“The 1820 American Federal Secretary now sits in my dining room in Bothell, Washington. For four decades, this elegant antique was prominently displayed in the main parlor of my grandparents’ home in Cavendish, Vermont. I stood upon a dark red, blue, and gold Persian carpet and faced a bay window that overlooked lush, rolling hills.

I can just hear my mom, the daughter of a Vermont Senator, asking permission from her British-born mother to sit at the Secretary to write her report for school. I also envision straight-backed ladies in long skirts and high-necked silk blouses bedecked with a brooch, dipping fountain pens into the ink well and carefully penning each letter in a journal.

I discovered an essay my mother wrote in 1924, tucked in one of the drawers of the Secretary.

It began, “This summer President and Mrs. Coolidge spent their vacation in Plymouth, Vermont. Plymouth is a hamlet which is situated among the Green Mountains. In this little Village, President Coolidge spent his boyhood days.”

Her letter represented finding that pot of gold…” [Continue reading at Pink Pig Cottage Antiques: The Antique Secretary.]