Laura and her sister Millie - photo

Laura’s mom – Mary Ann Harriet Stoneman

My mother named me after her grandmother.  All the while I was growing up, she made comments about Grandma Mary Ann – that I had long fingers like she did and this certain piece of furniture belonged to her.  She said that her mother, Laura, was sick when her children were small and that Grandma Mary Ann took care of them a lot. So my mom knew her Grandma Mary Ann very well and spoke highly of her. I knew while growing up that my great-grandma Mary Ann was a good person.

                                  George and Mary Ann Williams

                                         Grandma Mary Ann

Laura’s Death Certificate and Funeral Program

I remember visiting Grandma when she was in bed before she died.   I climbed up the steep skinny stairs to her bedroom.  I don’t think I stayed long, but I remember her smiling at me and the twinkle in her eye.

 

Laura’s birth certificate

This is obviously not an original, but it is  the one that my mom most likely got at the Marquette County Courthouse in 1979.

 

Laura’s Christening Certificate

George H. and Mary Ann H. Williams Family

Laura's family - picture

Laura Louisa Winifred Williams was born September 16, 1896 in Negaunee, Michigan to George Henry Williams and Mary Ann Harriet Stoneman.  Both of her parents immigrated to Negaunee from Cornwall, England.  George came first to establish a job and a home and Mary Ann followed and they married as soon as she arrived on the 6th of June 1893.  They had six children, four of whom grew to adulthood.  I don’t know the reason for the deaths of the two youngest daughters.

George Henry – b. 23 June 1894

Laura Louisa Winifred – b. 16 September 1896

Millicent Alberta – b. 1 June 1899

Hilda Mae – b. 24 June 1901

Elizabeth Sarah – b. 26 May 1904 

Mable Rosaline – b. 9 June 1907

Laura, George, Hilda and Millicent Williams – circa 1903