Great Great Great Grandmother of Christopher Valley
My great grandma as her daughter Martha Beck is my grandma...
Yes, I remember her well. She died when I was nine years old, and I remember her Catholic funeral at St. Edwards Church in Chicago.
Her name was Marte Valk. Marte being the French for Martha.
I remember that she was small in stature, pretty, and always wore black or dark brown taffeta or silk long dresses, and always wore her cross around her neck as she was a devout Catholic. She carried a little vial of holy water in her pocket, and whenever there was a thunder and lightning storm she would go from room to room in the house sprinkling holy water everywhere. She was an excellent dressmaker, seamstress, and one of the things I loved to do was sit in the big chair in the corner of grandma Beck's dining room with her looking at fashion magazines.
She deplored the flapper fashions of the Day with all the short skirts, and never wore a skirt above her ankles. She lived to be 99 years old, but oddly never seemed old to me. She swore beautifully in French, loudly and long whenever anything displeased her, and didn't realize that the only person who understood everything she was saying was my father Campbell Stewart as learning French was a part of his education in Scotland. She adored my mother Jeanette as she was so beautiful and sometimes would take my face in her hands and cluck her tongue and mutter "Scotchie" in what I thought was a disapproving way! I loved being with her!
Marte Valk - my French/Dutch great grandma!
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