What were your grandparents like?

by Jim Stamp on January 08, 2022

What were my Grandparents like??? I was fortunate enough
to have my Great-Grandpa Stamp, James William Stamp
(November 4, 1870 to March 2, 1944), be alive when I was
born. My Great-Grandma was Laura Leota Buck (Feb 15,
1876) died December 30, 1919.

MARRIAGE LICENSE – LEVI MARSHALL STAMP AND RUTH HAWKINS –
    November 9, 1865

My Grandpa, John Richard Stamp was born October 31, 1896
and married Leora H Hoopes, born October 21, 1897. They
were married on January 17, 1918. Grandpa, Richard, was the
eldest son of James W and Laura Stamp. He had two brothers,
James Floyd and Robert Kersey. A sister, Ruth Mary was born
August 23, 1910 and died four months later. Grandma Leora
was the only daughter of Joshua W (Oct. 30, 1854 – April 25,
1939) and Catherine Knoedler Hoopes (April 9, 1861 – Jan 22,
1922). Grandpa Richard died July 13, 1995 and Grandma Leora died December 26, 1993.

clockwise: Leora H and John Richard Stamp, Laura A, James
    Floyd, James W. and Robert Kersey in the center.

WEDDING PICTURE – Leora Hoopes and J. Richard Stamp – Jan 17, 1918

Clockwise: Grandma Leora, Grandpa Richard, G-Grandma
    Ruth, baby Elmer, G-Grandpa Levi

    Catherine Knoedler Hoopes, Leora, and Joshua W Hoopes

Great-Grandpa Hoopes Certificate of Marriage to
    Anamara Farmer – December 25, 1877

Great-Grandpa’s wife, Anamara died during childbirth. He later
married Catherine Knoedler who would be my Great-Grandma.
Joshua was one of six children born to Robert and Sarah
(Spencer) Hoopes. Just a point of interest: Joshua’s older
brother James J. married Caroline Knoedler who died and
James married her sister, Mary Knoedler. After Anamara
died, Joshua married the sister of Caroline and Mary – Catherine Knoedler.

    Jane Catherine Stamp, Leora H Stamp, Fae Lucelia Stamp – 1941

ANDRE: My maternal Great-Grandma, Rachel Rebecca Andre
lived with her daughter, Ethel, next to our house in Winona
while I matured to the old age of four, when we moved to the
farm. Great-Grandma Andre died April 5, 1951. Great-Grandpa
William Edgar Andre died November 15, 1925 at age 63.
William and Rachel had four daughters and one son, LeRoy
William who was my maternal Grandfather, born March 14,
1889. He died October 30, 1946 at the age of 57.

    Roy Andre, Ellen Andre, and Nova Andre

My other maternal Great Grandparents were Samuel (June 24,
1858) and Eliza Jane Humphrey (December 8, 1858). Their
daughter, Nova was my Mother’s mother. Nova was born
September 6, 1891. She had seven (7) siblings: 4 sisters and
3 brothers. (Lucelia, Belva, Florence, Mary, Frank, William,
and Walter) After Grandpa died October 30, 1946, Grandma
entered into contract with my Mom and Dad to purchase the
farm and part of the deal was that she would receive our house
in Winona. Grandma Nova Andre died August 7, 1983 at age 92.

Great-Grandma Rachel Andre kept a glass jug of water in her ice
box. When I was about 3, my Mom would let me venture thru
the side yard, under the huge apple tree, on the path through
the ivy, to visit Grandma and Aunt Ethel. I loved that cold water.
I don’t recall ever being ‘bad’ or disrespectful, but it was Great-
Grandma who taught me why we have middle names. A couple
of times I went from Jimmie to James Allen. That is when I knew
it was time to stand at attention. When we moved, I really
missed that cold water. Sometimes when I came through the
door, Great Grandma would say, “Well, there’s Jiminy Cricket!”
Jiminy Cricket was the Walt Disney version of the “Talking Cricket”

Grandpa LeRoy, aka “Roy” left Grandma, Nova, a widow at the
age of 55 and she would live as a surviving widow for the next 38 years.

Grandma’s sisters were also teachers:
    These 3 Humphrey sisters were all one-room schoolhouse
teachers. L to R: Florence Humphrey, Mary Amanda Humphrey,
Nova Humphrey. Florence taught at the Sugar Grove School and
stayed at Grant Sanor’s while teaching there; Mary taught at
Hornet’s Nest School (McCann Road) and stayed with Nova
while she taught there; Nova taught at Valley School and stayed
at the Bob Stoudt residence (as noted on back of the photo).

    Grandma Andre was a school teacher at Valley School, Butler
Twp. in 1908 -1909 with 35 students in one room, grades one to
eight. She later taught at Hornets Nest School in Hanover Twp
with 29 students in one room, grades one to eight. Many of
her students were her own siblings and cousins.

On February 28, 1913, Nova Humphrey married LeRoy William Andre.

Grandpa and Grandma Andre had three daughters, Ellen, Mary,
and Fae Lucelia, and one son William. Grandpa was hired as
Farm Manager at Dunwoody Farms in Philadephia. They lived
on the Dunwoody Farm in a stone house from 1921 to 1926.
Willard Cope and Richard Walton, from Winona, and Howard
Baker, from Adair, went along to work for Grandpa at Dunwoody
Farm. The barn at Dunwoody caught on fire and Grandma went
into the barn to lead out the horses to safety! (Grandma was tiny
– maybe 4’ 11” but she was up to the challenge) A new barn was
built on the property.

    Grandma, Aunt Mary, Fae, Grandpa, Aunt Ellen – Dunwoody Farm

As a child and during Grandma’s lifetime, I knew that she lived
alone but was extremely busy with the Winona Methodist
Church, later the New Garden Methodist Church, and the
Rebecca Circle. She was a soloist and best when accompanied
by her sister Belva. She was a Gold Star Mother, a member of
Guilford Grange, and the Winona Farmer’s Institute.

Ellen had met Peter Vaccarino during WWII in the medics and
married him. Peter had been a very successful florist before the
war and had to rebuild after the war. They lived in Brooklyn
and Grandma would visit them for weeks at a time. In 1953 she
went with Ruth Forsythe to visit Aunt Ellen and Uncle Pete on
Long Island and then to Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Over the years she would visit Aunt Ellen many times, for several weeks at a time.

I did not fully appreciate Grandma’s strength, faith, and will to
live a full life until in 2008. Margaret and I lost our youngest
son, Eric, that year. That was a devastating time for us.
Grandma not only lost her husband, father of her children,
but she outlived her son Bill and her daughters Fae and Ellen.
How hard emotionally would that be??? to outlive three of
your children. I can’t imagine the grief. I would get a small
insight to all of that after 2008.

Grandma was an exceptional cook and baker. She consistently
won awards at the Columbiana and Carrollton Fairs with her
pies. She qualified for the State of Ohio competition. She loved
to entertain and we enjoyed many, many great meals at her
house. She also entertained her church groups and the Merry
Matrons Club on a regular basis.

    Fae, Ellen, William, Mary

Grandma Nova, Aunt Ellen, Nova Jean, Uncle Gill, Aunt Mary,
Grandpa Roy, Fae (Mom), Ronnie, Elmer (Dad), Uncle Bill, Jim (me) – Spring 1943

Uncle Bill before shipping out for France – f. Nova Jean and
    Ronnie. r. Bill, Uncle Bill, Jim

STAMP:
Grandpa and Grandma Stamp lived on Whinnery Rd in a house
on a hill (later the home of Jim and Clara Rhodes) where my
Dad, Elmer, was born. On November 10, 1925, GreatGrandpa
Joshua Hoopes was robbed in his home at gunpoint by four
young men. (He was Age 72) The bandits had just broken out
of jail, stolen a car and only wanted money…so they didn’t take
his watch or silverware. They proceeded to lock him in the
attic rather than shoot him. From the attic, he raised the
window and yelled to his neighbor, James W Stamp, who came
and unlocked the attic door. (article below) Grandpa and
Grandma then decided it was not safe for Grandpa Joshua to
live alone and they moved to his farm on Route 9.

After graduating from Salem High School in 1916, Grandma
attended Defiance College. After the first semester of her second
year, a young suitor by the name of Richard Stamp told her that
he thought she was having too much fun and thought they
should get married. On January 17, 1918 Richard and Leora were married.

    Richard and Leora – 1917

Wedding picture – January 17, 1918 = Leora Hoopes and J Richard Stamp

Richard and Leora had three sons, Elmer R, J. Virgil, and
Willard J. and a daughter Jane Catherine. (there had been a
couple of still births). Besides being a full-time mother and
home maker, Grandma was active in the Winona Methodist
Church, a 4-H advisor – Butler Sew-Merrily 4H Club, Farm
Bureau, and Butler Grange. She was also a prolific writer.
She wrote “History of Winona, Ohio – Church History” for
the Winona Institute in 1931. “The Changes Time Has Made
in This Community”. “Pioneer Amusements”. She was an
officer of the Vernal Grove Homemakers Club. Both Grandpa
and Grandma were active in the Winona Flax Scutching in the
1930’s held in Stewart’s Grove. The Flax Scutching Festival
was suspended during WW II and later revived in 1976.

They had a HUGE garden for canning vegetables. Grandma
loved Gladiolas and had hundreds of bulbs planted in her garden.

Grandpa loved to sing. He was a soloist for many functions
and also sang in several Barber Shop Quartets. One quartet
was made up of Frank Fultz, Sam Bennett, Richard Stamp and
Rev Tom Hammerton – for the Salt of the Earth Class of Winona
Methodist Church (1952). Another quartet was made up of
Richard Stamp, Frank Fultz, Sam Bennett and Emmett Moore
(1933). For a Winona event (probably 1953-54) the quartet was
Richard Stamp, Elmer Stamp, Jim Stamp and Chet Mellinger.

    Chet Mellinger, Jim Stamp, Richard Stamp, Elmer Stamp

Early in his career, Grandpa worked for his Aunts, Ellen and
Zillah, who owned and operated the Stamp Store in Salem.
The Stamp Store had everything…like a mini-Walmart. Ellen
and Zillah were the first women in the United States to be
awarded a Maytag franchise and received an award (which
I have in my office) . Grandpa later tried his hand at free
enterprise by going into business with Earl Ruble.

    Grandpa and Grandma’s 50th Wedding Anniversary…Jan 1968

Grandpa was the District Manager for Prudential Insurance. He
was one of the founding members of the Winona Ruritan. He
participated in the annual Minstrel at United as a chorus
member. In 1952 he was Vice-President of the annual Hawkins
Family Reunion with 185 in attendance. His younger brother,
Robert Kersey Stamp was an Auctioneer and Grandpa was his
regular Clerk. (Dad and I were collectors. I think both Lee and
Jay worked as collectors at some point) BUT most of all, I
remember Grandpa as a farmer and I think that would be the
title he would have preferred. We worked together to combine
oats and wheat, bale hay and straw, and get the bales to the top part of the barn.

    Hawkins Reunion – 1955

STAMP Reunion – August 7, 2021

Grandpa literally could not eat his breakfast cereal or drink a cup
of coffee without cream from his cow. He would faithfully grab
his three legged stool and milk his cow while gently talking to
her. In a gallon of milk, more than one-third of the jar would be
cream so thick it almost had to be spooned out. He claimed that
it was his warm hands that coaxed out the high cream content.

Both Grandpa and Grandma LOVED to play Canasta! And we
all played often. We played on Christmas Eve, birthdays and
Sunday afternoons when the family got together. Until grand
children started getting married and having to make in-law
type decisions, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Stamps
every Christmas Eve. We went to Grandma Andre’s house
on Christmas Day.

When Grandpa and Grandma were no longer able to entertain
large groups, they spent Christmas Day with Uncle Bob and
Aunt Jane Miller. Our family went to Mom and Dad’s on
Christmas Day and my family stopped at Uncle Bob and Aunt
Jane’s before we headed home to Norton. Grandpa, Grandma,
Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane would always be playing Canasta when we got there.

I think Grandma Andre spent Christmas Day with her sister
Florence in Adair where she lived after she sold the house in
Winona. Another sister, Lucelia (Celia) lived less than a
quarter mile away and her brother William lived that close
also. She was surrounded by siblings and family.

    October , 1932

    November 10, 1925

    August 22, 1936

Picnic after Shawn’s Baptism, June 1967 – Great-Grandma’s
Maguire, Stamp, Andre – Grandma Boski holding Shawn

Celebrating October birthdays – 1955 (Back row: Uncle Gil
Edgerton, Nova Jean, Ronnie, Elmer [Dad], Richard [Grandpa]
and Bob Miller Second Row: Aunt Ethel Andre, Aunt Mary
Edgerton, Sharon Ann, Fae [Mom], Aunt Jane Miller, Marsha,
and Leora [Grandma Stamp]. Front row: Bill Edgerton, Lee,
Ada Mary, Jim [me], Ronnie Miller, Darryl Miller, Jay)