Grosvenor Reunion

Sunday, September 23, 2012 at Bower Park in Ava

This will be the 64th Annual Reunion!!

Bring your memories, stories to tell, any old pictures you have, and your families!!

Oh, and also bring food to eat and share!

We will be eating at noon.

(Please let all of your family members know, as I know I don't have everyone's address.... Thanks!)

GROSVENORS' GLENN

September 15, 2012

Ah! the Reunion is upon us! Within a week Ava will be agog with Grosvenors. Already there may be Grosvenors in such far-away places as Arizona and Florida who are packing their car-trunks. It promises to be a great event. I wish I could attend. To those who have been reading this blog (but perhaps not closely enough) I will again explain: I am an old duffer, working on my 88th year and I live in Longview, Texas. My mother was Edna Grosvenor, the 17th and last child of Parker(21) Grosvenor. I am the sixth of seven children of Edna and Fred Saul. I grew up on the original Grosvenor farm "under the bluff" but left for the Army in 1942. I have been back for only short visits

since. I have never been to a Grosvenor Reunion but have always had verbal reports from siblings who did. Those siblings who remained in the area, Anna Clendenin, Thelma Slaybaugh and Kenneth Saul, are no longer with us. Only my younger sister, Edna Mae Todd, and I survive.  Edna Mae visited Glenn Cemetery only a month ago but suffered a fall on the way home to Virginia and now lies in a hospital with hip and spinal fractures.

 

I am a shut-in, tied to a large tank of squeezed air  with a thirty-foot length of poly-propylene tubing. I travel a lot... but unfortunately not outside my 30 foot circle! For the last couple of years I have been deeply involved with an on-line graves registration for-profit organization called findagrave.

findagrave makes it's profit from advertising on the side-bars of memorials to the dead which are posted by volunteers, such as I, and there is no charge or expense for the users. I highly reccommend it to all my readers. Try it! You'll like it! Using findagrave, I, (and a group of helpers), are writing a sort of digital history, one page at a time. On various memorials you will find obituaries, biographical sketches, pictures of the dearly departed, pictures of their tombstones, maybe pictures of their dogs, their horses, the houses they lived in, the cars they drove. There are linkages to their parents, their children and often lists of their siblings. Visitors can leave notes and virtual flowers.  There is "no charge and no salesman will call".  It is my hope that a number of Grosvenors will down-load and store or make print-outs of findagrave material to take to the reunion and to the GAG (Gathering At Glenn). It is an excellent method of comparing notes and taking notes. I hope there will be laptops, ipods, printers, etc. Make sure you have at least one fully charged battery. I am not sure Ava has an internet cafe nor that Bower Park has a battery charger. Connectivity may be a problem. But surely someone there can set up at least one internet link in cooperation with the locals. When that is established the reunion will move into the digital age. No longer will it be just a party in the park...it will go world wide!   Hence-forth digital shall reign. I may be the last decendent of the Grosvenors to remember tying a team of mules to the hitching rack in front of the Ava bank, and I hope to be the first to have an internet connection with the reunion. I will spend reunion weekend seated at

my computer with telephone at my elbow and my dining room table piled high with old papers and stuff hoping to field questions and recieve reports.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler !" (Let the good times roll!)

There follows a list of graves which I know exist at Glenn but which I have no photographic evidence. I hope some of you will make a print-out of this and take it to the GAG. I sure would like to have pics of these headstones. BTW you don't need anyone's permission to post stuff on findagrave. You do need to register as a contributor, tho, but that is only done to prevent the posting of inapropriate material.

 

Asbury, Elizabeth J. "Liza" Hickman 65032950

b. 1851 d. Dec. 16, 1910 Glenn Cemetery

Asbury, George Samuel 64774954

b. Oct. 12, 1904 d. Dec. 3, 1929 Glenn Cemetery

Clark, Armin Leverne 12649333

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Donalds, Mary Jane Holoman 13549253

b. Nov. 21, 1838 d. Oct. 2, 1889 Glenn Cemetery

Dunhouse, John 85263155

b. unknown d. Dec. 10, 1914 Glenn Cemetery

Dunhouse, Mary J 95167008

b. unknown d. Oct. 2, 1889 Glenn Cemetery

Grosvenor, Clyde 86935736

b. Oct. 10, 1901 d. Apr. 20, 1903 Glenn Cemetery

Grosvenor, Frank 64136582

b. Feb. 11, 1878 d. Dec. 1, 1923 Glenn Cemetery

Grosvenor, Louticia F Keeton Tabors 63708037

b. Aug. 8, 1844 d. Nov. 4, 1919 (Individual stone)

Korando, Albina Shambera 82494390

b. Dec., 1837 d. Feb. 4, 1918 Glenn Cemetery

Korando, Harry 89580713

b. 1874 d. 1913 Glenn Cemetery

Korando, Juliet Marie 91874076

b. Oct. 19, 1914 d. Feb. 25, 1917 Glenn Cemetery

McBride, Ruth Grosvenor 89230393

b. unknown d. 1933

Mondeau, Mrs Thomas Livery 64755623

b. 1870 d. 1900 Glenn Cemetery

Morefield, Thomas Hill 5067563

b. Apr. 5, 1850 d. Oct. 25, 1923 Glenn Cemetery

Saul, Annie 64352401

b. Jul. 20, 1907 d. Aug. 21, 1907 Glenn Cemetery

Saul, Infant Son 86187489

b. Oct., 1930 d. Oct., 1930 Glenn Cemetery

Saul, Infant Twin of Annie 64774619

b. Jun., 1907 d. Jun., 1907 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, H B 85262691

b. unknown d. Oct. 19, 1887 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, Henry 85262667

b. unknown d. Apr. 4, 1873 Glenn Cemetery

Woodward, Mary D 94597971

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Woodward, Murry 94599046

b. Oct. 3, 1875 d. Feb., 1876 Glenn Cemetery

 

Laissez les bons temps rouler !

 

Cecil 

You like this

 

COMMENT:  Cecil, I want to thank you for all of your hard work and very interesting blogs each week. My name is Gail (Littlefield) Bearden. I am Kay Jarrett's daughter (Robin Rohlfing's first cousin). I have enjoyed your entertainng thoughts and information that you have passed onto all of us younger descendants of the Grosvenor's. I will be attending the reunion again this year as I have so many years before. However, I anticipate a little more of a "buzz" of excitement thanks to you. I hope the group can connect with you sometime during the day. Please continue the posts... and thanks again so very much!!!!!

 

COMMENT: Cecil,my name is Karen (Bower) Thies. My mother is Pat Bower, Stella (Grovesnor) Claussens daughter. Just thought that you would find it intresting that the name of your Grandfather Parker is being carried on by my son Parker Thies 12 years old.

 

GROSVENORS' GLENN

September 8, 2012

== === ===

When the Grosvenors gather at Glenn and look out over the Mississippi Valley this year, they will gaze on a scene typical of Illinois, the Prairie State. A flat plain of productive farmland stretches to the river and to the hills beyond. This is a very recent change. When the last ice age scoured the area some ten thousand years ago, it  absolutely leveled millions of square miles of middle-west America.

When it retreated, it left a vast plain devoid of vegetation. The melting ice left huge puddles like the Great Lakes and small puddles which fused into ponds, lakes and, because of very small elevation diferences, very sluggish rivers. The "mighty Mississippi" formed. It was wide, shallow and slow-moving. It silted up, formed lakes, overflowed, and changed course, over and over. Vegetation from the south followed the retreating glacier north. Seed configuration dictated the spread of

vegetation. Small, light grass seeds, borne on the wind came first.  Small birds followed to feed on the grass seeds bringing with them larger seeds in their droppings which produced larger plants with larger seeds which attracted larger birds. Eventually large tree seeds were carried and trees grew to tremendous size in the rich soil produced by rotting grasses. Contrary to popular belief, the Mississippi Valley forests were not ancient. Tree ring studies indicate that they grew in the last thousand years. But they caused a biological explosion. The Mississippi flyway formed with billions of birds migrating north to the seed fields every spring: ducks, geese and the passenger pigeon which

broke down large trees with the weight of their numbers. The mound-builder Indians undoubtedly were tribes that migrated out of Mexico and followed the flyway north bringing Indian corn, tobacco

and cotton. Woodland animals filtered in from every direction and predators followed. the Mississippi valley eco-system flourished for several centuries. The whole valley became a vast swamp with huge forests teeming with game. Then came the white man. His diseases; measles, small pox and such, probably eliminated the mound-builders who had a different set of immunities. However, the mound-builders possibly struck back with the black plague and syphilis which ravaged

Europe. They are believed to have originated in America.   The French came in the early 1700s and established a row of forts with Jesuit Missions down the Mississippi mostly on the west bank. The

British countered with forts on the East bank. Various "Red Indian" tribes infiltrated into the area from the east during the late 1700s. The main population center for the area was at Kaskaskia which was an Indian village and a British fort just a few miles north of present day Chester . It was captured by the Americans during the Revolution.

 

In 1801 the Kaskaskia Indians fought a war to the death with the Shawnees of Kentucky over hunting rights in Southern Ilinois. The Kaskaskias lost and were almost wiped out. The Shawnees also

suffered heavy losses and retreated to their native Kentucky. Southern Illinois over which the war was fought was abandoned by both sides and was without a population for about 5 years.

 

When Parker(19) Grosvenor came to the area in 1806 it was a woodland "Horn of Plenty" with the forested swamp stretching from Rockwood to Cairo and 10 miles wide from bluff to river. Flocks of waterfowl, pigeons, and other edible birds darkened the sky. Here and there were fields of wild Indian corn. There were deer, elk, bear, turkeys, and all sorts of smaller fur-bearing animals. There were wild berries, fruits and nuts.  There were sugar maple trees, salt licks and timber. There were creeks, ponds and lakes full of fish. There were open pits of coal. There was a ready market for meat, furs, sugar, salt, corn, etc. to the Whites in Kaskaskia, who had lost their Indian suppliers, and to the growing river boat traffic. The huge flocks of birds kept the insect population low and there were no hostile Indians. Traffic on the bluff road furnished a convenient supply chain to Kaskaskia. Parker took up his axe and started clearing timber for his farm. Others followed his lead.

What you see now is the result of two hundred years of "conquering the wilderness", "clearing the land", "draining the swamps" and "taming the river". ---all laudable goals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

 

Cecil

GROSVENORS' GLENN

September 1, 2012

Again I must begin the blog with the announcement of the passing of another of our clan. This week it is Brenda Underwood, wife of Tom Underwood, son of Melba Grosvenor who died suddenly in Phoenix. A findagrave memorial has been created for her. It is # 96351108 . To view the memorial simply find findagrave with GOOGLE (or other search engine) and enter the memorial number. and please leave a flower.

 

An exciting new contact this week: Steve Grosvenor, son of Jack and Florene Grosvenor. He had not heard of the Grosvenor reunion until he ran into the track left by findagrave. He and his son, John, will attend the reunion in Ava this year. Interesting, isn't it, that he named his son John without knowing the Grosvenor tradition ? That is the second time I have found this coincidence: Sandra Choate named a son Parker also without knowing.

The "Gathering at Glenn" continues to be noised about on the internet.  There are a number of different groups with differing opinions.  Certainly the Grosvenors who travel long distances to the reunion will visit the cemetery. There are a number of genealogists and family historians who have noted our activity and the recent restorations who would like to meet informally and discuss them. There are a lot of friends of the Grosvenors who would like to meet the decendents of people they once knew but wouldn't dare to crash their reunion party.  On the other hand, Glenn is a country hill-side burial ground with absolutely no 'facilities'. There is no water. It is miles from the nearest

public flush toilet. My photog saw a rattle-snake there this summer. So what to do? There is bound to be a 'happening' of sorts there on 22-23 September. Once things go on the internet no one can predict their outcome. I have no idea of what attendance might be. In the spirit of a 'happening', I mostly just advocate that it happen. It might be a beautiful thing. It might be a mess. It might rain. On the other hand, it might make the trip worth-while for someone who has driven 2000 miles. and would like more than a green-bean casserole.

GROSVENORS' GLENN

August 18, 2012

 

We note with sorrow the passing of another Grosvenor. Florene Krone Grosvenor, wife of the late Jack Grosvenor passed away on 9 August 2012 and has been interred in the Greenacres cemetery in Scottsdale, AZ.

A findagrave memorial has been created for her. It's number is #95238697. Please visit her memorial and leave a flower as a token of respect.

The camera of Laura Whistle Duncan caught the tombstone of yet another unknown Grosvenor. Unknown to us, that is. This is a child. Donny P Grosvenor born May 6 1886 and died Sep 9, 1886. Apparently the son of John (22) and Sarah Ellidge Grosvenor Jarrett Easton. Because of the Grosvenor custom of naming first-born sons either John or Parker, I had postulated another son for John (22) because his only recorded son was named Otis. I had expected another John or Parker. But was I wrong? Laura's camera also caught another anomalie. Their graves are in a line: A double stone for John (22) & Sarah, A wide empty space, Donny's stone, and then Otis's stone. Why the wide empty space? The sequence of deaths were: Donny 1886, John 1901, Otis 1913, Sarah, 1942. Why was John not buried next to his son, Donny? Could there be another son (named Parker or John) born circa 1888 buried in that spot? I intend to ask the restoration crew to probe that area for a headstone.

GROSVENORS' GLENN

August 4, 2012

 

A number of things have been happening concerning findagrave and Jackson County cemeteries in general. I have teamed up with a couple of ladies on several relatively large projects. Carol Carruthers, formerly of Murphysboro, and now a retired music teacher living in Troy, Ohio does most of our research and comes up with gobs of obituaries, newspaper articles, census figures and such. Laura Whistle Cates Duncan, born in South-east Missouri, grew up on a catfish farm in the Big Lake area north-west of Gorham. She went to kindergarten at Logan and then to Gorham Elementary and High Schools. She now lives in Murphysboro, works in the legal ofice at SINU and spends every possible free moment photographing headstones in cemeteries. Laura sends photos to Carol and I, and we make findagrave memorials and post the photos to them. We are just finishing up Goodbread Cemetery near Gorham where we added about 500 new graves. Laura's parents are buried at Glenn, so she visits often and takes fine photographs.

Here is a list of the new entries in findagrave in the last 90 days. Many of the new entries are the result of the restoration team's finding lost stones. I still have a backlog of about 25 unidentified headstone pics from Glenn and over 40 from Goodbread.

Asbery, Lemonia A 93852685

b. unknown d. Apr. 1, 1873 Glenn Cemetery

Asbery, Mary F 92807458

b. Jul. 27, 1831 d. Mar. 28, 1862

Asbery, Nancy C 93853564

b. Sep. 2, 1858 d. Jan. 22, 1875 Glenn Cemetery

Asbury, Harvey A 93853736

b. unknown d. Mar. 13, 1881 Glenn Cemetery

Asbury, Herdie G 93853881

b. unknown d. Aug. 31, 1879 Glenn Cemetery

Asbury, W M 93917683

b. unknown d. Oct. 19, 1877 Glenn Cemetery

Asbury, William M 93853959

b. Jun. 22, 1850 d. Oct. 27, 1866 Glenn Cemetery

Bennett, Elvira Bilderback 93861255

b. 1817 d. Nov. 25, 1857 Glenn Cemetery

Bilderback, Benj F 93854105

b. 1843 d. Mar. 1, 1871 Glenn Cemetery

Bilderback, Mary E 93860131

b. unknown d. Jul. 14, 1874 Glenn Cemetery

Browder, Nettie Jane 93862612

b. Aug. 16, 1893 d. Aug. 8, 1910 Glenn Cemetery

Cochran, Pressly M 92809039

b. 1817 d. Jan. 3, 1848 Glenn Cemetery

Galloway, Willard 93854222

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Goodwin, John J 92808166

b. Dec. 26, 1813 d. Sep. 30, 1857 Glenn Cemetery

Grosvenor, Johnny Parker 94584797

b. unknown d. May 6, 1886 Glenn Cemetery

Grosvenor, Levi 92950294

b. Nov. 17, 1838 d. Feb. 19, 1839 Glenn Cemetery

Holloman, M E 93959866

b. Nov. 24, 1850 d. Nov. 14 Glenn Cemetery

King, George B 93854533

b. Oct. 9, 1856 d. Jun. 26, 1859 Glenn Cemetery

Korando, Juliet Marie 91874076

b. Oct. 19, 1914 d. Feb. 25, 1917 Glenn Cemetery

Talbott, Mariah 93894653

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Vanover, Richard 92805445

b. 1836 d. Sep. 9, 1901 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, Abner 93329705

b. unknown d. Jul. 9, 1872 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, Infant Son 93329864

b. unknown d. Jan. 1, 1873 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, Sydner 94579747

b. unknown d. Oct. 10, 1887 Glenn Cemetery

Woodruff, Turner Jones 93329311

b. unknown d. Oct. 7, 1872 Glenn Cemetery

Woodward, Mary D 94597971

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Woodward, Murry 94599046

b. Oct. 3, 1875 d. Feb., 1876 Glenn Cemetery

Woolrick, Infant Son 92813722

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Woolrick, Louisa 92811787

b. unknown d. unknown Glenn Cemetery

Woolrick, Martha 92813206

b. Sep. 2, 1855 d. Sep. 6, 1855 Glenn Cemetery

Woolrick, Mary S 93979007

b. unknown d. Feb. 25, 1845 Glenn Cemetery

Youngman, Polly M 93980098

b. Sep. 10, 1828 d. Nov. 14, 1856 Glenn Cemetery

GROSENORS' GLENN

July 28, 2012

 

This entry deals with our ancestors in Connecticut and Vermont and the circumstances of their immigration to Ilinois. There was John (17) born in 1711 in Pomfret Ct and his son John (18) born in 1733 also in Pomfret. John(18) married Abigail Davis and they had four children and then Abigail died. John then maried Mollie Lee. They had five more children. Number 7 in the family was John (19) and number 9, the youngest, was our ancestor Parker (19). Around this time a rift developed between father and son, about which I know nothing. John (18) took his children and wife Molly Lee and moved to Windsor, Massachusetts, and later to Wethersford Vermont. In 1804 John (17) died. He left a goodly estate but ruled his son, John(18), out of his will leaving land, instead, to his grandsons John (19) and our ancestor, Parker(19) (These were brothers). When the old man died his son John (18) returned to Pomfret, where he found out he had been left out of the will, but he sold the land by forging his sons' names. The sons, Parker and John, now grown, were notified they had inherited so they traveled to Pomfret to see their inheritance and found another man living on the property. They beat him up and ejected him. He called the law on them and they wound up in the slammer. The forgery came to light. The boys sued their dad, won the case, and with cash in their pockets headed for the frontier in Kaskaskia, Illinois. John took some other feller's wife with him when he left! John (19) remained in the Kaskaskia area, prospered, and became a judge. The brothers both signed the petition which resulted in the separation of Illinois from Indiana and established Kaskaskia as the capital. The first Ilinois State Capital "building" was the upstairs rooms over Fisher's Tavern.

John Grosvenor later bought that building. Parker(19) teamed up with William Boone (Daniel Boone's nephew) and they became the first settlers in what is now Jackson County , Illinois. Be sure to read Parker(19)'s bio on Findagrave...and leave him a flower.

 

 

GROSVENORS' GLENN

July 14, 2012

 

A new genealogist named Angela Little stopped by Glenn last week and evidently took one picture and from it made one memorial. For Levi Grosvenor b. 1838 d. 1839, son of John & agnes Grosvenor. I am astonished! Why??? I am trying to find out. My assumption is that she must have stopped at Glenn to find a relative, saw the newly unearthed stone and entered it into findagrave. Fine! Take a look at Levi's memorial. Another volunteer, user name ASB, has undertaken the

photo recording of South Cemetery in Pomfret, Connecticut, which holds the remains of 72 of our Grosvenor ancestors. (There's another 75 in various other cemeteries in the surounding county). She has posted headstone photos to several Grosvenor memorials which I had created and at my request, has graciously copied inscriptions. Climb the family tree and note the memorials of Hannah Dresser Grosvenor and Abigal Davis Grosvenor. ASB has also photoed the memorial of Mary Grosvenor who died in Pomfret in 1742 at age 19 and whose demise is described in many lawbooks and is often cited in court cases as the basis of abortion laws. Google "grosvenor sessions" for lots of info.

Keep climbing the family tree (merely click on the name of the parents to move up another generation) The earliest listed so far is William Gravenor, born Shropshire England 1593, but more will undoubtedly be listed as their graves are located.  The "Gathering at Glenn" which will coincide with the Reunion appears to be well received. Genealogy is becoming a popular hobby and Findagrave Glenn is attracting attention. The excavations and restorations are of interest to genealogists, historians and other cemetery custodians and they all welcome a chance to gather, inspect and learn how it's done. Glenn Leads!

 

Cecil

GROSVENORS' GLENN

 

July 7, 2012

 

I have devoted several columns in the past to John(20) and Agnes Grosvenor largely because of the mysterious marker erected by WE Talbott at Glenn to honor his "brother-in-law John Grosvenor and father, WR Talbott" There has been speculation as to whether that stone was an actual grave marker or a historical monument. This week we got a definitive answer: It is a historical marker. For sure, for sure. We know because the tombstone of John Grosvenor has been found! This week I received a picture of it from Darrell and have posted it on John(20)'s memorial. Go take a look. It had toppled and been buried for decades. The stone is of the "do-it-yourself" type. The stones (or hardened-clay) blanks were sold in country stores and the family or friends inscribed the name of the deceased and his vital statistics on them. It is fitting that the volunteer restoration crew had at least three members who are Great Great Grand Children of this man (Darrell Clendenin and the Jarrett brothers. The crew also found and refurbished the stone of Sarah M, the daughter of John and Agnes and it's pic is posted to her findagrave memorial. Y'all done real good, restoration crew! I also received pics of 10 UNKNOWN stones from Darrell. Some of these had probably lain in the ground for a century or more. Some have visible inscriptions that we may be able to decipher with some work. I have posted some of the restoration photos on the memorial of Stan Din which is a sort of personal alter ego/ bulletin board. Please take a look at them. It's easy! Just google "findagrave stan din". Your comments invited.

 

Cecil

GROSVENORS' GLENN   

 

June 23, 2012

 

GROSVENORS’ GLENN

 

I hope you are all as happy as I to receive the recent letter from Pat Bowers of the Glenn Cemetery association. I was especially pleased to get the email adddresses of the board members. In case any of you mis-laid the letter or just skimmed through it, let me call your attention to one very important sentence in it which reads,

“Please make your check payable to: GLENN CEMETERY ASSOCIATION”

The last time I saw operating costs on the cemetery (several years ago) the annual expensess were on the order of 10 - 15 bucks per grave, and undoubtedly they have gone up since. There is the old saying that “you can’t take it with you” which in this case is wrong. Pay your grave maintenance up front and your funds will travel right along with you. $1500 to $2000 ought to get you paid up for a hundred years I would think. (But don’t forget to pay for grand-pop and the grand kids and for all those free-loading stiffs who get their grass cut at the communities expense)

I would like to call your attention to another piece of mail which I got… and I hope you did, too: “The Ava Citizen” , a monthly “shoe-string” newspaper. The editor is Diane (Gerler) Anderson who is an avid genealogist with 4765 findagrave entries in the last 15 months. She has completely photographed and documented Ava Evergreen. Her grand parents (Daniel and Lula (Campbell) Green are buried at Glenn . Think about it: The Grosvenor reunion in Ava. Diane Anderson, genealogist, editor of the Ava news-paper. We are MEANT for each other! The “Gathering in Glenn” to coincide with the Grosvenor Reunion! The Glenn Cemetery Association to show off the newly renovated cemetery and maybe take up donations (from “the others”, of course). The whole thing benefits Ava. To get “The Ava Citizen” for one year, email 12 bucks to avacitizen@yahoo.com.

If you haven’t been reading the findagrave bios of your ancestors, you are missing some great entertainment. If you have been reading them and not leaving flowers, Shame on you!

 

Cecil

GROSVENORS' GLENN   

 

June 16, 2012

 

THE BLUFF ROAD

"The hard road" was paved, I believe, in 1933. It was originally Route 150 and later designated Route 3. Prior to the coming of the pavement it was "The Bluff Road" and it was merely a single-lane dirt road that wound along "under the bluff" from the Wye near Kinkaid Creek to Kaskaskia. Prior to that it was part of the Kaskaskia trail which the early settlers followed from Kentucky to Kaskaskia. The bluff road clung tightly to the higher ground near the bluff because most of the land from the bluff to the river was swamps. It, therefore, was very crooked. It was also extremely dusty in the summer and extremely muddy when it rained and absolutely miserable in the winter because the mud got churned up during the day and froze solid in large grooves and lumps at night. I walked the bluff road to school at Logan (1/4 mile north of Glenn Cemetery) in 1930, 1931, & 1932. It was a brutal experience. I was very young (5th birthday in late June, started to school in early September) I was clumsy. I was sickly. I was poorly dressed. I was sent to school mostly to get me out from under foot. My mother was dying of cancer. There was a younger sibling, Edna Mae, in the family. It was the time of the Great Depression and misery was upon us all. There was a hail storm that destroyed our crops and damaged our buildings. The price of corn dropped to 12 cents a bushel. On most cold days, I would stumble on the frozen mud or skid on the patches of ice and fall, throwing my lunch bucket into the ditch. I would get up crying and my brother Herb would let me go back home. On nice afternoons, when we got home, I would rush into the house and get Mom's permission to walk as far as the old walnut tree with Ruby Nell Grosvenor and the Claussen children. That was glorious!

Melissa Grosvenor checked in with me this week with offers of info on the "Southern Grosvenors". I can hardly wait.

Also, this week I received a real treasure trove of information from a person in St Louis using the name "Momstore" who is related to the Shields & Gannons and therefore indirectly to the Korandos. Momstore gave me corrections and additional information on 17 Korandos which I have applied to their memorials.

I have had a telephone conversation with Darrell and he says the restoration project at the cemetery is moving along nicely. All the stones between the main cemetery road and Route 3 are finished and this Monday the group will start on the other side of the road (where the Grosvenor graves are located).

 

Cecil

 

GROSVENORS' GLENN   

 

June 9, 2012

 

Parker (21) Grosvenor's Obelisk:

The fourth side of Parker's stone is dedicated to his third wife Louticia (Keeton) and their childen. No individual stone has been found for Louticia. This is very puzzling. Surely one existed. I am awaiting the outcome of the ongoing restoration project. Although Parker and Louticia had three children, only the first, Charley, is listed on the obelisk and he does have a separate stone. Mattie and Edna were both alive when the obelisk was erected and they are not on it but each have individual stones. It should be noted that Louticia had seven children with Valentine Tabors before marrying Parker Grosvenor but apparently none are buried at Glenn. Evidently only Isaac and Emma were alive when Parker and Louticia married, and I believe they are buried at Houge.

So there stands this obelisk at Glenn... A monument to Parker (21) Grosvenor and his family. "The grand-daddy of us all". But it doen't tell the whole story. My mother had at least 23 siblings. Sixteen were Grosvenors and seven were Keetons. My sister, Anna (Saul) Clendenin who played this genealogy game pretty hard for several decades said Mom claimed 24 siblings. Did we miscount or did one get lost? Errors creep in. We strive for accuracy but continually have to admit to, and correct mistakes. And now is an opportune time to correct a couple I have made on this series about Parker Grosvenor's obelisk : (1) In my first column I stated that only five of Parker's children survived him; Fred, French, Frank. Mattie. and Edna. I inadvertently left out Mary "Mollie" Kessel, who lived until 1962 and is buried in Tower Grove in Murphysboro. (2) In last weeks column I said no stone had been found for Ferdinand Grosvenor and then I found a photo of his headstone in my files.

 

Cecil

June 2, 2012

 

Grosvenor's Glenn

 

Parker Grosvenor's stone:

Another side of the Parker Grosvenor family obelisk is dedicated to

Parker's second wife Louisa Hiser and their children. However, all are not listed on the stone.

Here is a listing:

Louisa Hiser Grosvenor (1844 - 1878) On obelisk

Children:

Parker (22) Grosvenor (1865 - 1885)* On obelisk & has another stone

Infant son Grosvenor (1867 - 1867)* On Obelisk No other stone found

Fred Grosvenor (1868 - 1960)*

Ferdnand Grosvenor (1870 - 1890)* On obelisk No other stone found

Mary C. Grosvenor Kessel (1871 - 1962)*

Peter Kiefer Grosvenor (1873 - 1893)*On obelisk No other stone found

French Grosvenor (1874 - 1970)*

Frank Grosvenor (1878 - 1923)*

Louisa died "of comlications of childbirth" but it is not known that a child was actually born. None is listed on the obelisk and no tombstone found. The infant son born 1867 (and believed to have been named Levi ) was inscribed on the obelisk. Of greater speculation is the missing stone of Peter Kiefer. He was an adult and surely there was a stone. Darrell

said there were stone fragments in the area.

Fred , Mary, French and Frank were still alive at the obelisk was erected and their names are not on it. It is tempting to say their names should be added but then the problem becomes "Where?"

.

For pictures of the aforementioned gravestones please visit the appropriate findagrave memorials.

 

Cecil

May 26, 2012

The mysterious stone of Parker (21) Grosvenor.

If you have not visited the findagrave memorial of Parker(21) and

Eliza Jane (Herring) Grosvenor and their children you should do so...

immediately! It will take several of my columns to properly cover

this subject without repeating bios.

The stone of Parker was erected sometime after his death when only

five of his seventeen children survived, namely Fred, French, Frank,

Mattie, and Edna. Since Mattie was mentally incompetent, only four

participated in the design of the marker.

First a description of the marker: It is a large up-right stone of the

type historians call an "obelisk" On one side is engraved the name of

Parker Grosvenor. On each of the other three sides is the name of a

wife and below each wife's name are the names of her children.

Individual headstones stretch out from each side. Several fragments

of a headstone have been seen here recently and some detective work

is needed to determine whose headstone or headstones have been

broken and to restore them to their proper position.

What is interesting is who is ingraved on the obelisk and who is not,

and who got an individual stone and who did not. For instance, why

was first-born son John, who grew to adulthood and produced

decendants, NOT on the obelisk but Infant Grosvenor whose birth

killed the mother WAS? John's widow and children were alive at the

time the stone was put up.

There are other mysteries on the other sides of the obelisk which I

will discuss in later columns. Meanwhile, visit the memorials, leave

flowers, and help me figger. And while visiting , click on the "photos"

tab at the top of each memorial and see a really good view of the

photos.

Parker Grosvenor ON obelisk. No individual stone found

Eliza Jane On obelisk. Also has individual Tombstone

Children:

John 1855 - 1901 NOT on obelisk but has individual stone

Sarah A. 1857 - 1875 IS on obelisk AND has individual stone

William 1860 - 1860 IS on obelisk. No individual stone found

Albert 1861 - 1881 IS on obelisk. No individual stone found

Infant Son 1863 - 1863 IS on obelisk. No individual stone found

Cecil

May 19, 2012

Grosvenor's Glenn

 

The importance of leaving findagrave flowers.

So why should you leave a flower? First of all because findagave is a permanent record and the flower is a token of respect for the life of the person who is memorialized in that record. It says, in effect: "I know this person lived and their life was of importance to me." You may leave a note and express much, much more. You can tell why the person was important to you, profess your love for the person, address them personally ("I miss you so much, Mother") or recite an incident ("I remember when you built a sled for me..."). Leaving flowers is the digital equivalent of sending flowers to a funeral and signing the guest register. EXCEPT that the digital flowers are FREE and PERMANENT. (check back in 75 years and verify) The flowers you sent to the funeral were expensive and went ito the garbage can shortly after the funeral. If some of you are scared off by findagrave's requirement that you register before posting.... don't be! They won't try to sell you anthing and no salesman will call. The registration is merely to prevent obscenities and objectionable material from being posted. Your user name will appear alongside the flower picture and it WILL leave a trail to your "Contributor Page" where you can leave as much (or as little) info as you wish to provide and where persons following the digital trail can leave messages for you. That linkage is an excellent way to find long-lost cousins and to have them find you.

Let me give you an example: Martha Virginia Metcalf Grosvenor , my Aunt Martha, spouse of Fred Grosvenor. She was the mother of 12 children. I knew her, her spouse, and the 5 sons and 3 daughters who grew to adulthood. I knew a bunch of her grand children and I now communicate with some of her great-grand-children. How many decendendents might she have? Yet a visit to her memorial gives no indication that ANYONE cared or remembered! Her children have all died.

Or go find little George Cotton, son of Abigail Grosvenor Cotton who died in Buffalo, New York in 1794 at age 21 months and lay in his grave for 218 years before a Grosvenor (me) visited him.

Remember.... if you don't visit other peoples' graves they more than likely won't visit yours.

Cecil

May 13, 2012

 

GROSVENORS' GLENN

A rather frustrating week due to equipment failures. My home A/C failed on the first hot day of the year. That, of course happens to a lot of people. Which makes it difficult to get a repairman. And then there was the usual wait for parts. But it is up and running now. And then there is the computer problem. I don't know what is going on there. My yahoo mailbox failed. It continued to COUNT the mail but refused to list it. I finally gave up and went to Google. It took me the better part of two days to get registered. (Google ALWAYS asks what user name you want and then ALWAYS says that user name is already in use and suggests another which you don't want and couldn't remember. Then they repeat the sme pocedure with the password) When I finally got gmail(Google) set up, they got yahoo to transfer my yahoo mail to Google AND THEN my yahoo mailbox began operating for ME again.

This week I managed to get Glenn and Mollie Ann Howie, who are buried at Jefferson Barracks, entered into findagrave, and Mollie Ann linked to her parents, Mack and Lorene Jarrett, and thru them to the other 24 generations of Grosvenors.

I continue to urge my readers to visit these memorials, and to leave flowers.

Cecil

May 5, 2012

 

GROSVENORS' GLENN

   I got a real helping hand last week from Tom Underwood in Arizona
and as a result have connected the Arizona Grosvenors to the Glenn
Grosvenors on findagrave. Also he gave me enough info to create
memorials for John and Genevieve Grosvenor in Milstadt and connect
them to the other Grosvenors. My readers are invited (even requested!)
to visit these memorials and proof-read, add pictures, submit a bio or
whatever. As I mentioned before, the easiest way to get into the
findagrave system is to use GOOGLE and search for "findagrave Fred
Grosvenor" and once there, click on everything in sight... including the
names of people. Also PLEASE click on "Leave a flower and a Note".
It's free and nobody will try to sell you anything.
This week I have been doing Jarrett-Grosvenors. It is complex.
Consider: Mrs Sarah Mohler Grosvenor (wife of John(22) Grosvenor)
married Henry Silas "Si" Jarrett who was the widower of Louella Gray
and they were the parents of Marie Jarrett. Marie married Fred "Larry"
Grosvenor and both died in Arizona. BUT Larry's sister Lorene married
Miles "Mack" Jarrett. I have not yet been able to locate the burial
placeof Henry Silas Jarrett, which is essential for sticking this whole
picture together. Does anyone know?
Computer problems: My yahoo incoming mail is afflicted and I don't
know yet what I can do about it. Here's a work around method:
GOOGLE "findagrave Stan Din" and you will arrive at my 'stand-in'
page at Glenn. Click on "Leave a flower and a note". Every day I will
drop by, smell the flowers and read the notes!

Cecil

Grosvenor's Glenn   

April 30, 2012

Charley B Grosvenor. His tombstone stands at Glenn. He was born 28 Jun 1893, died 14 Jul 1894. But the question arose: Whose child was he? I assumed he belonged to Fred and Martha and listed him as such. However, on later checking I find that Anna (Emert) was born 3 months after Charley B. Therefore he was not the son of Fred and Martha so I assumed he belonged to French and Nettie. BUT on another cross-checking last week I found that French and Nettie were not married in 1893! Then who??? Ah! John and Sarah! He fits! Home at last! But NOW, That poses another problem. Who is the baby in the picture with John and Sarah? If the picture was taken before July 1894 the baby is Charley B. If it was taken after then the baby is Ethel! Can we determine wwhen the picture was taken? Possibly. My dad told me a story once about the pictures. He said a photographer in a covered wagon toured the countryside once and almost every family had their pictures taken then. Look at the pix of Fred & martha, John and Sarah, Parker and Louticia, the Parker Grosvenor house with French? sitting in the window. Look at some of the Saul pictures. The William & Sarah family on their front porch. Guess people's ages. Look at vegetation for time of year. Are there other peoples' photos somewhere.? Finally we need to check Glenn cemetery for the location of Charleyy B's stone. Is it close to Fred's , French's or John's stone? C'mon Sherlocks!

Cecil

Grosvenor's Glenn

 

April 28, 2012    

 

This was a week of consolidating and organizing Grosvenors and their decendants. I finally managed to get an obit of Larry Grosvenor. He died in Phoenix and was buried at Green Acres in Scottsdale in the same cemetery with Jack. I got enough info from the obit to create a findagrave memorial and to link him to son Jack and to his parents Fred and Martha at Glenn. Also enough data to make an educated guess that Marie, his wife, is also buried at Green Acres, so I created a memorial for her also. I now need some of the "Arizona Grosvenors" to put the finishing touches to those memorials.... tombstone photos, portraits, family pix, biographical sketches, etc. I knew Larry and Marie only slightly.... as parents of Jack, and a Loooong time ago.
Another biggy this week was locating the Welches. A friend of mine, Carol Ann Carruthers, who grew up in Murphysboro and became a math professor at Kent State, researches for me. You may recall that the three boys were left orphans when Claude B. and Grace Grosvenor Welch were gunned down by a deranged man in E St Louis. Claude Vernon's daughter Cynthia Carlson contacted me a month or so ago when she found the memorial I had created for him on findagrave. Carol Carruthers found Bill in Jefferson Baracks Cemetery and Harold in Lakeview Cemetery in Fairview Illinois. We now have memorials for all with links to Claude and Grace on findagrave.
And finally, another Carol Carruthers find: Some documentation on Edward Earl Grosvenor.... Ship Fitter 1C . The son of Roscoe French Grosvenor. he went missing in action in WWII. His name is inscribed on a Navy monument for the lost at sea, in Battery Park in New York. I will create a memorial.

 Cecil

GROSVENORS' GLENN   

 

April 21, 2012

 

GROSVENORS’ GLENN& The Grosvenor Reunion.

Consider this to be an extension of last week’s column. I believe that there are a lot of local people who would like to attend the Grosvenor reunion but, unfortunately, they were neither born into, nor found a mate, in the Grosvenor tribe; so they don’t get invited. And there are a lot of Grosvenors who would like to meet some of the local people who were neighbors of their ancestors, but don’t know where to find them. It is also my belief that a lot of the people who attend the reunion also pay a visit to the cemetery. My proposal is that the Grossvenor Reunion be modified by aclaim to include an entire week-end with Saturday being Cemetery Day and Sunday being Grosvenor Reunion Day. On Saturday an informal “happening’ would be held at Glenn Cemetery. There should be no agenda for the cemetery thing. No halls to rent, no refreshments to serve. Everybody invited. Everybody goes. People show up, visit graves, plant flowers, take pictures, and share stories. Hopefully, some of the Cemetery Volunteers will show up to act as guides and help visitors locate graves. Hopefully a lot of people will show up with digital cameras, cell phones, ipods, GPS receivers, etc and a lot of real documentation will eventually show up on findagrave. I hope, very shortly, to kick off a digital mapping of Glenn cemetery and even random photos of the cemetery will be helpful.
It is my contention that the Grosvenor Reunion as now constituted will continue to shrink but the Cemetery Day will grow since all interested parties are free to attend. This move would be in complete accordance with the Grosvenor tradition in the area. After all, Glenn Cemeter itself was “The Grosvenor Farm” until the Grosvenors invited the public. That tradition should continue. Comments invited.

Cecil