Holes in a Life

Sometimes when our ancestors leave a hole in their lives where no records can be found, I become a bit irritated. With them? Maybe, for not staying in one place or for not making it easy to follow them. With the records? Often, for either not existing, having been destroyed, or just not digitized at this point.

These holes in someone’s life provide me with the opportunity to speculate, to let my mind go a bit wild. Was my ancestor a scoundrel? Taken off by Native Americans? Drowned at sea? Changed the last name to escape being found? Taken to an Insane Asylum only to die without proper records?

I admit I do this often. And occasionally my imagination takes me to a record or a book or a person where I find an answer. Today, I have two sisters who have left a hole in my neat genealogy records. I can trace them until 1870; I can trace them from 1877-1878 on until their deaths; but from 1870-1877, I’ve lost them.

Maybe it’s not such a big deal to lose someone as long as I can pick that person up again when there is a marriage, census record, church record, or births of children. Does it really matter if I can’t vouch for 7-8 years of someone’s life?

In this case, my answer is YES. And in the case of the two sisters, they leave questions that I would like to answer.

Julia Linn and Mary Linn were born to John Linn and his first wife, Brita Eriksdotter. Both were born in Iowa with Julia being recognized as the first white child born in Webster County. She was born on 8 January 1851; Mary was born on 30 August 1853. Shortly after Mary’s birth, mother Brita died.

We know that John then married Sarah Svensdotter and, together they had 5 additional daughters. I’ve followed this couple through censuses and through John’s ministerial work that took the family from Iowa to Illinois and back again.

Julia and Mary are found with John and Sarah Linn in the 1860 Federal Census for Hardin Township, Webster County: John Lynn, age 34, minister (M.E.), Sarah, age 38, Melker, age 14, John, age 15, Julia, age 8, Mary, age 6, Sophia, age 5, Charlotte, age 4, Caroline, age 1.

But in 1870, the 1870 Federal Census for Moline Township, Rock Island County, Illinois, shows John Linn, age 44 (preacher) wife Sarah, age 48; daughter Charlotte, age 12; daughter Caroline, age 11; and daughter Louisa, age 10. Julia and Mary are not with this family. They would have been 18 and 16 years of age.

I’ve looked at state censuses, various spellings, looked at other relatives in the 1870 census, and church records. I’ve lost Julia and Mary from 1870 until Julia marries in 1877 and Mary marries in 1878. And now, my mind starts to explore other possibilities:

·         Could one or both girls have been working in someone’s household and no last name was listed on a census?
·         Were the girls together? Were they transient?
·         Were their last names horribly misspelled?
·         Were they living in a state besides Iowa or Illinois?
 

I have so many questions. But there’s additional information to consider:

How and when did Julia meet her future husband, Peter J. Berg? From Peter’s obituary, we gain a clue:

Article in the 29 November 1923 Dayton Review on his death:

"Rev. P. J. Berg was born in Berg's Socken, Smaland, Sweden 07 June 1851 and died at his home in Kingsburg, CA on 16 November. He came to America, July 1869 to Henry Co., IL and worked as a farm hand and blacksmith. In 1871, he was converted in Areviva (a revival) meeting at Woodhull, IL and joined Swedish M. E. Church. He went to the seminary in Evanston, IL, was ordained an elder in 1880. He married 29 May 1877 to Miss Julia Linn, a daughter of a veteran of Swedish Methodism of IA. Two daughters born, Edna who is deceased and Mrs. A. J. Challgren, now of Harcourt. The mother died in 1905. He married again on 08 June 1908 to Mrs. Adelia (Hugner) Fuller at Clay Center, KS. Also leaves four step-children and a sister in Sweden. Buried in Dayton, IA cemetery beside wife and daughter.

From this obit, it appears that Julia was in Illinois. Otherwise, how would she and Peter have met? He lived in Woodhull in Henry County, not far from Bishop Hill, that we know as a Swedish cult village. But I don't know for certain where she was living. 

Normally, I would guess that Peter and Julia met in or near Woodhull, IL and married in 1877 before they went to Evanston, IL for seminary. But to make this a bit more of a mystery, Peter and Julia married in Des Moines, Iowa. Nowhere near Illinois, nowhere near where Peter had been living, where John and Sarah Linn were living. And I have no record that John Linn officiated at Peter and Julia’s wedding.

Mysterious? Let’s see what happens with Mary Linn during that same time. Mary was born in 1853 to John and Brita, but shortly after Mary’s birth, Brita died. John remarried soon after. Both Julia and Mary are found with this new set of parents in the 1860 US Federal Census, but between 1870 and when Mary married her husband in 1878, I cannot find her.

How did Mary Linn and her future husband Charles Alfred Orman meet? We aren’t sure where Mary Linn is living before she married Charles Orman on 28 December 1878 in Worcester, Massachusetts! Massachusetts? How did Mary get there? Where did she and Charles meet?

Charles was 9 years Mary’s senior, born in Sweden in 1844. In 1872, at age 28, he left for the United States, arriving in New York. Charles was a laborer much of his life.

But you can easily see my question. Charles landed in New York in 1872 and, undoubtedly, was trying to find regular work. In the 1860s, Mary is in Iowa, living with her parents and sisters, until she's NOT. How would you guess that these two found one another? There are plausible answers: Charles may have taken work that had him traveling to the Midwest would be the most likely. But because this couple is between Federal Censuses, my luck at finding one or both of them between 1870 and 1878 has run out. No newspaper articles, no land purchases, no church records.

What I do know is that Mary Linn and Charles Ohrman married on 28 December 1878 in Worcester, Massachusetts with the officiating pastor being Alfred Erickson of Brooklyn, NY. The couple lived in both Massachusetts and in Pennsylvania for the rest of their lives. They had 5 children, one of whom died in World War I.

Charles died in 1926; Mary in 1927. And they are buried in Massachusetts.

After reading all of this detail, you may ask: Why care so much about those few years in a person’s life when I know the beginning and end?

Maybe it’s a bit simplistic to say that I just care about their entire lives, not just the birth, marriage and deaths. While that is true, I care about knowing about them as people. Whether it is adventures, occupations, tragedies, I want to know it all. It’s what makes this hobby of mine so interesting.

These young adult years for Julia and Mary Linn might have held many clues to who they were and what motivated them. They may have been adventurous young women, looking to see some of the world before settling down, but from 1870-1878, they would have been VERY adventurous young women for the time.

As the oldest two daughters in the family and Sarah being their stepmother, could the additional responsibilities they would have had lead them to leave? Could there have been tension between the girls and Sarah? Was this simply a pattern that we have seen in Sweden where young people were sent out to make their own way?

Did Charles Orman come to the Midwest or did Mary meet him elsewhere? And why would they marry so far away from Mary’s father, Reverend John Linn? Did Peter Berg meet Julia in Illinois? We don’t see a record of Julia living in that state, but it seems the most likely answer. But again, they marry in Des Moines without the Reverend John Linn officiating.

I can close the chapter on Julia and Mary for now because I have the bookends of their lives, the names of their children, and their important vital information. But these questions will likely stay with me awhile and even call me to go searching again at some point.

Note: I miss cousin Donny. As I was writing this post, I thought about all of the emails we had over the past few years about our family history, about his mom and mine, about the Cubs, about information in the blog. He always commented, either on the site itself or in an email to me. 

And, on another note: I'm working on a very interesting land transfer involving Gus. I'm not sure where this will lead me, but I hope I can learn enough to write this up for you soon.

 

 

Linn Photos

To everyone who finds this blog,

I apologize for being absent for a few weeks. Life does have a way of putting some things to the front and pushing others to the back of our lives. But you can see from the photo below, one big piece of news our family is sharing:

On September 9, Penny Belle joined our family and clearly is loved by her two big brothers, Colton and Max. We are overjoyed by this new addition; and you can be sure that she and her brothers will know their family history and learn about their lives that made it possible for all of us to be here to welcome a new life.

In addition to helping with our grandchildren, I've also been spending a great deal of time in front of my computer, going through the thousands of photos and documents that I've inherited from mom, scanning many photos, and adding them to my ancestry.com page. If any of you have an ancestry account, let me know and I'll invite you to be a guest so you can see all of the work I've been doing there.

But I also want to use a couple of these posts to share some of the more interesting photos that I've found and scanned. In this blog, I'll concentrate on Linn photos. Next time around, I'll move to the Olofsons; and after that maybe a look at Lundgrens, Rasks, and others to whom we are related.

Charles Henry Linn was my second great uncle, the youngest child of Gus and Catherine Lundblad Linn. As a young man, Charles and his wife Louise moved to Nebraska where they raised two children, Wallace, and Helen. You may recall the death of Charles was quite unusual. Below is a reminder from the Omaha newspaper:

Omaha Daily Bee, August 19, 1913:

During the severe storm that visited Kansas City Saturday night Charles H. Linn, 2511 Ames avenue, was killed by a lightning shock while using the telephone. The bolt had hit somewhere along the line just at a time when he had the receiver to his ear. He died shortly afterwards. Surviving him besides the widow are two children, Wallace and Helen, both of whom live at home.

Mr. Linn was 46 years of age and conducted a business at Kansas City. His home, however, was in Omaha. 

Isn't Charles a fine looking man, dressed to impress?

Next is a photo of my great uncle Frank Linn, brother of Peter and Elsie Linn. He is holding one of our dear cousins, Joan, who just celebrated another birthday last weekend.

Below is a photo of Julia Linn Berg. Julia was said to have been the first white child born in Webster County, Iowa. The daughter of John Linn and his first wife, Julia was born on January 8, 1851. She married a minister, Rev. Peter Berg, and had two daughters, Edna and Frances.

Julia died in 1905 after an operation for cancer.

I love the photos that show our ancestors as young people, living fun lives. Laughing, dancing, playing instruments, and the following. A photo of Peter Linn with Ken Carlson on the back of a motorcycle in 1913. Wouldn't any of us love to have that motorcycle today?

Cedar Brook farm is where Andrew and Elin Andersson Linn lived and raised their 3 children. Standing outside their front door is Elin, Elsie, Andrew; and in front Frank and Peter Linn.

Between the Linns and Olofsons, there were many cousins for our parents to play with. The picture below shows many of them. I left the handwritten labels on there so you can find those to whom you are related. They are all related to me.

The Linns and Olofsons were musical families. And so were the Lundgrens. Below is a photo that shows Pete Linn on both the mandolin and banjo. Others in the photos, I believe, are Lundgrens.

Do you know the story of how Pete Linn and Floyd Olsen managed to move a very, very heavy rock from the farm south of Dayton to the park near the Dayton elementary school? Read the article below to learn just how difficult it was.

It was dedicated as a memorial rock for local soldiers who served in the Civil War. What a great tribute and one I'm so proud that my grandfather was a major part of.

Our Linns must have been very, very social. I have so many photos of parties, dances, card playing, and more. Sadly, most are unlabeled. But my last photo for this post is one that was labeled. I've kept the labels so you, too, can recognize some of the important members of our family.

I hope you enjoyed this look at some of our ancestors and their daily activities. While this is a huge job for me that will take years, I'm enjoying learning more about my ancestors and scanning as many photos as I can.

Next week: the Olofsons