Original Fraktur Eagle Art in 1800s Babbitt Family Register (Genealogy) of Ohio

Item Details

Ohio, 1800s

This is an amazing piece on many fronts. Included are 25 beautiful cards depicting the genealogy of the Babbitt family, with the central card declaring it as the Family Register of L W Babbitt of Fairfield County, Ohio, all framed under glass. That hand-drawn piece depicts a flying eagle standing on clasped hands with the motto: United We Stand, Divided We Fall. L. W. Babbitt married Miss Lydia Hockman and was born in 1817, as noted by one of the cards to the left. Also in the center are four more hand-drawn cards with elaborate fraktur-type art, including one depicting three leatherbound religious books. The remaining cards show other family information and artwork, many with eagles and other birds.

I took this to a professional framer and had them remove it from the frame so I could look at the cards under a loupe. All the graphic artwork is definitely original pencil art, which is amazing considering how small and detailed they are.  I’m not completely sure about the cards with just words, as that is even smaller, but possibly they are hand-drawn as well.

The entire piece measures slightly under 13” x 15” framed. I've taken pictures without the glass and without the backing so you can see how clearly old it is. Overall the cards and frame are in very good condition, though the paper on the back has been slit along the border to enable me to examine it.