Easter 1960

My brother, sister and I on Easter Sunday, 17 April 1960 at our family home in Little Falls, New Jersey. We are standing in front of the fireplace in the living room. It was our standard place to stand for special photographs. I am in the center in this photo.

Grant Family children - Easter 1960

Sarah Ann Mellor Shepard

Sarah Ann Shepard was my g-g-aunt on my father's side.I have not yet found her record of birth in England but her tombstone gives her birth date as 16 October 1835. She was probably born in Chadderton, part of the town of Oldham and just outside of Manchester, England since birth records place her family there at the time of her older brother's birth. Sarah was the second of two children born to James Mellor and Mary Ann Lord - the oldest child was my g-g-grandfather, Ernest Lord Mellor.

Marriage record for Hargraves Shepard and Sarah Ann Mellor
29 August 1853 Prestwich, Lancashire, England
see source below

Sarah married Hargraves Shepard on 29 April 1853 in St Mary's Church in Prestwich (about 5 miles from Chadderton).It looks like she did not know how to write her name when she was married since she signed with a mark. She must have learned to write later in life since I have a book she owned (Picturesque Rhode Island, published in 1881) that contains her signature.

Signature of Sarah Ann Shepard after 1881

Hargraves and Sarah immigrated to the US in 1855, two years after their marriage. They were probably joining Sarah's brother, Ernest (my g-g-grandfather) who immigrated in 1853. It is probable that their mother, Mary Ann accompanied them since they were all living in Rhode Island by 1860

Sarah Ann Mellor Shepard

Hargraves and Sarah worked in the cotton mills in both England and in their new home in Rhode Island. My great-aunt Marion Wood (Sarah Ann's great niece) noted on a flyleaf of the Picturesque Rhode Island book that Hargraves was an overseer in the Chase Cotton Mill which used to be located at the Valley Falls bridge which separated Valley Falls from Central Falls (formerly Smithfield), Rhode Island.

Hargraves and Sarah never had children. According to my great-aunt, Sarah died at the Grant family home in Central Falls on 26 March 1922. Her husband predeceased her and died on 19 February 1894. They are both buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Pawtucket, RI, next to the grave of Sarah's brother, sister-in-law, and mother.

Hargraves and Sarah Ann Shepard Tombstone
Oak Grove Cemetery, Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Marriage certificate source: "England, Lanchashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1603-1910." database and digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org: accessed 18 March 2012), Hargraves Shepherd and Sarah Ann Mellor , 29 August 1853 ; citing Parish Registers in Lancashire, marriage record # 326, page 163, Manchester Central Library, Manchester, England.

A January Wedding

My paternal grandparents were Ralph Westcott Grant and Florence Hazel Skinner. I wrote about Ralph here and Hazel here.

Ralph and Hazel probably knew each other from the time they were young children. Although Ralph grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and Hazel's home was in Valley Falls, their houses were just blocks apart. Their families also attended the same church, Valley Falls Baptist Church and they must have known each other from Sunday School and church outings.

Ralph and Hazel  married on 15 January 1918 in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Both were 23 years old. If there were any formal photos taken at Ralph's and Hazel's wedding, I don't know what happened to them.

Ralph on his wedding day

Hazel's younger sister, Myrtle, was Hazel's attendent.

Myrtle and Hazel Skinner on Hazel's wedding day

Wedding Announcement
Florence Hazel Skinner & Ralph Westcott Grant

Mr. and Mrs. John F. Skinner

announce the marriage of their daughter

Florence Hazel

to

Ralph Westcott Grant

on Tuesday, January the fifteenth

one thousand nine hundred and eighteen

Valley Falls, Rhode Island.

At Home
after March 1st
at the Puritan Apartments
Erie, Pennsylvania

"Hazel's going away outfit"

A Leap Year Day Death - Sarah G. Lawton Carpenter

I was just looking at my 3rd great-grandmother's records when I noticed that she died on Leap Year Day in 1904, exactly 98 years ago today.

I previously wrote a post about Sarah Gardiner Lawton here.  She was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island to Clark Lawton and Sarah A. Gardiner.

Death Certificate for Sarah A. Gardiner Carpenter
Died 29 February 1904

She was married to John L. Carpenter in Valley Falls, Rhode Island on 5 May 1845. She died just over the Rhode Island state line in So Attleboro, Massachusetts on 29 February 1904 of senile debility and thrombosis.

I wonder what the odds are of being born or dying on Leap Year Day.

Source:
"Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915", index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org); from Massachusetts State Archives. "Deaths, 1841-1971". Massachusetts Division of Vital Statistics, State House, Boston, Massachusetts. Record for Sarah A. Gardiner, Volume 3, Certificate # 37. FHL microfilm # 2069265. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Florence Hazel Skinner

My paternal grandmother was Florence Hazel Skinner. She was known as "Hazel" during her life-time. Hazel was the 3rd child and oldest daughter of John Francis (Frank) Skinner and Annie Florence Betts. She was born on 6 September 1894 in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. 

F. Hazel Skinner about 1898

Hazel had 2 older brothers both also born in Valley Falls. Harold Fulton Skinner was born 25 February 1892 and died at the age of 4 months of cholera on 16 July 1892. Second son, Harold Lamert Skinner was born on 23 January 1894.

Despite the 19 month age difference between Harold and Hazel, they were in the Valley Falls School 4th grade together when they received year end report cards on 24 June 1904. Both were good students although it looks like Hazel did better than her brother Harold in all subjects except arithmetic.

Subjects they received grades in were:

Reading

Spelling

Language

Arithmetic

Geography

Grade 4 report cards for Hazel and Harold Skinner,  June 1904

Hazel's family was living on Carpenter Street in Valley Falls in 1900 as enumerated in the Federal Census. The family moved to 18 Abbot Street by the time of the 1905 RI state census. Hazel lived at this address until her marriage on 15 January 1918 to Ralph Westcott Grant.

Hazel about 1910

Hazel about 1915

Hazel about 1944

Hazel died at age 50 on 12 January 1945 just as she was about to be released from the hospital after a routine surgery. Her obituaries are posted here. My father had just turned 23 and his sister was 19. Hazel's husband, my grandfather Ralph, had predeceased her. She was buried with her parents in Moshassuck Cemetery in Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Death Certification of Hazel Grant
Department of Health. State of New Jersey, certificate # 330, 12 January 1945

I don't really know much about my grandmother. Her family were Baptists and she was active in the Valley Falls Baptist Church groups growing up. By the time she and Ralph moved to New Jersey and had children, religion was less important. She was an accomplished pianist and she and her husband often enjoyed playing in string quartets with friends. My father told me it was a disappointment to his parents that he and his sister had no musical talents (and neither do I!).

Ralph Westcott Grant

Ralph Westcott Grant
about 1900

I never knew my paternal grandparents - they died long before I was born. I am lucky though to have some of their documents and photos so I know something of their lives, including the time before my father was born to them in 1922. There are quite a few photos of my grandparents dating from the first couple of decades of the 20th century from the time that cameras first became available to amateurs. I only wish that someone had noted the subject's names on the photos since most are unidentified.

My paternal grandfather was Ralph Westcott Grant. He was the oldest child of William Sprague Grant and Mary Helen Mellor. He was born 17 April 1894 in Valley Falls, Rhode Island but he grew up in nearby Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Ralph W. Grant

It is unknown where his middle name came from but he is the first of 4 generations of Grant males to use it as a middle name. There were families with the surname of Westcott living in Rhode Island during the late 19th century, but none that can be identified as being associated with the family. Perhaps it was just a name his parents liked, or a name of a friend.

1913

I don't know many details of Ralph's childhood. He did attend the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) after high school and graduated with a 2 year degree in drafting. While there he played Center on the school football team and was the captain in 1913. He graduated from the School of Design around 1915 but I have not found his school records yet. I was told that his Aunt Mary Grant helped pay his tuition at RISD, and that enabled him to enroll there for his post-secondary education. After graduating, I think he worked as a draftsman in the Providence area for several years.

Draft Registration Certificate, 5 June 1917

Ralph registered for the draft in June 1917. He did not serve in World War I perhaps because his younger brother, Howard was already in the RI National Guard at the beginning of the war and was posted overseas (subject of a future blog post). It is also possible that Ralph was excused from active duty because he had an essential war-time job. From family reminiscences, I know he worked at the Watervliet Arsenal near Troy, New York and also in Erie, Pennsylvania during the war.

Ralph at unknown work location

Ralph  married Florence Hazel Skinner (she was always known as Hazel) on 15 January 1918 at the Baptist Church in Valley Falls, Rhode Island and they lived after their marriage in Erie, Pennsylvania. By the time their first child, my father Warren Westcott Grant was born on 11 January 1922, they were living in Clifton, New Jersey where Ralph and Hazel would live the rest of their lives.

around 1939

My grandfather died 2 months after his 45th birthday in Baltimore, Maryland on the 27 June 1939. He had gone to Baltimore to march in the Shriner's Band and felt ill while marching. He went back to his hotel and suffered a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital and died there early the next morning.

Ralph was an accomplished saxophonist and I think he also played flute at home. At the time of his death, Ralph was the General Manager of the National Rubber Machinery Company in Clifton, New Jersey. As a hobby, he did museum-quality taxidermy.

My father would have been 90 today




Warren Westcott Grant
about 1940

My dad, Warren Westcott Grant, would have turned 90 years old today if he was still alive. Unfortunately, he died almost 7 years ago, on 22 January 2005, just eleven days after he turned 83 years old.

My dad learned photography when he was young, and probably while he was in high school. I think he took it up as a hobby partly because he was unable to participate in sports due to a heart murmur.  His best friend in high school, Matt Zuck, became an accomplished photographer and perhaps Dad and Matt learned together.

 At one point, my Dad intended to make photography his career. On his 1945 Army Separation papers, his civilian occupation was listed as "Photographer". I'm not sure how much professional photography he had accomplished by that point since he was 21 when he enlisted in the Army Air Force. I think the occupation title might have been aspirational!

However, it was either before Dad enlisted, or right after the war ended, when he did some industrial photography for his employer, Curtiss-Wright. At some point during the late 1940s, he started working as an engineer (also for Curtiss-Wright). This probably coincided with his graduation from Rutgers University in 1949. He took night classes there while he worked at Curtiss-Wright during the day. I guess at some point,  he realized that engineering was a better career choice for him than photography.



Cape Cod Windmill

By the time we kids were born, Dad was taking mostly just snapshots, but in the form of slides. After he received a Polaroid camera as a Christmas present from my Mom in the early 1960s, he switched to that. Around 1980, he started using the new inexpensive cameras that were coming on the market. He retained all his old knowledge and helped my brother and I set up a darkroom in our basement while we were in high school and  when we both got interested in photography. He taught me how to use a light meter.


Cape Cod house with interesting tree.
 Dad made this photo into a Christmas card

I still have Dad's cameras in a closet, in their original brown leather cases, alongside my old SLR (single lens reflex) camera body and lenses. I think I made the switch to point and shoot cameras about the time my kids were born, similar to my Dad. When digital cameras were introduced, I jumped into using my first digital camera. And now I usually just use the camera on my iphone...

Wellfleet, Massachusetts

I copied this last photo last summer when I visited Dad's cousin, Ken Skinner. Ken said my father took the photo and that he, Ken, was the person in the photo. Ken had another photo where he was standing in the same posture on the other side of the path. I guess Dad experimented to get the best photograph.

Most of Dad's early photos have not yet been digitized because they are on heavy glass slide mounts. I hope to get them all digitized in the not too distant future.