If Jeannette “Teeter” Gros-venor has any secrets to her longevity, they are likely tied to decades of dedication to preserving the past for the future.
“No one in Geauga County knows more, cares more or loves her county more than she does,” said Grosvenor’s friend, Linda Mattern, born and raised in Chardon.
At age 91, “The Matriarch of Geauga County Genealogy” continues to work on genealogy projects that will aid others in pursuit of unraveling their ancestry.
“I think researching keeps me sharp,” said Grosvenor, whose spunky humor is endearing to many. “It’s not boring. Even the black sheep are interesting.”
Despite having to use a magnifier, the genealogist, historian and author decided that slowing down is not an option for the woman who wakes up in the middle of the night in an effort to solve her never-ending genealogy mysteries.
“I could be a detective,” Grosvenor said. “I just don’t have a badge.”
Bill Jackson, president of the Geauga County Historial Society, considers Grosvenor a personal inspiration.
“She just keeps going like the Energizer Bunny and wants to remain involved both mentally and physically,” he said. “Teeter is the ‘go-to person’ for questions about Geauga County’s old line families and the records that might relate to them. If she has not worked with the family name, they probably have not been in Geauga County very long.”
Digging into Her Own Roots
Grosvenor was born in 1924 at Sperry Hospital on Tilden Street in Chardon. She was the second child of Ralph and Belle Grosvenor and one of three daughters and a son raised in the rural homestead of Claridon Township, known as “sugar bush” country. In 1819, Grosvenor’s third great-grandfather, Theodore Newell, came to Geauga County. He and his son, Harmon, built the house in 1833 where Grosvenor grew up.
“I moved from there in 1978, but my grand-niece, Wendy, and her husband, Joe Bergant, still own the house,” Grosvenor added.
Before she was even a year old, her uncle Ralph Samson nicknamed Grosvenor “Teeter,” derived from the word petite, and it stuck ever since.
She attended Claridon Elementary School, then two years at Huntsburg High School before going on to graduate at age 16 in 1940 with 22 people in her graduating class at Burton High School.
“My family lived through The Depression because we had a dairy, pigs, chickens, orchard, garden and sugar bush. We also grew wheat and corn,” Grosvenor said, who is currently busy gathering information on her family’s history with maple syrup making for the historical society.
It was a time when families still ate meals together, she said.
“I was expected to try whatever was cooked, but my mother didn’t fix something else if I didn’t like the dish,” Grosvenor recalled. “I can’t believe mothers today who kowtow to the children. The wasted food is unbelievable.
“I was taught to be punctual and follow directions,” she added. “My father might repeat a direction if I was out of ear shot, but that was it. I did not talk back.”
The ‘Ah Ha’ Moment
When she became mildly curious about discovering a relocated family tombstone, Grosvenor had her “ah ha” moment regarding genealogy.
It was the headstone of Edward A. Grosvenor, born on Aug. 25, 1869, in Chardon, found on a street of Macomb, Mississippi that started it all.
“My father and aunt had no clue,” Grosvenor said. “I strongly believe I was destined to solve the mystery.
“I think my life was planned,” she added. “What are the odds of having a headstone appear on a street in Mississippi, nine miles from a Jewish cemetery where it was in 1961? There are so many times that I picked up the right book, talked to the right person, stopped near the headstone we were seeking. Violet Warren’s granddaughter drew a picture of an angel and called her, Saint Find-de-Lost, the Patron Saint of Genealogists.”
While the United States entered World War II, in February 1944, Grosvenor joined the Coast Guard as a SPAR. With an interest in medicine, she worked with a pathologist at a marine hospital on Ellis Island.
“We lived at the Embassy Hotel in New York City and fought a battle of the subway to get to Ellis Island every day,” Grosvenor said. “I should have earned a Purple Heart for that.”
After about eight months, she traveled to the nation’s capital and worked as a medical technician, checking patient’s blood counts. Following her service to her country, Grosvenor went to live in Garfield Heights while she worked for the Standard Oil Company in downtown Cleveland.
She then headed west to Stillwater to attend Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, and graduated in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in Bacteriology and chemistry, with additional studies in psychology and education.
Grosvenor married, never had children, and divorced by 1950, soon having her beloved Grosvenor maiden name restored.
“No man should design anything a woman should use,” she said.
Grosvenor did, however, compliment the architects of the Anderson Allyn Room in the basement of Chardon Library, which is dedicated to genealogy and where she volunteers.
“They did a marvelous job,” she said.
The genealogist eventually became a teacher in Geauga County and owned her own carpentry business, retiring from teaching in 1981 from Hambden School.
“Besides being a fascinating and meaningful hobby, I learned that history repeats itself,” Grosvenor said, of her carpentry interests. “My Grosvenor ancestors were cabinet makers except my father called himself an ‘axe carpenter.’”
Her ancestors continued to kindle her curiosity.
“My favorite story is I knew my great-grandmother and visited her in her last year, resolving to find out who her grandparents were,” Grosvenor said. “I was missing a gap. Everyone in genealogy has something like that.”
Her serious hobby soon earned her the position of Geauga County Public Library genealogist in 1990, where she retired in 1999, starting back the next year as a volunteer.
Teeter’s Influence
Cheryl McClellan, the current genealogist, met Grosvenor more than 30 years ago and learned quickly that working in the Allyn Room is a legacy job.
“My husband’s ancestor, Daniel Kent, died in Geauga County in the 1800s,” McClellan said. “We went to see Teeter, who was the genealogist at the time and had just published a Geauga County cemetery inscription book. Without looking anything up, she told us, ‘He died in the 1850s, is buried in Quirk Cemetery in Chesterland and has a probate record you might want to check.’ She has been amazing me ever since.”
Mattern first met Grosvenor at the same location when she started to research her ancestors.
“At that time, she was working there and that is where my life changed,” Mattern said. “We went to the tax office, recorder’s office and to cemeteries all around the county together.”
The ladies also began volunteering at the historical society’s library at Century Village in Burton.
“We sorted, organized and re-searched the family files,” Mattern added. “Several summers, she and I went to a lot of the cemeteries to photograph tombstones for the computer program ‘Find a Grave.’ I took the pictures but, of course, she put them on the computer. Some days it was very hot and sunny, so she brought her baseball cap for me so I could see through the camera.
“One day a week I volunteer with her at the Chardon Library. If anyone asks a question while we are there about a person or place in the county, she has the answer,” she added.
While Grosvenor was paging through records on a recent afternoon, she was asked her thoughts about the widely advertised genealogy websites.
“There is so much misinformation because people just copy things without providing proof,” Grosvenor said. “Several trees have my ancestor born in 1610 in Salem, Mass. … probably slept through history.”
Her Scope of Work ‘Monumental’
Teeter’s work with cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions is “literally monumental,” Jackson said.
“Teeter and Violet Warren have written and published volumes on the cemeteries of this county and their inhabitants,” he said.
The 10-pound volume, ‘A Monumen-tal Work – Inscriptions and Interments in Geauga County,” was completed in 1983 and one of the many books Grosvenor has helped author that are housed inside the Allyn Room.
In 1998, The Geauga County Library Foundation honored Grosvenor with its Chapman Award, presented to an individual or group whose deeds have promoted the enjoyment and value of books and reading and whose involvement has directly helped the Geauga community.
“Her dedication, her intelligence, her memory, her feisty personality and delightful sense of humor make her so special,” McClellan said. “She is 91 years old, and in spite of losing much of her vision, she works nonstop on genealogy projects. When she meets a challenge, she finds a work around. Her mind never stops.”
Grosvenor said she is fascinated by her discoveries, such as the fact “the families of The Geauga County Historical Society, Cook, Hitchcock, Ford, Boughton, Hickox, Bartholomew, are all related.”
“Her contributions to the preservation of Geauga County are enormous,” Jackson said. “As an example, it was through Teeter’s leadership and primarily her efforts that the list of over 13,000 Geauga County military veterans was assembled for the Geauga County Veterans Memorial.”
McClellan added, “She is such a public treasure in our county.”