Family Sayings

Today is Mother’s Day and so I start this post with a hug to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, cousins and other special ladies in our family. My 95-year old mom is physically doing fine, but her mental capacity is gone. She rarely remembers any of her children, and it’s not possible to carry on a conversation with her. Today, while I remember my mom, it is with a sense of sadness that 70-years of my life, talking with her, sharing genealogy information with her, arguing with her, cooking with her, laughing with her, and having my feet rubbed by her are gone.

It also seemed fitting that today we remember some of the sayings our moms and other family members used to say to make a point with us growing up. And so, today I think about and share a few of those family sayings:

We all have them. Family sayings that have a message but are often skirted in humor.

As children, when we left a door open, my mom would always say “Shut the front door. We’re not heating for the birds.” I can still hear her say that, and I will admit that I never leave a door open, even though I live in southern California where it is never cold enough to want to heat for the birds.

The Linns were/are great card players. Put the Linns together with a pot of coffee – or two – and a card game will break out. If you were with the Linns when Pete and Maude hosted a night of cards, you heard Grandma Maude Linn say “Give me some kings, give me some aces, give me some cards, I’m going places.” And if I remember right, she had to be facing the way the bathtub faced for good luck. I still say this phrase and I think my brothers do as well. Where did Grandma learn these phrases and superstitions?

In our family, we also heard “I got a hand like a foot (playing cards)” and “I’m so mad I could crush a grape.”

Grandpa Pete Linn would often finish a story with “That’s what makes me so slick.”

To the boys in our family, mom would say “If you don’t tuck in your shirt, I’m going to sew lace on the bottom.” I imagine that worked quite well!

I always said “shoot a pickle,” a phrase I learned from a college roommate. And that phrase kept my language in check! Somewhere I learned to say “flush that puppy down” and passed it on to our grandsons for when they finished their bathroom duty. They think it’s hilarious!

What family sayings do you have, do you remember? Your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or great-grandparents? Let’s share a few, especially if they are from our Linn or Olofson folks. I’m sure you heard and remember some that I don’t recall, and I’d love to hear them.

 LaVonne, 1925

                                 LaVonne, High School Grad

LaVonne, 2018

HALFARDSSON HOME

 

My 6^th great grandfather on the Olofson line is Anders Halfvardsson, born on January 16, 1687 in Ytterhogdal Parish in Jamtland County in northern Sweden. He moved to Farila Parish in Gavleborg County where he married Cherstin Zachrisdotter who was born in June 1691 in Farila Parish. They raised 5 children including a set of twins.

I found the following picture and description of their home in Karbole, Farila Parish where you can see Anders and Cherstin’s names mentioned.

 This description (at least the parts I can read) gives us a look at how this house was handed down in this family from one generation to the next for a very long time. I can also partially read that a baby grand piano was moved to its present location in 1895. Some animals are mentioned: 1 horse, 11 cattle, 2 pigs. The farm previously covered 1,147 ha. (some measurement), but about 250 were sold in 1890. The land has been in the family as far as you can trace back in the church.

Anders Halfvardsson and Cherstin Zachrisdotter passed the home on to my 6^th great uncle Halvard Andersson and his wife Marta Jonsdotter. Why didn’t my 5^th great grandfather Olof Andersson, inherit the property from his father? Because he wasn’t the eldest son. His brother Halvard Andersson was.

Halvard’s son, Anders Halvarsson, my first cousin 6 times removed, lived there next with his wife Ingrid Persdotter. Later, their son Per Andersson and his wife Anna Andersson lived in the home. Their daughter Marta Persdotter and her husband Olof Ersson lived in the home, followed by their sons Per (who used the last name Sundstrom) and Olof.

While I had already researched and found the birth and death dates of these ancestors, along with their spouses, this was a great source for confirming what I had found and would also help someone who hadn’t filled out this part of the family tree. But what was new to me was how this property had stayed in our family for generations.

• Halvard Andersson was the eldest child of Anders Halfvardsson.
• Anders Halfvarsson was the eldest child of Halvard Andersson.
• Per Andersson was the only child of Anders Halfvarsson.
• Maria Persdotter was the only child of Per Andersson.

Do you see the pattern? Eldest or only child in the family inheriting the family home. This was the tradition. And this helps explain why some family members had to move, to immigrate to other countries, to find another path. They would never own property that had been in their family.

And when you look at people like Gus, John, and Peter Linn, the 3 youngest of a widowed mother, their opportunities to own land would only be available to them through immigration. Thus, one important reason why these 3 Linn brothers immigrated to the United States.

 

Francis and Elsie (Linn) Carlson's Farm

 Hi Everyone,

What a treat I have to share with all of you, courtesy of my second cousin, Jim Carlson, the grandson of Francis and my great aunt Elsie (Linn) Carlson. A few days ago, Jim sent me links to some of the home movies he has gathered, digitized and posted. Below is an introduction, written by Jim, and below that is the link to the 12-minute video. Even if you aren't related to the Carlsons or Linns, you will enjoy this look at farm life in 1942.

Jim and I made connection through our DNA work and have exchanged emails and photos and stories for the past couple of years. He's a wealth of information on the Carlson line!

Enjoy!

My name is James Ray Carlson, born 1948 Nov 16 in Boone, Iowa (where I still live).

My paternal Grandfather was Francis Emory Carlson, born 1886 Nov 23 at Stratford, Iowa, which is also the town where I grew up. He married Elsie Louellen Linn, born 1889 Aug 3 at Pilot Mound, Iowa (13 miles away). They had 4 sons: Kenneth, Chester (Chet), Eugene, and Wayne.

My Dad, Kenneth Quinten Carlson, born 1910 Jan 20, died 2008 Sep 29, was the oldest son. Beginning about 1940, he began taking 8 mm home movies, beginning with B & W, and soon transitioning to color films. He made movies of family reunions, working on the farm, his kids and grandkids growing up, pets, and family vacations. It seems that he realized that it was important to film PEOPLE, and not just locations and scenery, which makes them more interesting now 80 years later. I have just completed digitizing over 125 reels of his  movies, some from 50 foot 3-minute reels, and many that had been spliced together to make 10 to 30-minute reels. The total is about 6 hours of video. I have provided all these digital movies on a flash drive to each of my siblings, so I hope my project will keep memories alive and give future generations an idea of what family life on the farm was like for their ancestors.

This 12-minute film was taken at Francis and Elsie's farm at Pilot Mound in 1942. In addition to the people mentioned above, you'll also see my Mom (Fern); my sisters (Dorothy, Pat, and Karen--I wasn't born yet); my cousins Ronnie and Janice; and a great great uncle and aunt who lived at Fort Dodge, about an hour away. Family ties were SO important in these years, as families worked together and played together.

I hope you too will enjoy this glimpse of the simple life in Iowa from 1942.

Jim

https://vimeo.com/503982648

Click on the link above or copy and paste it into your browser. Enjoy!

Family Reunions

 

Have you ever been to a family reunion? Some reunions attract hundreds of family members where family t-shirts are worn, family recipes are shared, photos are displayed, and games are played. Today, I want to share information with you about some of our family reunions.

 Let’s start with the Linns. The Linn reunions began in 1925, but the earliest news article I have is from 1931 when it was held at the Stratford Park on September 6, with 114 attendees. The following article tells a bit about the reunion program and who attended. Recognize any names?

 

I recognize several names: William Linn, Oscar Linn, Robert Linn, Floyd Linn, Francis Carlson, Frank Linn and Joan Linn, and surnames of Malmberg, Fallein, and Westrum.

Jumping ahead to September 1941, the 16^th annual Linn reunion was held in Pilot Mound with the following article describing the event and attendees: 

Again, I recognize many names: Linn, Carlson, Fry, and the Wallace Linn family came all the way from Nebraska with Helen Louise Linn from Denver. 

Did you know that minutes were kept and people signed in when they arrived? Below are various parts of the minutes from different years, including sign-in sheets; lists of births, marriages, and deaths; and activities. I’m not sure who has the original book, but my mom allowed me to make copies of the pages so I could have them for my genealogy work, and then she gave it back to its rightful owner. I have information for the Linn reunions from 1936-1980. And so, if you are curious about a year, or several, of the Linn reunions, who was there, what was in the minutes, who was born, married or died, let me know and I’ll email you scanned copies.

From the 1955 Linn reunion below, you can see that the treasury had $2.83 going forward, 28 attendees, and ice cream, cake and coffee served. We see births for the previous year: two of my first cousins Ivan Dean Linn, son of Ivan and Ann; and Alan Edward Linn, son of Ellis and Johanna. And farther down is a cousin I’ve more recently connected with, Scott Allan Linn, son of Marlin and Janet. You may recognize other names.

 

In 1956, we see the sign-in sheets below which give the names of the attendees and where they are living, a great help to me as a family historian. Do you recognize names in our family?

 Also from 1956, we see my family listed. Sorry, Randy. You weren’t here yet:

And the list of attendees in 1956 (53), plus the accounting for the year.

If you have other years you would like to see, I’m happy to post more or send through email a year you are most interested in.

 

The Lundblad family also held annual family reunions starting in 1910, one of the oldest family get togethers in Iowa. Below is an article about the 1932 Lundblad reunion from the Dayton Review:

 

I know fewer of these names, but as a family historian, this is very helpful to me. It allows me to find additional relatives, but it also gives me a town where they are currently living. For example, in the second paragraph above is the name H. J. Lundblad which is Henrik Julius Lundblad. Henrik is the son of Anders Lundblad and the nephew of our Catharina Lundblad Linn. I now know that, in 1932, he and his family live in Laurens, Iowa, a small town northwest of Fort Dodge. I can now search for him and his family based on this information.

In addition to the Linns and Lundblads, the Barquists also held annual reunions. The following article from the September 11, 1913 Dayton review indicates a small turnout from the immediate area, but in addition to the Barquist names we know, Olof Olofson and his wife Brita were also in attendance.

 

While there were Olofson get-togethers, their “reunions” were more of a gathering for an event. The following Olof Olofson family reunion was to honor their son Leon who was going to serve in World War I in 1918, taken from the September 12, 1918 Stratford Courier:

The next year, 1919, a reunion of the Lars Olofson family took place. Lars was the brother to my Olof Olofson. He and his wife had 10 children, so just their immediate family alone made for a relatively large reunion:

 

To my knowledge, no formal reunions were held by the Olofson family, none where minutes were kept, dues paid, and activities held.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing this sketch about our family reunions. Perhaps you attended one, or several. If you have photos of any you attended, I’d be happy to post them and share with our extended family. And wouldn’t it be fun to have another reunion in Iowa? Maybe at the Stratford park? We could make it a Linn-Lundblad-Olofson-Carlson-Barquist-Rask reunion!!!

 

A Mail Order Bride?

Most of us have options when we are looking for a serious partner. Dating apps, church, school, a bar, a blind date, a person we see at the local Starbucks. But, many of our ancestors came from the smallest of parishes in Sweden, rural areas where options to find a mate were slim. Thus, we often see marriages between people who lived on the same farm, a huge age gap in the couple, or marriages that were arranged or designed to provide stability and shelter. And, there were many births out of wedlock in our family tree.

Brita Margrite Rask was born in Bollnas Parish in Gavleborg County and is the step grandmother to our Maude Edith Olofson Linn. She was born on December 24, 1857, the second of five children born to Olof Rask and his wife Sophia Margrite Kjellander. Olof and Sophia didn’t marry until 1861, when they already had 3 children.

I wouldn’t call Olof Rask a particularly good catch. He was poor, moved a great deal as a laborer, and in one clerical survey is noted as being “defenseless, but basically honest”.

Bringing 5 children into a rather unstable environment must have been difficult for everyone.

•   Eldest daughter Anna Stina, who worked as a servant/pigan, died at the age of 22 of an unknown illness.
•   Second daughter Brita Margrite, who also worked at various farms as a pigan, became pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth to a daughter, Anna Charlotta, when she was just 22 years of age. She and her daughter immigrated to the United States in July 1880.
•   Third daughter Olivia was also a servant girl who followed her sister to the United States in 1881.
•   Fourth child Johanna Marie died at the age of 2 of an unknown illness.
•   The baby of the family was Karl Olof Rask. Karl came to the United States in 1884, lived in Iowa for a short time, married and moved to Yankton, South Dakota, and eventually to North Dakota, where he died in 1930.

We see that the three surviving Rask children all immigrated to the United States. But why? In Karl’s case, he was able to be an independent farmer, owning his own farm by 1910. He married another Swedish immigrant, and raised 8 children. Compared to what his life would have been like in Sweden, the son of two poor parents and no option to be a landowner, he certainly carved out a much better life for himself.

Olivia Rask followed Brita from Sweden to Iowa in 1881 and eventually married my great grandfather, William Edward Olofson. This makes Olivia our great-grandmother but also our step-great-great aunt. Confusing?

Brita’s immigration is interesting. She was living with her parents and raising a daughter in Sweden. How would she have learned about Olof Olofson in Iowa? How could she have met him to know if he would make a suitable life partner? While I have no definitive answer, it is my belief that this was an arranged marriage or a mail order situation for Olof and Brita.

Olof had been widowed sometime between 1871 and 1880, when Maria Barquist Olofson died. He was raising his son William Edward Olofson with the help of his mother Christine, as shown in the 1880 census taken in June of 1880.

Brita and her daughter sailed from Sweden to the United States sometime after July 5, 1880, when we see that they are moving out of Bollnas Parish. The ocean part of the trip would have taken approximately 3 weeks. That puts their arrival on the Eastern shore of the United States around the first part of August 1880. From there, Brita and Anna Charlotta would have taken a train, perhaps a boat and other transportation to Iowa and eventually to Hardin Township in Webster County. Maybe that would have added another month to their trip.

Brita and Olof Olofson married in Boone County on September 9, 1880. It would certainly appear that this couple did not know each other before marrying; or, if they did, it was for a very few days. Looks like an arranged marriage, a mail-order bride, or something practical, if not romantic.

When Brita and Olof married, Olof was going blind. As we saw from a post on July 1, 2018, Olof spent the last 40 years of his life blind. He died in 1924, so he would have been blind around 1884, just 4 years after Brita and Olof married.

Brita Rask Olofson is my step-second great grandmother and also my second great aunt, Maude Edith Olofson’s step grandmother and also her aunt.

Take a look back at the March 11 and March 18 blog posts and also the July 1 post, all from my 2018 year of 52 ancestors in 52 weeks, for more on the Rask family. And then weigh in. An arranged marriage? Or ….

Two photos of Brita Rask Olofson; lower photo is of Olof and Brita Olofson. Olof is blind in this photograph. Love his beard and wish we had that cane and his very cool hat!

UPDATING A STORY, CORRECTING AN ERROR

I’m a careful researcher. I’m slow, deliberate, curious, and I have a healthy bit of skepticism whenever I look at another person’s research or online tree. After all, mistakes can happen. And today, I’m going to update a Linn story and correct an error; and I hope, in the process, you feel as if you now have some bragging rights when others talk about their famous ancestors.

On September 2, 2018, I posted an article about us being “Almost Royalty”. I described how our 5^th great grandfather, Amund Persson, a well-to-do farmer, married a very well-connected woman named Catharina Margreta Strahle. They were married for over 6 years and, in 1756, Catharina died in childbirth. All of those facts are intact. What I discussed at the time is that we were not related to Swedish nobility because Catharina died before giving birth to any child with our 5^th great-grandfather.

Today, and with more research, I know that is not true. Amund Persson and Catharina Margreta Strahle did have one child, a son named Carl Peter Amundsson, born on July 30, 1749. And so, through this son who is half Amund Persson, we are related to the Swedish nobility. Carl is my half 5^th great uncle, certainly not a close relationship, but still, we are related. And that means that the Linns are related to Swedish nobility including the following:

 

•       Johan Carl Strale, a captain;
•          Barbaro Christina Gripenheim, daughter of Nils  Gripenhjelm who was also a captain and governor (appointed by the king) of Kopparberg;
•          Gustaf Carlson Bonde of Lajhela, a titled man, a chancellor:
•          Peter Natt-och-Dag Heer van Bro, a Swedish noble family and the oldest still existing family of pure Swedish extraction; officially known since the year 1280, according to documents at the Swedish National Archives

Priests, advisors, governors, captains are all part of Catharina Margreta Strahle’s lineage. And in turn, her son Carl is also related to us.

      I’ve traced Carl a bit. He was born in 1749 and died in 1799. He married and had one son born in 1778.

      I’m still most proud of my hard-working farmers from whom I descend. But I have to admit that I sat up in my chair a little straighter while writing this post.

      And for the record, I’ve traced the Olofson line back 7-9 generations and I can tell you with certainty that there is no nobility on that side. I’m thinking my grandma Maude Olofson Linn might have been a bit upset by that!

 

 Crest for the Natt-och-Dag noble family of Sweden

 

 

 

Crest for the Gustaf Carlson Bonde of Lajhela noble family of Sweden

 

 

Crest for the Strahle family

If you’re interested in learning more, you can google any of the names above to see photos and more information.

 To my relatives and those who found my blog of 2018:

Welcome back! I've missed all of you, your comments and questions and your interest in our family history. And I miss writing. In the past couple of months, 3 different people have commented on their interest in re-reading the original blog posts or asking me to write more. And so, here we are in 2021.

I do have a couple of ideas, people to write about, updates on some of the original stories. But I need your help. What would you like to have me write about? If I don't know it, I'll research it and do my best to present more information for all of us with Linn and/or Olofson ancestry. Do you have a story or a photo to share? If so, I'd be happy to post your contribution under your name on this blog. Many of you have my personal email, but you can always post in the comments section here and I'll definitely contact you.

It was wonderful during 2018 to reconnect with so many cousins and to be introduced to other relatives. I've had emails from people who simply found through a google search a blog post that was of interest. And now my circle of relatives has grown!

Let's make this new round of blog posts interesting and fun and keep our connection going. Look for a new post in the next week or two and please send me your ideas.

Diane

And please tell your siblings and other family members you know about the blog so we can continue to grow our family connections.