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Note: N24 No birth certificate. Had a twin brother Charles Edward Worthing whowas still born.
Source of Grace's birth are in the census records of Madison County Iowa 1920: Iowa Census, 1930 Enumeration district 34, Ohio Township, Madison County Iowa page 18.
Grace was named after her cousin Grace Maxwell.
GRACE WOTHING TRURO
Born in Truro, Madison, Iowa to Charles Worthing and Nancy Ames Hanson on 9 February 1917.
The more I learned about my mother, Gracie and her world, the more I admire her. I grew up not knowing much about my mother's childhood asmuch as I should have. Now after her death, I have put together stories she told us as we were growing up and this has helped me to understand and appreciate her more. I came to have a high regard for her fortitude, strengths in adversity, self awareness and genuine respect and love for other people. I marvel at her will to survive and thrive in the face of extreme circumstances. This seems to be built into her genes. She follows a long line of Ames' and Worthing's who have this trait.
Nancy Ames, her mother grew up on a homestead in freezing winters of Lake Koshkonong,Wisconsin, later living in Milton Junction, Wisconsin near Janesville. Nancy was one of 10 children was orphaned in the winter of March 1893 at the age of 10 years old. No one should have to have endured this at age 10 ... starving, freezing cold, living on a lake in a one room cabin with no heat and very little clothing and verylittle food. The settlers of the 19th century had a deep-boned determination to carve out a life for themselves despite the challenges wrought by Mother Nature. We can learn a lesson by their example. They had a dream and overcame tremendous obstacles to achieve it. Dad, IraDaniel Ames fished for a living and really tried to keep his family warm and fed but they just couldn't seem to make it. They must have been so poor. The winter of 1893 was particularly really cold. On themorning of March 5, 1893 a blizzard hit them hard. Cornelia Palon Ames and her 2 month old infant actually froze to death and died from probable starvation. The house the family lived in was mostly cardboardmaterial so the newspaper says. It sat on Lake Koshkonong. In the aftermath of the event the 9 surviving Ames children were sent to an orphanage near Albion, Wisconsin. Ira was heart broken over the death ofhis wife and child. He never really revovered. In 2 years he too was dead. He died mainly of a broken heart on September 21, 1895. As Nancy got older, she met Ludwig Hanson a Danish orphan. Ludwig's mother had died in New York City being hit by a streetcar. For some unknown reason he ended up in Janesville, Wisconsin. Nancy met and fell in love with Ludwig. They were married on March 16, 1904 in Aurora, Kane, Illinois.
Possibly Nancy was impressed with Ludwig's wealth and car. They madea handsome couple. As you can see in her wedding picture this is a beautiful haunting young lady. Ludwig and Nancy lived in Aurora and had a daughter Blanche on April 7, 1908. Nancy and Ludwig circulatedamongst the good life crowd in Aurora enjoying parties and festivities. One such activity was roller skating with a couple Robert and Mary Linden Fermazin. Another good friend of this couple was the Jeffreys. We have their picture but not sure how they were acquainted. Things went along smoothly. They had a nice house and furnishings. However, Ludwig was insanely jealous of Nancy's good looks and personality. He was so jealous he used to beat her. Probably out of love but this is not the way to show a loving relationship. So they divorced andNancy and Blanche lived alone. Nancy began work as a cook and maid. During this time she met Charles Charley Worthing from Cambridge Ohio.Mr Worthing too was divorced. He had worked in Ohio in the steel mills and was quite wealthy when living in Ohio. We are not quite sure of the circumstances of his divorce. He left his wife Laura Mitchell Worthing with two houses and three children, Forest, Walter, and Kenneth. After his divorce from Laura, Charles settled in Truro, Madison, Iowa where part of his family was residing. He worked for his father Richard Seth at the Worthing Hotel in Winterset, worked for his cousin in the cigar factory and worked a little on the Worthing farm. Charles decided one day to take off for greener pastures and went to Illinois. He resided in Wheaton where he was able to obtain a job as chauffeur. Here he met the beautiful, haunting Nancy Ames Hanson whom he immediately fell in love with. Together they saved their wages. Duringtheir courtship they dated on days off. Movies, roller skating, rides in the lush green countryside around Wheaton and Carol Stream. Charles was getting home sick for his family and Nancy was getting annoyed with Ludwig's constant visits to try and win her back. So after some thought and permission, Nancy was able to take Blanche and move toTruro, Madison, Iowa with Charley. There they settled into this small house on the main street. Here they raised Blanche and along came Gracie and her twin brother Charles Edward. Charles was still born and Gracie weighed in at 1.5 pounds. Since the doctor who delivered Gracie didn't expect her to live he did not file a birth certificate. Nancy placed Gracie in a shoe box and covered her with cotton and blankets and nursed her. She cuddled her and fed her and held her lovingly and praying the whole time to God to save her baby girl. God answered her prayers and Gracie started thriving and gaining weight. She made it! Gracie grew up very small and petite a happy life in Truro, Madison County Iowa with her sister Blanche. Blanche was nine when Grace was born but loved her baby sister dearly. As Grace was growing up in Truro she loved Blanche and admired her big sister. She wanted to go everywhere with her and just be by her side.
In the years 1928-1932 Gracie experienced two great losses, the loss at age 12 of her beloved mother and at 16 the loss of her dad. Grace's mother died of a brain tumor. Both crisis occurred to a young woman at the same time her half sister Blanche whom she'd grown up with was sent to Illinois to live with her father, Ludwig Hansen. I presume this makes one a stronger person. I cannot imagine losing a mother at age 12 nor then losing your father and then your sister. How tragic.
Mom, Grace remembers growing up in Truro during the depression era.America battled the Great Depression and the whole world seemed to bechanging. The economy struggled: the average weekly wage for a familybeing only $2.39. Wall Street floundered as banks closed across the country. People lost their homes, their farms and bankruptcy was prevalent. For families, every cent counted, and none could be spared on frivolous luxury of any kind.Grace would have been 12 years old in 1929 and 15 at the heart of the depression in 1932. Grace's mom had died in 1928 And Blanche was now living in Illinois with Ludwig. Gracie was living with her dad, Charles Worthing who was ill during the Christmas season in 1932. Times were tough. They lived in town and Charley worked at the school as a custodian. Most of their other relatives lived on farms so in this way they were real fortunate as Gracie remembered trading eggs for pork chops and meat and milk. They never remembered going hungry but Christmas was approaching... The day after Thanksgiving, November 25, 1932 it was cold. Dad and Gracie closed off extra rooms in the house so the house would stay warm this winter. Heat was ata premium. They closed off the front porch and the extra bedrooms.They were used to the cold. They closed off the big dining room, thelibrary room and three of the bedrooms. They moved the dining table into the living room. Gracie's Dog slept in what he considered his boudoir, the closet. Dad got the bedroom and Gracie slept on the couch.They saved $ 6.00 a month on coal by doing this. Gracie and her dad needed every penny because of the Depression. Charley still had his job at the shcool but the hours got less and less each week. They werenot as bad off as most. Charley never talked about dollars or pennies or money. His eyes just got dimmer and dimmer every evening at dinner when he returned from work. During this time, Gracie and Charleydid not realize this would be his last Christmas.
1932 was an odd Christmas, no doubt about it. Instead of sugar plumsand stockings stuffed with goodies and stacks of presents under the tree---a Time of Bounty---this was a time of Dwindling. In spite of diminishing money, the light of day, and Charley's dwindling hours of work Grace knew the Worthings were tough. She knew that somehow, someway, there would be a Christmas. Not the same kind of Christmas past, but one to remember all the same. Sometimes she hated supper because it was meatless meatloaf. Gracie called it "wierd" loaf. It had everything but meat in it---peanuts, cottage cheese, rice. It was cheap.They hardly ever had
meat anymore. Pork chops were a luxury. Mostly they had chicken orpork chops once a month. They ate a lot of O'Grotons. O'Grotons meansyou put cheese and flour in everything to thicken it up and then stretch it out. So we had something like hot dog and potatoes O'Grautin. Charley put a whole bunch of potatoes in it stretched out with the cheese. Gracie couldn't say anything bad about the food. If so she might get sent away from the table. There were too many starving families in the days of the Great Depression. Grace used to complain about Cabbage O'Grautin but stopped after being sent to bed one night without dinner.
Our family made a trip back to Truro, Madison, Iowa about 1952 to visit mom's relatives before they got too old. It was fun. I remember visiting the Cregor's. We stayed with them. We visited lots of relatives of mom's, the cemetary, the Baptist church where mom went when she wasyoung. Mom was so happy to be able to go back and visit. I'm not sosure about dad. But we all made the trip in our car that summer. I remember Truro as being a one street town, and when we went back in 2001 it hadn't changed from 1953 except now there was a telephone business in town. The cemetary changed a little. No longer was the Baptist church there like I remember. We took lots of pictures. I need to go back one more time and soon.
Mom had a school teacher in Truro, Madison, Iowa named Jones who Zolatold her was a relation. This school teacher put a dunce cap on mom and they fired her. Elsie Lathram lives in Truro across from where mom used to live. Her daughter Hazel lives there now. The librarian Doris Frank Johnson lives in Truro Iowa and is the librarian at the school. She knew mom
Grace remembers her annual treks to Ohio to visit the Worthing kin. She remembers visiting the Ingrams in Ohio. She lived with Eppie Castor Mossholder in New Concord, Ohio after her dad died. She grew up with Annie Castor who later married the astraunaut John Glenn. I remember mom and all her relatives from New Concord, Birds Run, and Cambridge Ohio celebrating the John Glenn mission to the moon. Afterall this was one of their own.
We went back to Birds Run, Guernsey. Ohio when I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember it was fun. We stayed with Eppe Mossholder and with EppeBuker. We visited the Worthing homestead where Charles was born. I remember Mr. Buker trying to teach me how to milk the cows, bring in the cows and play with the horse in the front side yard. We fed the free range chickens in the back and the hogs in the pen off to the rightof the yard. I even remember the "out house" and the parlor and the fire places. I remember visiting with my mom's niece Lucille Snoots and her husband. We made home made icre cream there. I remember visiting with her niece Hazel Hawkins. We als visited Frank Worthing farm and played in the haylofts. This farm was newer than the Buker's and painted white like the Amish farms in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I remember the street of New Concord and sitting on Eppe Mossholder's front porch and her big kitchen. I remember visiting with Homer Castor the dentist and father of Annie Castor Glenn wife of John Glenn the astronaut. These are fond memories and I wish I could re live them.
We went back to Iowa when I was 10 years old to visit the family. Wevisited the old Worthing farm in Iowa, which was owned in the 1950's by Zola Patterson Spain's aunt Minnie Glas. Minnie was sister to BertPatterson who is Zola's brother. Zola's mother was Beryl.
Grave site
FERMAZIN, GRACE L
DATE OF BIRTH: 02/09/1917
DATE OF DEATH: 04/26/2001
DATE OF INTERMENT: 05/25/2001
BURIED AT: SECTION 45 SITE 3085
RIVERSIDE NATIONAL CEMETERY 22495 VAN BUREN BOULEVARD RIVERSIDE , CA 92518
(909) 653-8417
WIFE OF FERMAZIN, ROBERT F
PVT US ARMY A
GRACE WORTHING FERMAZIN
Born
February 9, 1917
Truro, Madison, Iowa
Results 1 - 21 of 21 for February with 1917
DayMonthYearEvent
28February1917AP reports M???xico & Japan will allie with Germany if US enters WW I
28February1917Russian Duma sets up Provisional Committee; workers setup Soviets
26February19171st Annual fair at Utrecht Harbor (Netherlands)
24February1917Russian revolution breaks out (3/8 NS)
24February1917German plan to get Mexican help in WW I exposed (Zimmerman telegram)
24February1917Red Sox sell Smokey Joe Wood, his arm dead at 26, to Cleve for $15,000
23February1917February revolution begins in Russia
22February1917German Navy torpedoes 7 Dutch ships
21February1917British Mendi sinks off Isle of Wight, 627 die
21February1917Train near Chirurcha Romania catches fire & explodes; 100s die
20February1917Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical "Oh, Boy!," premieres in NYC
20February1917Ammunitions ship explodes in Archangelsk harbor, about 1,500 die
16February19171st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
15February1917SF Public Library (Main Branch at Civic center) dedicated
10February1917Johanna Westerdijk installed as Neth 1st female professor
05February1917Present Mexican constitution adopted
05February1917Congress overrides Wilson's veto, curtailing Asian immigration
05February1917Morosco Theater opens at 217 W 45th St NYC (demolished 1982)
04February1917Belgium Council of Flanders established
03February1917US liner Housatonic sunk by German sub & diplomatic relations severed
01February1917Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war
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