Nina Lorene Smith Grisso ( 1901-1984)

The first child of Hiram and Estella Smith is the last one I am writing about in this family group. Nina was the oldest of seven children, six of whom grew to adulthood.  She was a sweet kind soul, and she was my grandmother.  In 1920 on January 31, she married Bert Roscoe Grisso.  They were married in her parents house, which to this day is a lovely home. I don't know the circumstances but Nina and Bert went to Oklahoma following the marriage. I once saw a card that Nina sent to her parents. She signed it " Mrs. Bert Grisso". One could almost feel the joy and happiness in that signature. She was no longer Miss Smith, she was "Mrs. Bert Grisso".

A little further research in those digital newspapers that I love, I found this:

March 31, 1920
    
     Mr. and Mrs. Bert Grisso returned Friday evening from their winter sojourn somewhere in Oklahoma.  Mr. Grisso says no more of the southern life for him. Mrs. Grisso was formerly Nina Smith, daughter of H.L. Smith south of town.
     www.Jefferson.advantage-preservation.com

I think he was referring to Oklahoma not Missouri where he grew up.

Bert was from Moody, Missouri which sits just north of the Missouri/Arkansas border. His family goes back through four generations in Fulton County, Arkansas. Three Grisso brothers and wives migrated from Virginia in the mid 1800's. There has been a huge amount of Grisso research already done. (More on that to come).  So, how did this young Grisso man end up in Greene County, Iowa? Some family lore says he came to Iowa to work. Picking corn (by hand)  was a common source of employment in those days. It was hard work suited to strong young men.  It is possible Bert's future father-in-law, Hiram Smith, came to the area for the same reason many years earlier.

I don't know much about grandma Nina's formative years. I imagine she was busy helping her mother with babies. She was approximately  8, 9, 12, 13, and 16 when new babies joined the family. She always loved kids. Maybe this is where her training came from. Her grandmother, Ginevra Vorhies and her great-grandmother, Sarah Jane Withrow lived nearby. I imagine they taught her many things.

She attended country school with her brother, Merroll.   I love this keepsake. It is probably my teacher side showing.

 

 

With pleasant memories of

happy days

spent together in the schoolroom

this souvenir

is presented to you with the

best wishes of your teacher

 

As I was working on this post, I found the following letter. I have    no idea what grandma Nina was asking for, but I do think this must have been from her teacher, W. C. Henning. I love the beautiful penmanship.  I scanned the envelope as well as the letter. Notice the 1 cent stamps.



Vorhies

     If we were to climb the Vorhies family tree, we would probably get to Steven Coerte Van Voorhies born in 1600. Yes, I know the spelling is not the same. The Van Voorhies family spelling varies in a couple of dozen ways. This is addressed on the website www.vanvoorhees.org This website is fun to browse and if you go to the 9th generation list, you will find our own John McLaughlin Vorhies (1850-1939). There is an abundance of information on this family.
     Before me, many Vorhies relatives have worked on this genealogy.  One of those was our grandma, Nina Smith Grisso.  I have found copies of letters, responses, charts, association applications and many other treasures in her papers including a book titled Historical Handbook of the Van Voorhees Family in
 the Netherlands and America.  She must have been really in to it in 1965.  Many envelopes as well as letters show this date.  Her first cousin, Verl L. Vorhies ( I thought it was spelled Verle but since this letter is in his handwriting, I guess I am wrong) supplied her with many names and dates as well.  She has a letter from the Van Voorhees Association telling her how to add additional descendants. I do not know if this was accomplished or not. This will give me something to research on rainy days when I can't go to my garden.       
      The Van Voorhees family is the largest Dutch family in the United States. Bet you didn't know that! Or that we had any Dutch genes at all.
     For now my purpose is storytelling and trying to make our grandparents and their grandparents and on back more real to us all.
     I was thinking that I will climb the Vorhies Tree in the future and that for now, I am just picking up the fruit (research I have already done) from the ground.

    P.S. After you check out www.vanvoorhies.com, if you find something you wish to share or something you think others would find interesting, let me know.  YSAFH (your self-appointed family historian)