I just got back from vacation, and while I was away, I checked my email and found a message that caught my attention:
“This is really random but I saw a very cool item on FB Marketplace, and it was inscribed to your great-great grandfather. I was curious to know who he was so I googled his name and came across your article. It would be really cool if it ended up back with you.”
I clicked over to Facebook, and sure enough, there it was: a Victrola with a brass plaque made out to my great-great grandfather, Isaac F. Woodbury — the builder of the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building, whose story I shared in this earlier blog post.
I reached out to the poster but didn’t hear back right away. I noticed he was a small business owner like me, so I went to his website and sent him an email directly. He called me back the same day.
It turned out that a family member had passed away, and they were cleaning out her house. Among her belongings was this old Victrola, originally gifted to Isaac. It was in Watertown, Connecticut, and they needed to find it a new home by August 4.
Fortunately, my sister used to live in Connecticut. She reached out to a friend in Stamford, whose son agreed to drive to Watertown to pick it up. In the meantime — because I’m a library consultant and apparently incapable of not researching, even while on vacation — I did some digging.
From pictures, it appears to be a 1913 Victor Victrola VV-XI (Type 11) floor model phonograph in a quarter-sawn oak cabinet. It’s a beautiful piece of early 20th-century craftsmanship. The plaque reads:
Presented to Isaac F. Woodbury, March 6, 1913. From his Executives & Administrative Staff.
Then I searched Newspapers.com and found a notice from the Boston Evening Transcript dated March 6, 1913 — the very same day the plaque was presented. It’s a brief social item describing a dinner held in Isaac’s honor at the Hotel Westminster, given by “the administrative and executive forces, business associates and friends of the Woodbury & Leighton Company.”
Speakers included the secretary of the Master Builders’ Association, the Building Commissioner of Boston, and several employees. The occasion appears to have been Isaac’s forthcoming trip to Panama with his son, Robert Lawrence Woodbury, my great-granduncle. Isaac was presented with the Victrola and a pair of field glasses for his trip. He made some remarks, and there was musical entertainment. (Sounds like a fun party!)
So the plaque on the Victrola matches the newspaper account perfectly. It wasn’t just a random family story — it was a documented event, important enough to be noted in the paper, and the object itself has survived for 113 years.
My next research project will be to find out what Isaac and Robert were traveling to Panama for! My guess is the Panama Canal, which by March 1913, was making global headlines as workers completed the giant concrete locks.
I love stories like this because they remind me that objects carry layers of meaning. A Victrola is already a beautiful early-20th-century artifact. But when you add in the context of why it was given, it becomes something more: a direct link between a family story, a priceless object, and a moment in time.
Even more amazingly, this story came full circle because someone saw the item online, recognized the name, found my blog post, and cared enough to reach out to me. And because I just happened to have written this blog post a few months ago because someone reached out to me with a question about the Boston Public Library reading room, not knowing about my personal connection. Now the Victrola will be back in the family, and my dad, who just turned 87 this summer, may get to see this piece of history from his great-grandfather Isaac.
And that’s the kind of story I’ll always stop everything to research.
