Our Grandparents
Thank you
Writing about Grandpa and Grandma is a challenge for me because the Grandparents I knew, the very large white haired man who was a bit scarey and who commanded repect and the small, kind white haired lady who made me tapioca when I was ill (with a marchino cherry), were part of their little house on Thames Drive. I never knew them as my older cousins did.
I don't have the stories like Bill and Carol do: The rides to picnics or to the farms where Grandpa grew up or being doctored by a veterinarian and 1909 pharmacist (ask Bill about the upholstry needle).
Preserving and documenting memories are why we started this adventure but it turned into so much more as we found how remarkable and strong (though they probably wouldn't think of themselves as such) our ancestors were.
Reading 'The Ups and Downs of One Very Ordinary Earth Being' really touches my heart. Though Grandpa only covered 9 years, the essence of this family is on those pages. Grandpa grew up exceptionally poor. Bill said Grandpa used to say his family went from Dirt Poor to Poor, yet no whiners in this bunch. The older I get, the more I recognize how truly exceptional Grandpa and Grandma were. No whiners in this bunch. They only expected of others what they expected of themselves. Bill said they were giving. They and Aunt Donna took care of Bill when mom was working two jobs and Bill says he knew love and family because of them. They were good people.
William Clyde was born 1881 and died 1973, older brother was Charles Hoyt and younger sister Grace May. Though unable to complete school themselves, Christopher and Louise placed high value on education. Grace (Lazalear) became a teacher and the veterinarians, Will and Charles, alternated working and studying to put themselves through Veterinary school. Bill said they cut ice from a lake and sold it to fraternities to make money. Aunt Donna said all Grace wanted was the same opportunities her brothers had at education.
When Grandpa become a government meat inspector he was sent to Omaha where the locals aparently didn't take kindly to the Feds checking their meat packing. He stayed in a home that happened to be Mabel Frances Inghram's home. The way Bill tells it is that as a meat inspector, Grandpa was not well liked but apoarently Mabel felt differently. They eloped. The above photo is taken in a rooming-house the day after they married.
Grandma was exceptional. Mabel graduated from Creighton College with a degree in pharmacy, a rarity.
Mabel Frances, one of 5 Inghram kids, b. 1891 d.1973., raised four beautiful daughters, The Herrold Girls, which I consider a challenging for any mother.
Bill described their lives as God fearing and giving. They tithed. They helped establish three churches with Grandpa paying the ministers saleries. They established a charity to assist people with physical disabilities. Along they way Bill told me about Grandpa and Grandma giving room and board to help students, often people of color, make it through college. I remember Mom describing Grandma feeding people during the Depression, people had marked the sidewalk in front of the house.
Grandpa passed away after developing gangrene in his leg due to diabetes. Grandpa refused to lose his legs as his diabetic brother had previously, and died in a Columbus hospital. As a kid, I remember seeing him there. Grandma died almost to the day, three months later. They are buried together at Greenlawn Cemetary in Nelsonville near Granpa's parents, Christopher and Louisa Herrold, over by the Mausoleum where Charles lay.
I love that picture of William. I see in him both Uncle Bill and my brother Sam.
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