Louise Blanche Linn, DO*

We have so many talented, creative, artistic and educated people in our family, making it difficult to select just a few for my “52 ancestors in 52 weeks” adventure. But when I found a female ancestor who was called “doctor” in the early 1900’s, I wanted to know more.

Louise Blanche Linn was born on November 6, 1860, to John Linn and his second wife, Sarah Swensdotter. On May 17, 1887, Louise married John Anderson in Boone County. They settled in Kansas City, Missouri, where John was involved in sales and later was a superintendent for the Water Works.

When I found the following, I became curious about what Louise’s studies involved and what she would have been qualified to do after graduation.

I contacted the College of Osteopathy historian and received the following email dated 6 April 2017:

“Hello Diane, I’m the historian for the University so I can answer your questions. The Central College of Osteopathy was founded in Kansas City in 1903. Your ancestor must have been one of the first classes to graduate as it was a three-year course then.

As for your ancestor’s studies: in the last years of the 1800s and first years of the 1900s, it was difficult for women to gain acceptance to allopathic medical schools. In contrast, the first school of osteopathy, founded in Kirksville, MO in 1892, welcomed women and later osteopathic schools followed suit. In the early years there were many practicing female osteopaths…. Many of our early faculty members were female DOs.

Was your ancestor’s maiden or married name Anderson? I have a picture from a CCO catalog for a Louise B. Anderson from the Class of 1906.”

At left is the graduation photograph of our ancestor, Louise B. (Linn) Anderson. Louise's picture is in the center below "Class '06".

Many doctors at that time practiced medicine out of their own homes. While I don’t know how long she practiced medicine, Louise is listed in the 1910 Federal census, working as an osteopath from her home. She is also seen below in a list of the 1910 faculty for Children's Diseases at the Osteopathy College in Kansas City.

Louise is my first cousin, three times removed, an early pioneer in females graduating from medical school and practicing medicine.

John and Louise’s only surviving child, Orpha Anderson, married twice. First to Harrington Embree Drake, with whom she had two children; and after his death, she married Wellington Powell, with whom she also had two children. Wellington Powell was a manager for A T & T and upon his retirement from A T & T in 1969 served as a consultant to the World Bank on telephone-related matters in Thailand, India, and Jordan.

Louise’s husband John Anderson died in 1930; Louise died in 1940 at age 79 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

* Doctor of Osteopathy

The OTHER Peter Linn

Much is known about two of the three Linn brothers who immigrated to the United States. John (Johan Leonard Olausson) was a prominent minister who started many churches in the Midwest; and he was presiding elder of the District of Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.  Gus (Gustus Magnus Olausson) was my great-great grandfather who served in the Civil War and was captured at the Battle of Pleasant Hill, serving 18 months as a POW in Camp Tyler, Texas.

But the third brother, Peter (Olaus Petter Olausson) is less well known. Peter was the oldest of the three brothers. In 1851, he and his wife Sophia immigrated to the United States with their two-year old son Edvard who died in New York upon their arrival, and their one-year old son Olaus Leonard who died shortly after their arrival in Iowa. Peter and Sophia had earlier lost their first born child, Olaf Petter in 1848.

The loss of their three oldest children is a tragedy, but there was more to come for this family. In total, Peter and Sophia had 8 children, none of whom lived to be older than the age of 25. Several of the children are buried with their parents in the Linn Cemetery in Pilot Mound.

One might think that, with the loss of all 8 children, there must be some genetic issue. In cases where I have found death records or obituaries, their deaths vary from consumption (tuberculosis) to the flu. Only one child married, but she died at the age of 24, leaving no heirs for Peter and Sophia.

When looking at the agriculture schedules which are non-population federal censuses taken to show the details of each farmer’s land, it is clear that Peter and Sophia were the wealthiest of the three brothers.

In the 1870 schedule, Peter owned 130 acres of improved land and 120 acres of woodland, totaling $3600 (today that would be worth over $64,000). He had over $1,800 worth of livestock and bushels of crops including corn and rye. In the 1880 schedule, Peter’s farm was worth $4,000 (today’s total $90,000) with livestock worth over $1,200.

Peter and Sophia moved from their farm in Boone County to a new brick home in Dayton sometime before 1885 where Peter died at the age of 69 on December 19, 1892. In his will, he left half of his wealth to his wife and divided the other half among his siblings, both those in the United States and those in Sweden. He also left $100 in his will to be used by the Swedish ME Church in Dayton for perpetual upkeep on his family’s plot in the Linn Cemetery. 

I often wonder if my grandfather, Peter Edward Linn, was named after his g-g-uncle, Peter. Grandpa's father, Andrew Linn (1861-1939)  would have known his great uncle Peter well; and so I'd like to think that he named his first-born son after Olaus Petter Olausson, the elder Peter Linn.

A Question About Names

I received a question this week about Ella's last name. We know that, in Sweden, children took as their last name the first name of their father followed by "son" or "dotter". Thus, shouldn't Ella's last name be "Ericsdotter" since her father was Eric Persson?

The Swedes took some liberty with the last names, just as we've seen here in the United States with various spellings. My own first name sometimes appears as Dianne or Diana. And our last name of Linn has been seen in documents as Lynn or Lind.

The same is true for the Swedish documents. Ella's last name could appear as Ericsdotter, Ericksdotter, Eriksdotter, or Ersdotter. They are interchangeable. When doing research, we just have to be sure that all other information, such as date of birth, spouse, children, place of birth, all match.

Hope that helps.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Welcome back to my blog! It's a new year, 2018, and my goal for this year is to write about 52 of my Swedish ancestors in 52 weeks. I hope you enjoy the posts. Please send your comments or questions as I hope to make this meaningful and interesting.

Why not start with a woman who lived to be nearly 101 years old!

Ella Ersdotter is my 7th great grandmother, an ancestor of Maude Edith Olofson. She was born on the 18th of May 1676 in Ljusdal which is in Gavleborg county. Ella married Olof Ersson in 1690 and together they had 8 children.

Olof and Ella moved to the neighboring parish of Farila where they raised their family. Olof died in 1747, leaving Ella to live her final 30 years of life alone.

From Ella's death record, we learn the following:

The farmer's widow Ella Ersdotter, was born in Ljusdahl during Ericsmasotiden (May 18) 1676. Her father was farmer Eric Persson and her mother was Sigrid Ersdotter. In 1681, when she was 5 years old, she moved with her parents here to Fone and Branna. Her father's brother was Olof Persson, and the family received the home from him who had left it in 1696.

Her parents both died the same day and were buried on the same day. The following year she entered into marriage with her husband Olof Ersson. He was born in Valla #1.
She lived with him in harmony and had love for 50 years until the 27th of April 1747. And during this time had with him 5 sons and 3 daughters. Two sons and two daughters are still alive.

She was a very honorable and capable woman. She had somewhat good health but at the end was very ill. She was blind 22 years. From the last michaelid, September 29, she has been bedridden. She died on 9 January.

The terms "Ericsmasotiden" and "Michaelid" are references to church dates and must be calculated using a book that is available in the Salt Lake City LDS Library.

Isn't it amazing that we have an ancestor who lived to be 100 years old in the 1700's? Imagine all of the minor illnesses or injuries that caused the deaths of people at that time. Even a broken bone, the flu, or cut often caused death. To have survived through all kinds of illnesses then is amazing.