It's Been a Great Year!

To all who found this blog and read regularly, or occasionally, thank you! I've appreciated your comments, your questions, your suggestions for ancestors or topics to cover. This year has allowed me to write, hopefully in an interesting way, the stories of many of our Swedish ancestors and the times in which they lived.

I'll not be blogging on a regular basis in the new year, but if something new or exciting is found, you can be sure that I'll share it here. In fact, Myron and I, along with the Webster County genealogy website webmaster, have been working on a family story that, if we find the answer, will be posted here.

So, if you subscribe, please stay subscribed. If you want to email me with questions or with information you have in your possession, you have my email address. I assume that this site will stay active even if I'm not actively posting, but if you have a post, or several, that you find particularly interesting and want to keep, I'd suggest copying and printing them.

As you have learned from these posts, or perhaps already knew, our ancestors were not famous or rich or well-connected. No kings. No generals. No captains of industry. Our ancestors were hard-working men and women, many of whom lived lives that, on the surface, might look very ordinary. But I hope that the stories I've shared have helped you see them in a new light. Through their hardships, their sacrifices, their bravery, their talents, they rightfully take their place in our Swedish tree. A Civil War POW sparked my interest in our family history over 40 years ago, and it's been a passion of mine ever since.

If I've piqued your interest in our family history, I want to leave you this year with some free websites and suggestions for you to explore.

• Webster County Historic Newspapers -- this free site includes The Dayton Review, Fort Dodge Messenger, and many other small-town Webster County newspapers. Plug in a name and a date range and see what interesting things our ancestors did.
• Hamilton County Historic Newspapers -- this free site includes the Stratford Courier, Stanhope Sentinel, and many other small-town Hamilton County newspapers. It covers more years than the Webster County newspapers do.
• Church of Latter Day Saints - Family Search Library -- this site is free, but you need to create an account to use it all of its features. You do not need to be a member of the church to enjoy this site that has access to birth, marriage, death records, censuses, books, and many, many other helpful works. I've actively used this site and visited this library in Salt Lake City for over 25 years.

If you are eager to dig more deeply, there are several pay sites that are incredibly helpful. I subscribe to the following sites:

• Ancestry.com -- This site has been the "go to" site for genealogy research for many years, and they keep finding and adding more documents monthly. For a world-wide subscription, it costs me $149 for 6 months. Not cheap, but then again, I don't golf or have other expensive hobbies. The US-only version is less. If you purchase a subscription, be careful of what individuals post in their on-line trees. Not everything is carefully researched. I've found several errors in the public trees that include our ancestors. I use this site to host my own tree, seek hints for problem areas, and view documents that are historic and original, not from individual trees.
• Arkiv Digital -- The cost for a year is approximately $200. On this site, you will find original Swedish church records (birth, marriage, death, probate, etc) as well as population of Sweden records and much, much more. I've used this site for about 15 years nearly every day I'm at my computer. One of the new features is US Swedish church records. For example, Dayton Emanuel Lutheran Church records dating back to 1857 are there. Names of congregants, birth dates, death dates, and more. The Swedish church records are in Swedish, but the US church records are primarily in English.

Perhaps you've thought about DNA. What company? Then what? I'll admit that I'm still in the learning stages, and my siblings will tell you that anything to do with science is NOT in my wheelhouse. But my brothers and I have done our DNA, our mom has, and Rocky has. We have all used ancestry's DNA kits. I'm able to either view or manage all 5 of our DNA results on ancestry.com. My goal, besides seeing how our DNA breaks down, is to break through a few brick walls in our family. For example, Carl Lundblad, my 3rd great grandfather and father to Catherine Lundblad Linn, was born out of wedlock. That part of the tree stops at Carl. And no one with whom I've worked has found his father. I'm hopeful that DNA might be the solution to this brick wall.

I'd love to hear from you anytime, and not just about genealogy! If you have things to share, please do. If you'd like to write a post for this blog or share a photo, send it to me and I'll post it.

This hobby never ends, so you can count on me to be at the computer, in the library, tromping through cemeteries, taking photos, for years to come.

Thanks again for your support. My best to each of you in 2019!

Another Soldier To Honor

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the "other siblings" to our direct ancestors. One of those was Lee Verne (Vernie) Olofson, brother to Maude Edith Olofson Linn. I learned that, in World War I, Vernie had been a bugler overseas.

Because that was a more unusual role for one of our ancestors, I decided to write to his son, Veryl, who still lives in the Des Moines area. And this week I heard back from Veryl. He sent me the following two photos:

Vernie in his dress uniform

Vernie leading a group of men to the cemetery for a fellow soldier's funeral

Two side notes:

• Veryl writes that he still has his dad's bugle. I'm sure that Veryl would enjoy a call or letter or visit from family members. He knows a great deal about the Olofson line and has many stories to share. If you need an address, please email me privately and I'll get it to you.
• The soldier who was being buried was Andrew Erickson, born in Stratford in 1889, and died in Nevers, France, on February 28, 1919. Originally buried overseas, his body was brought back to the United States nearly 2 years after his death. He is buried at the South Marion Cemetery in Stratford. Andrew's mother was Margaret Leksell. Her sister married a Barquist, so there is a distant relationship between this soldier and our line. Following is one of the obituaries from the Stratford Courier, dated January 20, 1921.

I'm so thankful that Veryl was willing to share these photos and stories about our ancestors. It's one of the wonderful benefits of working on family history, helping and sharing and learning from others.

Farm Income and Expenses

I wanted to share a few pages from the accounting books that my parents kept on the farm we rented a couple of miles outside Dayton. It is, of course, the same farm where Pete and Maude Linn also lived. The records are written in pencil, so the copies may not be very clear. Still, it's an interesting look at the daily details and records that had to be kept in order to survive. The record book dates from 1947 to 1957.

1948 income from cattle, hogs, and chickens. The A. G. Barquist is the great-grandson of John Barquist. Aubrey Barquist died in 1963.

Labor hired in 1949; machine hire for grinding corn, shelling, bailing

Grain sold in 1950

Repairs and Maintenance in 1952; bolts, tractor wheels, fan belt, etc.

1953 or 1954 - Donations to Farm Bureau, Red Cross, Cancer, and Methodist Church; blacksmith and welding and gasoline expenses

I'm not sure how to preserve this book and the pencil handwriting. If anyone has a good idea, I'd love to hear it. I think that this type of record, some dated more than 70 years ago, is worth preserving for future generations.

God Jul! (Or Merry Christmas)

Just a few of the many family names that make up OUR family!

Do you have Christmas traditions in your home? In Sweden, St. Lucia Day (December 13) is celebrated. It is the story of a young girl who was martyred for her faith and comes back every year to bring food for those who are oppressed. She wears a wreath of candles to light the way so both of her hands are free to carry food to those in need.

Buffets or smorgasbord, consisting of herring (several ways), other meats, cheeses, and pickles, as well as the ever-popular lutefisk, along with a huge selection of pastries and puddings and coffee are often served on Christmas Eve. This year, I've been inspired by the posting about Bessie's recollections to make ostakaka, the Swedish cheese (osta) cake (kaka) for our Christmas celebration.

I hope that your family carries on some traditions, even if not Swedish ones, that your descendants will always remember. In our family, Christmas morning is an important time with everyone gathered for apple pancakes and lots of other foods (plus the ostakaka this year). And we take our time opening gifts, eating, opening, drinking coffee, opening, and eating some more.

My favorite pic of my siblings and me with Santa. Sorry, Randy!!

My very best wishes to all of my family members and readers of my blog this year. One more week to go this year before our 52 ancestors in 52 weeks project is done.

Babel Proclamation

Sometimes when I'm sitting at my computer pouring over hard-to-read records, or looking at books and maps in an archive or library, or when I find an old photo or visit a grave site of one of our ancestors, I wish I could have one day, one experience, with them.

What was their life really like in Sweden? How did they make the difficult decision to migrate? Why did they choose the prairies of the Midwest? How difficult was it for them to assimilate? To learn the English language and customs? To decide to be naturalized? What was important to them? Were they knowledgeable about politics? Did they vote? How did they feel about the issues of their day? The Civil War? Women's Suffrage? Temperance?

Some family historians are fortunate to have letters or diaries written by their ancestors that give a better picture of their struggles and thoughts and hopes. We have very few items that were written by our direct line. And so, we have to rely on what others wrote, soldiers who served with Gus in the Civil War, people who endured the hardship of the Atlantic crossing at the same time our ancestors did, who lived through prairie fires and tornadoes in the early days of their time in a new country, and, as we saw in last week's post, an autobiography written by a distant family member.

Recently, I learned about a proclamation that was signed by an Iowa governor, William L. Harding (1917-1921). Harding's tenure as a Republican governor was during the first World War. President Wilson had declared that "the world must be made safe for democracy" and that "millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy live amongst us...Should there be any disloyalty it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression."

Governor Harding decided that the way to keep Iowans safe was to force immediate assimilation and loyalty and, thus, he formulated the Babel Proclamation that determined that NO foreign language could be used in any public setting. Not in churches, schools, on the telephone, or in public. Foreign newspapers were forced out of business. The proclamation was signed on May 23, 1918, just before Frank and Peter Linn entered Camp Dodge and their service in World War I.

Catholic masses could no longer be given in Latin. The town of Berlin was renamed Lincoln. In Audubon, Iowa, a German man was dragged through the town square until he agreed to buy War Bonds. Some have said that Iowa became the most intolerant state in the entire United States for all immigrants. A copy of the proclamation wording can be found here. And another article about its impact here.

Wording of the Babel Proclamation

This proclamation was clearly aimed at Germans. And, it might not seem as if the proclamation would have any impact on our ancestors, but I would argue that it did. How well did Elin Andersson Linn speak English? What about her parents and siblings? Did Olivia Rask Olofson or her sister Brita, Olof Olofson's second wife, speak English? (NOTE: In the 1910 US Federal Census, Elin is reported as speaking English; Brita, speaking Swedish; Olivia speaking English; Anna Anderson, English. These are all SELF reported and don't indicate a level of competence.). And even if they did speak and understand English, they certainly would have been more comfortable speaking Swedish and reading Swedish newspapers, going to Swedish churches. Were they fearful of being in public? What about the Swedish ME churches? Some, maybe most, of the services were conducted only in Swedish. My own Czech/Bohemian great-grandmother never spoke English. Would this have kept her isolated during this time?

Perhaps it was Veryl Olofson (I can't remember at this moment) who told me that he had learned enough Swedish to be able to work in a store in Dayton that catered to Swedish clientele. That would have been in the 1930's or even later. And so, even then, some Swedish immigrants either didn't have a command of the English language, or they preferred to conduct their business in Swedish, their native tongue.

Governor Harding took a great deal of criticism over the Babel Proclamation, but amazingly, many fraternal organizations (Czech and Scandinavian and others), newspapers, and churches ended up supporting it. The Proclamation was rescinded in December 1918, but many believe that the intolerance that built up in Iowa during the last half of 1918 carried on for years, giving rise to a Ku Klux Klan movement in the state.

I often do wonder about my own ancestors and how they viewed the issues of the day. Were any of our ancestors living in fear during the time the Babel Proclamation was in force? This is one more example of what I would talk with them about, ask them about, if I only could.

Through Bessie's Eyes

Gus and Catherine Linn had 7 children, 3 girls and 4 boys. Two of the girls died at a young age, leaving Mary Linn as the only surviving girl with 4 brothers (John, William, Andrew, and Charley).

In 1887, when Mary was 24, she married Milan Curtis. The couple lived in Dayton where Milan worked in an egg house.

Mary was good friends with Henry (aka Harry) and Elsie Meanor Kinney, who had 6 children. Sadly, Elsie died shortly after the birth of her youngest child. Harry was unable to take care of all of the children. Some were adopted by local couples and two stayed with Harry's parents. The 5th child, Bessie, at just 18 months of age, was adopted by Milan and Mary Linn Curtis who were unable to have children of their own.

Elsie Kinney Obituary

Several years ago, I corresponded with the granddaughter of Bessie and received a remarkable 36-page autobiography written by Bessie in 1976, just 3 years before her death. Today, I'd like to share a small part of it with you because Bessie writes about her early years in Dayton and describes some of her uncles and aunts, the Linns, to the reader.

I was born December 14, 1895, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. My parents were Harry and Elsie Kinney. When I was 18 months old, my mother died. There were six children in our family, and I was next to the youngest. After my mother's death, I was adopted by Milan and Mary Curtis. They lived in Dayton, Iowa. My grandfather and grandmother Kinney also lived in Dayton. Mama and Papa Curtis were old friends of my parents. My brothers and sisters were Flossie, Dorsey, Georgia, Nellie, and Percy.

I was raised as an only child and given much love....When my mother first brought me home, she sent me to meet my father. When she saw him coming, she said "go meet papa". So I toddled down the path and when I met him I said "papa". That was all it took. He was my slave from then on!

Mama Curtis had three brothers that lived on farms near Dayton. Mama's parents [Gus and Catherine Linn] had been born in Sweden, and two of her brothers married Swedish wives. [Note: That would be John and Andrew.] I used to love to go to their places. Our Uncle John had a large house and a great big barn, at least it looked so to me. Aunt Maria [John's wife] used to make Ostakaka, or Swedish pudding, that I was crazy about. When I got old enough to have a bicycle, I would ride to their place once in awhile. It was six miles from town.

The thing I remember about Uncle Bill's place [William Peter Linn] was the fried chicken, cream gravy and home made ice cream that was out of this world. They had a big refrigerator and I loved to look in there and see the big crocks of milk. Uncle Bill had five children, and Ivy, the girl, was just about my age....My folks always kept a horse and buggy so went to each of the three places quite often.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Ellen [our Andrew and Elin Linn] lived over near Stratford. In the spring I could hardly wait for school to be out so I could go over to Uncle Andrew's. They had three children, all near my age [Elsie, Peter, and Frank], and when I went over there, their school wouldn't be out yet and I went with them. It was fun to carry my lunch in a bucket and then, when their school closed, the teacher always had me take part in the program.... Another thing I loved to do over there was to pick June berries. One day Aunt Ellen and I walked over through the field to call on one of her neighbors. We picked wild strawberries on the way.... Frank, their youngest boy, was about my age. We liked to find pretty chicken feathers. We would ... [pretend] horses and played all kinds of games.

There was a nice creek that flowed past our town and in the winter the townspeople would put in a dam so as to form an ice pond. That was before the days of the electric refrigerator, so a good many people put up their own ice. My father, being in the produce business, had two large ice houses because he used ice to ice the box cars that he shipped butter and eggs to Chicago.  

When my folks went over to Uncle Andrew's in the fall of the year, we would go to the river road. Someone had a little run-down looking store, which we called Hard Scrabble. On that road there was alot of hazel nut brush and we would gather those. 

One of the outstanding events in the summer was the Fourth of July celebration. They had a big park south of town where they had a parade and marched and gave speeches. As I remember it, someone always gave the Gettysburg Address. Dayton had a good band, so we had lots of music. 

NOTE: Milan Curtis became very ill and had 55 gallstones removed at the Mayo in Minnesota. While recuperating, he and Mary took a trip into Canada and the Western United States. Following is Bessie's recollections about their move from Iowa to Idaho.

Dad had fallen in love with Idaho, so when they came home, he sold his business, sold the house, and sold some furniture and shipped the rest to Payette, Idaho. We came out by train. [NOTE: Bessie was 15 and a junior in high school.]

The rest of her autobiography is about their time in Idaho and Oregon, with portions adopted from the granddaughter's interview of Bessie:

Bessie married twice, had 3 children. Bessie and her first husband separated when the youngest, Betty, was just about 5. Bessie sent one son to live with an Aunt in California, another son to live with Mary and Milan Curtis, and the daughter Betty to the State Home for Children. This was so that Bessie could go to business school and learn a skill to support her and her children.

Grandma Mary Curtis went to visit Betty in the State Home after she had been there several weeks. She found Betty crying in the corner and not liking how Betty was being treated insisted that Bessie remove her from there. She was only there two to three months. She then stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Curtis [Milan and Mary] until her mother finished school.

Bessie Kinney Curtis

Bessie died in 1979 of leukemia and is buried in Idaho.

Isn't this a wonderful snapshot of the late 1800's and early 1900's in the Dayton area? A peak at how loving Milan and Mary Linn Curtis were, not only with their adopted daughter Bessie, but also with their granddaughter in taking her out of the Home for Children? And a lovely look at our direct-line ancestors, John, William (Bill) and Andrew Linn, as well as a special mention about Frank Linn.

Our ancestors didn't write much that gives us clues about how they lived their lives. But what a gift, in this case, to learn about them from a life sketch written and shared by Bessie. If you have a diary, a journal, a letter, or any other document that shows something about the day-to-day lives of our ancestors, will you please share it? Scan or copy it so we can all learn and appreciate the lives our ancestors lived.

 .

Olofson Photos

I'm going to probably add a few extra posts as we wind down the year. Today, photos of my great-great grandfather, great-grandfather, grandmother, and uncle. And now we can all tell that Olof was blind, but I hadn't noticed in other photos of him.

Four generations: Olof Olofson, Maude Olofson Linn, William Edward Olofson, Stanley Linn

Olof Olofson and his son William Edward Olofson

The Other Siblings

Several of the posts this year have mentioned my grandfather Peter Linn and his brother Frank Linn, as well as my grandmother Maude Edith Olofson Linn. But there are other siblings who have had no mention this year. And today, it's time to look at Elsie Louellen Linn, Lee Verne (Vernie) Olofson, and Lilly Sophia Olofson.


Elsie Louellen Linn
Elsie was born on August 3, 1889, in Webster County, Iowa, the first born of Andrew and Elin Linn. Peter (1892) and Frank (1895) completed the family.

Several local articles from the Dayton Review and other local newspapers show Elsie to be a very social young lady, visiting with friends in different towns and hosting parties. According to later census records, Elsie had an 8th grade education. The first time I see Elsie with her future husband is in a December 12, 1907, Dayton Review article that states:

Frank and James Johnson of Paton and Elsie Linn and Francis Carlson of near Stratford, spent Sunday at S. B. Tell's. 

Were Elsie and Francis dating in 1907? It's not clear, but they were at least friends, spending a Sunday together over a year before they married.

Francis, born on November 23, 1886, was the son of a Swedish-born father and a mother from Illinois. Elsie was the daughter of a Swedish-born mother and a father from Iowa. Francis and Elsie married in Fort Dodge, on January 6, 1909 and set up farming north of Stratford. In 1911, they moved to Lake Wilson, Minnesota, then to Butterfield, Minnesota, before moving back to Webster County in 1918. In every Federal census (1910-1940), the Carlsons are renters, never owning their farm. In 1946, they retired from farming and moved to Boone where Francis worked for the Mabe Implement Company.

Four boys were born to Francis and Elsie:

• Kenneth Quinten Carlson, January 20, 1910 - September 29, 2008
• Chester Linn Carlson, July 4, 1913 - April 26, 1997
• Wayne Wendell Carlson, September 21, 1921 - October 9, 1974
• Eugene Francis Carlson, February 8, 1926 - April 16, 2008

So, four boys to Elsie. Five boys to her brother Peter. And then came Joan, the only girl, who was born to youngest sibling Frank. I'm thinking that everyone was happy to greet Joan, to finally have a girl in the family!

Elsie's husband Francis died on November 24, 1958, just ONE day after he celebrated his 72nd birthday. 

Elsie continued to live in Boone, and just a couple of months before her death, she moved to a retirement home in Boone. Elsie passed away on August 7, 1976, and is buried next to her husband in Oakwood Cemetery. 

Details about women at this time are difficult to find. Most women didn't work outside the home, have a higher education, or hold office. When I review the local articles about Elsie, I see that she was an assistant organist for her Sunday school (1905), visited her grandmother in Dayton for a few days (1905; this was Catherine Lundblad Linn), socialized with many friends and cousins.

Lee Verne (Vernie) Olofson
Vernie was the first born child to William Edward Olofson and Olivia Rask Olofson. He was born in Hardin Township on November 22, 1890. Vernie completed the 8th grade, and, on June 25, 1918, he began a one-year term of duty with the U.S. Army, serving overseas. On March 1, 1922, he was united in marriage to Thelma Shelton. They farmed near Stratford. They had 3 sons: Veryl, born in 1928 and still living; Leo Dean, born in 1929 and died in 1957; and Derrell, born in 1936.

Vernie passed away at the age of 68 on September 2, 1959 in the Veteran's Hospital in Des Moines. He and his wife are buried at Oakwood Cemetery.

Below is an article about Vernie's return from World War I. Notice what his position was. Can you imagine Uncle Vernie in the midst of a battle or in the evening camp?

Dayton Review, June 26, 1919

Lilly Sophia Olofson

Vernie was born in 1890; Lilly was born just 1 1/2 years later on May 3, 1892. At this point, it's important to remember that William Edward Olofson and Olivia Rask Olofson actually had 5 children, but two of them died in infancy. Agnes lived just 3 days, December 16-19, 1894; Edward Olof lived for 4 months, from October 12, 1899 to February 27, 1900. Maude Edith Olofson, my grandmother, was born on March 1, 1897.

Lilly had an 8th grade education. On March 1, 1911 (coincidence, or planned to be on her sister's birthday???), Lilly married a man 10-years her senior, Charles (Charlie) Lundgren. Charlie and Lilly had no children, but we see in every Federal Census that Charlie's brother David lived with them. In the 1940 Federal Census, Lilly's mother Olivia Rask Olofson, is living with them as well. 

Charlie died suddenly at the age of 74 on July 12, 1957. Lilly lived another 22 years, passing away at the age of 87 on December 14, 1979. They are buried at the Hardin Township Cemetery. A look at Aunt Lilly's funeral program shows some familiar names as her pall bearers: Ivan Linn, Veryl Olofson, Derrel Olofson, Marlyn Anderson, Kenneth Carlson, Keith Strandberg, Merlin Linn, Roland Linn.

Vernie, Maude, Lilly

Lilly and Charley

I'm thankful for the siblings Peter, Frank, and Maude had and the support they gave one another and their families. Today, a remembrance of these 3 people, important to the history of our family.

Two Deaths

Mary Barquist Olofson's older brother, Anders Barquist, stayed in Illinois when the rest of the family moved west to Iowa. And there, in Galesburg, Illinois, he married Christina Anderson on November 2, 1866.

Christina had come to this country with her family from Sweden a few years after the Barquists, settling in Illinois. She must have been very close to her parents, Elin Johansdotter Anderson and Anders Anderson because, shortly after Anders and Christina moved to Iowa, Christina's parents followed.

In the March 14, 1903, issue of the Saturday Mail out of Stanhope, we see the following death notice:

At the home of A. G. Barquist (Anders), on Thursday, March 13, Mrs. Ellen Anderson, aged 81 years, died. The deceased was the mother of Mrs. A. G. Barquist and A. H. Anderson, and the stepmother of G. P. Anderson, while two other sons reside at a distance--one in Kansas and the other in Galesburg, Illinois. Mrs. Anderson was born in Sweden and came to America in 1864, making her home in Galesburg until 1882 when she came with her family to this county. She was highly esteemed by all who knew her, and her death, which resulted from the infirmities of advanced years, will be learned with sorrow by every acquaintance. The funeral will be held at Stratford tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. 

And from the Stratford Courier, March 14, 1903, the following:

Mrs.  Andrew Anderson died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. A. G. Barquist, Thursday morning, March 12, at 4:15 a.m. She had been confined to her bed for some time and had before her last illness been weak and sickly.

Deceased was born January 12, 1822, in Vastergotland, Sweden, and in July 1864 migrated to America, locating in Galesburg, Illinois, and in 1882 moved to Iowa. Her husband died March 28, 1893, and she had since lived with her daughter here. She left one daughter and 4 sons to mourn her death; also 19 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. 

The funeral was held from the Lutheran church Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock by Rev. Christensen of Dayton. The remains were interred in the Olson Cemetery.  

Even though her mother had been quite ill for a very long time, Christina Anderson Barquist had a very difficult time with her grief. And, within a month of her mother's death, Christina took her own life. She was just 57 years old. The news articles below give some of the details to this very sad end:

 From the April 9, 1903, Stratford Courier:

DROWNS HERSELF IN A POND.

Mrs. A.G. Barquist Suicides While Temporarily Insane.

Stratford was horror struck Tuesday to learn of the suicide of Mrs. A.G. Barquist by drowning herself in a pond containing less than two feet of water. She had lately been very despondent and subject to mental derangement and it was while in one of these spells that she committed the deed.

She got up about six o'clock to fix some bread, she said, and when her husband came down a little later, she could not be found. He at once hitched up and drove to where a son, Edwin farms, two miles east of town, but she had not been there. On his return he found her lying a short distance from the family home in a small pool of water.

A coroner's jury was impaneled and the decision rendered was "that the deceased came to her death by drowning herself." Peter Cannnon was deputized as coroner.

And a second obituary, source unknown:

Barquist

Mrs. A.G. Barquist was born in Westergötland, Sweden, September 20, 1845. In 1864 she, with her parents, came to this country. On November 6, 1866 she was married to A.G. Barquist and they resided in Galesburg until 1881 when they moved to a farm six miles east of Stratford, moving to Stratford a few years ago. She leaves a husband, four brothers, and six children to mourn her death. The children are - Emma J., Minnie, Agnes C., Arthur, Frank A. and Edwin H.

Deceased was all that the best woman is - a kind and loving wife and mother, a sympathizing friend to all, loved by everybody. The funeral will be held from the Lutheran church this afternoon at 1 o'clock by Rev. J.A. Christenson of Dayton.

Christina left a husband, Anders Barquist, who died in 1924; and 6 children, the youngest, Agnes, being just 15 years old.

Family Photos

With just a few weeks to go before the end of my 52 ancestors in 52 weeks blog, I want to be sure that I share a few photos. Some readers may have these; others may not. But they are an important part of our family history.

Andrew and Elin Anderson Linn; married November 1, 1888

Cedar Brook Farm, home of Andrew and Elin Linn and their 3 children: Elsie (1889), Peter (1892), Frank (1895)
 photo around 1903-1906?

Aerial view of the farm Peter and Maude and their sons lived on, later the farm our family lived on. This was taken around 1950. Long walk from the house to the outhouse!

This is one of my favorite pictures of our beloved Peter and Frank Linn, brothers sitting on the front porch swing in Des Moines, 1979.

My dear grandparents, Peter Edward Linn and Maude Edith Olofson Linn.

And on the Olofson side: Olivia Rask Olofson, my great-grandmother, died in 1943. Below is the sale of her farm shortly after her death:

You can see the total price, followed by expenses and the distribution to her 3 children.

And below is a copy of Olivia's Last Will and Testament, a very simple one, leaving everything divided among her 3 children:

 At the time Olivia wrote this, she states that she is 62 years old, meaning it would have been written in 1921. Yet, the date is 1924, about 8 months after her husband's passing. It's clear that Olivia is still holding on to the belief/story that she was born in 1862, not 1859. We all know better and have the proof in her birth record and Swedish clerical surveys.

William Edward Olofson and Olivia Rask wedding photo, 1889

In a previous post, I placed a portion of the Linn and Lundblad ancestors in a chart. Following is an Olofson/Barquist tree:

The two Olof Rasks is not an error. Father and son had the same name.

I've traced our ancestors in all of these lines several more generations, but I hope this helps put many of our ancestors into a visual for you.

I'll keep looking through old family photos and post some interesting ones before the end of the year. Do you have one you'd like to share? If so, please send it and I'll make sure it's posted for others to enjoy.

Abraham's Story

Back to the Linn side of the family this week, and to my 3rd great grandparents, Abraham Carlsson and his wife Anna-Brita Johannesdotter.

Lower right are Abraham Carlsson and Anna-Brita Johannesdotter

Abraham was born in March 1805 in Vastra Harg Parish in Ostergotland County, one of 5 children born to the crofter Carl Carlsson and his wife Lena Abrahamsdotter. A crofter is a small-scale tenant farmer, one who probably just made a subsistence living for his family. Abraham's future would not have been any better than his father's since there was no land to pass on in this family.

Abraham married Anna-Brita Johannesdotter in 1826. She was one of 7 children born to Johannes Carlsson and his first wife Brita. Anna-Brita was just 6 years old when her mother died. Johannes married a second time and had 3 more children. Even though this family had one maid and one farm hand and were seemingly better off than Abraham's family, with 10 children, and a small parcel of land, none of these children, and certainly not a daughter, would have had any hope of living a better life.

Now adults, Abraham, a crofter, and Anna-Brita, his wife, had 8 children, their third being my second great grandmother, Anna-Maja Abrahamsdotter. A poor family with many mouths to feed. Still, it appears that the family was surviving, and as the older children left to become servants or farm hands, fewer mouths were left in the home to feed. They could have made it. But something happened that changed the direction of this family.

Roughly translated from the Death Book in Vastra Harg, 1849:

The crofter Abraham Carlsson who lived in Bjorklund, born in Vastra Harg in 1805.  Married in 1826 with surviving widow Anna Brita Johannesdotter.  He had with her 3 sons and 5 daughters, who all are alive.  Tuesday the 17th of April, the man went to Linkoping together with his 14 year old son and a widow from Haggeboa in Nykil to sell something (illegible handwriting).  During the journey, he complained a little about pain in the stomach.  About 1/4 mile from home on Thursday afternoon he said to the son and the woman the oxen need to rest and he needs some food.  He fell at once down on a stone on the ground with a bit of bread in his mouth and he died in the same moment.  Since his condition and circumstances on the journey and those in the town where he was staying, as stated in writing and under oath signing, there was no reason that the death caused or hastened without his own or other people's fault, he was buried without investigation.  Reason for the death:  Stroke

Isn't that an interesting way to determine a cause of death? Because it doesn't look like anyone killed him or that he killed himself, it must be a stroke.

Abraham was just 44 when he died. He left a wife and 8 children, the youngest being just one year old. By 1850, the eldest 5 children had left, although various children came back to the home for short periods, probably to help their mother. But in the end, Anna-Brita and her youngest child Lovisa were turned out of their home, living for a time in the parish poor house, but in some records simply being recorded as persons without a permanent residence. We know from an earlier post (August 12) what this probably meant for these two homeless women.

Anna-Brita died in 1880 at the age of 73, penniless and homeless. My great-great grandmother Anna Maja Abrahamsdotter married the crofter Carl Magnus Andersson in 1856, and they left for America in 1885 with their 5 children. Certainly a better life for this next generation, and even though the Andersson family was not wealthy, each of the 5 children, including my great-grandmother Elin Andersson Linn, lived a much more comfortable life than they would have had in Sweden.

Olofson/Barquist Maps

My Olofson and Barquist ancestors came primarily from Gävleborg county, north of Stockholm.The terrain here was much different from where the Linns and Lundblads were from. Iron ore and the timber industry were important to our families who lived in Gävleborg county.

Here are just a few of our ancestors who came from this county, starting at the top.

• Ljusdal: My 7th great grandmother, Ella Ersdotter, who lived to be nearly 101 years old, was from this parish; my 5th great grandparents, Eric Ericsson Brattberg and wife Kerstin Andersdotter; 
• Farila: I look at this parish as the home of our Olofsons. I would guess that we are related to just about every family in this parish, too many to name. It's a lovely parish with a large church, a river that divides the parish, and a Heritage Home that is being preserved that belonged to my 7th great grandfather who was murdered and was written about in an earlier post. I've got well over 200 relatives documented from this one parish and particularly from one farm, Fone. The records are tremendous, and this is the place where I would put our  Olofson roots;
• Los: My 4th great grandmother, Greta Eriksdotter, and her family are from Los; 
• Jarsvo: a lovely church in Jarsvo and location of several marriages;
• Bollnas: The Rask family (Olivia and Brita and their parents and siblings) are from Bollnas;
• Hanebo: Remember my post about our being French? Bertil Monsieur and his family are from this parish;
• Ockelbo: The Lundgrens came from Amot, included in Ockelbo; The Barquists back several generations are from Amot. Amot is where I would place the Barquist roots.

So, I hope that these maps give you at least a general idea where our ancestors came from. I've been to just about every one of these parishes and found the farms where many of our ancestors lived. 

Linn/Lundblad Parish Maps

I've had two requests so far for parish maps, so I'm going to give it a try to see how it works for you.

This post will contain two maps for the Linns and Lundblads. In case you aren't sure about the Lundblads, Catherine Lundblad was Gus Linn's wife.

Most of this side of our family was from the county of Östergötland. I've highlighted some of the parishes from this county where we had several ancestors.

These parishes might be difficult to see, but you may have figured out at this point that you can enlarge the pictures for better viewing.

Starting higher up and working my way down:

• Asbo: Peter Linn's wife Sophia was from there. (Peter was Gus and John's brother)
• Vastra Harg: My 3rd great grandparents, Abraham Carlsson and Anna-Brita Johannesdotter; Anna-Brita's parents, Johannes Carlsson and Brita Nilsdotter; 
• Ulrika: Gus, John, and Peter all lived in Ulrika at some point before immigrating; Olaus Fredericsson's sister and her family; several ancestors either were born, married or died in Ulrika;
• Malexander: The Lundblad family was from Malexander; my 4th great grandparents, Anders Amundsson and his wife Anika Olofsdotter and their children; and the Amundsson family back through my 9th great grandparents were from this parish;
• Vastra Eneby: My 7th great grandparents, Jons Larsson and his wife Maria Mansdotter, and their families down through my 3rd great grandparents were from this parish;
• Kisa: Lars Mansson, my 6th great grandfather, and many ancestors who were married in this parish;
• Tidersrum: Carl Lundblad, my 3rd great grandfather; and John Linn's first wife were from here;
• Asby: Fredric Smedbom's brother-in-law; other relatives were married or died in Asby;
• Vastra Ryd: All of Gus's siblings, except him and John, were born in Vastra Ryd. 

Moving to Jönköping county:

• Askeryd: My 5th great grandfather, Peter Smedbom, was born in this parish; he and wife Sigrid Jonsdotter were married in this parish;
• Eskjo: Probably one of my FAVORITE parishes we have visited; The Smedbom children, including my 4th great grandfather, Fredric Smedbom, were born here; other ancestors died or were married here.
• Ingatorp: Both John and Gus Linn were born in Ingatorp, and their father died in this parish; Olaus Fredricsson's wife and mother-in-law (my 3rd and 4th great grandmothers) were from this parish.

So, that's a sampling of just some of the people who lived in these two parishes, Linn and Lundblad ancestors. Can you see from the two maps how they fit together with Jönköping to the lower left of Östergötland? If this helps, I'll do the same for the Olofson and Barquist lines. Let me know.

Maps

When I throw out counties or parishes or farms in these posts, they might mean nothing other than we know that one of our ancestors was from that part of Sweden. Today, I want to show through the map below the general areas where both the Linns and Olofsons came from.

Sweden counties on the left; Sweden provinces on the right

As background, the map on the left, showing the counties, is what researchers use in modern times when referencing where their ancestors are from. The map on the right, showing the provinces, is not used today but is an important tool. You can probably see that a province might incorporate all, or part, of several counties. And, because this is how places were identified long ago, you might see someone refer to a home area with the province name.

For reference, Stockholm would be the AB in the map on the left (in yellow).

Starting with the Olofsons and Barquists (in blue), they came primarily from Gävleborg County which is labeled with an X on the county map. But if you look to the provinces on the right, you can see that Hälsingland is the province that incorporated much of Gävleborg.

Some of the Olofson line also comes from the letter Z, Jämtland, and a few from other surrounding counties.

Moving to the Linns and Lundblads  (in red), they came from southern Sweden. On the county map, the letter F (Jönköping) and the letter E (Östergötland) are the counties where most of our Linn side came from. And when you compare that to the province map on the right, most of that area is known as Smäland, and some records and some people refer to Smäland when talking about our ancestral homes.

Because there are so many parishes within these counties that our family is from, it's difficult to put maps up that would be easy to see. I'd suggest a Google search for a parish to see where it is and also to learn a bit about these parishes. For example, Amot in Gävleborg County is an iron ore parish and many of our Barquist ancestors were involved in that industry. In Smäland  province, our Linn ancestors farmed if they were able to clear the rocky terrain, and there are many lakes that supplied food and trades for them.


I hope this helps pinpoint where our families were from. And I do have detailed parish maps if anyone would like to have a copy emailed to them.

Our Veterans

Today, we commemorate the end of World War I. It's a day of reflection, appreciation, and remembrance. Recently, Myron told me how our grandfather, Peter Linn, and other men in his unit were about to leave their trenches to fight the Germans when they received notice to "stand down" as the war was over.  What might have happened if he and the other men with him had faced the Germans that day. Would he have survived? Married Maude? Had 5 sons? Would any of us be here?

And then on Monday, we celebrate Veterans Day, a day to remember all of our family and friends who have served in the military. We have several ancestors who have served, and today I'd like to use this post to mention several who served on behalf of the United States.

OUR SWEDISH MILITARY ANCESTORS
Name	Branch	Years of Service	Notable Details
Ivan Dean Linn	Navy	1952-54	Nickname “Fuzz”. Stationed at Patuxent River, Maryland. Entertained the troops with his renowned tap dancing skills
Ellis Edward Linn	Army	1953-1956	Stationed at Camp Kilmer, NJ; also Molesworth, England; built runways for the Air Force; organized a dance band in which he was the talented piano player
Stanley Elston Linn	Army Air Corps	1943-1946	Stationed in Florida; was a proficient mechanic working on fighter planes;
Peter Edward Linn	Army	1918-1919	Served in France with Company E, 349th Infantry, 88th Division
Frank Frederick Linn	Army	1918-1919	Served in France with Company C, 163rd Infantry, 41st Division
Guy Gustus Linn	Army	1918-1919	No information found
Lloyd Linn	Army	1918-1919	Company 4, 164th Depot Brigade
Arthur Sturtz	Army	1951-1953	Korean War; he was a corporal
Wallace E. Linn, Jr.	Army Air Corps; Air Force	1942-1945; 1953-1969	Served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel
Jonathan Basket	Army	Unknown; Civil War	Company D, 10th Regiment, 8th Division; Union soldier; private
Gustus Magnus Linn	Army	1864-1865	Company D, Iowa 32nd Infantry, POW
Lewis Melker Linn	Army	1863-1865	39th Iowa Infantry; 7th Iowa Infantry; twice wounded during Sherman’s famous March to the Sea. Permanently disabled

With appreciation to each of these fine men for their service to our country!

In addition to these American service members, we have several soldiers who served in Sweden. And I have many Czech soldiers on my mother's side who also served here and in Europe. I thank each of these men for their service, loyalty and bravery.

And on a more personal note, this last week we saw a young, troubled, former Marine go to the Borderline in Thousand Oaks, California, and kill 12 people, mostly college students. This young man went to the same high school as my two sons, graduating 4 years after my youngest did. He lived with his mother just a block from where we raised our sons. The Borderline is about 5 miles from our home in California. We can't believe these horrors can happen where we live, but they do. Those from Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Pulse, churches and synagogues, and now the Borderline, probably say the same thing. Yet, nothing changes. Whatever your politics, I hope we agree that what we are doing, or not doing, is not working. I pray for a day when we don't have to lower our nation's flag for these killings. I hope that our military men and women who come home broken and in need of help will receive it.