With so many residents of Webster, Boone, and Hardin
counties with the surname Anderson, it can be difficult to find and follow the
correct one. But I learned the birthdates for all 5 of Carl (Charlie) and Anna
Andersson’s children several years ago when I found each of their birth records
in Sweden. Still, it’s easy to become a bit sloppy when looking for an Anna
Anderson among a dozen in one cemetery or one census, and so it's important to
check birthdates and places, relationships, church and newspaper records.
In this post, we will look at each of Carl and Anna
Andersson’s 5 children:
Maria Lovisa Anderson. Maria was born on 11
February 1859 in Malexander Parish, Ostergotland, Sweden, almost exactly one
year after her parents married. Maria was christened on 13 February 1859; her
mother was 26 years old at Maria’s birth.
Maria didn’t accompany her parents and 4 siblings to America
in 1884; she was 25 then, probably had work obligations; maybe wasn’t certain
about her family’s American adventure. But in 1885, Maria crossed the ocean to join
her family.
Maria married Frank Anderson on 27 January 1887. They began
farming and, in the 1900 US Federal Census, they are found in Elkhorn Township,
Webster County, with 2 children: Segrud born in August 1887; and Thor born in
June 1891. (Note: For my siblings, they lived close to mom’s relatives, Shekers
and Machovecs.) Maria didn’t need to change her last name when she married
Frank Anderson.
In the 1910 US Federal Census, the family is still living on
a farm in Elkhorn Township with Segrud and Thor; but they had also adopted a
young girl, Anna Maurene whose last name and birthplace were unknown. Moving to
the 1920 US Federal Census, Frank, Maria, Thor, and Anna are living on a farm
in Elkhorn that the family owned.
On 27 May 1933, Maria Lovisa Anderson died of diabetes
mellitus. Frank died in 1938; both are buried at Callender Cemetery in the town
of Callender.
Anna Charlotte Anderson. Anna was born
in Malexander, Sweden in 1864 and died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Dayton,
Iowa, in 1949. She married Anders Gust Andersson in Boone on 31 August 1886.
Once again, one of the Anderson daughters didn’t need to change her last name!
Maria had married Frank Anderson; Anna had married Anders
Gust Anderson; sisters who married brothers; same surnames for the four.
Anna Charlotte’s obituary states the following:
Mrs. Anderson was 83 years of age,
and had lived on the farm beside the Des Moines River for many years.
Her home along the river could be the Carlson cabin that was
referenced in the last post. She was buried alongside her husband Frank in the
Dayton Cemetery. She left 2 children: Anna who was living with her in the
cabin, and Elmer who lived in California.
On a sad note, Anna Charlotte’s husband Frank committed
suicide. Below is the notice from the Dayton Review:
The Dayton Review – October 20,
1938
GUST A. ANDERSON TAKES OWN LIFE
Gust A. Anderson, who had lived
near Dayton for more than a half century, took his own life last Monday night
at the age of 80 years when he committed suicide by shooting himself at his
farm home between Dayton and Stratford.
Although no apparent reason was
given for the tragedy it is believed that ill health was responsible for the
act.
The aged man is reported to have
gone out of the house about mid-night and sometime later his wife and daughter
went in search of him. They found the victim in the corn crib where he had shot
himself with a shotgun. A lighted flashlight led the searchers to the scene of
the tragedy.
Dr. H.E. Nelson was called to the
Anderson home and Coroner Dr. Forbes was also summoned.
Surviving are Mrs. Anderson, a
daughter, Anna; a son, Elmer; and a grandchild.
Certainly, age 80 in 1938 was felt to be very elderly; and
Elmer may have had serious health issues that we don’t know of. But it also was
toward the end of the Great Depression, a time that became more difficult for
farmers as they lived on a “borrow and pay back” system for grain, equipment,
farm animals, etc. While Anna was able to stay on the farm after her husband’s
passing, there may have been very little in the way of assets. In the 1940
census, her adult daughter Anna and grandson Lawrence came to live with her.
Anna died in 1949 at the age of 84 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Both Anna and Gus are buried in the Dayton Cemetery.
Karl Johan Oskar Andersson. Karl, the fourth
child, was born in Malexander in 1871 and died in 1955 and is buried in the
Dayton Cemetery. Karl went by several names during his life including Carl,
Charles, Charley, C. A., and others. This has made it difficult to follow him
at various points in his life, especially with a very common last name. Most
researchers show that he did not marry and, supporting that theory is that he
lived with his mother after his father died. No wife or children are shown then,
and he is listed as single in each census.
When the family came to the US in 1885, Karl was just 14
years old, but old enough to take on a large share of farmwork. While I have no
additional information that I can be certain of because of the number of
Andersons in the area, I do have the final report for his estate:
Peter E. Linn (my grandfather) was the administrator whose
signature appears on this report. Karl (Charles) Anderson’s assets had been
accounted for, expenses paid, and “there was no inheritance estate, income, or
personal property taxes due from this estate or from the administrator herein
or from any person interested in this estate.”
All family heirs waived any additional reporting, except for
Elmer Anderson, whom they could not contact. Those heirs who were notified were
Elsie Linn Carlson, niece; Peter Linn, nephew; Frank Linn, nephew; Sigurd
Anderson; nephew; Thor Anderson, nephew; Anna Anderson; niece; Elmer Anderson,
unknown and not notified; nephew; Lawrence Sundine, nephew; Wendell Sundine,
nephew; and Clifford Anderson, nephew.
Viktor Alfred Andersson. The baby of this family
was born in Malexander in 1873 and died in 1941 in Fort Dodge, Iowa; he is
buried in the North Lawn Cemetery there. While we found little information
about Karl (Charley) Anderson, Viktor left a trail of interesting news
articles. He and his family were very social as we find them weekly in the news
about hosting or attending parties. But the two below hold special interest, the first from 1919; the second from 1924.
In 1897, Viktor and Hilda Augusta Peterson married in Boone
County and set up housekeeping in Roland, Webster County, Iowa. Unable to have
children for the first 12 years of their marriage, Viktor and Hilda adopted
Clifford, born in 1905.
We have seen a few adoptions in these posts, and there are a
few on my mom’s side as well. It’s difficult to find any paperwork or backstory
on the availability of these children. Most were not formally adopted but
“taken in” when a tragedy struck another family.
Viktor died in 1941 of a cerebral hemorrhage; Hilda died in
1956; both are buried in the North Lawn Cemetery in Fort Dodge.
A story that had been passed down for years is that both
Karl (Charley) and Viktor left Iowa and lived in California. I can find no
evidence of that. It’s clear that Karl stayed on the family farm his entire
life. And Viktor lived near Fort Dodge.
This is a bit longer than I
had planned. How about a post on Elin Mathilda Andersson next time plus a few Anderson
family photos.
