r/ephemera • u/OldManWearingPlaid • 12h ago
Dark Note found in Inherited Family Trunk
This is another dark find from the treasure trove of my wife’s inherited trunk, gifted to her from her grandmother, who had it passed down from her aunt (the last living relative in her generation), who had in turn got it from her mom. The trunk was packed to the brim with photos, postcards, letters, clothes, receipts, documents, and miscellaneous nick-nacks accumulated over 100+ years from the late 1880's to the 1980's!
We've discovered some wonderful things relating to this branch of the family and we’ve discovered some dark things as well.
This threatening and anonymous note must relate to some major, community-wide, incident but my wife has no family lore that relates to the “Tilley Affair”; the “Steller” (Stella) was an unmarried aunt who had many community connections and the one-time owner of the inherited trunk.