Two Sisters - Part One

Brita Rask is my second great aunt and also my step great-great grandmother. Her sister Olivia is my great-grandmother and also my second great aunt. Brita is Olivia’s sister and also her mother-in-law.

How did this happen?

The quick answer is that older sister Brita Rask came from Sweden to the United States and became the second wife of our second great-grandfather Olof Olofson. Olof’s first wife, Maria Barquist, had died, leaving Olof with one young son, William Edward, aka Eddie Olofson. Soon after Brita and Olof married, Brita’s younger sister Olivia Rask also immigrated to the United States, and she later married Olof’s son, William Edward Olofson.

Thus, Olivia and Brita were related to each other because of their marriages to father and son as well as their being sisters.

This week, let’s take a closer look at Brita Rask. Next week will be a posting about Olivia Rask.

Brita Margrite Rask was born on December 24, 1857, in Bollnas Parish in Gavleborg County, Sweden. Olof Rask and Sophia Margrite Kjellander had been living together for years but did not marry until well after Brita’s birth, on February 23, 1861. Together, Olof and Sophia had 5 children, two born after they married. Sophia had led a very sad life (one that should be told in a future posting) and had 3 children with different men before she met Olof Rask.

When Brita was 21, she gave birth to a daughter, Sophia Charlotta Rask, born on July 30, 1879. Then on July 5, 1880, Brita and her one-year old daughter Sophia, immigrated to the United States where they went directly to Boone County, Iowa. Within two months of their arrival, Brita and Olof Olofson were married, on September 9, 1880.

I’ve often wondered about this very quick marriage. Olof’s first wife, my great-great grandmother Maria Barquist Olofson, had died shortly after the death of their second child, Matilda, in 1869. Maria appears with husband Olof and son Eddie in the 1870 census, but no state or federal census after that. As of this date, no record has been found for Maria’s death by anyone doing research on this family. But it’s clear that Olof and his son Eddie lived alone or with Olof’s mother Christina for nearly 10 years before Brita arrived in 1880.

Neither Brita and Olof nor their families could have known each other in Sweden. Olof was born in 1837; Brita in 1857. Olof’s family was from Farila Parish in northern Gavleborg County. Brita grew up in Bollnas Parish in the southern part of Gavleborg County. Olof and his family had immigrated to the United States in 1850. Brita hadn’t even been born until 1857, and she immigrated in 1880. I sometimes wonder if this was an arranged marriage that allowed Brita and her daughter to come to the United States and Olof to have companionship and someone to help raise his son Eddie. Could Brita have been a “mail order bride”? This union does seem very curious to me, but whatever the reason, they married on September 9, 1880, and were married until Olof’s death in 1924.

Besides William Edward (Olof’s son) and Sophia Charlotta or Lottie as she was known (Brita’s daughter), Olof and Brita had 7 more children together:

·         Hannah Margurite Olofson (1881-1965)

·         Alice Olofson (1883-1963)

·         Gilbert Olofson (1886-1976)

·         Charles Olofson (1889-1911)

·         Delbert Olofson (1891-1920)

·         Bada Olofson (1893-1971)

·         Leon Olofson (1896-1967)

Brita and Olof Olofson Family: Left to right back row: Delbert, Gilbert, Leon; Left to right front row: Bada, Alice, Hanna, 1/2 sister Lottie

In this picture, seated are the two youngest: Bada and Leon. Behind them are Charles, Gilbert, and Delbert.

 Olof and Brita Olofson were not wealthy. In the 1880 agriculture schedule, Olof is a renter with just 30 improved acres and 40 unimproved woodland or forest acres and 19 unimproved "old fields" not growing wood.

In the 1900 US Federal Census for Hardin Township in Webster County, Olof and Brita, along with 5 of their children and two boarders are sharing a home on a farm that Olof rents.

In the 1910 US Federal Census for Hardin Township in Webster County, they are still renting a farm, living with 4 children and a servant. Olof is now in his 70’s, probably relying on his children to maintain the farm.

In the 1920 US Federal Census for Marion Township in Hamilton County, Olof and Brita own their own place and are living by themselves. In 1924, Olof dies at the age of 86 on July 16. Brita lived her last years with her daughter Alice in Mankato, Minnesota. and died there at the age of 72 on April 6, 1930. Both Olof and Brita are buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Stratford, Iowa.

A couple of interesting details about two of Olof and Brita’s children follow:

Charles Olofson:

In the Stratford Courier, 12 January 1911:

YOUNG MAN IS VICTIM OF FALL

Charley Olofson Meets Death in Chicago as the Result of Falling from a 40-foot Trestle

The people of this community were badly shocked Thursday evening when a report had been circulated around Stratford that Charley Olofson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Olof Olofson of this place, had been accidentally killed at Chicago Thursday afternoon, while performing his duties in the employ of the Western Union Co. He was in the act of removing a pulley and had climbed upon the trestle of an elevated railway, when in some unaccountable manner, which may have been due to the cold weather, or from exhaustion or from the passing of an elevated car, he lost his balance and fell a distance of forty feet. The accident happened about 2:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon and he was taken to St. Bernard's hospital, where he passed away at 5 o'clock without regaining consciousness. W. L. Brundein, a brother-in-law of the deceased, went to Chicago Thursday evening and returned with the remains Sunday morning.

Charley Harry Olofson was born at Stratford, Iowa, July 12, 1889, and died at Chicago, Illinois, January 5, 1911, at the age of 21 years, 5 months, and 24 days. He was baptized in Stratford, August 11, 1889, by Rev. Pearson, pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church, and was confirmed by Rev. A. P. Martin, May 22, 1904, at the Lutheran church. He leaves to mourn his death, a father and mother, four sisters, four brothers, besides many relatives and a host of friends. The sisters are: Miss Lottie Olofson, Mrs. W. L. Brundein, Mrs. H. V. Larson, Miss Bada Olofson. The brothers are: Ed Olofson, Delbert Olofson, Gilbert Olofson, Leon Olofson, all of Stratford, with the exception of Miss Lottie of Marshalltown and Mrs. Brundein of Dayton.

Funeral services were held at the Swedish Lutheran church Monday afternoon at 1 o'clock, conducted by Rev. N. E. Kron, of Dayton. The church was filled with friends to pay their last respects to the departed one and the casket was banked with beautiful flowers given by relatives and friends. After those present had been permitted to view the remains, the sad cortege moved on to the Swede Bend cemetery, where the remains were interred.

Bada Olofson

Daughter Bada married Clement Lincoln Johnson who worked for several years as a hardware salesman. In 1943, the couple and their daughter Wanda are living in Des Moines, and Clement is seeking work while Bada is working as a beauty operator. In 1945, the family is found in Los Angeles in the city directory there. It appears that they left Iowa so Clement could find work because Clement is shown as an assistant pound master in the city directory, and Bada is no longer working. So, are YOU wondering what I'm wondering? Clement couldn't find work in Iowa, moves his family to California just to find work as an ASSISTANT pound master? I'm a bit confused by this move!

In 1946, Clement dies. After that, we see Bada once again working as a barber or beauty operator until she retires in 1965.

Clement died on June 8, 1946 at age 59; Bada died on September 23, 1971, at age 77.

Brita Rask Olofson

Brita Rask Olofson

Olof and Brita Olofson

Photo taken in 1904:

FRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Bada, Olof, Delbert, Brita, Leon, Alice

BACK ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Charlie, Lottie, Edward, Hannah, Gilbert