Lost and Found

A pocket calendar with a brown lock of hair inside and the words "Lester's curl."

An address book dated April 21, 1907, with notes written on the pages:
"My Dear Grandson Lester:
"I hope you will appreciate what we have left you, and that you will think of the poor old man once in a while with good feelings. It is not a great quantity but there is enough money to give you a start. Now take good care of your money and use it to the best advantage for you know how hard it is to get. I don't forget.

"My advice to you is not to draw it all out at once. Only enough for your present use. And don't carry it around, and don't show it to eney one, and don't say how much you have left, for there is always someone on the lookout to rob you. And don't you show your bank book to eney one in this town or eney other.

"Now keep a still tongue and lay as little as possible outside. God bless you and your wife and give you both a long happy life. Say you both will think of the poor old people that loved you so."

"L.A. & E. Bennett. Goodbye"

"My last wish to you is to take good care of your money and don't squander it away, for we have bin years earning it. Study every dollar before you let it go out of your hands for this is your last chance. Make every dollar count. Don't be extravagant. You git all I have got, and may it do you a good deal of good.

"Now settle down and don't be wandering around. Doctor yourself up and live as long as you can."

"E. Bennett. Destroy this book when done with it."

White completes an inventory of another envelope. Her assistants double-check the contents.

A five-dollar bill. A pocket watch. A gold locket shaped like a butterfly. A note: "Found by Harry."

It's hard to work in the vault and not imagine who these people were, she says, not construct entire lives from the piles of forgotten photos, love letters and keepsakes. There are so many.

"You wonder what happened to them," she says. "You really do."

Contact Harrison Fletcher at his online address, harrison_fletcher@westword.com, or by phone at 303-293-3553.