All About Nancy

Last April we took a vacation to Arizona. Being the internet addict that I am, I headed over to the public library one afternoon to catch up on the news and to collect our emails. We had gotten some mail from a friend in Lafayette, Indiana. She told us that she was working on a fundraiser for a local not-for-profit. This fundraiser was an art auction. And someone had donated a very old portrait to be auctioned off. Brenda had picked up the portrait and had found information taped to the back. The woman in the portrait was Nancy Barton Titus. She had homesteaded with her husband Stephen Titus in Boone County, Indiana in 1832.

Now our friend knew some of the history of Jim's family. So she had emailed us, curious that maybe this was a relative of Jim's. We immediately forwarded her email to Jim's dad in Indiana. And after several other emails, phone calls, and references to the family Bible, we determined that Nancy Barton Titus was Jim's great, great, great grandmother.

We called our friend and told her that we wanted the portrait and would be bidding on it from Arizona by phone. She told us that she had contacted the woman who had donated the portrait to tell her that Nancy Barton Titus's family may have been located. The owner of the portrait demanded that the painting be pulled from the auction. She wanted the family to have it.

So after some negotiating, we agreed to purchase the portrait with the money going to the not-for-profit. Our friend took the portrait to Jim's dad. And we picked it up from him last month.

It's a wonderful portrait done in pastels. It's in mint condition. And we are so lucky to have it!

More about Nancy soon.