For Descendants of Christopher (Doc) Cranston & Bess Melby
My Mother, the Laundress In the 1950’s and 1960’s Belle Fourche was a town of about 5,000 people. It was a time when kids walked everywhere or maybe rode their bicycles. Being the 5th of 10 children and starting at age 11, the oldest daughter at home, I was called upon to help my Mom […]
Read More…Thanks to Janice Opsahl, here is where John Cranston (from Rhode Island), his wife, Phoebe, Lora Parks (Christopher Cranston’s first wife), Josephine P. Cranston and Mary Cranston are buried. The cemetery is in Woodstock, Ohio – near the place where John Cranston first settled.
Read More…These are the locations taken from Google Earth of the various places where the Cranstons Lived in North and South Dakota. Haley Bowman Camp Crook (Giles and Nellie Graves) Ludlow Ladner Cave Hills Painter Ranch & Willett Place Jett Ranch
Read More…This is a copy of the lecture given on Christmas Morning by Dr. James C. Jackson on Christmas morning, December 25, 1866 at “Liberty Hall” (wherever that is). It’s more like a sermon from a protestant church than a lecture. ~ CCJ
Read More…This is an interesting letter and I’m not sure why it is in the collection except that one of those signing the letter is a Mr. “S. Parke” or “S. Parker.” May this be related to the “Parke” in Katurah Taylor Parke’s family? I don’t know. The letter discusses the conviction of a Mr. William […]
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston writes to her niece, “Josie” (Doc’s elder sister who is 20 years old) about the declining health of Uncle Stephen who is the son of John Cranston who emigrated to Ohio from Rhode Island in 1815. Uncle Stephen at that time would have been 92 years old, having been born in 1793. […]
Read More…William W. Cranston writes to his niece & all about the death of Charles Edward Cranston. It’s interesting that this letter is dated August 4, 1905 – same as the date of Charles’s death on his tombstone. In Edna Barnes’ book, she lists the date of Charles’s death as August 5, 1905.
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston says that “Crane” and “Stone” pendant would initiate the name Crane-Stone. Creative.
Read More…Here are Cranston breakfast and dinner plans from 1892. Looks pretty good to me! ~ CC
Read More…This is a short history of the migration of John Cranston and his family from Rhode Island to Woodstock, Ohio. I don’t know who wrote it and there appears to be some pages missing which I will attempt to find and insert. This is WORTH READING. Also are two “Google Earth” images showing basically where the John […]
Read More…This is the certificate signed by Illinois Governor John M. Palmer making Charles Edward Cranston Justice of the Peace for the town of Chestnut, IL in the county of Knox. 1 May 1869
Read More…This appears to be the first of Josephine Park Cranston’s compositions describing a city. It seems clear that these were created while she was in school, but what school or year, I do not know. She was born in 1864 so by 1880 she would have been sixteen years old. ~ CCJ
Read More…Not much is written in the “Story of the Cranstons” book by Edna Barns about John Cranston. The only reference to him is that he was the son of Thomas Cranston and that he had, “among others,” one child who was Christopher (born in 1803). Here is more detail on John Cranston provided by cousin […]
Read More…This letter is from Christopher Cranston to Josephine Cranston. Christopher had three children, Charles Edward, Josephine and Mary. The date of this letter, 1843, leads me to believe that this Josephine was not his daughter but most likely his sister because Christopher married his first wife, Lora Park, in 1832 which would make his daughter, Josephine, […]
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston writes a newsy letter to her Scottish relation and pen pal wishing him good health and hopes that his visit to America will be forthcoming. She wishes him a “Happy New Year!” ~ CCJ
Read More…Marion and Helen stayed with “Auntie Pearl” in LaGrange, Illinois where they attended and graduated from Lyons Township High School. “Auntie Pearl” was Louise Pearl Burnside and daughter of Marcus Terry Burnside and Maude Taliaferro Cranston who was some 14 years older than her younger brother, Christopher “Doc” Cranston. Marcus and Maude married in 1883.when […]
Read More…This letter is from an obvious relative of Lucretia Parke – Katurah Taylor Parke Cranston’s Grandmother. Who Abigail Dunham was exactly and what the relationship was, I do not know. Most likely a cousin because it appears that Abigail Dunham was in the same generation as John Cranston (1755-1825). The letter clearly shows how deeply […]
Read More…This letter is from Rebecca Tracy to her cousin Lucretia Parke who I think was Keturah Taylor Parke Cranston’s grandmother. Lucretia would then be Christopher (Doc) Cranston’s great-grandmother. Rebecca and Lucretia must have been of the same generation as John Cranston who is the one who emigrated from Rhode Island to Ohio in the early […]
Read More…This is a letter from Congressional Medal of Honor recipient William Wallace Cranston to his sister Mary. The letter was sent on September 7, 1907. In it he describes his failing health and the rough weather that they had experienced in Kansas. He lived in the small town of Parsons, Kansas, about 150 miles south […]
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston was SUCCESSFUL in getting the autograph of Oliver Wendell Holmes – January 2, 1882.
Read More…This is an article edited by Ellie Henkle and Josephine Cranston – the sister of Charles Edward Cranston’s father, Christopher Cranston. It was written in 1850 but their thoughts are eternal. Images of the actual letter in Josie’s own handwriting are below and a transcription of the letter is as follows – something we all […]
Read More…This is one of many of the Josephine Park Cranston “compositions.” I’m sure it was written while she was a student in school – and it certainly was written while she was visiting Dayton, Ohio. She compares Dayton with Cincinnati – Dayton does not have so much black coal smoke. No EPA in those days, […]
Read More…Here are the documents that record the homestead information for Bess and Chris. Also shown is the detailed survey map showing Bess’s land and a “Google Earth” image of where these homesteads were located relative to the little town of Haley, the Jett Ranch (now where the Bowman-Haley Dam is located) and Bowman, North Dakota. […]
Read More…Janice Opsahl provided the link to this information about Ephraim Cranston, the brother of Chistopher Cranston and the family member who led the Cranston’s to Oregon on the Oregon Trail in 1850. The information came from “History of Oregon Illustrated,” Vol. 3 by Charles H. Carney, The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, Chicago – Portland 1922 […]
Read More…Janice Opsahl provided the link to find this photo of the tombstone of Charles Edward Cranston and Keturah Taylor Parke Cranston – the great grandfather of Marion, Helen, Bill and Tip. It is located in Knox County, Illinois near Galesburg.
Read More…This letter was written on December 17, 1858 by one of the children (I assume a daughter) to a “Mary” and details the death of Christopher Cranston, Charles Edward Cranston and Josephine Park Cranston’s father and Chris (Doc) Cranston’s grandfather. He died of internal injuries suffered in a fall from the loft in his barn one […]
Read More…This is a lengthly letter written by George Cranston of Edinburgh, Scotland to Josephine Park Cranston. It describes the “Cranston Line” starting around 1170. George Cranston was trying to help Josephine with the geneology of the Cranston family. He tried and failed to get responses from his relatives to Josephine’s inquiries. He did succeed, however, […]
Read More…Janice Opsahl uncovered this gem. Our great, great uncle, William Wallace Cranston, was the son of Christopher Cranston and the half-brother of Charles Edward Cranston. He was born on November 20, 1838 in Ohio and died on December 7, 1907 in Kansas. As a Private in Company A, 66th Infantry, Union Army, on May 2, […]
Read More…“Josie,” actually Josephine Parke Cranston was the daughter of Charles Edward Cranston (Chris’s father) and the niece of Josephine Park Cranston, Charles Edward Cranston’s sister. “Josie” was “Aunt Jo” to Marion, Helen, Bill and Tip and appears to be the favorite niece of Josephine Park Cranston. It was to “Josie” that Josephine Park Cranston gave […]
Read More…Uncle Bill. That’s who he was and who he will always be to me. He had a terrific smile and was always fun to be around. I knew him when I was a little kid on the ranch in North Dakota, but got to know him better during the four years after we moved to […]
Read More…One of the pleasures I had by being related to “Uncle Tip” was that I could enjoy humor with him. He loved to laugh . . . and he loved practical jokes – even if the jokes were played on him. I always had a great deal of respect for him – particularly because he […]
Read More…This is a composition by Josephine Park Cranston on “Friendship.” It is worth a good read and careful thought. ~ CC
Read More…This letter was written by Christopher Cranston, son of John Cranston and father of Charles Edward Cranston, to his sister (name unknown). Apparently she lived in Dayton, Ohio and the letter is intended to introduce a friend, Miss Charlotte T. Fermer who would be moving to Dayton. He asks his sister to assist her in […]
Read More…This is a letter written by Charles Edward Cranston’s wife, Keturah Taylor Parke, to her friend Josephine Topham in 1854. She describes the day beautifully and expresses her wishes that Josie does well in her studies. This letter was written BEFORE her marriage to Charles Edward Cranston. I can’t be certain, but I think that […]
Read More…Sometime in the 1890s, Josephine Park Cranston assembled what she called the Cranston “Genealogical Descent in America.” She traces the history of the Cranstons from Governor John Cranston through the son of Peleg Cranston, John Cranston. One of John Cranston’s children was Christopher Cranston (Charles Edward Cranston’s father and Josephine Park Cranston’s grandfather). Other […]
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston provides her family with a rewrite of the announcement of the wedding of Orpha Cranston to Rev. J.P. Farmer in Oregon on 21 October 1896. Orpha Cranston was the grand daughter of Ephraim Cranston who migrated to Oregon in 1850-1851 and whose letters are posted.
Read More…Josephine (Josie) Parke Cranston was the daughter of Charles Edward Cranston and Christopher (Doc) Cranston’s older sister by twelve years. The “Parke” is correct – not to be confused with her aunt – Josephine Park Cranston. “Parke” was the maiden name of Charles’s wife and Josie’s mother, Keturah Taylor Parke Cranston. Helen, Marion, Bill and […]
Read More…Susanne Helen Davies, 67, of Gainesville, passed away June 3, 2007 at the Prince William Hospital. Born May 6, 1940 in Bowman, North Dakota, she was the daughter of Wood and Helen Cranston Jett. On December 27, 1960 in Hot Springs, South Dakota, she married John L. Davies, her beloved husband and best friend, who […]
Read More…Josephine Park Cranston writes a letter to the superintendant of public instruction (for what school I do not know) urging him to introduce the school’s assembly to the “improved geographical aids” which Josephine thinks could be quite useful. What these are, I don’t know, but Josephine volunteers to supply her with several boxes of them.
Read More…This letter was written to Josephine Park Cranston by her father, Christopher Cranston, from Woodstock, Ohio on October 17, 1858 about three weeks before he died on November 8, 1858. Josephine’s mother was Irene W. (Nott) Cranston – Christopher’s second wife. His first wife, Lora, was the mother of Charles Edward Cranston – Josephine’s half […]
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