BOLIVIA, N.C. — Thrift stores are often a place where one person's trash becomes another person's treasure. Thanks to a fortunate discovery at a shop in Bolivia, North Carolina, a priceless heirloom is back with the family it belongs to.
An assistant manager at the Hope Chest Thrift Store was going to clean up a painting that had been donated. When she took the frame off, she made an unexpected discovery. She found a marriage certificate that was approximately 150 years old!
A genealogist was able to decipher the certificate, and together they were able to find Irene Cornish, the great-great-granddaughter of the married couple, on ancestry.com.
The team was able to reunite the family with the historic document.
The worker who found it said she freaked out when she found it.
"I had a complete nerd moment, and started spiraling on why it was hidden and who it could have belonged to, and obviously if there was any family living that this certificate could be returned to," she said.
Irene Cornish said she wants to uncover more of her family history. She said she plans to visit North Carolina to find where the couple was married.
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