Family historical documents

The scraps, bits, and pieces from which we reconstruct the details of our family history sometimes pop up from the most unexpected of places.

An earlier post on Grandpa and Grandma’s houses (here) mentioned that Grandpa and Grandma Buller sold their first Friend, Nebraska, house to my other grandparents, Art and Geraldine Meinke. So it was that, while thumbing through some Meinke papers this evening I stumbled across several items of interest to my Buller side.

First is the newspaper ad (from the Friend Sentinel?) listing the house. I do not know when Grandpa built this house (someone please provide a date if you can), but the house was described as “like new” no later than mid-1965, so it was likely in 1964.

I also learned from other papers that the “lot” on which the house was located was actually two lots: lots 11 and 12 in P. C. Larsen’s addition to the city of Friend. The exact address was 106 6th Street.

Other papers reveal further details: the sale price was $15,500, on which a $5,000 down payment was made on 21 September 1965. The balance was paid 17 December, at which point, one would assume, the sale of the house closed.

Grandpa and Grandma sold the washer and drier in the house for an additional $500 on 17 December as well.

The second discovery was a cache of cancelled checks that executed the sale/purchase. The one pictured to the left interests me the most, since in endorsing the check Grandpa signed his name once, crossed it out, and then signed again with his full first name.

Dad confirmed tonight that Grandpa always signed his name “C. P. Buller,” which explains why that name appears first on the endorsement: habit led him to sign his name as he usually did.

However, this important check was made out to “Cornelius P. and Malinda Buller,” so presumably when Grandpa noticed (with Grandma’s help?) that his full name was given on the front, he signed a second time with his matching signature.

Comparing Grandpa’s two signatures, one can see that he was not used to signing his full first name: he obviously messed up toward the end and had to go over the last three letters twice. By way of contrast, his two signings of Buller are nearly identical. (I must add, on a personal note, that I see hints of a Carl signature in the way Grandpa begins Cornelius.)

Grandma’s signature is smooth and clear—I would bet that this is how she signed her name all the time.

Just scraps of paper of no legal significance today, these historical records do allow us to glimpse a slice of Grandpa and Grandma’s life together in 1965. Not just the details of their life are clarified (when they sold the house and for how much), but their persons come to life in this unexpected find.