Through Multiple Layers Of Paint

This cherished heirloom survived five generations.

- Melba Brown

My mother, Marjorie Martin Mangrum, was from a family in Williamson County, Tennessee. Her grandfather B.C. Wilkes was a woodworker and made beautiful caskets and custom cabinetry.

In the fall of 1928, when my mom was 7, she visited her grandfather’s workshop. She watched as he lovingly built a pint-sized china cabinet. She later told me how she wished that cabinet could be hers.