52 Ancestors Week 1 - Family Lore

Many families have stories about some relative that everyone retells without questioning. Dad always said... or Grandma told me... are words many of us have uttered in some variation. In my family Magdalina Josephine (Lena) Godfrey DeGrasse was that person. For years I and many of my family members gave heard that Josephine (Lena) Godfrey DeGrasse was part Native American, or born on a reservation, or raised on one. Cherokee or Choctaw maybe? But no one knows for sure. While I can't prove any of that, Lena was an interesting person shrouded in a bit of mystery. Lena's first clue to us is her death record. She is listed in the IL death index having passed on January 3, 1937 in Chicago, IL and is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL. She was 67. A little math (and the IL death record) tell us she was born September 13, 1869. We know her husband Wilfred DeGrasse was alive at the time so it's likely he gave this information. He told them she was born in West Virginia but the town is unknown. We have learned that Wilfred isn't always the most acccurate or consistent deliverer of facts. And unfortunately he continues this trend with his information about his wife. 

Lena circa 1935

Lena's last appearance in the census is 1930. There's a good chance that she reported the information there. Census takers went to the home and as a house wife she was likely the one home. Lena (who reports her age as 58 - which would have her born in 1872 not 1869) and Wilfred were living in Chicago with their daughter Fanchion and her husband Paul Dilallo and their children. Along with our first small mystery! Lorraine Maypole (age 13) and Frances Terboult (age 17) are listed in this household as daughters. We know from family stories that Lorraine and Frances were not Lena and Wilfred's daughters but were treated as such. I haven't found much information on either of these girls. But from accounts of various family members Lena took them in and was like their mother. They appear in some family pictures I have seen over the years. 

Going back to 1920 Wilfred and Lena are in Chicago and Lena's age is consistent with 1930 - she is 49 in 1920. She is listed as working as a demonstrator of baking powder. Along with their youngest daughter Eleanor they are living with Loraine Maypole and Eleanor Schuler (age 20) is Eleanor Loraine's mother? Loraine is 3 in 1920 so it's possible. Where did Eleanor Schuler go after 1920? Is she Loraine's mother? I don't have the answer.

In 1910 Lena and Wilfred are living with their children in Chicago on Winchester. Lena's birth year still figures to be about 1872 based on her age of 38. There are no other people living with them. Lena's birthplace changed to Virginia from West Virginia, but I could see where that mistake could happen. So nothing mysterious there. In 1900 Lena's birthdate is reported as September 1871. They report they have been married 13 years at this time. That would make Josephine 15 when Wilfred married her. Her birthplace is Virginia. 1900 is the earliest census I have found Lena. The 1890 census has been mostly lost. In 1880 she should be listed prior to her marriage to Wilfred, but where? I haven't been able to locate her in any earlier census records.

Another inconsistency we have is Lena and Wilfred's children's birth certificates. Lena is listed as Leweise (sic) and her mother's maiden name is Wright. There are a number of ways this could have been incorrectly listed. The first of which is we know Wilfred has reported incorrect information in the past. The sex of the child is written as "femail" so we can surmise the information was not closely reviewed. And given the odd spelling "wright" could easily have been that Wilfred answered "right" to something and they wrote that down. But we can't discount that the name "Wright" could be significant.

We have a clue to her family connections in the obituary of E.E. Godfrey. Ernest Edward Godfrey passed in 1924 and his obituary mentions his only living sister as Mrs. Lena DeGrasse of Chicago. We have a connection! Ernest was living in Kansas at the time of his death. We find Ernest (sometimes known as Edward) in Kansas as far back as the Kansas state census of 1875. But no Lena.

Wilfred reports that he and Lena were married in Las Animas, Colorado. We find Wilfred in Bent, Colorado in 1867 serving in a military regiment at Ft. Lyon. But how did Lena get from West Virginia to Colorado? If we follow Ernest Edward we learn that Lena's parents were John Amos Godfrey and Mary Grogan. Mary died in 1871. So this means if Mary is Lena's mother she had to have been born before March 1871. So this leads us back to the 1869 birth year. John married Icy Mary McCord in 1887 they had at least 1 daughter, Mary Margaret. However I recently found a death certificate for a Dora Godfrey Morgan who lists her parents as John and Mary Icy McCord. 

It was not uncommon for children to be fostered out at the death of a mother. Especially given Lena's young age at her mother's passing. This could be where the Wright name comes in. And for all I know, this could be where that Native American story comes in. Perhaps wherever Lena ended up after she left West Virginia (Kansas? Colorado?) ties into that. Wilfred is in Colorado at the time they would have been married so it's likely they were married there. But I have found no record. 

Do you have any insight into these mysteries? Please feel free to reach out by email or comment below! melanie0971 at gmail dot com