Granville Roy Jackson, 1882-1939

G.R. about 1905

Sadly, he lived just long enough to only meet his first grandchild. My grandfather would sit and rock the bassinette by the hour but never touch baby Pete because he thought the cancer that was killing him could infect the baby.
 Most of what I know about my grandfather came from stories and photographs shared by my grandmother, Iva, when I was a child and spent the night with her. Census data, letters, vital records, and newspaper articles I collected as an adult added details.
 Granville Roy Jackson (or, G. R. as he was always called) was born  in Calhoun County, West Virginia. My grandmother grew up in neighboring Ritchie County. Both families were farmers with deep roots in western Virginia. There were differences, however. G.R.'s father served in the 19th Virginia Cavalry during the War Between the States, while my grandmother's family was staunchly anti-slavery and pro-Union during the Civil War.  As a boy, my dad witnessed more than one spirited debate about the War at reunions.

Whatever their differences, the families came together and celebrated the young couple's marriage on Oct. 22, 1905. G. R. and Iva lived with his parents in Big Springs, Calhoun County for a short time. The next year, they struck out on their own and settled in the boom town of Bigheart, Osage County, Oklahoma. They opened and ran a general store until at least 1910. A tornado in 1911 and a fire in 1913 devastated downtown Bigheart and may have forced them to close the store. By 1918, G. R.'s occupation was listed as tool dresser for a drilling company when he registered for the WWI draft. In the 1920s, he opened a store in Montana where the family spent a short time. By 1930, they were back in Oklahoma, and he was working as a pumper in the Garber-Covington oil field.

 

Jackson Store in Bigheart, Oklahoma, 1908. G. R. in front.

He enjoyed hunting and fishing, once catching a 57-pound catfish. His obituaries describe him as a Methodist, 32nd degree Mason, employee of Sinclair Oil, and officer of the Oil Worker's Union 364.

His last few months were difficult ones as his health deteriorated and he struggled to clear his sinuses and throat. He died of metastatic brain cancer on Dec. 9, 1939 and was buried in the plot he and Iva purchased at Memorial Park in Enid, Oklahoma.

 Grandpa G. R.'s Timeline

• Born July 30, 1882 in Big Springs, Calhoun County, WV to Edward and Susannah (Johnson) Jackson. Visit Janie Kimball Jackson's website for more family history.
• 1900 Census. G. R. is a 17-year-old student living with his parents in Calhoun County. The census taker is Iva's father.
• 1905. Marriage to Iva Nina Haddox, daughter of John Wesley and Amanda Caroline (Hayden) Haddox.
• 1906. Move to Bigheart, OK.
• March 6, 1907. Shirley Lynn Jackson, their first son, is born.
• 1910 Census. G. R., wife Iva, and son, Shirley L. living in Bigheart.
• April 12, 1911. Tornado levels Bigheart. Impact on G. R. Jackson family, home and store unknown as town rebuilds.
• May 23, 1919. Donivan Elmo Jackson, their second son, is born. Grandma Iva said Uncle Lynn selected the middle name to honor the original Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln.
• 1920 Census. Family living in Bigheart and G.R. working as driller in oil field.
• 1930 Census. Family living in Olive township, Garber Co., OK.
• July 20, 1939. First of eight grandchildren born.
• Dec. 9, 1939. G. R. died in Garber, Garfield County, OK.

Selected Sources

• "G. R. Jackson, 57, Dies Saturday in Home. Ill for Several Months." Undated Clipping, c. 1939, from unidentified newspaper. Photocopy owned 2012 by Andrea Dietze.
• Jackson, Ruth (Hartman). Letter. 3 March 1992, from Portland, Oregon, to Andrea Dietze. Held in 2012 by Dietze. 
• Knotts, Robert, Jr. and Robert E. Stevens, comps. Calhoun County in the Civil War. Parsons, West Virginia:  McClain Printing Company, 1982. 
• Oklahoma. Garfield County. 1930 U. S. Census, population schedule. Online Images. Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 30 May 2011). 
• Oklahoma State Board of Health. Death Certificate 24-19192 (1939), Granville Roy Jackson, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Oklahoma City. 
• Tatum, T. Max, Grand Secretary, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Letter. [February] 1995, from Guthrie, Oklahoma, to Andrea Dietze. Held in 2012 by Dietze.
• "Three Deaths in Bigheart Storm:  [All] Injured Doing Nicely in Tulsa Hospitals." Tulsa (Oklahoma) World, 14 April 1911, p. 1. Online Images, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 20 July 2012), Newspaper Archives 1690–2007. 
• West Virginia. Calhoun County. 1900 U. S. Census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication, T624, roll 1677. ED 21, Sht. 3.

Lucille V. Kosinske, 1901-1991

Aunt Lucy and Andrea Off to Visit Hearst Castle, 1963

Great Aunt Lucy was one of my family's favorites and her visits to us were greatly anticipated.The youngest daughter of Polish immigrants, she did not follow in the footsteps of her older, married sisters, including my grandma, Stella. Instead, Aunt Lucy was a successful, independent career woman.  She was tall, dynamic, curious, and always interested in visiting new places--often with her camera in hand. As far as I was concerned, there was no one in the world like Aunt Lucy.

Every few years she would take the train from Chicago to Union Station in Los Angeles. My mother, brothers and sisters and I would meet her at the station in our old station wagon, then drive her to the Biltmore Hotel. From there, she would visit friends, host dinners, and explore Southern California.

When I was 13, she invited me--only me--along on a photography trip to the central California coast. She worked for the Chicago Tribune and arranged an extensive, private tour for us of Hearst Castle.  It was an amazing trip and I enjoyed every day. Aunt Lucy was determined I learn to share her interest in photography and rented a 35mm camera for me to use. I did my best, but despite her patiently repeated instructions, aperture and shutter speed remained mysteries. I did, however, come away with a lifelong love of central California and an appreciation for what Aunt Lucy could do with a camera.

Aunt Lucy's Timeline:

Aunt Lucy's Medal, 1960

• Birth, 29 October 1901 in Wenona, Marshall Co., Illinois to Joseph and Alexandria (Nowsuc) Kosinski. Visit the Kosinski Family Tree
• 1930 Census. Lucille is 27 years old and renting a house in Chicago. Living with her are her mother, Alice, who emigrated from Poland in 1895, and a lodger, Gladys M. Scott, unemployed stenographer.
• Social Security Number Application on Nov. 27, 1936, the only document I've found to date giving her middle name as Vera.
• 1938. Aunt Lucy takes up photography, from 1963 news article.
• 1940 Census. Still searching.
• 1951. In October, Lucille Kosinske, 49, and born in Wenona, Illinois, sails on the SS Lurline from San Francisco to Honolulu.
• August 1960. Aunt Lucy wins a sterling silver charm for "Slide of the Month" from the Chicago Stereo Camera Club. I purchase it on eBay in March 2011.
• 1961. Aunt Lucy wins Slide of the Year for "Barefoot Pals," a stereograph photo shot in Florida.
• 1963. Aunt Lucy's and Andrea's car trip to central California and tour of Hearst Castle.
• September 1972. I drive my VW bug (and 9-year-old sister, Deidre) to Chicago from California to visit Aunt Lucy at her home on N. Sheridan Drive.
• 1986. Aunt Lucy deeds selected photographs and viewer to Chicago Historical Society. Lucille V. Kosinske Photograph Collection, catalog entry 
• Death, 27 February 1991 in Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois and announced in the Chicago Tribune.

  
Selected Sources:

• "Camera Bug Limits Field," article, Chicago Tribune (1963-Current File), 17 October 1963, p. n21; Proquest (http://search.proquest.com : accessed 30 April 2012), Proquest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988).
• "Kosinske," Death Notice, Chicago Tribune, 2 March 1991, sec. 1, p. 13. Microfilm. Los Angeles Public Library.
• Lucille Vera Kosinske, SSN 337-10-4116, 27 November 1936, Application for Social Security Account Number, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 29 November 2010), Lucille V. Kosinske, 337-10-4116, before 1951.
• "Wins Stereo 'Slide of the Year'," Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963), Oct. 4, 1962, part 3, p. B9; Proquest Historical Newspapers (http://search.proquest.com/ : accessed 30 April 2012), ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988).

Welcome...

Past Remembrances presents biographical sketches of the lives of individual ancestors and other family members based on over 20 years of research. Each post includes sources and links to other information. Occasionally, I'll also include favorite memories of people and photographs I either snapped or inherited.

This blog is one way to share family information with all those contemporary relatives whose eyes glaze over at Thanksgiving when I mention genealogy. Reading about one relative at a time is more palatable than making sense of a six-generation pedigree chart. This is also another way to connect with as-yet-unknown distant relatives whose genealogical research overlaps with mine. I hope you share an interest in discovering family history. With any luck at all, we may even share some ancestors.