TOMBSTONE TUESDAY–William & May Thorp Gould–My great grandparents

HEADSTONE OF WILLIAM V. GOULD 1859-1924

HEADSTONE OF MAY E. GOULD 1862-1946

MT. OLIVET CEMETERY SIGN

These are the headstones of my paternal great grandparents, Vivaldo William “Val” Gould & Mary “May or Mae” Eve Thorp.  I took these pictures when I first went to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, back in 2007.
 
I never new my great grandparents on either side of my family.  However, my Dad talked about his grandparents, Val & Mae all the time.  He called them Beepa & Meema.  My Dad was the only grandchild born to the six children of Val & Mae Gould.  Because of this, he was well loved and doted upon.

I’ve done extensive research on both sides of this family.  However, I’ve come up against a brick wall when it comes to Vals father, John C. Gould.  I know quite a bit about his life, but have no idea who his parents were. Not being able to take my own surname back further is one the biggest regrets of my research, so far.  I wrote a post about John C. Gould in my Mystery Monday-Who’s Your Daddy? series.  You may read it here.

Mary “Mae” Eve Thorp was the second of ten children born to Horace Henry Thorp & Catherine C. Dorsey.  She was born 4 Apr 1862 in Oswego, Oswego Co., New York.  By 1867-1868 her family had moved to Detroit, Michigan.
 
I have not been able to locate the marriage record for Val & Mae.  I’ve looked in U.S. and Canadian records extensively and often, using so many spelling variations.  So far, no luck. 

Their first child, Ford was born in 1884, so the marriage may have taken place sometime prior to that birth.  All of their children were born in Detroit and most of the family never left the area.

Here are their children.  I descend from their son, Harry.

Ford Val Gould 1884-1947, never married.

Harry Whipple Gould 1886-1960, married on 6 Jun 1912,  Marie Wallace Lindsay 1888-1970. They are my grandparents.

Roy V. Gould 1888-1971, married on 30 Jun 1909, Emma S. Redcap. They had one child who was stillborn.

Gladys Lillian Gould 1890-1966, married Charles E. Smith on 3 Jul 1920.  No children.

May Adele Gould 1898-1984, married first James Connors on 30 Jun 1920.  Married second Myron Albert Sine on 4 Sep 1934.  No children.

Helen C. Gould 1901-1945.  Never married.

I have many pictures of this family and have located nearly every vital record associated with all of them.  Except for that pesky marriage record for Val & Mae.

Here are pictures of Val & Mae

WILLIAM "VAL" GOULD

MAE E. THORP GOULD

Here are Val & Mae with all 6 of their children, and my grandmother, wife of Harry, and their son, my Dad, Harry Norman Gould

 

You may visit the findagrave memorials for Val & Mae by clicking on their names.

PLEASE contact me if you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY–William V. Gould, 1859-1924

DETROIT NEWS - 25 FEB 1924

Vivaldo William Gould or as he was better known, William "Val" Gould, was my paternal great grandfather.  I never knew him as he died long before I was born.  However, my father, who was William’s grandson, spoke of him throughout my years of growing up.  My Dad called him Beepa and called his grandmother, Mae, Meema.  I have never heard those names referring to grandparents since my Dad passed.  Have you ever heard those names as nicknames for grandparents?

William “Val” Gould was born on 31 Aug 1859 in Armada, Macomb, Michigan to parents John C. Gould and Sarah M. Hart.  The family moved to Detroit, Michigan between 1870 and 1878.  William “Val” married Mary “Mae” Eve Thorp.  I have not been able to locate their marriage record.  Though heaven knows I’ve been hunting for it for many years.  

“Val” & Mae had 7 children according to census records and her death record.  I know the names of 6 of those children: Ford V., Harry W., (my grandfather), Roy V., Gladys L., May A., and Helen C. I am guessing that one child died at birth or very young, as I can find no record.

From all six of those children there was only one grandchild born who grew to adulthood, my father Harry Norman Gould.  

Back to William V.  He worked in a paint store or as a supervisor at a paint company for all of his life.  He worked at S. H. Hart, which was a paint manufacturing company in Detroit.  He also worked at Standard Paint & Varnish in Detroit.

I am very fortunate to have many photos of my great grandfather William “Val” Gould.  In fact, it is one of those photos which you will often see associated with this blog.

The photo on the left is William V. driving the car, with his daughter Helen in the middle and son, Roy.  In the back seat on the far right is his wife Mae.  I cannot be sure of the identities of the other two ladies.  This photo was circa 1910-1915. 
The photo on the right is William (back row far right) with his wife and six children and his grandson (my Dad) circa 1915-1916.
 
  

William died on 24 Feb 1924 in Detroit.  He was only 64 years old.  His cause of death was peritonitis due to a ruptured gall bladder.  He is buried with his wife and his daughter, Helen at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.  I have been able to visit him twice during trips back to Detroit.

Headstone of William V. Gould - photo taken at Mt. Olivet Cemetery by Diane Gould Hall

Rest in peace great grandfather.  I wish I had known you.  I certainly have unanswered questions about your father, John. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION