By Art King
Letter to my Great Great Grandchildren (excerpts)
By Art King
May 5, 2001
Dear Posterity;
If this time capsule is successful, you will be reading these words on New Year’s Day in the year 2100. The first century of the third millennium will be over. It is a time to look back and ponder the life and times of your ancestors who lived one hundred years before.
This letter is intended to supplement the other documents contained in this time capsule. I won’t repeat family news found in the Christmas letters or elsewhere, but try and fill in some of the blanks.
I’m the third of four sons of Frank and Lauretta King. For more details on their history, see their Memoirs in this time capsule. My oldest brother…
My parents, Frank and Lauretta King are both in relatively good health and living in Bozeman, Montana. At 86 years old my father is still skiing..
My wife Ronda is the second of four children in her family. She has an older sister …
Ronda's parents, Grover and Betty Rose are in good health and living in College Place, Washington and wintering in Phoenix, AZ. Ronda's grandmother, Kathryn Rigby is still active at age 99.
My wife Ronda and I have chosen a path that is very rare at the end of the 20th century. We have not chosen sterilization after a child or two, but have embraced children – we now have nine wonderful children. We believe our Children are the some of the best parts of our lives, and a true blessing from God.
The fertility level in the United States fell below replacement levels over 20 years ago and continues to fall. Currently over 60% of the worlds’ population live in countries with fertility is below replacement levels. If these trends continue, we might not have many great-grand children to open and read this time capsule <grin>. No one knows what will happen to fertility rates in the future. No one knows what childbearing decisions our posterity will make.
…Ronda and I view our Christian faith and walk as foundational……
…We live … on 4.5 acres of land west of Portland, Oregon where this time capsule will be initially buried….
I hope you enjoy pursuing the contents of this time capsule. Maybe it will inspire you to create another time capsule for your posterity! Start with the best of the contents here, then add your own contributions for your great-great grandchildren. My most sincere and very best wishes to you.
Love, Art
Time Capsule Introduction and Contents
by Art King May 2001
If you are reading this, you have beaten the odds and recovered our time capsule (I’ve read that 9 out of 10 time capsules are never found). We are doing two time capsules with much of the same things in each. One is intended to be opened in 25 years, on January 1, 2025. The other time capsule is intended to be opened in 100 years on January 1, 2100 by the Great-Great Grandchildren or nearest of kin to Art and Ronda King.
The Contents of this time capsule:
Letter to my Great Great Grandchildren by Art King 2 pages
Memoirs of Frank and Lauretta King (Art’s Mother and Father) written in 1997. 19 pages
Listing of dates for Births, Weddings and Deaths, Family and friends 5 pages
Christmas Letters written by Art King, 1988 through 2000 14 pages
Email greetings to Ronda King on the occasion of her 40th birthday 6 pages
Elissa King’s autobiography written September 1998 4 pages
Bethani King’s autobiography written December 1999 5 pages
Listing of books purchased or contemplated, 97 – 99 2 pages
Email newsletters from Art King for 99 15 pages fine print
Sent email from January 2000 to present (around 100 pages fine print, 4 pages to a sheet)
A paper card in a plastic zip-lock bag with a DNA sample taken from the inside cheek of each member of the family. Includes samples from my parents, Frank and Lauretta King (100 yr capsule)
A few sample pages from the web site of FaxBack, Inc 4 pages
Family biographies and pictures from our web site 12 pages
FaxBack Inc. employee list
Itemized Family Spending budget 1992 – 1999
Aerial Photo of our house taken in 1994
Scanned photos of Elissa and Taylor, Caleb & Theron (color)
Theron adoption certificate
Listing of music CD’s owned by the family – names of musical recordings
School grade report for Elissa
Airline ticket for Sierra flying to Washington DC to see her cousins
Various miscellaneous items selected by the children, such as coins and mementos.
Flower-drying crystals to absorb moisture
We have used acid-free paper, and the best available advice for 100-year preservation.
Time Capsule Details
After more than a year of planning, preparation, delays and discussion our family time capsule is finally in the ground. I got the idea in the months preceding the new millennium in late 1999. I researched time capsules on the internet and read all I could find about how to preserve things for 100 years. I listened to many different people’s ideas of what should go into a time capsule. I found a company who sells an inexpensive DNA preservation kit:
Genetic Family Tree and Kid Tracer is an inexpensive DNA Storage Kit for
loved-ones to preserve a sample of their family member's DNA at home.
Genetic Family Tree Kit ($10 per kit): A simple cheek swab is all that is
needed. (A drop of blood could be substituted)
The swab is pressed onto the patented paper contained in the kit and after it
has dried is stored in the protective bag. The patented paper that the sample is
pressed onto is treated with special chemicals that kill viruses and bacteria.
This treated paper also has chemicals that prohibit degradation and allows the
sample to be stable indefinitely. The Kid Tracer Kit is $3. This company speaks
of starting a family DNA Library -- I like the concept.
Flatt Solutions
PO Box 342
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Phone: 800-272-1995
Fax: 15802268761
mailto:flat@brightok.net
I didn’t put anything “computerish” in the time capsule. No disks, CD’s or electronics to baffle my posterity. Everything was printed on acid-free paper. Most photographs were scanned or photocopied. Only a few emulsion photographs were included, as I doubt they will last 100 years. The actual time capsule itself I purchased from this web site:
http://www.affordabletimecapsules.com/
Ronda and I have added an addendum to our Will that instructs our heirs to keep track of the time capsule, and pass this obligation on to their heirs until January 1, 2100.
I tried to think of what kinds of things my great great grandchildren would find interesting about us. I included family budgets sheets showing spending on everything from groceries to taxes. I included sample family email, Christmas letters and more. Below are excerpts from the introductory documents that are buried in the time capsule.
Appendix to the Will of Arthur Neal King
On May 6th, 2001 Art King buried a 100-year time capsule on his property.
The time capsule is intended to be opened on January 1, 2100 by great great
grandchildren or next-of-kin to Art and Ronda King. If Art
King sells this property in his lifetime, he intends to disinter the time
capsule and safeguard it.
The time capsule itself is a cylinder twenty-three and one-half inches in length and six and one-half inches in diameter. It is made of rugged 1/8th inch polystyrene with glued caps on each end. The contents are mostly paper items of no monetary value but of (hopefully) historical and family interest.
The time capsule is buried …[location]. See the sketch for more exact location details.
I, Arthur Neal King do hereby direct my heirs to guard the integrity if this time capsule until January 1, 2100. If the property where it is buried is sold out of the family, the time capsule must be disinterred. The heirs are directed to use their best judgment as to how best safeguard the time capsule, sealed and unopened, until January 1, 2100.
If for any reason the time capsule is opened before that date, the heirs are requested to obtain a new container and reseal the contents for opening on January 1, 2100.
On January 1, 2100 the time capsule should be carefully opened by sawing open the polystyrene cylinder near one end. In addition to other contents, about a cupful of moisture-absorbing crystals were poured into the time capsule before it was sealed.
[sketch location]