Tenth Generation

127. Martha Cordelia "Mattie" GRIGGS (~) was born on 13 July 1885 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^57,64 (It is believed that her given name was Martha--the name of her maternal grandmother, Martha Jane Griswold. Her middle name was the same as that of her paternal grandmother, Rachel Cordelia Richardson Griggs.)

(She is second from the right in the picture. From the left are her sister, Mabel (Griggs) Koopman; her maternal grandmother, Martha Jane (Watrous) Griswold; and her mother, Carrie Permelia (Griswold) Griggs. Standing in front is Mattie's oldest son, Dale. This picture was taken about 1911 at the first farm home of Roll and Mattie in LaGrange Township. Their 80-acre farm was located in the southwest corner of Section 21, about 1/4 mile west of the 160-acre farm of Lucius Smith Griggs, which they eventually owned.)

She appeared in the census in 1895 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷⁷ She appeared in the census in 1900 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.⁹⁸ Mattie appeared in the census in 1905 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^110,221 She was living with her parents and her occupation was "Student."

The Tomah Journal, in an article dated 9 November 1906, tells about a trip that Mattie took to Minnesota. She appeared in the census in 1910 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹¹ She appeared in the census in 1920 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹³ Mattie appeared in the census in 1930 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹⁴ She appeared in the census in 1940 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.²¹⁸ She appeared in the census in 1950 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.²¹⁹ Mattie died on 30 January 1963 at the age of 77 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^64,222 Obituary Notes: "On January 30, 1963, following a lingering illness, Mrs. Rollie Vandervort passed away at the Tomah Memorial Hospital. She was born on July 13, 1885, to Clarence Lucius and Carrie Griswold Griggs in the town of LaGrange.

On January 26, 1908 she was united in marriage to Rollie Vandervort. Four brothers and one sister preceded her in death.

Mattie spent her entire life in the North Tomah area. She will be remembered by many for the care given to the sick and the nursing of the newborn, as assistant to the late Dr. Cremer.

Survivors are her husband, Rollie; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur (Helen) Borchardt of Milwaukee; Mr. and Mrs. Roland (Freda) Clay, Tomah; Mr. and Mrs. Erwin (Willeene) Vroman, Milwaukee; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Vandervort, Milwaukee; and Mrs. Dale (Esther) Vandervort, Racine; and 16 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. One son and three grandsons preceded her in death.

The funeral services were conducted from the Methodist church on February 2, 1963, with Rev. Thomas Jarrell officiating. White's Funeral Home took care of arrangements. Interment was in the LaGrange Cemetery."
She was buried on 2 February 1963 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^43,64,223 in the LaGrange Township Cemetery.

Martha Cordelia "Mattie" GRIGGS (~) and Rollie H. "Roll" VANDERVORT (+) were married on 26 January 1908 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^{64,224,225,226} Newspaper Article: "A very quiet wedding was celebrated last Sunday at the home of Clarence and Carrie Griggs, it being the marriage of their oldest daughter, Mattie, to Mr. Rollie Vandervort, Rev. Schanley officiating.

A large number of guests were present, including some from Grand Rapids, Wis. The couple were remembered by a large number of useful and costly presents. Mr. and Mrs. Vandervort are distinctively LaGrange people, both having been born and raised here and are well and favorably known.

Mr. Vandervort owns a nice farm home near Dodgeville and is well equipped to make farming a successful operation. They immediately went to house-keeping and will be at home to their friends in a few weeks. They deserve and will no doubt receive the well wishes of a host of friends who have known them for years."

On their 50th Anniversary, Mattie wrote: "Fifty years ago on January 26, 1908, it was a cold windy day, a mean blizzard when my father strode across two fields to the pine woods in search of creeping pines and other greens to decorate the big window for my wedding. Sitting all day was confusion, jokes, and a general hubbub. We made ice cream in the kitchen and I was mopping up the mess when the first guests arrived. So, I made a hasty change--Luella helping me. At 8 o'clock we gathered and were married by the Methodist minister. His daughter played the wedding march. Sam and Eva (Griggs) stood up for us.

After a bounteous supper and the usual bickering and hollering, we drove home in horse and carriage in a really bad blizzard--after which we had a real snow storm. Roads blocked for a very long time. Sid Horel said 'not to worry' if Roll didn't come, he'd take his place. He insisted on lacing up my wedding shoes.

Some of the kids had been upstairs snooping. Luella and I inspected my suitcase and found my nightgown sewn up in many places. It was a good thing they did, as our bedroom was very cold. At 8 o'clock we took our pastor in front of the big window with butterflies in stomach and wheels in my head. Roll was excited and said 'I do' out of turn. After a bounteous supper of everything from soup to nuts, at 2:00 A.M. we went in horse and buggy to our home and slept in a very cold room. We would have frozen if we hadn't been out of our minds. After the ladies frosted the cake, they set it out on back porch to harden the frosting and our two pet coons walked all over the cake, leaving tracks; so a quick repair was done and no one was the wiser."

Remembrances of Odiene "Dean" Zellmer, who lived on an adjoining farm during the 1930's: "Mattie loved her flower garden and paid me to pull weeds there during the depression years. I was probably about 12 years old. That was the first job I had where someone paid me to work. Even though it was only a few nickels and dimes, to me it was a fortune. She taught me the difference between a weed and a flower.

Their barn either burned or was destroyed by a cyclone in the 1930's and a large new barn was built to replace it. However, there was no money in the 1930's so they held barn dances in the new barn and charged admission for the dances which were held every Saturday night. There was always a good attendance and I attended many of those dances with my parents since we owned the farm next to theirs. What else was there for excitement and entertainment in Tomah in those years? I remember walking up some sort of ramp because the dances were held on the upper barn floor that would be the hay mows once the barn was used for its intended purpose. The bands were great with some really loud music. Believe me, Saturday nights were wild and we could hear the music and noise way over to our house. I always wondered how long they held those dances to raise money to pay for the new barn."

Later in life, she was a very good piano player and an excellent cook. And she loved to have family around her. Rollie H. "Roll" VANDERVORT (+)²²⁷, son of Alvin James VANDERVORT and Charlotte A. COOME, was born on 25 March 1886 in Pleasant Valley, LaGrange Township, Monroe County, WI.^{57,64,98,111,224,228,229,230} His given name was listed as "Raleigh" in the 1900 Census and as "Rollie H." in 1910. He was listed as "Rollin" in Vera Purdy Wilde's hand-written family tree entitled the "Vandervort Genealogy." (Gary Griggs has a copy.)

Vera's notes state: "Roll was 12 years old when his father died, and at 17 while attending the University of Wisconsin, his mother died of cancer. At the death of his mother, Rollie returned home to run the farm. He operated the farm alone until age 22, at which time he married his childhood sweetheart. After his marriage, Rollie began to intensify his dairy farming. In 1917 he sold his farm and purchased a larger neighboring farm; he also purchased his first purebred Jersey cow, and after that time was a well-known Wisconsin Jersey breeder. He won many Blue Ribbons at the various county and state fairs including the National Dairy Show. Rollie also bred and raised Clydesdale horses. In 1923 he showed the Champion Draft Horse Team at the Wisconsin State Fair."

From a biographical sketch in "The History of Monroe County," published in 1912: "Rollie Vandervort, a native of LaGrange township, Monroe county, who resides on his farm of ninety-three acres in sections twenty and twenty-one, this township, was born in Pleasant Valley, March 25, 1886, son of Alvin J. and Lottie (Cooms) Vandervort, natives of Oconomowoc and Baraboo, Wis., respectively.

They came to Monroe county in an early day, and at that time much of the township consisted of wild land covered with stumps, with no wagon road. In 1883, when twenty-one years of age, the father married and located in Pleasant Valley, and for several years was employed in the McKanna logging camp and later settled in Tomah. where he built a home, which he later traded for the farm where our subject now resides. He was born in 1862 and died in 1898, aged thirty-six years. His wife, mother of our subject, who also was born in 1862, survived until 1905, when she passed away at the age of forty-three years. Besides our subject, they had one daughter, Eva, who resides at Tomah and is unmarried.

In 1908 Mr. Vandervort married Miss Mattie Griggs, daughter of Clarence and Carrie (Griswold) Griggs, of LaGrange township. They have two children. Dale James, born November 1, 1909, and Helen L., born October 18, 1911. Mr. Vandervort is a member of the Mystic Workers, and is one of the solid young men of pleasing personality of his township. He is fair and square in all his dealings, and promises to be one of the leading citizens." He appeared in the census in 1895 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.⁷⁷ He appeared in the census in 1900 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.⁹⁸ He was living with his mother. Roll appeared in the census in 1905 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹⁰ He was living with his mother and his occupation was "Farm Laborer." Between 1909 and 1960 he was a farmer in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^57,64,74,113 He originally farmed an 80-acre parcel in Section 21. Then, on September 29, 1919, he and his wife, Mattie, purchased (for $22,000) her father's 160-acre farm at the intersection of US Hwy 12 and Wis. Hwy 21 (the southeast quarter of Section 21).

The 160-acre farm (no buildings) was originally purchased in 1865 for $1,600 ($10 per acre) by Mattie's paternal grandfather, Lucius Smith Griggs. The land was later farmed by Lucius' son Clarence, before it was sold to Rollie and Mattie.

After Rollie retired from farming, the major portion of the property--except for individual small parcels that had been sold to Thelma Vandervort, Ronald Vandervort and the State of Wisconsin--was sold in 1963 to Mr. and Mrs. Wittig for $22,000. Eventually, the original 160 acres became the location of several motels, restaurants, gas stations, other commercial properties and the intersection of Highways 12, 21 and I-94. He appeared in the census in 1910 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹¹ His household consisted of "Rollie H.," age 29; his wife, Mattie C., age 24; their son, Dale, age 1 5/12; and Rollie's sister, Eva, age 12. He registered for the Military Draft on 12 September 1918 in Monroe County, WI. ^{227 231} "Mrs. Frank Vandervort spent Monday at Rollie Vandervort's helping to care for them, as they are all sick with the flu." Roll appeared in the census in 1920 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹³ His household consisted of Rollie, Mattie, their five children and Artemis Wright, a 55-year-old hired man from New York. He appeared in the census in 1930 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.¹¹⁴ His household consisted of Rollie, Mattie, their children Dale, Fred, Freda and Willeene, and Floyd Thompson, a "Boarder." Their daughter Helen was living in Mauston at the time. He appeared in the census in 1940 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.²¹⁸ His occupation was "Farmer, Farm." He registered for the Military Draft in 1942 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI. ²³² Roll appeared in the census in 1950 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.²¹⁹ He was listed as "Rollie" and his occupation was "Farmer, Farm." He died on 11 August 1976 at the age of 90 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^64,229 Obituary Notes: "Rollie Vandervort was born in the Township of LaGrange on March 25, 1886 and passed away at the Tomah Care Center on August 11, 1976 at the age of 90 years.

He was united in marriage to the former Mattie Griggs and they were married for more than 50 years until her death in 1963. Mr. Vandervort farmed in the Township of LaGrange all of his working life. He was also a member of the First United Methodist Church. He has a great interest in raising Clydesdale horses and purebred Jersey cattle.

He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Arthur (Helen) Borchardt and Mrs. Freda Clay of Tomah, and Mrs. Willeene Vroman of Milwaukee; one son, Fred, of Milwaukee; 18 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Eva Hinze of West Salem; and one daughter-in-law, Mrs. Esther Vandervort of Racine. He was preceded in death by his wife, one son, Dale, and one grandson, Dean."

Funeral services were held on Sunday, August 15, 1976 at the First United Methodist Church. Pastor Arnold Nielson officiated and burial was in the LaGrange Cemetery. The White Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements."

Gary Griggs has Rollie's Bayfield County fishing license from 1946-47, on which he indicated that he was 60 years old, 6 feet tall, weighed 180 pounds, and had grey eyes. He was buried on 15 August 1976 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^43,64,223 in the LaGrange Township Cemetery.

Martha Cordelia "Mattie" GRIGGS (~) and Rollie H. "Roll" VANDERVORT (+) had the following children: