It isn’t every day that a long-gone treasure finds its way home, but thanks to the generous donation by a family with deep roots in Fairfield, that is exactly what happened.
Accepting delivery of an original marble table last month are caretakers of Fairfield’s historic Moody-Bradley House. Making the donation were Steve and Joyce Gleason Alderman (middle). Present for the occasion were (on the left) Fairfield History Club Board members Sissy Ivy – Secretary, Diane Pullin – President-Elect, and (far right) Pam Windham – Past President of the club.
On July 20, 2022, Joyce Gleason Alderman graciously gifted back a beautiful Victorian marble-top table, once original to Moody-Bradley House in Fairfield. The antique will take its place as one of only a few original furnishings that remain in the home today.
The Historic Moody-Bradley House in Fairfield was built in 1860 by W.L. Moody for his new bride, Elizabeth Bradley. The house remained in the ownership of family until it was sold with furnishings and surrounding acreage to L.C. Kirgan in 1917. Mr. Kirgan was well known as the owner and publisher of The Fairfield Recorder for many years.
When Mr. Kirgan sold the property some years later, his wife Annie Eugenia Kirgan was permitted to choose one piece of furniture from the house to have as a keepsake. She chose a beautiful, oval table made of walnut, topped with cream-colored marble.
The table lived in the corner of the parlor in the Kirgan home known as “Liberty Hall”, where it remained until Annie Eugenia Kirgan’s death in 1969. Over many decades of raising children and entertaining guests, the fragile table remained unharmed. Mrs. Alderman recalls visiting her grandmother’s home as a child. Of the table, she said, “It was a miracle the table was never broken. The corner of her ‘parlor’ was probably the safest place it could be with all the comings and goings of family and friends over the years.”
After Kirgan’s death, as the family was tending to her belongings, they discovered the name “Joy Kirgan Gleason” handwritten on a Band-Aid purposely stuck on the underside of the table. Joy was one of Mrs. Kirgan’s 10 children. It was apparent that she intended for the table to be passed on to her. The table soon found its way to the Gleason home in Dallas.
Also donated was a chair of the same period.
In 2009, Mrs. Gleason passed away, and the heirloom was left to her daughter, Joyce Gleason Alderman. The carefully protected antique was transported to League City, on the Texas Gulf Coast. Joyce and husband Steve Alderman treasured the table for the next 13 years. In the years after relocating to be nearer their grandchildren, the couple downsized their home and belongings. They decided it was time to return the table back to the Moody-Bradley House on behalf of the Joy Kirgan Gleason family. Through the generations, their family cherished the heirloom for 104 years.
“We are happy to return the table to its home, where we know it will be well cared for and recognized for its history,” Alderman said. The Moody-Bradley House Foundation is charged with the maintenance and historic preservation of the house and its contents. President Melinda Bonds said the Foundation could not be happier with the return of a rare treasure of such historical significance to the community.
The table will be on permanent display at the Moody Bradley House.
(Photos by Karen Leidy)
