Today is our grandmother’s birthday! Leta Mary Clarke Whalen, daughter of Elizabeth Maxon and George R. Clarke, was born 147 years ago today on January 19, 1874 on Maxon Road, Town of Hounsfield, Jefferson County, New York. Grandma Whalen lived 91 years, passing away on October 29, 1965 in Watertown, New York.
Some things I know about Grandma Whalen:
- Her given name was actually “Mary Leta Clarke.” She preferred Leta Mary so she changed it. Not legally maybe, but she changed it just the same, by act of will.
- She was a writer; her poems were published in the local papers including the Jefferson County Journal and in the Watertown papers.
- She was an herbalist. Among my archives is an envelope Grandma Whalen mailed to our mother in the 1950’s. It contains a leaf and a note directing my mother to soak the leaf in milk and use the resulting liquid to ease the boys’ (my bothers) poison ivy. (Just as an aside, our mother was a registered nurse. The fact that Grandma Whalen sent the leaf, and that the leaf remains used, says a lot about both our grandmother and our mother.
- Grandma walked with crutches. She had “rheumatism.” My assumption is that, like many in our family, she had bone-on-bone arthritis in her knees. Despite that, until she fell and broke her hip at age 91, she still did all her own cooking and baking.
- Grandma loved her plants. Her yard was filled with tulips, peonies, and others I can’t remember. She was written up in the local paper for the beautiful coleus she grew, she sent our Catholic mother a rosary plant, and she always had African Violets on the window sill next to her rocking chair.
- Grandma loved her family history. An earlier post on here discusses that.
- Lastly, Grandma had, as Aunt Ella told me, “some constitution!” That is a story best told in person.
Leta Mary Clarke Whalen’s Family Search ID is LL7L-6P1. You can find more–and add more about her–there.
