The Cranstons

For Descendants of Christopher (Doc) Cranston & Bess Melby

by Charles Cranston Jett

First Families of Ohio (FFO) – Cranstons Qualify

The First Families of Ohio (FFO) is a lineage society recognizing descendants of individuals who settled in Ohio by 1820. John Cranston and his family settled near Columbus, Ohio in 1815. FFO is administered by the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) that honors descendants of the earliest settlers in the state. Membership is open to any […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Josephine Park Cranston – Image

This is an image shown on the cemetery site for the, Hermon Christian Church Cemetery, Hermon, Knox County, Illinois, USA. I think we now have an image of “Aunt Jo.” The headstone at the cemetery is shown below. Here is Josephine Park Cranston Again

by Charles Cranston Jett

From Galesburg Back to Newport – The Cranston Lineage

From Galesburg to Newport The Direct Line of Charles Edward Cranston, Eight Generations Back to Mary Clarke — with One Important Correction * * * * * For years our family papers have included a handwritten genealogy page — the “40 Generations” chart — tracing the Cranston line from Charles Edward Cranston of Galesburg, Illinois, […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Daughters of the American Revolution. Interested?

Daughters of the American Revolution A Cranston in the Revolution A Rhode Island Certification of 1897 — thecranstonline.com Among the documents in the family archive is a single sheet, issued at Providence on May 4, 1897, over the seal of the State of Rhode Island. It certifies what the state’s own Revolutionary War records show […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Documents from Melinda Painter

We have added new documents to the archive — a page-by-page description of a compiled research packet covering the Painter and Cranston lines from 1859 to 2008. The packet itself is not one document but forty-three scanned pages gathered together over the years: four ranch stories written down by Robert L. Painter and Kenneth Haraldsen […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

LOCATIONS – Willett Place, Painter Ranch, Jett Ranch – NW South Dakota

Here’s a link to a couple of “Google Earth” maps that show where the Painter Ranch, the Willitt Place, The Jett Ranch, where Marion, Helen, Bill and Tip were born. Just click on “Location of Cranston Family – North Dakota and South Dakota” below. Locations of Cranston Family – North Dakota and South Dakota

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Killer Wolf – A Story From Bob Painter

The Killer Wolf A story of Lewis Levi Painter, Harding County, South Dakota Author: Robert Lewis Painter, grandson of Lewis Levi Painter Story told by Joe Painter, son of Lewis Levi Painter (the author’s uncle) Subject: Lewis Levi Painter Setting: Harding County, South Dakota Submitted by: Melinda Painter NOTE ON METHOD Transcribed verbatim from the […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Panic of 1907

The Panic of 1907 How Lewis Levi Painter got his money out of a closed bank Written by a grandchild of Lewis Levi Painter — author not yet identified Subject: Lewis Levi Painter, who signed himself L.L. Painter Event: The Panic of 1907, fall of that year Place: The Painter ranch on the Little Missouri […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Marion Painter’s Story – 1983

Marion Painter’s Story As told to Donna at Tamarin Square, Durango, Colorado Provided by Melinda Painter Subject: Marion Cranston Painter Parents: Christopher and Elizabeth Cranston Born: Harding County, South Dakota Recorded: Tamarin Square, Durango, Colorado — 1983 or later Recorded by: Donna Marion Cranston Painter told her life to a woman named Donna at Tamarin […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Fosberry Bull – Written by Bob Painter About His Grandfather Lewis L. Painter

Jingo Bill Painter and his son Joe, mounted on Chaska and Upset, driving the Fosberry bull toward the Little Missouri with pitchforks braced against their saddles. Harding County, South Dakota, circa 1912. Illustration. Transcribed as written – in Bob’s voice , with only minor punctuation cleanup. Provided by Melinda Painter. * * * * * […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Battle Mountain Auto Camp Gets Robbed!

It was sometime in the fall of 1947 or thereabouts. I was six years old and at the Battle Mountain Auto Camp, alone in the office. My grandfather, Ole Melby, was outside tending the gas pumps. My grandmother, Bess, was somewhere in the house. All of a sudden a man walked into the office. He […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Dan Painter — Sealing to His Parents

Dan Painter – Sealing to His Parents (Logan Temple, June 29, 2006 — four months before his passing) Daniel Preston Painter is pictured in the chair in front. In the photo – from left to right: Marla McCain (sister in law) · Mary Lou Jacobs (sister) · Claire Painter (sister in law) · Clark Henrikson […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

“The Gang” – Early 1930s In the Badlands

Here’s “The Gang” along with Wood and Stuart Jett in the early 1930’s in the Badlands.. From left to right we have: Tip, Wood, Bill, Marion, Helen, Stuart.

by Charles Cranston Jett

1956 Recording – “Doc” Cranston – Galesburg, Illinois

This recording was made during the summer of 1956 in Galesburg, Illinois. Helen, Susanne, and Charlie visited Grandpa Christopher “Doc” Cranston at his little home near the Willsies in Galesburg. The recording quality isn’t so good – I apologize. We were limited by the technology of the time. I did a “best effort” to transcribe […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

1956 Recording – “Auntie Pearle” Records for Marion

This recording was made in 1956 when we visited Knoxville, Illinois. Susanne, Helen and Charlie visited “Doc” in Galesburg and went to Knoxville to see Auntie Pearle and Uncle Frank. Here’s the best effort for a transcription of the recording. Galesburg, Illinois, 1956 Auntie Pearle, Uncle Frank, and Jane Swanson Best-Effort Transcript Source: […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Group Photo – Who Are These Guys?

See if you can recognize some of these characters and put the names in the comments.

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Battle Mountain Auto Camp (BMAC)

The Place Bess and Ole Melby Bought when they Sold the Ranch This is a mini-history of what the parents of Marion, Helen, Bill and Tip did when they sold their ranch and left for the Black Hills to enter the tourist business. The Battle Mountain Auto Camp (BMAC) sat on the north side of […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Dan and Ned Painter – Football at Lead High School

In the early 1960’s, Ned and Dan Painter played football for Lead High School. Dan was honorable mention All-Conference.

by Charles Cranston Jett

Chris Cranston and Charlie Jett Pick Up a Body in Rapid City

Chris and Charlie Pick Up a Body in Rapid City Rapid City, South Dakota — Summer, 1958 The summer between my junior and senior year I worked at McColley’s Mortuary in Hot Springs, South Dakota. It was steady work. Some of it was interesting and some of it was creepy, and a boy of seventeen […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Carol (Painter) Erickson – Early Newspaper Clippings (1971-1973)

CAROL PAINTER A Record from the Newspapers, 1966–1973 Part Four of Four · 1971–1973 Daughter of Preston E. and Marion Painter of Rochford, South Dakota Clippings submitted by Melinda Painter The four items below carry Carol Painter from her last spring at Lead High School to a gallery wall in Rapid City, a wedding at […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Carol (Painter) Erickson – Early Newspaper Clippings (1970)

CAROL PAINTER A Record from the Newspapers, 1966–1973 Part Three of Four · 1970 Daughter of Preston E. and Marion Painter of Rochford, South Dakota Clippings submitted by Melinda Painter The three items below all fall in 1970, from July to December, and together they mark the high point of Carol Painter’s record in these […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Carol (Painter) Erickson – Early Newspaper Clippings (1969-1970)

CAROL PAINTER A Record from the Newspapers, 1966–1973 Part Two of Four · 1969–1970 Daughter of Preston E. and Marion Painter of Rochford, South Dakota Clippings submitted by Melinda Painter The three items below cover November 1969 through May 1970, the year Carol Painter turned from a 4-H club member into an officer, a Girls […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Carol (Painter) Erickson – Early Newspaper Clippings (1966-1968)

CAROL PAINTER A Record from the Newspapers, 1966–1973 Part One of Four · 1966–1968 Daughter of Preston E. and Marion Painter of Rochford, South Dakota Clippings submitted by Melinda Painter The three items below cover the earliest surviving notices of Carol Painter, from August 1966 to March 1968, when she was a girl on her […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

A Russian Nuclear Submariner Reading My Book

A Photograph from Moscow I served aboard USS Ray, SSN-653, a fast attack nuclear submarine, during the Cold War. Years later I wrote a book about it. I called it Super Nuke! The book was never about me. It was about the crew. Men who stood watch in a steel pipe under the ocean and […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Love Letter from Ruth Kelly to Tip Melby – January 1938

On a Monday evening in January of 1938, Ruth sat down after a long day of teaching and wrote to Tip. She had traveled all night by bus to get back to her school — a stage from Deadwood, a late connection at Cheyenne, a wash and a comb at the schoolhouse before the children […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Marion Painter’s Letters (Unsent) to Cousins After Preston’s Death

In January of 1975, at the ranch outside Crawford, Nebraska, Marion sat down to tell her cousins that her husband was gone. Preston had suffered a stroke on Tuesday the seventh and died on Sunday the twelfth. What survives is seven handwritten pages — a letter to Cousin Frances dated January 29, a second letter […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Saga of Johny Jergeson meets Uncle Tip

The Saga of Johny Jergeson meets Uncle Tip A holograph account by Bob Painter · Scottsbluff, Nebraska · May 19, 2016 Transcribed from the two-page manuscript. Original spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing retained. In the spring of 1937 (I think if I remember correctly) Uncle Tip came home to the ranch in Harding County (the old […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Charles Edward Cranston and Katurah Taylor Park

Charles Edward and Keturah Cranston Charles Edward Cranston was born April 19, 1833, at Woodstock, Ohio, Champaigne County, and died at Galesburg, Illinois, on August 5, 1805. He married Keturah Taylor Parke on March 15, 1860 in Milford Center, Ohio. She was born on March 30, 1835 and died on September 18, 1902. A certified […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Homeward Bound – For Dan Painter

Homeward Bound Words and music by Marta Keen Thompson Melinda Painter suggested this piece for Dan’s page. It was a favorite of his, and it belongs here. People often take it for an old hymn or a traditional folk song. It is neither. Marta Keen Thompson wrote both the words and the music in 1991. […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

“The Kids” – Marion, Helen, Bill, and Tip

This photo was taken around 1920. The photo includes (from left to right) Marion, Helen, Bill, and Tip

by Charles Cranston Jett

Tip’s Stories – As Told To John Ashford in 2003

Tip’s Story The Recollections of Sidney “Tip” Melby — A Life on the Northern Plains As told to John Ashford Tip Melby was born in 1915 in a sod house on the line between North and South Dakota, the son of Christopher Cranston and Elizabeth Lillian Campbell. He was raised on horse and sheep ranches […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Tip’s Musings – A Grandfather Sits Down to Talk

Tip’s Musings for His Grandchildren A Grandfather Sits Down to Talk In the early 1990s, Sidney “Tip” Melby sat down and began to write to his children and grandchildren. He was born in 1915 on the high plains where the two Dakotas meet Montana, the son of Christopher Cranston and Elizabeth Lillian Campbell. What he […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Carol Painter’s Notes from Bob Painter

These are notes taken by Carol Painter from a phone conversation with Bob Painter. From January 14, 2012. Carol’s Notes from Bob Conversation with Bob — 01/14/2012 Transcription of two pages of handwritten notes — Cranston/Painter/Borell family papers Page 1 T/C Bob 01/14/2012 Mae Borell — 2 sisters 1) Maude Borell Richards — Elmer Richards 2) […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

A Letter from Ruth Doreen (Painter) Henrikson to Her Family

“Dear Family” A Letter from Ruth Doreen (Painter) Henrikson to her family Bountiful, Utah — October 2, 2008 ARCHIVIST’S NOTE: The following is a verbatim transcription of a letter written by Ruth Doreen (Painter) Henrikson (b. September 13, 1951) to her brothers and sisters and their families, dated October 2, 2008. Ruth was one of […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Helen Josephine (Painter) Watson – Obituary – March 13, 2023

Helen Josephine Painter was born March 5, 1947, in Hot Springs, South Dakota, the fifth of ten children of Preston and Marion Painter, cattle ranchers in the Black Hills. She graduated from Lead High School and attended Black Hills State College, where she met James (Jim) Watson; they were married nearly fifty-three years. After a […]

by Charles Cranston Jett

Mary Lou Painter – Obituary – August 12, 2022

by Charles Cranston Jett

Mary Lou Painter Weds Cliff Swanson – January 31, 1972

Mary Lou Painter was married to Cliff Swanson in Durango, Colorado on January 31, 1972.

by Charles Cranston Jett

Mary Lou Painter Selected as Twin Cities Junior Miss

On November 22, 1965, Mary Lou Painter was selected as Twin Cities Junior Miss.

by Charles Cranston Jett

Mary Lou Painter Chosen as Lead High School Homecoming Queen

On Wednesday, September 29, 1965, Mary Lou Painter was named the 34th Lead Golddigger Homecoming Queen!

by Charles Cranston Jett

The Old Willett Place Porch – From Pat Melby

The Old Willett Place stood along the Little Missouri River between Camp Crook and Buffalo, South Dakota. It was the ranch house where the Melby family ranched during the latter half of the Second World War, and where Patrick Melby spent the first three years of his life before the family left in 1947 and […]