Keeping It All in the Family

Leonard E. Grant, Jr.

After last week’s post about the Grant family photograph I was still curious about several aspects of the Grants and their spouses and children. My main curiosity was about Leonard Grant’s divorce from his wife Emma. I also wondered about Minnie Grant’s first husband, Eldredge Hubbard, and their kids Florence and Clarence. So I poked around a little. What I dug up can’t be called strictly incestuous. But it treads a little too closely to incest for comfort.

Leonard E. Grant, Jr. (1857-1923), married Emma E. Pomeroy (abt 1858-?) in 1891. By 1903 they were divorced. On May 15 of that year, in Chardon, Ohio, Emma E. Pomeroy Grant married a second time to a man named William H. Chase (1850-1914).

This remarriage seems innocent enough on the surface. But what’s a little off-putting is that William Chase happened to be Emma’s former brother-in-law. It's unclear whether William’s first wife, Sarah M. Grant (1853-?), had divorced him or died, but she was the sister of Leonard Grant, Jr., Emma's first husband. I’d prefer to believe that William was a widower when he married his former sister-in-law, Emma.

Eldridge Hubbard living with John Grant in 1900 US Census

While satisfying my curiosity about Leonard and Emma, I uncovered another unconventional arrangement within the larger Grant family. Grace Armenia “Minnie” Alderman (1870-1922) divorced her first husband, Eldredge Hubbard (abt 1852-aft 1930), before 1896. Four years later, in 1900, Eldredge was living on the same property as his ex-wife and her second husband, John Elwood Grant (1870-1915). Eldredge was their hired man. I hope he was living in an out-building or something and not in the same house with Minnie and John.

John Elwood Grant

What could the reason for this unusual arrangement have been? Was Eldredge just too poor to find his own place? The two children of Eldredge and Minnie were also living there. Did Eldredge just want to be near his children? What was John Grant thinking to allow his wife’s first husband to live with them? Maybe they were just very open-minded for the time. Why would Eldredge work under the husband who’d supplanted him? Had this arrangement lasted for the four years that John and Minnie had been married by 1900? And how much longer did it last after 1900?

By 1920 Eldredge Hubbard was living with his daughter Florence and her husband Charles Carnegie. But in the 1930 US Federal Census Eldredge is listed as "inmate" along with a lot of single, somewhat elderly men. My first thought on seeing this was that he’d committed some crime and was in jail. But I suspect that he was actually living in a nursing home or a similar facility—maybe for the mentally ill or the mentally handicapped? He was about seventy-eight years old by 1930, so I don’t expect he lasted much longer.

Florence M. Hubbard Waste Carnegie

But the family antics kept on. Eldredge Hubbard and Minnie Hubbard Grant’s daughter was Florence M. Hubbard (1888-1972). On June 17, 1905, in Hambden, Ohio, just before her eighteenth birthday, Florence married Frank B. Waste (1880-1955). Could Frank Waste be the mystery man sitting next to Florence in the Grant family photo of the previous year? The man resembles the Grants, so I’ve assumed he was a blood relation and dismissed Frank Waste as a possible identity. But considering the tangled web of relationships in the Grant-Hubbard sphere of influence, Frank Waste could well have been related.

The Mystery Man

Florence and Frank Waste had two children. First came a girl, Jesse A. Waste, on October 10, 1906. I don’t know what marital problems Florence and Frank had, but on February 4, 1907, they divorced. A little over a month later, on March 18, 1907, baby Jesse died. Had a sick baby been an unbearable pressure on the marriage? Or was daughter Jesse’s death sudden? I have no answer.

Florence and Frank’s second child, Harold James Waste, was born December 30, 1907, almost eleven months after the date of Florence and Frank’s divorce. Did Florence and Frank live together for a while after the divorce was granted? They obviously had sex after they were no longer legally married. What the heck was going on?

On January 10, 1913, Florence married again, this time to a man sixteen years her senior, Charles B. Carnegie (abt 1872-?). They had three sons: John Carnegie (abt 1914-?), Oren Lewis Carnegie (1922-2006), and Clarence Newton Pete Carnegie (1925-2006). Florence appears as head of household in both the US Federal Censuses of 1930 and 1940 with the three Carnegie boys, but where is Florence’s husband Charles? There’s no sign of him in those censuses. Florence is listed as married, not widowed or divorced, but Charles's whereabouts remain a mystery.

Charles Elwood Grant

Meanwhile, Harold Waste, Florence’s son by Frank Waste, grew up in the Carnegie household. On February 2, 1946, Harold Waste married Helene Thelma Stafford (1902-1985) and became her second husband. Helene’s first husband had been Charles Elwood Grant (1900-1945), a son of John and Minnie Grant and a half-brother of Florence Hubbard Waste Carnegie. So as her second husband Helene Stafford Grant married her first husband’s half-nephew.

The family follies didn’t stop there. Minnie and Eldredge Hubbard’s son, Clarence N. Hubbard, married twice. On May 25, 1912, Clarence married Nellie B. Frisbie (1891-1975), but their marriage didn’t last. By 1951 Clarence was married to his second wife, Alice Rosa Holmes (1908-2003), daughter of Thomas James Holmes, prominent bibliographer of the works of Increase Mather and son Cotton Mather.

Clarence N. Hubbard

When Clarence Hubbard died in May of 1973, his widow Alice Holmes Hubbard lost little time in looking around at the family to find her next husband. Oren Lewis Carnegie, son of Florence Hubbard Waste Carenegie, was the nephew of Alice’s first husband and fourteen years her junior. Oren had been married since about 1947 to Hattie M. (maiden name unknown). But he seems to have been in a hurry to marry his uncle’s widow. Oren divorced Hattie on Dec. 11, 1973, and sixteen days later, on December 29, Oren married his Aunt Alice, continuing the family tradition of marriages of questionable propriety.

Those are all the unusual pairings I’ve found in that section of the family. I don’t suppose there’s room for many more of them. But that’s what I kept thinking after I’d found the first couple.

Gathered Grants

A large gathering of my Grant relatives had a group photograph taken in the summer of 1904 in Geauga County, Ohio. I first saw this photo on the genealogy site of Rick and Becky Johnson, who are my distant cousins related by several marriages along various family branches. I was excited to see the faces of so many relations that I’d never seen before.

Later I found the same photo printed in the book Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History by James J. Anderson and Jeannette Grosvenor, originally published in 1989. I have the 2006 printing by The Donning Company. The book gives information about the photo, but that information has several problems.

The book proposes that the photo was taken at the Chardon, Ohio, home of Leonard and Betsey Grant, the couple sitting on the right side of the middle row. But I think that the photo was more likely taken at the home—probably also in Chardon—of Leonard and Betsey’s son Charles and his wife Arletta, who are sitting at the left side of the middle row. That’s because most of the Grants in the photo are sons and grandchildren of Charles and Arletta. The only two children of Leonard and Betsey in the photo are Charles himself and Leonard, Jr. The rest of Leonard and Betsey’s children—including Mary Elizabeth Grant McNaughton, my great-great-grandmother—are absent.

The Grant Family, 1904.

The photo's caption in the book identifies the people like this:

Top row, left to right: John Grant with son Glen “Chicken” Grant and John’s wife Grace Armena “Minnie” Alderman Hubbard Grant; William L. Grant with daughter Mabeletta Grant and William’s wife Noma A. Trask Grant; Leonard Grant, Jr.; Carrie Beach Grant and daughter Myrtle Grant with Carrie’s husband Orie Grant.

Middle row, left to right: Arletta Fox Grant and husband Charles Grant; Leonard Grant, Sr., and wife Betsey Marshall Patterson Grant.

Front row, left to right: Edward Grant, Charles “Dick” Grant, Lloyd W. Grant, Roy Robert Grant, Florence Hubbard, and Clarence Hubbard.

But whoever wrote this caption didn't pay attention to the ages of the kids, who are all my cousins. Some of these identifications are decidedly odd—assuming the date of the photo is indeed the summer of 1904. I think it is 1904, and, as I indicated in a post of a couple weeks ago, based on the children's ages I believe that the names assigned to many of them are incorrect.

Let’s take a closer look at the people in this photo. I’m going to assign what I believe to be the correct name to each. I’ll also discuss a little history where I know it.

(If you want to see a larger version of the photo, just click on it and a larger version will open in your browser window. By the way, the same thing will happen to all other photos posted to Several Times Removed.)

Here are my name assignments:

Top Row, Left to Right:

John Grant (1870-1915), the eldest child of Arletta and Charles W. Grant, who are the lefthand couple in the middle row. John was thirty-four here.

Edward Louis Grant (1903-1988), the second child of John, who's holding Edward, and Minnie, who's standing just to the right of Edward. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History identifies this little boy as Glen Newton “Chicken” Grant (1914-1972). But if this photo was taken in 1904, this can’t be Chicken Grant, because he wouldn’t be born for another ten years. Edward Louis was just one year old in July 1904, about the time this photo was taken, and this child certainly looks that age.

Grace Armenia “Minnie” Alderman Hubbard Grant (1870-1922) was the granddaughter of Jarvis Alderman (1803-1857) and Charlotte Grant Alderman (abt 1804-1903). An online posting here claims that Charlotte Alderman's Grant forebears are connected to the family of Minnie’s husband, John Grant. I haven’t found any verification that these two Grant branches are connected, although I’d certainly like to find some. Charlotte Grant Alderman was a direct descendant of Matthew Grant (1601-1645) and Priscilla Grey (1600-1644), immigrants from England in 1630 on the ship John and Mary. That makes Charlotte and her granddaughter Minnie (and Minnie's children) blood relations to US Civil War Union General and later US President Ulysses S. Grant. Minnie’s first husband was Eldredge Hubbard, and in this photo she was thirty-four.

William L. Grant (1873-1960), the second son of Arletta and Charles W. Grant. He was twenty-nine here.

Mabeletta Grant Mumford (1903-?), held by her father, William. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History correctly identifies this child who grew up to marry Otto Elmer Mumford (1907-?). Mabeletta was less than a year old in the photo.

Noma Amelia Trask Grant (1875-1950), wife of William L. Grant and mother of Mabeletta. Noma was twenty-eight.

Leonard E. Grant, Jr. (1857-1923), sixth child of Leonard and Betsey Grant, the couple seated on the righthand side of the middle row. Leonard, Jr., standing right behind his father, Leonard, Sr., is also the youngest brother of Charles W., seated just to the left in the middle row. Sometime between 1900 and 1920 Leonard, Jr., divorced his wife Emma E. (last name unknown). Emma isn’t in this photo. Maybe they’re already divorced and that’s why Leonard, Jr., is at this gathering at his brother Charles’s place. If Leonard had left his wife by 1904 and was living either with his parents—Leonard, Sr., and Betsey—or possibly living with his brother Charles and family, that could account for Leonard, Jr.’s presence. Or maybe Leonard and Emma were just having marital problems at this point and she refused to either be in the photo or attend the family gathering. They had no children that I’m aware of—maybe the reasons for that were a factor in their divorce. But that’s mere speculation. Leonard, Jr., was forty-six.

Carrie Beach Grant (1882-1960), wife of Orris Grant. Carrie was twenty-two.

Myrtle Grant (1903-?), daughter of Carrie and Orris Grant. Myrtle was a little over a year old here.

Orris H. “Orie” Grant (1879-1953), fourth and youngest child of Arletta and Charles W. Grant, the lefthand couple in the middle row. Orie was twenty-four or twenty-five.

Middle Row, Left to Right:

Arletta S. Fox Grant (1851-1919), wife of Charles W. Grant, and mother of John E., William L., and Orris H., who are all standing in the back row. Arletta and Charles also had a daughter, Millie S. Grant (1876-?), who isn’t in the photo—maybe she died before 1904. At the time of this photo Arletta was fifty-two.

Charles William Grant (1846-1937), Arletta's husband and eldest child of Leonard and Betsey Grant, who are seated to the right of Charles in the middle row. Charles was fifty-eight when the photo was taken.

Leonard E. Grant, Sr. (1823-1911), was my great-great-great-grandfather and the husband of Betsey who's to the right of him in the photo. Leonard's father was born in Connecticut according to the 1900 US Federal Census, although I also have a reference that says his father was born in New York. I prefer Connecticut. His father may have been named Leonard, too, but that’s questionable. I’ve looked for Leonard Grant, Sr.’s ancestors, but with no luck. There are a slew of Grants in eighteenth century and nineteenth century Connecticut. Which of them might be the right Grants I’ve found impossible to determine. Early Ohio Grants don't tie definitively to Leonard either. As Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History says (and I'll have to trust the book on this), Grant Street, which runs between North Hambden and South Hambden, Geauga County, Ohio, was named after Leonard Grant. The street is also the dividing line between Chardon Village and Hambden Township. Leonard was eighty in this photo.

Betsey Elizabeth Marshall Patterson Grant (1818-1912) was my great-great-great-grandmother and Leonard Grant, Sr.’s wife. Leonard and Betsey were the parents of Charles W., also sitting in the middle row, and Leonard, Jr., standing just behind Leonard, Sr. They had other children who aren’t in the photo: Abby Rosette Grant Conley (1849-1931), John Grant (1851-1853) who died as a child, Sarah M. Grant (1853-?), Mary Elizabeth Grant McNaughton (1856-1946) who was my great-great-grandmother, and Emerette Anna Grant Zorn (1861-1926). The absence of these other children is what leads me to strongly suspect this photo was taken at Charles and Arletta's place. Betsey Grant was married previously to Alonzo Patterson and had four children with him: Edna Maria Patterson, Persis Ellen Patterson (1840-?), George B. Patterson (1842-1916), and James O. Patterson (1846-?). Betsey’s parents were William Obadiah Marshall (1784-1854) and Polly Rider (1793-1870), a daughter of “Deacon” Benjamin Rider (1761-1854), whose gravestone I posted a picture of a couple weeks ago and whose branch of the family goes back to Samuel Rider (1601-1679) and Anne Gamlett (1605-1695) who immigrated by 1638 to Plymouth, Massachusetts, from Northampton, England. At eighty-five years old, Betsey was the oldest person in this photo.

Bottom Row, Left to Right:

Charles Elwood Grant (1900-1945), eldest son of John and Minnie Grant. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History says this is Edward Grant, Charles Elwood Grant’s younger brother and second son of John and Minnie. But Edward was born in 1903, the year before this photo is supposed to have been taken, and I think that's Edward in his father's arms in the top row. The child pictured sitting here is certainly more than a year old. Charles Elwood would have been four years old in the summer of 1904, and this child looks about four years old, so I think it’s reasonable to conclude this is Charles Elwood Grant. Charles would grow up to marry Helene Thelma Stafford (1902-1985), descendant of Richard Warren of the ship Mayflower, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago.

Clarence Hubbard (1891-1973), son of Minnie Grant and her first husband Eldredge Hubbard. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History claims that this child is Charles “Dick” Grant, who I believe is the child sitting to the left of this one. This child is obviously much older than four-year-old Charles. Clarence Hubbard was thirteen years old in 1904, and this child could easily be thirteen. Also, look at his face—it's a bit rounder than all those long Grant faces. Compare his features to the girl sitting on the ground to the right. I know her features are a bit hard to distinguish, but what's visible closely matches this boy’s features. I conclude they’re brother and sister, Clarence and Florence Hubbard, Minnie’s children from her first marriage.

Lloyd William Grant (1895-1978), also known as William Lloyd Grant, eldest son of William L. and Noma Grant, who are standing in the center top of this photo holding their youngest child Mabeletta. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History got this one right in my estimation. Lloyd would marry Louise Marie Sturm (1895-1939), a marriage that connects me to Rick and Becky Johnson of the website mentioned in this post's first paragraph, the site where I first saw this photo. And through Lloyd's marriage, a further chain of marriages connects to Mayflower passenger Edward Doty. Lloyd was eight years old in summer 1904.

Roy Robert Grant (1897-1988), the middle child of William L. and Noma Grant. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History has this right, too. Roy would eventually marry Hilda Lucille Stafford (1898-1973), sister of the Helene Stafford who married Roy's cousin Charles Elwood, who's on the bottom far left, providing yet another family connection by marriage to Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. Roy was seven years old in this photo.

Florence Hubbard (1888-1972), daughter of Minnie Grant by her first husband, Eldredge Hubbard. Florence was sixteen years old here.

Now comes The Mystery. Geauga County, Ohio: A Pictorial History says this is Clarence Hubbard, brother of Florence, but I find that extremely difficult to believe. This young man looks much older than thirteen-year-old Clarence—he looks like he could be anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five. Compare his features to Florence beside him and to the second child from the left, the one I believe to actually be Clarence. This young man’s features are quite different from both. If you didn’t think the boy second from the left resembled Florence before, I’d be surprised if you don’t think so now in comparison to the mystery man. This young man is also sitting off to the side, out of the perimeter all the others have posed within, as though he doesn't quite belong. Could he be someone not related to the family? His long nose and narrow face resemble those of many of the Grant men in this photo—John in the upper left; both Charles and Leonard sitting in the center; Leonard, Jr., just behind Leonard, Sr. So I think he’s related by blood and belongs to this family, even though he’s off to one side. But there are no Grant children that were between sixteen and twenty-five years old in 1904, at least not that I know of. He could be an unrecorded Grant child. But notice that his features also resemble Betsey Grant’s. As I mentioned before, Betsey had four children with her first husband, Alonzo Patterson. One of these children, George Baker Patterson (1842-1916), and his wife Lois Francelia Watts Patterson (?-1916) had eight children. Their fifth child, Fred Patterson was born in 1881 and would have been twenty-two or twenty-three in the summer of 1904 when this picture was taken. Could this young man be Fred Patterson, Betsey’s grandson through her first marriage? I can't find a male Grant relative who fits better. So Fred Patterson (or another Patterson grandson—I don’t know of another close to the target age, but my Patterson research has holes, so there could be one) is my best guess for this guy’s identity.

Those are my revised identifications of the people in this photo. Of course, there’s always the chance the photo could have been taken at a time other than 1904. But except for the mystery man, I believe my revised list matches the faces and ages so closely that a date of 1904 is virtually confirmed.