Arizona Goodwill purchase helps woman discover 100 years of family history: 'Act of God'
A Gilbert, Arizona woman found 100 years of another family's history hidden inside a $20 Goodwill desk (Fox 10 Phoenix) (FOX 10 Phoenix)
An Arizona woman who bought a desk from Goodwill to refurbish ended up stumbling onto a discovery that provided another family with a fascinating insight into 100 years of family history.
Jenna Franzoy of Gilbert, Arizona recently purchased an antique secretary's desk for $20 at a Goodwill location and told Fox 10 Phoenix that a "secret drawer" fell out when she brought it home and was tipping it over.
In the drawer, Franzoy found a stash of historical treasures that included letters, newspaper clippings, songs, sports articles, and farm articles dating back as far as 100 years that appeared to all belong to one family.
"My dearest Martha, mother has been writing to you and I want to write some too," one of the letters said.
"I found it to be really sentimental, and I was so blown away by it, so I knew if it was my family member, I’d be even more blown away," Franzoy said.
Franzoy decided she would try to get in touch with the family in order to return the documents but only had the name Martha McCollough to go off of.
"I just came to really understand this woman Martha, She reminded me a lot of my grandmother, so I decided to reach out," Franzoy said.
Franzoy posted about the discovery on Facebook and was contacted by a woman named Shirley Knight who said she was related to McCollough.
"So apparently, this desk and the items in it belong to my grandmother, Martha," said Knight, who found her own birth announcement in the trove of historical documents.
"McCollough, Kenneth and Nancy had a girl - that would be me - September 4," Knight said, reading the announcement out loud.
"This was like an act of God and I don't believe anything is chance, to him be the glory," Franzoy said.