The ring was discovered in a garden at 11 Peach Street in 1975 with the inscription “E.A. to A. A. 21Mar1907”. Using property records, the couple who discovered the ring — Chuck and Sharon Painter — eventually discovered that Carl Emil Anderson and his wife Anna had purchased the home in 1921 and found that the ring belonged to them.

Since discovering it, the ring has sat in the house and the couple wondered if the Fenton History Center could help with tracking down the ancestors of the Andersons and return it to the right family.

Hall House Manager, Barb Cessna, said that it is not often that people contact the Fenton for things like this.

“It’s usually if they purchase a house and in the course of moving in and checking out the spaces they will find things like trap doors,” Cessna said. “People may find old Bibles or old documents, and sometimes they want to see if we can help them be returned to the family.”

Gary Skoog and the ring that belonged to his grandparents, Carl Emil and Anna Anderson. The ring was discovered in a garden on Peach Street with the inscription “E.A. to A. A. 21Mar1907.” Submitted photo

Cessna said that nine times out of ten the people who have discovered the item say they do not feel right hanging on to it and if the Fenton History Center cannot help them find the right owners they ask if the Fenton will add it to the collection, though Cessna added that that decision is up to Collections Manager, Norm Carlson. Cessna said they usually try to find the owner and the people are just looking to get the item to the right place.

In the case of the wedding ring, many different Carl and Anna Andersons have existed in Jamestown throughout the years. After a search in the Jamestown City Directory and a few other easier things to search through with the help of Carlson, the Painters discovered that Carl Anderson had gone by C Emil Anderson, which led to a bit of an easier search.

Cessna said they originally connected it to a Frewsburg family whose ancestors shared many similar details with the Andersons. The Frewburg family discovered that while their grandparents were also Carl and Anna Anderson, not all of the details were the same and they actually lived in a different house, so the ring was returned to the Fenton.

After finding contact information for another ancestor of Carl and Anna Anderson, a research volunteer, Sharon Peterson, recognized the name of the man who graduated in her class. She helped Cessna get in contact with him, Gary Skoog, who currently lives in Brockport, and they discovered that Carl Emil and Anna Anderson were for sure his grandparents. Cessna said Skoog was very happy to receive the ring.

“He was very happy to have it,” Cessna said. “It will probably continue through his family. He is often in Jamestown and still has a lot of good friends in the area, so we know we will keep in touch.”

Skoog came to the Fenton a few days later with some friends and picked up the ring. Cessna said the ring was officially passed on to Skoog on Aug. 30.

“I was so surprised to receive the phone call from the Fenton about the ring,” Skoog said. “I was thrilled. It was a wonderful call to receive and have a connection to my grandparents. I have good memories of them and of the house on 11 Peach Street. It was a neat thing.”

Skoog said he enjoyed meeting the Painters and having coffee with them and getting to thank them for returning the ring to him. He added that he has many wonderful memories of that time, including his grandma’s biscuits and her flower garden. The Painters have also offered for Skoog to come back and take some flowers back to his home in Brockport, as there were flowers planted at the house before they moved in that also belonged to the Andersons. Skoog himself is an avid gardener.

The Painters added that they enjoyed having Skoog visit the house and hearing about his memories there. Skoog was able to tell them things about the house that they did not know and it turned out that Skoog and Chuck Painter have the same birthdays.

While Cessna said she expects to keep in touch with many people involved in the story, this ends the connection with the Fenton that they helped with. Cessna was glad that the story could end happily.

For others out there that might have a similar story to the Anderson wedding ring, Cessna said if they want to connect it to the right people they have to be willing to do research and have the names of the people it belongs to. They can come to the Research Center or the Prendergast Library and look up names and addresses, though Cessna said often from there it is a long shot and the only reason the Painters were able to discover so much was because of the names being in the title of the house.

Cessna added that stories like this are just something that can happen while working for the Fenton History Center.

“We put it in our newsletter because it was a cool story,” Cessna said. “We can always use more research volunteers. This is just one of the things that happen when you work at the Fenton History Center. We want people to get involved. And, it’s just fun.”