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Vintage wedding dress sparks desire to find family

Courtesy Photos Ellen Prince, of Alpena County, poses in her wedding dress in 1934 in this photo provided by K.C. Thompson, who found Prince’s wedding dress and other heirlooms in California. Thompson wants to find a descendant of Prince near Alpena so she can return the items.

ALPENA — Few things are more treasured than wedding dresses, wedding photos, and love letters.

All of those things and other family heirlooms belonging to an Alpena County woman were found in an abandoned chest near Los Angeles, California, years ago.

The original owner, Ellen Prince, died years ago. The new owner, K.C. Thompson, resides on the West Coast and is on a quest to find a descendant of Prince so she can return the long-lost treasures.

Thompson has thus far learned Ellen was born to William Prince and Margaret McHarg on Oct. 19, 1912, in Alpena County. She also had an older sister named Elizabeth.

William was a well-off banker in the Alpena area, where the family lived until he passed away in 1930. The family moved to California shortly afterward, and Ellen married Johnny Landcaster in California in 1934. Landcaster wrote the love letters found in the chest, Thompson said.

In this photo provided by K.C. Thompson, she poses in the antique wedding dress, discovered in a chest, that she wore on her wedding day. The dress belonged to Ellen Prince, of Alpena County, who was photographed wearing the dress in 1934. Now, Thompson wants to find a descendant of Prince in the Alpena area, so she can return the dress, photos, love letters, and other heirlooms.

Thompson said that is where the trail goes cold, and she hopes locals in Northeast Michigan can help her put the remaining puzzle pieces together.

At some point before her death, Ellen changed her last name to Forte, but Thompson said she hasn’t learned why. She said the name could have ties to Northeast Michigan, but she isn’t sure.

Thompson said she believes Ellen was an elementary school teacher, because a planner in the chest showed lesson schedules. Ellen obtained a degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara after taking classes at the University of California, Los Angeles.

If the tale of how Thompson acquired the chest and how it impacted her life seems like the script from a movie, returning the items to Alpena would be the climax, Thompson said.

In 1986, Thompson’s cousin, Richard Payton, was in North Hollywood when he noticed some workers hauling three chests out of a home where the owner had passed away. Always on the lookout for antiques, Payton asked if he could have the chests, and the workers agreed.

Ellen Prince and Johnny Landcaster pose with their wedding party in 1934 in this photo provided by K.C. Thompson, who found Prince’s wedding dress and other heirlooms in California. Thompson is looking for relatives of Prince near Alpena to whom she may return the dress and other keepsake items.

Payton went through the trunks, disappointed to find the first two were empty. When he opened the third, he found a wedding dress, wedding shoes, photos, letters, and an old Bible.

Not long after, Thompson tried on the dress, which Payton said “fit like it was made for her.”

Little did Thompson know at the time, her cousin would give her the dress several years later, and she would wear it on her wedding day.

Doing so, Thompson said, created a bond with the woman from Alpena, and preserving the items in the chest became even more important to her.

“When I wore it, I got the sense that this woman didn’t want to be forgotten,” Thompson said. “She wanted to go home. I feel like I am the custodian of her life. I’m so curious to know more about her, and I hope the people in Alpena will help me return Ellen home. That is where I believe she belongs, at home with family. All of these family heirlooms belong with her family.”

The above photo provided by K.C. Thompson shows Ellen Prince, who was born and raised in Alpena County. Residents in the area are asked to help locate a relative of Prince’s so family heirlooms can be returned from where they were discovered in California.

If a relative can be verified, Thompson said, she will make arrangements to transfer Ellen’s belongings.

Thompson said she could travel to Alpena to personally hand over the dress and other items that are now very special to her.

“I know there is someone out there who will care about Ellen the way that I do,” she said. “I would be overjoyed to make the handoff in person.”

Did you know Ellen Prince?

Ellen Prince, of Alpena County, poses with husband Johnny Landcaster, whom she married in California, in this photo provided by California’s K.C. Thompson. Prince later changed her name to Forte before she died. Thompson is trying to find relatives of Prince so she can return long-lost family heirlooms discovered in California.

K.C. Thompson, of Los Angeles, discovered a wedding dress, photos, and love letters belonging to Ellen Prince, of Alpena County, and is now looking for information on Prince or her descendants so she can return those items. If you have information that could help, contact News staff writer Steve Schulwitz at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com.

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