I like shadow boxes but I have never made one before until now. Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby and got a couple of boxes. This is a Civil War themed box. These were my great great grandfather's mementos from the war, more on that in a bit. He enlisted August 6 1861 in Co C, Tenth Iowa Infantry. He served seventeen months in Tennessee and Mississippi and was at the engagements of Corinth and Iuka. He was discharged on account of sickness and returned home to Iowa in 1863. He married my great great grandmother in December 1864 who was a sister of one of his fellow Co C 10th Infantrymen. After the war he joined the GAR and was active in the local chapter. He attended several GAR reunions and that is where the medals and ribbons came from. Acvording to family legend the knife in the middle he "got" from a Confederate soldier. On the bottom there is a Large Cent fastened to the handle. Pretty worn down and it is dateless. In the upper left corner there is a 25 cent fractional currency note. These were used during the war. The gold pin is a replica 1853 $2.50 gold piece. Wish it was real. Since he served in the Civil War he would have qualified for the Civil War Campaign Medal. If he ever received it I don't know as I don't have it. He may have gotten it but it could have been lost over time as he died in 1926. I am working on a World War II shadow box. Don't have it put together yet as I am still collecting stuff for it. It will have more coins and currency than this one in addition to stamps and pins.
Great story, @Rushmore , and thanks for sharing! I love reading about anything related to the Civil War.
Thanks for the nice comments! I put in a request through NARA for his service records and to see if he qualified for any decorations. If he did I'm going to see about getting replacement or replica medals ro put in the box.
Shadow boxes displaying civil war artifacts are always interesting to see. But when the artifacts are family heirlooms, man that just takes it over the top.
Yeah when Great Great Grandad Ralph left the Army in 1863 he probably didn't think the knife he was taking home with him would still be in the family 162 years later and his Great Great Grandaughter would be putting it in a shadow box for display almost 100 years after his passing.
My grandmother did one for my grandfather’s WWII mementos and medals. It was really nicely done. I had 2 ancestors in the civil war. For one I have his original medical and discharge paperwork. I begged my grandmother for decades not to display it in a room with full sun, but now that the paperwork is mine I am taking care of it the best I can. The only momento I know of is the confederate bullet in his right shoulder that was never able to be removed.
Rush, on the coolness chart, your shadowbox, story, and provenance is off the chart, 10+. Thank you for sharing it with us. I hope you'll continue the saga when you hear back from NARA regarding his service records and possible decorations. I'll definitely be following along. Great job!! Edit to add suggestion: You might want to consider a slimline, engraved nameplate/plaque to personalize your work of remembrance/dedication. Something that might include his name, rank, born/passed on date, or anything you deem worthy of highlighting for future generations and viewers.
This came in the mail courtesy of Ebay. It is a Civil War campaign medal. They were first rewarded back in 1905 but no funds were available to mint the medals until 1956 30 years after Ralph died. Next of kin can apply for medals but no one did that I am aware of. My great grandfather was deceased in 1956 and only of his sisters were left but I believe that sister had dementia at that point so unlikely she would have filed the paperwork. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_Campaign_Medal
Fantastic! I'd love to see the large cent on the handle of that knife! I second the @masterswimmer suggestion about getting a little brass plaque engraved. I did that for the box I put my recently-completed Twelve Caesars Roman collection in, and it looks great. I ordered the little plate on Amazon, as I recall. Custom engraved with three lines of text and shipped, it cost me ten bucks or less. Edit: here, I found the link.
