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

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.

Reunions

My favorite picture required little research but are still important. This was good for a busy week. After a few years of bugging people about genealogy my Liden family decided it might be fun to get together. It's a tie for my favorite picture. The first is the first reunion we had in 1998. I got to "remeet" some cousins I hadn't seen since we were small children. Obviously there were still people missing but it was so much fun to see those who did make it out.

1998 Reunion

Front row: ,Heather Neary, , , , , Jon Curbis  Back row L to R: Angie & Keith, Paula, Kevin, Melanie, Rob (behind Melanie), Heather, Dawn, Laticia, Chris. 2nd row: Michelle, Debbie, Michele, Yvette, Tonya, Aaron, Jackie, Gladys, , Dan, Karyn & Frank. Seated in chairs: Margie (holding Summer Soriano), Rose, Dee, Pat (holding Tyler,) Kevin, Jim (Bud's son,) Ron.
front row: ,Heather , , , , , Jon  

The 1998 reunion was held in July 1998 at Pat and Kevin's house. There was swimming and a piñata. Not to mention delicious food!


The other picture in my 2 way tie was the 2000 reunion. Or as we nicknamed it, L2K. The 2000 Reunion was held at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Illinois (DuPage County). My Dad brought the DJ equipment and supplied an amazing variety of music. There was a ton of food supplied by all and plenty of games for young and young at heart.

2000 Reunion "L2K"

(back row L to R) Jim (Dud), Joe, Pete, Aaron, Dennis. Row leaning on railing: Kevin, Pat, Ron, Pat, Dan, Melanie, Gladys, Dee, Karen, Tonya, Joni. In front of rail: Leticia, Angie, Keith (Zach on Keith's lap), Jackie (Tyler on her lap), Jonathan (Anthony on his lap),Lindsay (Anna on her lap),Jessica in between, Lisa (Emily on her lap), Heather, Heather, J.D., Rose. Seated in front: Chris (squatting to side), Frank, Karyn, Josh, Dawn (with Haley)

And there were still people missing!!

Hazel Donovan Liden

Welcome to Week 1 of 52 weeks, 52 Ancestors. This weeks theme is "Start." I always tell the story of how I started working on my family history. I had a dream about my dads parents. Doing every day things, but they had no faces. There's nothing scary about this. I just didn't have a strong enough memory of them for their faces to appear from my memory. I realized I could try to change this or let the memories continue to fade. The next day I saw an ad twice for genealogy software. I took this as a sign. And so my journey began.

One of those grandparents who needed a face was Hazel Donovan Liden. Hazel was born May 20, 1920 in Chicago Illinois. Her parents were Thomas Donovan and Margaret Curtin. Hazel was the youngest of 6 siblings - Bernice, Marcella, Daniel, Patrick, and Thomas. They all resided on the south side of Chicago. It is likely that her grandmother lived with them when she was born as she appears with them in the 1920 census taken in January.

Hazel attended Parker High School, a Chicago public school on the city's south side. This school still exists but it was renamed Robeson High School in 1977. She graduated in June of 1939. A story that her future sister in law, Rose, once told me was that they had known each other in school (Rose was about 2 years younger). Rose would always ask her about boys since she was older. Hazel didn't want to tell her about the new boy because he had a funny nickname (Dud - all his brothers had similar nicknames). When Rose found out she had a good laugh that it was her big brother that caught Hazel's eye.

On May 12, 1941 Hazel married Vernon Liden. They had four children that they raised on the south side.

In 1942, when she was just 22 years old she lost her mother. This was months after the birth of her 1st child. Her father passed 11 years later in 1954. Her brothers all preceded her in death. When she was just 53 she was widowed. Vernon passed away on April 26, 1974.
I know that sometime after that she moved to California for some time and then relocated back to the south suburbs of Illinois. I don't have many memories of my grandmother, but I do remember her staying with us once. She tucked me into bed, tucking in the sheets so firmly that I was not getting out of that bed without help! I certainly wasn't going to fall out of bed that night.
I've heard great stories about what a wonderful person she was. I'm sorry I don't have more memories of her.
Hazel Donovan Liden passed away from breast cancer on May 10, 1979 at 58 years of age.

Jim Liden 1948-2010

Today would have been my dad’s 67^th birthday! In honor of that he is my first featured ancestor in what I hope will become a regular series.

 

James Robert Liden was born to Hazel (Donovan) and Vernon Liden on October 6, 1948. He was the third of four children. When he was born his father was 31 and his mother was 28. He joined big sister Margie and big brother Ed. They lived on the south side of Chicago.

Jim (in front) with cousins

When he started school in about 1953 he attended Sacred Heart grade school near 70^th & May in Chicago. At about the age of 6 or 7 he contracted rheumatic fever. It’s suspected that this illness led or contributed to the heart problems that he had throughout his life. In 1958 at age 9, he became a big brother to sister Pat.

He later told me stories that during his grade school years he wanted to be a priest when he grew up. Even pretending to give communion with "wafers" he had cut from bread using a milk jug cap. By many accounts he was a sweet and caring child.

He began high school in 1962 and attended St. Rita High School on Chicago’s south side. He struggled academically and left St. Rita to attend a Chicago Public School. He said that after a week at the public school he knew if he stayed he wouldn’t graduate. He begged his father to help him reenroll at St. Rita. He took a part time job to pay his own tuition as part of the deal. He pulled his grades up and his parents paid for the rest of his high school education after that year. He took an extra year to complete high school and graduated in 1967. In a funny coincidence, during his time at St. Rita he had band with Mr. Louis Ricci who would later instruct his future sisters in law (Margaret and Charmian), brother in law (Art) and his daughters (Melanie and Paula).

When he turned 18 the Vietnam War was still going on. When he went to register for the draft it was discovered that he had a very irregular heart beat and other heart issues so he was declined. His brother Ed was drafted and served in Vietnam.

At some point after high school he worked as a manager at Dog N Suds and that is where he met Connie in 1968. Jim and Connie were married in February 1971 in Chicago. This was followed by the birth of their first daughter Melanie in September of the same year. At that time they still lived on the south side but further west. Jim’s father passed away when Jim was 25, in 1974. Around that time they moved to the south suburbs and lived in apartments in Chicago Ridge and Alsip. It was while they lived in Alsip that their second daughter Paula was born when Jim was 28.

Jim with daughter Melanie

At age 30 in 1979 Jim and Connie divorced. Jim moved to an apartment in Bridgeview. He also lived in various other suburbs including Frankfort and Bolingbrook. During this time his career focused on restaurant management including Rustler Steakhouse and Taco Bell. Also in 1979 Jim’s mother Hazel died.

In the summer of 1979 Jim took a road trip with his then 8 and 3 year old daughters. The trip was from Chicago to California with various side trips along the way. This included a meet up with his brother and sister Margie in Las Vegas. Time was spent in southern California, including a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm before returning to Chicago just in time for Melanie to start 3^rd grade!

In 1984 Connie had a son Robert who was given the last name Liden and Jim always referred to as his son.

During these years Jim was very active in YMCA Indian Princesses with Melanie and Paula. He was also very involved in the Young Single Parents Group. Both groups involved many camping trips which Jim loved. And he brought along any gadgets that he could find. At one time he owned a tent large enough to be called "the hotel." It could sleep 8 people!

In the mid 1980s he lived in Summit, IL. By this time he had transitioned to driving a truck for various companies. All local driving.

In 1988 at age 40, Jim moved to Homewood, IL and married Mary Carter. They divorced in 1989.

In the early 1990s he lived in South Holland and shared a home with Carol White, though they never married.

Jim became a proud grandfather for the first time in 1994. When Paula welcomed a baby girl.

In 1998 he moved to Cleveland, Tennessee and married Debra Moore. During this time he also did some long haul truck driving. While living in Tennessee he became a grandpa again when Paula had a son. Not long after this Jim was back in the Chicago area.

In the early 2000s he took a truck driving job in Central Illinois. Briefly he lived with his Aunt Rose in Chillicothe and then he settled in Decatur, Illinois. He loved Decatur, often saying it was the best place he had lived. In 2008 he married Nancy Matich. Unfortunately his health was on a slow decline. It was around this time he had a defibrillator implanted. This seemed to be a miracle worker for a while, as he felt better than he had in a decade. Unfortunately years of an underperforming heart, and the medication to support it, had starved his liver of blood. Liver complications began to become more frequent. When he and Nancy separated he relocated back to the Chicago area to be closer to family. He insisted he didn't want any of his kids have to take care of him, so he moved to a place near his sister Pat. On his birthday in 2009 he found out he was going to be a grandfather again. He told friends he had to be here to meet his grandchild.

In April 2010 Jim's daughter Melanie welcomed a baby girl and Jim got to meet his granddaughter.

On July 12, 2010 Jim passed away at his home in Oswego. Not from any of the heart problems that had followed him since childhood but non alcohol related cirrhosis.

Jim was a loving father and grandfather. He loved camping and cars. The Bears, the Blackhawks, and NASCAR were among his favorites. He enjoyed his "puter" and always said he knew just enough to break it.

He was my dad but he was also my friend.

Jim with his grandchildren and Connie - May 2010