This small hand-made volume contains 24 locks of men and women's hair, some of them tied with ribbon, braided, or looped. While its creator is not indicated, internal evidence suggests that Maryette Canedy of Northfield, Minnesota, likely compiled the booklet in 1863, to document friends and relatives in Minnesota and Vermont. A pencil, colored pencil, and ink illustration of a woman holding a bouquet of flowers is pasted on the front cover. Its inscription includes "Miss Emely [Shurpy?] drawing," her residence in Northfield, Minnesota, and the date of January 25, 1863.
Each lock of hair is accompanied by one or more of the following types of information:
- The name of the individual who provided the hair.
- The place the person lived, such as Stanford [i.e. Stamford, Vermont]; Wilmington, [Vermont]; North Adams, [Massachusetts]; and Northfield, Minnesota.
- Short sayings or further identifying information. For example, the entries for Charles C. Phipps, Anna Phipps, and Anna Canedy mention their relationship to the compiler: grandfather, grandmother, and mother, respectively.
- The age of the individual when the clipping was taken.
Maryette Canedy's hair sample is missing.
Charles C. Phipps (1779-1844) married Anna Phipps, and is buried in Wilmington, Vermont. They had at least three children: David L. Phipps, Anna Phipps Canedy and Eliza C. Phipps Clark.
Anna Phipps Canedy (1815-1891) was born in Vermont. In 1843, she married Joseph Canedy (1811-1902) and they lived in Stamford, Vermont, before moving to Northfield, Minnesota in 1856. She had at least three biological children, Maryette Canedy (1845-1863), Noble Smith Canedy (1851-1926), and Charles Horace Canedy (1855-1935). Joseph Canedy appears to have had three children from a previous marriage to Sarah Crosier Canedy (1815-1843): Thomas Canedy (1837-1868), Joseph Canedy (1841-1842), and Willard Canedy (1843-1915).
