The Library

This site has been rather inactive, so I thought I would put a picture up of Constance Garrett Key, my great-great grandmother, to stimulate some discussion. I don't know much about this ancestor, and would love to hear any stories, remembrances, etc. I am especially curious about her hatchet brooch, which looks like a Carrie Nation jewelry piece donned by woman of that time to support the temperance cause and the saloon chopping activities of Ms. Nation. I spoke to my grandmother (Rae Key Ferrell) today and she said that Constance Garrett was not a teetotalar and loved Italy because of the wines served there at ever meal. My grandmother also said that she and her husband had been stranded in Europe at the outbreak of WWI and had to abandon all of their luggage and possessions in Germany. While they waited in England for passage back to the states they ran out of cash, but a tailor loaned them some to tide them over until the proper letters of credit arrived. Apparently, tailors were a reliable source of credit to the aristocracy as they waited out their inheritance but needed to settle gambling debts before then. Hobart Key was so grateful that he became a customer for life to this tailor, always ordering his suits custom made from England from him.