Lena Josephine Godfrey DeGrasse

 If my family tree has anyone that fits the prompt "legend" I think it would have to be Lena Josephine Godfrey. Perhaps a more appropriate word might be "mystery". We have not learned much about Josephine's early life, with any certainty. Much of the information (speculative or otherwise) about Lena is thanks to my aunt Margie. My cousin Michelle has done her share of sleuthing on this line as well. I'm grateful to anyone who can contribute information, especially about Lena or her husband Wilfred DeGrasse/DeGrace. 

Her birth date was obtained from her death certificate and is believed to be September 13, 1869 in West Virginia. This is somewhat disputed by the 1900 census, in which her birthdate is reported as September 1871 in Virginia. The death certificate also reports her parents as John Godfrey and Mary Grogan. Family lore has it that she was born or lived on a Reservation but was not Native American. 

I know nothing of her childhood but at some point she made her way to Colorado, if Wilfred is to be believed. Wilfred's August 5, 1937 Petition for Naturalization (after Lena's death) reports that they were married in Las Animas, Bent, Colorado on July 19, 1887. There is some believability to this as Wilfred was located in Army service records in Colorado and discharged in October of the same year. 

At some point before their first child was born, they made their way to Chicago. Their first daughter was born in April 1888, Mary Etta. Mary Etta, or Mayme, was followed by 6 more children, William (Wilfert), Leo, Eleanor, Inace (Inez), Fanchon, and Blanche. Only Blanche did not live to adulthood, dying in 1906 at about 3 years old. Lena and Wilfred were also guardians of Lorraine Maypole who was born in 1916.

Our first official records of Lena present a new mystery. Mary Etta's birth certificate lists her as Leweise with the maiden name Wright. The person who wrote this spelled Mary's gender as "femail" so spelling is not reliable. But Wright is nowhere near Godfrey. And we find a baptismal record for her in August of 1889 where her father is listed as John Wright and a blank for her mother. Hmmm... If Mary and John Godfrey are her correct parents, her mother died when she was a year old. While John remarried and lived until she was 18, it's not unheard of for a child to be raised by someone else under these circumstances. perhaps the Wright family were her guardians.

In 1900 the family lived at 456 Washburn according to the 1900 census. They were at 6823 Winchester in 1910. 907 W. 63rd in 1920. In 1930 at 9021 S. Carpenter.

Lena died January 3, 1937 in Chicago at age 67. She is buried at St. Mary Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL.

I have one photograph of her that was caption "Lena on Green St."

As always, please feel free to contact me with any hints, corrections, stories, etc.!

Laurentis "Lawrence" Leonard Liden

Lawrence Liden was born January 22, 1885 in Edåsa, Västra Götaland, Sweden (now Edåsa, Skaraborgs) to Johan Viktor Petersson Liden (age 30) and Kristina Elizabeth Svensdotter (age 20). They lived on a farm with Kristina's parents and her siblings. Lawrence first appears in the Swedish Household Examination which indicated his date of birth. This same record also shows that he had an older brother Ludwig Leopold, who had been born August 8, 1883. Lawrence was followed by a brother, Lage Lambert, in September of 1886. Johan, Kristina, Lawrence, and Lage left for "N. Amerika" April 9, 1887 when Lawrence was about 2 years old. Lawrence's four year old brother, Ludwig, stayed behind with their grandparents. I have not found out why he did not travel with the rest of the family.

Johan, Kristina, Lawrence (as Laurents), and Lage are listed on the passenger list of the ship Romeo leaving Goteborg, Sweden on April 15, 1887. Their destination was listed as Chicago, Illinois. This ship was a 40-50 hour trip to Hull, there was likely then a train ride to Liverpool, and then a steamship to the U.S. They settled in Chicago and first appear in the 1900 census at 1038 W 70th Street. Lawrence was already working as a machinist. He had two sibling born after the arrived in the U.S., Laura (1889) and Louis (1894). Lawrence's brother Ludwig would not come to the U.S. until 1900. 

Lawrence married Mary Etta DeGrasse on June 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He adopted Mary's daughter Evelyn. They first appear together in the 1910 census with their 2 month old daughter Olive at 2011 69th place. Lawrence and Mary had 7 more children, Victor (1911), Lawrence (1914), Willard (1915), twins Virginia and Vernon (1917), Lagie (1919), and Rosemary (1922). All of their children lived to adulthood except Lagie who died just after his 1st birthday of bronchial pneumonia.

In 1918 Lawrence registered for the draft and lived at 455 80th street. He indicated he worked as an ice wagon driver for Warskavia Co. He was listed as a stout 5 foot 9 man with blue eyes and light hair. In 1020 the family still lived at that same address but Lawrence worked as a prison guard then. He worked as a furniture mover for a storage company in 1930 and they lived at 8662 Vincennes. Lawrence worked as a machine man at a warehouse in 1940 and the family lived at 6613 Peoria. In 1942, at age 57, Lawrence registered for the draft and gives an address at 9974 Vincennes and was employed by Debbie's express & van co.

At some point Lawrence and Mary moved to Dexter, Missouri. Mary died there in 1953 having suffered a stroke.

Sometime after Mary died Lawrence returned to Illinois. He died on December 26, 1958 in Harvard, Illinois at the age of 73. 

He was buried at St. Mary cemetery in Evergreen Park, Illinois.