A Sweet, Fragile Flower

              In the previous 24 posts I have written about my ancestors on my Grandpa Clarence Goldsberry’s side.  We have gone back nine and ten generations, with the earliest ancestor arriving at Plymouth Rock in 1621.  Now I am going to turn my attention to my Grandma Ada Goldsberry and her ancestors.

 

                Ada E. Hartley was born January 14, 1890 in Lodi Township, Athens County, Ohio.  She was the youngest of five children, three sisters and one brother.  I had always thought her middle name was Ellen, but her birth certificate says Ada Ethel.  Her obituary says Ada Ellen.  I guess I wasn’t the only one confused!

 

Birth record for Ada Ethel Hartley

 

 

Ada Ellen Goldsberry Obituary

 

                I remember Grandma Goldsberry having coal black hair until the day she died at the age of 79.  She was a tiny little lady.  My dad used to say “she wouldn’t weigh more than 80 pounds soaking wet.”  What is really amazing is that she had babies that supposedly weighed over 10 pounds (though I’m not sure what home scale was used!)  She was frail, both physically and mentally.  I always remember her sitting in a wicker rocker in the corner of the living room, barely speaking when we would go to visit.  I have had the privilege of rocking my own babies and grandbabies in that same wicker rocker.  Ada was admitted to the Athens State Hospital for severe depressions several times during her life, and it was there she died on the day after Christmas, 1969.

Clarence and Ada on their wedding day

 

Clarence and Ada on their 50th anniversary

 

                Ada married Clarence Goldsberry on July 13, 1907 when she was only 17 years old.  They lived with Ada’s parents until at least 1910.  She had her first child, Grace Katherine, in 1911 when she was 21.  Ralph Emerson was born in 1914; John Dale in 1918; Ruth Irene in 1924; and David in 1935.  By the time David was born, Ada’s health was poor enough that Allen and Glenna Goldsberry (Clarence’s niece) adopted David.  The older children were left to pretty well fend for themselves, with Grace taking on the housekeeping responsibilities at a young age and never marrying or moving out of the family home. 

The last picture I have of Grandma and Grandpa Goldsberry

 

 



Clarence and Ada and their five children

 

                Ada’s cause of death was listed as pneumonia.  She was buried at the Burson Cemetery in Shade, Ohio.

 

                Ada Hartley Goldsberry has a fascinating family history, and I only wish she had been able to tell me about it.  I am eager to share about her amazing ancestors in future posts!