Two Sisters - Part Two

Olivia Rask Olofson was my great grandmother. But as we saw in last week’s posting, she was also my second great aunt. Olivia and her older sister Brita’s parents, Olof Rask, a wonderer and laborer, and Sophia Margrite Kjellander, an orphan, peasant girl and unwed mother, had individually led difficult lives. But when they found each other, they seemed to find happiness. Olof Rask and Sophia Kjellander married on February 23, 1861, in Jamtland County, Sweden. Sophia had given birth to 3 children prior to meeting Olof, but together they had the following children:

·         Anna Stina Rask (1855-1878)

·         Brita Margrite Rask (1857-1930)

·         Olivia Rask (1859-1943)

·         Johanna Maria Rask (1861-?)

·         Karl Olof Rask (1864-1930)

Olivia’s birth year has been in dispute, with incorrect information being circulated both among family members and on on-line trees. Most early records, and her cemetery stone have the wrong year:

Olivia was not born in 1862, and my opinion is that she wanted to shave a few years off of her age. Olivia was born on November 18, 1859. Because she came to the United States as an adult in 1881, clearly Olivia knew when she was born. In Sweden it was on all church records that she was born on November 18, 1859. Perhaps taking a few years off her age made Olivia feel as if she could attract a suitable spouse once she came to the United States. And William Edward Olofson, our great-grandfather, born in 1866, was available.

As just one example of the correct birth year for Olivia, the following church survey from 1853-1861 for Stugun Parish in Jamtland County shows the mother Sophia Margarite Kjellander with 5 of her children, with Olivia’s birth date shown as November 18, 1859. Olof Rask is at the bottom of this screen. All of them are counted in the survey as being “people without a permanent residence” meaning they were probably homeless.

I'm fortunate to have inherited the Olofson family bible that is in Swedish in which births, marriages, and deaths were recorded. You can see below that Olivia's birth year of 1859 was crossed out and 1862 written in.

And, here is Olivia's birth record. Maybe not easy to read the Swedish, but you can see the underlined names Olivia, daughter of Olof Rask and Sophia Margrite Kjellander born on November 18, 1859. Confusion resolved!

William Edward Olofson and Olivia Rask married on October 17, 1889, and had the following children, two of whom did not live past infancy:

·         Lee Verne (Vernie) Olofson (November 22, 1890 – September 2, 1959)

·         Lily Sophy Olofson (May 3, 1892 – December 14, 1979)

·         Agnes Olofson (December 16, 1894 – December 19, 1894)

·         Maude Edith Olofson (March 1, 1897 – March 30, 1973)

·         Edward Olof Olofson (October 12, 1899 – February 27, 1900)

The stories about Olivia are ones that show her as a difficult person. But as she aged and spent time as a widow living both on her own and later with her children, perhaps some anger, frustration and even paranoia make some sense. Here are just a few stories given to me by family members:

Wedding Picture of William and Olivia Olofson

A story from both LaVonne Pliner Linn Halligan and Veryl Olofson was that Olivia, in her later years, believed someone was trying to "gas her". So, she put rags under the door to keep the "gas" out.

In a letter from Veryl Olofson (postmarked 21 Feb 2012), "the Olofsons home place was 1 mile south and 3/4 mile west of town. The folks moved there in 1924. So, I assume this is when Grandma Olivia moved into town. She lived in the south part, "Rosstown" as it was called. A small 1 1/2 story house. Dad would wait in town for me to come from school. Then we would stop by to see and visit with her. She always had a cup of coffee for dad and a cookie for me. This was 1932-36. She only talked Swedish, so I listened and picked up some of it. Enough that I got my job in town at the hardware store because I could serve the Swedish customers. Grandma was having a problem, mostly at night, as she thought people were "milling around" her home. She would have dad go outside and check all around. no sign of anything. He talked with her neighbors and they didn't know of any trouble. Dad discussed this many times with his sisters, as it became more frequent, about 1935 they decided that they would take turns keeping her in their homes. Dad sold her house in 1936 for $600, no state, Fed aid or nursing home existed then. Her mental and physical condition continued to deteriorate. I never ever saw her do anything other than eat and talk with dad. She spent about 10% of her time with Maude, 15% with dad, and 75% with aunt Lilly Lundgren. The last year or so, 100% with Lilly. She passed away in March of 1943. I was 16 years old, Ellis just turned 15, Ivan 11, and Merlyn 6 years old. We only knew of her being sick. She died of stomach cancer. Always a small lady who decreased in size as she got older. Must be heredity as my dad did also."

And, in an email from Ellis Linn to Myron Linn dated 9 December 2009: "My mother's mother (Grandma Olivia) was very strong in her thoughts and actions. When mealtime came around she would help or attempt to help my mother getting all of us to the table. When she said 'sit down' you had better sit down or she would HELP you. She used to babysit me when I was 5 or 6 years old. She would tuck me in bed and then proceeded to read me a bedtime story. Only a few sentences were spoken in very poor English and then Grandma switched to the Svenska (Swede) dialect. I couldn't understand what she was saying but at the end of the story I would always tell her 'that was a good story', thank her, and then go to sleep."

Brita and Olivia Rask

And one family member recalled her chasing him around the table with a knife threatening to cut his tongue out for being cheeky.

William Edward Olofson died at age 57 on February 12, 1924. Olivia did live for a time in town by herself until her health deteriorated.

In the 1930 US Federal Census for Stratford, Olivia is seen living on her own at 196 Teneyck Street. The value of her home was $2500.

Later, she lived with her children, with Lily at the time of her death on March 18, 1943. William, Olivia, and their two infant children Agnes and Edward are buried at the Hardin Township Cemetery.

Lee Verne, Maude, and Lily