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The following was written by Ryan Morgenegg for the Deseret News. To read the full article, click here.
Last February at the 2017 RootsTech family history conference hosted by the LDS Church, Salt Lake resident Michelle Oswald brought with her a family heirloom for identification. She approached exhibitors Glen Beckstead and Amiee Wilkinson, who offered to identify the unique item.
The item Oswald wanted identified was a large silver-plated sacrament goblet standing close to a foot tall. Its intricate engraving of Joseph Smith reaching up to a vine of grapes resembles a famous early LDS engraving of the prophet preaching among the American Indians.
“My grandmother, Alice Lucile Margetts Oswald, kept the cup in her beautiful china hutch with her dishes and other favorite pieces,” said Oswald. “The family legend was that John Henry Rumel, my great-great grandfather received the cup instead of payment for some work he had performed. John Henry Rumel was a plasterer by profession. He worked in homes, commercial buildings, church buildings and temples.”
The cup was passed down through the family from generation to generation until it ended up with Andrew Busby Oswald Jr., Michelle Oswald’s father. “The cup has most likely been in the family since 1894,” said Oswald. “The cup was always mentioned with respect and awe. The engraving was so detailed and the subject of the engraving was very special, Joseph Smith preaching to the Indians.”
To read the full article, click here.
This item is currently on display at Moon’s Rare Books in Provo, UT. To learn more about the store and gallery, click here.
