Mano and Richard

Mano got to go down to Kentucky for a wedding this week. While he was there he met up with an old friend and coworker, Richard. Richard worked for W.L. Meekins in the 90s. He started in a field-crew, but was soon moved to the office to do computations. As a Computer (Yeah, that's what they called them back then), Richard would determine exactly where property lines were on boundaries that were complicated by years of easements and transactions. For example, an old piece of farm land may now have power poles running through the middle of it. The electric company struck a deal with this farmer to run the lines through the property and an easement was created. Every change like this must be discovered by the field-crews and drawn on final plats to scale. Richard was the guy that would determine with precision where these lines were located for the drawings.

Below is a picture taken of Mano and Richard this past week:

Hubby's Store

Hey everybody. Today I am going to write about "Hubby's" General Store.

The house that the late W.L Meekins Sr. was raised in Wanchese (on Roanoke Island) was positioned right across the street from Hubby's General Merchandise. Hubby was one of Joe's (WLM SR.'s dad) best friend. They presumably grew up together on the island and living so near, it is remembered that Joe would walk across the street to talk on a daily basis.

There are many fond memories about Hubby's store from Joe's grandchildren who remember walking across the street as children to buy candy. There is one Island fable, that Hubby was in love with a girl name Roanna, but was always afraid to ask her to marry him. They continued to be good friends throughout life, but never married. Because of Joe's friendship with Hubby, the store held sentimental value for W.L. Meekins Sr.. He made sure to remember the store with a painting somebody found at a thrift store in the area. You can see it below:

The store is remembered to have the same kind of feel you might see in Cracker Barrel. Many old signs and artifacts that beckon back towards days past. The smaller pictures in the corner are actual pictures taken by the Meekins. The B/W picture was taken in 1962. The actual name of the store was H.L. Davis General Merchandise. The color picture was taken many years after Hubby passed and the store was not maintained.

W.L. Meekins Sr.'s daughter explained that she remembered going to the general store with her grandpa (Joe) to get kerosene. Somehow she ended up with the original kerosene pump from the store, which she later restored to give to her father for a gift. This kerosene pump resides in the front of the office, right when you walk in.

I did some research on the pump and from what I can tell, that it was a Texaco pump and is actually a collectors item these days. If you open up the tank you can still smell the scent of kerosene.

Here is a similar Texaco pump:

Here is the exact Texaco pump:

In my brief search of the interwebs, I found next to nothing about Hubby's store. Hopefully some newspaper articles about the store will be uploaded to a database somewhere eventually. For now we will have to settle for this bit of history and this pic I found of an old sale of a matchbook on Ebay.

Something we can learn from this little story about Hubby's s store is that we should let our personality shine. Who we are has the potential to positively impact those around us. Hubby's store and friendship has had a lasting impact on even Joe Meekins' grandchildren who experienced the store many years ago and only while on vacation.

Need a survey? www.meekins.net

Tea Pot

So it's been a while since I posted last. Things have been getting busier here at the Surveyor's Office. So that's good. A couple posts ago, I said I would tell you about a teapot. Well I finally have some information about the teapot. It's not much I admit, but it will do. First, here are some pics of the pot.

This teapot is covered in silver. So while it looks black it is actually just tarnished. This piece has a bit of a different story from everything else we have looked at so far. This was purchased not by WL Meekins Sr., but by his wife Donna. She found this teapot at a yard sale and really loved it. A few years back an antique store owner saw it on the shelf and commented that it was probably worth some money. So naturally, I became intrigued.

 I think this says AM Nov. 1919. So this is clearly an old piece and maybe the initials belong to someone of importance?

This is on the bottom. Reed & Barton. A Massachusetts company that apparently still makes teapots. This one is number 76. Maybe a rare edition?

I found a website that does appraisals online if you send pictures. Here is what I found out:

Guarantee line
An American silver-plated tea kettle and stand with spirit burner, Reed &
Barton, Taunton, Massachusetts
Description
Compressed circular, part spiral lobed, the knop to the plain lid and the border
to the stand with conforming decoration, high scroll handle.
Date
Circa 1875
Auction Value
$50 - $70
Extra Notes
This appears to be plated Britannia metal as you can see the grey colour of
the base metal where the silver-plating has worn on the spirals. This is a small
version of the tea kettle, which will limit the value somewhat, but the condition
generally looks to be good and it is good to have the original spirit burner.
Silver plating or electroplating is a process that uses electrical current to
reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a coherent metal coating on
an electrode. Electroplating is primarily used to change the surface properties
of an object, and mainly in this case to give the object the look of being made
out of silver. From a technical point of view, current is passed from the
cathode of an electrolyte cell into the anode (a silver object). Positive silver
ions flow into the cathode from the silver cyanide where they are neutralized and stick onto the object being plated as silver metal. The anode bar loses electrons to become silver ions until it dissolves. Meanwhile the silver metals are transferred to the cathode. This process continues until the desired texture is achieved in the cathode. Rather technical but there you go!

Anyway, not quite as valuable as we had hoped :-(, but even older than I expected!

I think we can learn from Donna, that all things have value. Even if it is a "small version," of something else. She bought this at a yard sale after all, probably for a fraction of what it is worth.

Have a great day!

The Story of Boats

The teapot I mentioned last time is still a mystery. I will write about it when I know more.

Today I will touch a little on WL Meekins Sr.'s love for the sea.

WL Meekins Sr. was born in the town of Wanchese on Roanoke Island in the sound of the Outerbanks. Roanoke Island is a small island. You can get to the water in any direction fairly quickly, in fact when WL Meekins Sr. was a kid, that was all there was, they had to take a ferry to get onto the island. The Island has a rich history, one of which the natives are proud. You may have heard of Wanchese before, just last year a show on the National Geographic Chanel began, called Wicked Tuna: North vs South; Wanchese - a fishing town - is the southern town featured in the show.

WL Meekins Sr.'s grandfather owned a boat shop that Joe (WL Meekins Sr.'s father) worked at, Joe joined the Navy in 1917 to help build ships. In 1920 he took a position as an engineer at Globe Fish Co., where he worked on many different boats. In 1931 Joe started working for Texaco and was a boat engineer on a tanker ship. Upon retirement, Joe renovated an old boat and utilized it for fishing. This was WL Meekins Sr.'s background. It was inevitable that he would one day work on ships as well.

It is to no surprise then, that WL Meekins Sr. joined the Navy during WWII and traveled around the world on a ship. While WL Meekins Sr. did not pursue a professional life on the sea, between his upbringing and very origin, he had a love for all things nautical. I tell you all this, because one thing I have come across during my time at The Surveyor's Office is countless paintings, pictures, and displays of boats. Below you will see a fraction of the nautical memorabilia in the office.

 I think one thing we can learn from WL Meekins Sr.'s love for the sea, is that there is value to who we are and where we came from. WL Meekins Sr. moved far away from where he was raised, but he never forgot his roots. In a way, by placing these images of boats all around the office, WL Meekins Sr. was honoring where he came from and those who made him to be the person he became.

Next time I will hopefully be able to write about that Tea Pot. ;-)

The Boar above the Door

I asked Karyn (the daughter of WL Meekins Sr.) about this pig and she quickly corrected me. This is not a pig, but a boar! In any case, this is what greets each customer as they come into The Office. Karyn told me that this boar actually originally rested above the bed of Bill Jr. from when he was a child until after he graduated high school. She said she was always afraid of it, so didn't like to go in Bill Jr.'s Room. I guess that worked out pretty well for both of them. To be honest, I really can't imagine having this over my bed.

This was probably purchased at Thieves Market in Alexandria, VA (now located in McClean). This is an antique store that specializes in recovering stuff from estate sales. Just like WL Meekins Inc. Thieves Market is a family owned and run business that has been around since 1951. I bet WL Meekins Sr. was good friends with them, as it was one of his favorite places to shop.

I tried to take this thing off the wall to see if there was any interesting notes on the back, but it was nailed to the wall. Hopefully one day I will see what is on the back.While I was up there, I noticed the two dogs. I tried searching to see if I could find any information about this online, but could not.

After Bill Jr. went to college, it was moved to the office. But it was boring and just brown back then. WL Meekins Sr. had Fred, a former employee, repaint it and add his favorite color - gold. I joked with Karyn, if WL Meekins Sr. had painted it, it would be solid gold.

The only theory I have come up with as to what this piece is all about, is that it is based on Animal Farm by George Orwell. In Animal Farm, the pigs/boars are the elite. There is one boar named Napolean who is the meanest boar and travels with a pack of guard dogs who do is bidding. Looking back at the headboard with this in mind, this makes perfect sense, especially now that it's gold. It's almost as if the dogs are worshiping the boar. Considering when Animal Farm came out (1945), I bet WL Meekins Sr. was aware of the allusion - so that's fun.

I think this is an example of how WL Meekins Sr. never gave up on anything. Something old could always be made new. This piece was old and ratty, but he made it new and shiny. It was made to reflect a story of communism, but has become something the reflects the story of the Meekins'.

In the next post we will look into a fancy little tea pot.

Need a survey? www.meekins.net

The Menena Tomb

Hey everybody! Thanks for coming back. At the end of my last post, I mentioned that I would be talking about the follow piece of artwork. So... let's do it...

As I am looking around the front office, Karyn (WL Meekins Sr.'s daughter) runs over to the wall and points to this piece of art. Then starts telling me a story about how this was obtained. The story goes that WL Meekins Sr. was touring one of the museums in DC sometime in the 60s when he saw this piece of artwork. As I mentioned last time, he loved the Egyptians because they surveyed. He immediately noticed the rope and if you look closely you can see at least one knot in the rope. This is an image of the Egyptians surveying! He had to have it. So believe it or not, he found somebody (or perhaps called somebody) at the Smithsonian and asked them to make him a replica. So they did, at least that's how the story goes. I needed to investigate.

I pulled this thing off the wall and find that it is a 10 pound piece of plaster of paris. When I flipped it over, this is what I found.

From
Egyptian
Wall Painting
The Manena Tomb
Dorothy Briggs 1967

1967, so far so good. I did what any average 21st century person would do and searched for said Dorothy Briggs. This is what I found.

A picture of Dorothy Briggs from the Smithsonian! How cool is that? She was "a museum specialist at the National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History, restoring the design on an early American Staffordshire pearlware bowl, c. 1790, excavated from the rear of Arrel's Tavern, in Alexandria, Virginia, where George Washington was a frequent visitor."

WL Meekins Sr. really did have the Smithsonian make him a replica of this piece of art!

I was able to find this painting online at a couple of websites, and the Egyptians are not actually surveying land, but grain. They are figuring how much grain they will be able to harvest.

I tried to look of the Manena tomb, which is actually spelled Menena, but I wasn't able to find out too much about it, except that it's really old and that Menena was a contemporary of Nakht. Fun fact.

I think WL Meekins Sr. obtaining this replica is an example of how he worked hard even in the most unlikely situation to make things happen. Whether it was growing the business, taking care of his family, or getting the Smithsonian to make him this piece, he was willing to do whatever it takes. 

Remember that pig over the door? I will talk about that next time.

Need a survey? www.meekins.net

The Interior of The Office

When the doors of The Office are finally opened your jaw will probably drop. The Office has rather tall ceilings and even though there has been care taken to make sure there is ample room for clients to walk in the center, the area behind the counter is packed. As you can see the walls are covered in pictures and cabinets are covered in figurines. If I didn't know any better, I would likely think this has been set up as a shrine to give honor to someone or something. I was actually asked last Friday if there had ever been any ghost sitings reported here.

Once you are able to get past the initial shock of sensory overload you can begin to walk around and examine the many artifacts on display. This Surveyor's Office is more than just a place to come when you are trying to build a fence, but can also be a place of exploration. A place that tells a story.

This is the "front office," but it doesn't stop here. The Office has two floors, with many rooms. We will not have time today to explore the far reaches of The Office. In fact, we could probably spend a year or two just seeing what is here in the front office.

As I have been looking at this picture, I noticed that on either side of the pillar, (naturally what one will see when walking in for the first time,) there are two pictures. On the right you will see George Washington. This makes sense, WL Meekins Sr. loved history and was proud of US history. In addition, George Washington was himself a land surveyor (fun fact). Who better to put in a place of honor than George Washington? On the left you will see a picture of WL Meekins Jr.. I am not sure when this photo was placed, but it demonstrates how proud he was of his son. We have George Washington and we have WL Meekins Jr..

On the left wall there are many more photos intermixed with paintings. But the photos are all of family. This leads me to one core value I think we have all learned from the late WL Meekins Sr.. We should live to take care of our family. Every decision, business or otherwise must take the good of the family into consideration. Family is who shapes us into who we are, we ought not take it for granted. WL Meekins Sr. loved his family and even at his place of work, he wanted to make sure they were remembered. Even amongst his quirkiness and drive to build a stronger business, at The Office, family was still valued first.

Here are some close ups of the front office.

Upon walking in the door if you turn around and look up over your head, this is what you will see. A very welcoming golden pig.

One of the many seemingly random statues.

WL Meekins Sr. loved music.

 Not sure.

At some point we will talk about security at the office. This mannequin head is meant to fool hooligan's. There is always someone in the office...

 The Original tin ceiling and ornate chandeliers.

Another seemingly random statue (WL Meekins Sr. loved the color gold).

This piece will be the feature of the next post. WL Meekins Sr. loved the Egyptians since their proclivity to build required land surveying first. The office is full of Egyptian artifacts, but this piece in particular displays the audacity of WL Meekins Sr. Be sure to check back to hear a fascinating story!

Need a survey? www.meekins.net