The Trouble with the Woods and the Grangers!

Let's just say that trying to trace the lineage of a Wood or a Granger in England in the 1800s is no piece of cake. Or trifle, as the case may be.

Neither is trying to find a death certificate for William S. R. Wood or the death certificate and burial plot information on Bessie Granger Wood, our great grandparents.

It has been relatively easy to find info on J.P.'s family. They can be easily traced back to 1500s Switzerland. But census birthplace data for the Woods indicates England and so far I haven't been able to track immigration information on either side. Thanks to Mutty, we have a photo of William's mother.

Does it really matter? Well, sort of. At least to me. There's a whole chapter I can't write in the "Leatherman Story" unless I know!

About the only fact I have is that Bessie was a twin and through a stroke of luck, I was able to find a record of their christening in London. And I've also found a trail of information about the Grangers (or Graingers) in Buffalo, along with some information on William Wood.

William was an apothecary and confectioner and when I get them scanned, I'll post some of his recipes, including the opium lozenges. Nancy remembered stories of his shop shared by Iris. I also know that both Stephen and Elizabeth Granger worked for a confectioner in Buffalo. Was that Bessie or her mother? Is that how they met? We know a bit about their wedding reception from marriage records and a small newspaper clipping shared here before.

We know that by 1905 they had moved to Lansing with their daughter, Minnie Elizabeth and ran a grocery. And that in 1912, Minnie and J.P. were married and moved into the Wood home at 833 N. Capitol Avenue.

We  know that Bessie was alive until at least 1919 or 1920 as there are photographs of her with Jean as a baby.

                              

And that's it.

I have two journeys planned in my head. One is to Ohio to check out some of J.P.'s relatives and gravesites in Medina County. The other is to Ionia County to check out information on his parents and if we can shed any light on how Henry Leatherman, JP's dad, was institutionalized. (And a matter of fact, that info has been found -- and it's quite a story!)

 Maybe I'd better head to the Ingham County Clerk and see what I can dig up on Bessie!

Wedding Time!

On June 15, we say Happy Anniversary to Nancy and Walt Taylor! Nancy and Walt have kept the Leatherman line going for two more generations!

So, I thought I'd share a few wedding photos and news clips from the family. Below is the announcement seen in an earlier post of William S. Wood and Bessie Granger, Minnie Wood's parents.

Here's J.P. and Minnie!

And Minnie in a wedding portrait.

And just so we know we're all legal, their wedding registration! (They're third from the bottom; scroll over to the far right for details on minster, witnesses)



Nancy's parents, Iris Leatherman and Wendell Marzolf, had their marriage documented here.
 

And here they are at the lake!

Grace Leatherman and Martin Krauss were married at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in a service officiated by Marty's dad, Reverend Frederick Krauss.

Grace told Mary Anne (Mutty) that she wanted no guests since her mother, Minnie, was too ill to attend. Her sister Jean and Ken Croope were the witnesses.

Jean Leatherman and Ken Croope had the same low-key wedding, married across the street from 833 North Capitol by Reverend Krauss.

Here's a look at the reception of Grace's son, David, when he married Bonnie Bletcher. Now their kids are pushing 30!

Annie Taylor and Jason Minshew were married at Nancy and Walt's Flagstaff home. After living years in Austin, they've moved back to Flag.

The most recent family wedding was Grace's grandson, Mark Elinsky, to Katie Ricchutio in 2013 in a beautiful interfaith ceremony.

I'll be scanning what photos of the other weddings I have soon. I'm sure I have candids from the weddings of Nancy and Walt and John and Pat Marzolf. But that leaves a lot of others, so if you have a favorite wedding picture of you and your spouse or your parents, either send me the photo (and I'll return it after scanning) or a digital copy!

Mr. and Mrs. Wood

We've talked a little about Henry and Angeline Leatherman but what about Minnie Wood's parents? We know that William S. Wood was a confectioner in Buffalo. Census records conflict as to whether he was born "at sea" or in Buffalo, but we know he was born in 1850. We don't know his parents' names.

Elizabeth Granger (Bessie) was the daughter of Elizabeth and Stephen Granger. They emigrated to the U.S. from England around 1836 or 1856 (still to be determined). On the 1870 census, her mother described herself as a "huckster" and her father "a boatmaker." It appears Bessie had a twin brother, Stephen, and two other siblings, James and Mary (although Mary only shows up in one document). She was born in 1829 in England.




City Directory data indicates and Elizabeth Granger working in a confectionery company in Buffalo, but it is unclear as to whether or not it was Bessie or her mother. It is probably through this avenue that she met William S. Wood.

They were married in _____. And, from this clipping it sounds as though their wedding reception was lovely!

The Woods had moved to Lansing by 1905 (City Directory) and while in Lansing he first worked at Lansing Confectionery Company.

 They later owned grocery stores.

They lived in the house at 833 N. Capitol for at least two years before Minnie and J.P. were married.

Iris recalls a "grandmother or someone" living with them when she was quite young. This would be Bessie.

We know that William died in 1917 and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Lansing. When Jean and Jeanie would decorate the cemetery graves, stories about his confectionery work were always part of the day. Jeanie has his recipe book -- but that's the subject of another post.

We don't know when Bessie died. A photo of her holding Jean as a baby was taken in 1919. The only Elizabeth Wood in Mt. Hope cemetery died in 1905 so either it isn't her or the dates were badly mangled. She is not in the same plot as William and their son, Irving -- so her demise is (at present) a mystery.

One of the things you discover when you start digging into all this is the difficulty of finding people from England. Yes, you can search the Great Britain and Wales census and birth records. But good luck narrowing down the names of Wood and Granger! Especially if you aren't quite certain from which part of England they hailed. We know Elizabeth Granger (Bessie's mom) was born in Wales from U.S. census data -- but we don't have a maiden name to be able to search Welsh birth records!

So, the mystery of the Wood family will continue. Stay tuned!

Fun Finds from the City Directories

Checking out city directories can be a fun way to find out where people lived in a given year, where they worked and on occasion, other family members at the residence. Here are a few fun finds from City Directories in Lansing and Buffalo. On the left column, you'll see J.P. and Family listed.

Below, a Buffalo City Directory listing for Williams S. Wood, candymaker.

And here's one from when he and Bessie moved to Lansing!

All sorts of fun finds! I think if you click on them you can see them in a different window and make them larger or just hit control + to enlarge your screen view!

Great Grandpa Wood

Minnie's dad, William S. Wood. I'm not sure of the date of this photo.

He was quite the confectioner and one day I'll post and share some of his recipes!