and his brother to occupy our restlessness. A grain of truth, a mystery and an adventure. Either way it was a beautiful yarn.
WOW, that’s a great story either way. I figure the kids will hopefully appreciate living in a house like this AFTER they move, yet another reason to have the website to compile things :)