It's Been a Great Year!

To all who found this blog and read regularly, or occasionally, thank you! I've appreciated your comments, your questions, your suggestions for ancestors or topics to cover. This year has allowed me to write, hopefully in an interesting way, the stories of many of our Swedish ancestors and the times in which they lived.

I'll not be blogging on a regular basis in the new year, but if something new or exciting is found, you can be sure that I'll share it here. In fact, Myron and I, along with the Webster County genealogy website webmaster, have been working on a family story that, if we find the answer, will be posted here.

So, if you subscribe, please stay subscribed. If you want to email me with questions or with information you have in your possession, you have my email address. I assume that this site will stay active even if I'm not actively posting, but if you have a post, or several, that you find particularly interesting and want to keep, I'd suggest copying and printing them.

As you have learned from these posts, or perhaps already knew, our ancestors were not famous or rich or well-connected. No kings. No generals. No captains of industry. Our ancestors were hard-working men and women, many of whom lived lives that, on the surface, might look very ordinary. But I hope that the stories I've shared have helped you see them in a new light. Through their hardships, their sacrifices, their bravery, their talents, they rightfully take their place in our Swedish tree. A Civil War POW sparked my interest in our family history over 40 years ago, and it's been a passion of mine ever since.

If I've piqued your interest in our family history, I want to leave you this year with some free websites and suggestions for you to explore.

• Webster County Historic Newspapers -- this free site includes The Dayton Review, Fort Dodge Messenger, and many other small-town Webster County newspapers. Plug in a name and a date range and see what interesting things our ancestors did.
• Hamilton County Historic Newspapers -- this free site includes the Stratford Courier, Stanhope Sentinel, and many other small-town Hamilton County newspapers. It covers more years than the Webster County newspapers do.
• Church of Latter Day Saints - Family Search Library -- this site is free, but you need to create an account to use it all of its features. You do not need to be a member of the church to enjoy this site that has access to birth, marriage, death records, censuses, books, and many, many other helpful works. I've actively used this site and visited this library in Salt Lake City for over 25 years.

If you are eager to dig more deeply, there are several pay sites that are incredibly helpful. I subscribe to the following sites:

• Ancestry.com -- This site has been the "go to" site for genealogy research for many years, and they keep finding and adding more documents monthly. For a world-wide subscription, it costs me $149 for 6 months. Not cheap, but then again, I don't golf or have other expensive hobbies. The US-only version is less. If you purchase a subscription, be careful of what individuals post in their on-line trees. Not everything is carefully researched. I've found several errors in the public trees that include our ancestors. I use this site to host my own tree, seek hints for problem areas, and view documents that are historic and original, not from individual trees.
• Arkiv Digital -- The cost for a year is approximately $200. On this site, you will find original Swedish church records (birth, marriage, death, probate, etc) as well as population of Sweden records and much, much more. I've used this site for about 15 years nearly every day I'm at my computer. One of the new features is US Swedish church records. For example, Dayton Emanuel Lutheran Church records dating back to 1857 are there. Names of congregants, birth dates, death dates, and more. The Swedish church records are in Swedish, but the US church records are primarily in English.

Perhaps you've thought about DNA. What company? Then what? I'll admit that I'm still in the learning stages, and my siblings will tell you that anything to do with science is NOT in my wheelhouse. But my brothers and I have done our DNA, our mom has, and Rocky has. We have all used ancestry's DNA kits. I'm able to either view or manage all 5 of our DNA results on ancestry.com. My goal, besides seeing how our DNA breaks down, is to break through a few brick walls in our family. For example, Carl Lundblad, my 3rd great grandfather and father to Catherine Lundblad Linn, was born out of wedlock. That part of the tree stops at Carl. And no one with whom I've worked has found his father. I'm hopeful that DNA might be the solution to this brick wall.

I'd love to hear from you anytime, and not just about genealogy! If you have things to share, please do. If you'd like to write a post for this blog or share a photo, send it to me and I'll post it.

This hobby never ends, so you can count on me to be at the computer, in the library, tromping through cemeteries, taking photos, for years to come.

Thanks again for your support. My best to each of you in 2019!

Another Soldier To Honor

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the "other siblings" to our direct ancestors. One of those was Lee Verne (Vernie) Olofson, brother to Maude Edith Olofson Linn. I learned that, in World War I, Vernie had been a bugler overseas.

Because that was a more unusual role for one of our ancestors, I decided to write to his son, Veryl, who still lives in the Des Moines area. And this week I heard back from Veryl. He sent me the following two photos:

Vernie in his dress uniform

Vernie leading a group of men to the cemetery for a fellow soldier's funeral

Two side notes:

• Veryl writes that he still has his dad's bugle. I'm sure that Veryl would enjoy a call or letter or visit from family members. He knows a great deal about the Olofson line and has many stories to share. If you need an address, please email me privately and I'll get it to you.
• The soldier who was being buried was Andrew Erickson, born in Stratford in 1889, and died in Nevers, France, on February 28, 1919. Originally buried overseas, his body was brought back to the United States nearly 2 years after his death. He is buried at the South Marion Cemetery in Stratford. Andrew's mother was Margaret Leksell. Her sister married a Barquist, so there is a distant relationship between this soldier and our line. Following is one of the obituaries from the Stratford Courier, dated January 20, 1921.

I'm so thankful that Veryl was willing to share these photos and stories about our ancestors. It's one of the wonderful benefits of working on family history, helping and sharing and learning from others.

Farm Income and Expenses

I wanted to share a few pages from the accounting books that my parents kept on the farm we rented a couple of miles outside Dayton. It is, of course, the same farm where Pete and Maude Linn also lived. The records are written in pencil, so the copies may not be very clear. Still, it's an interesting look at the daily details and records that had to be kept in order to survive. The record book dates from 1947 to 1957.

1948 income from cattle, hogs, and chickens. The A. G. Barquist is the great-grandson of John Barquist. Aubrey Barquist died in 1963.

Labor hired in 1949; machine hire for grinding corn, shelling, bailing

Grain sold in 1950

Repairs and Maintenance in 1952; bolts, tractor wheels, fan belt, etc.

1953 or 1954 - Donations to Farm Bureau, Red Cross, Cancer, and Methodist Church; blacksmith and welding and gasoline expenses

I'm not sure how to preserve this book and the pencil handwriting. If anyone has a good idea, I'd love to hear it. I think that this type of record, some dated more than 70 years ago, is worth preserving for future generations.

God Jul! (Or Merry Christmas)

Just a few of the many family names that make up OUR family!

Do you have Christmas traditions in your home? In Sweden, St. Lucia Day (December 13) is celebrated. It is the story of a young girl who was martyred for her faith and comes back every year to bring food for those who are oppressed. She wears a wreath of candles to light the way so both of her hands are free to carry food to those in need.

Buffets or smorgasbord, consisting of herring (several ways), other meats, cheeses, and pickles, as well as the ever-popular lutefisk, along with a huge selection of pastries and puddings and coffee are often served on Christmas Eve. This year, I've been inspired by the posting about Bessie's recollections to make ostakaka, the Swedish cheese (osta) cake (kaka) for our Christmas celebration.

I hope that your family carries on some traditions, even if not Swedish ones, that your descendants will always remember. In our family, Christmas morning is an important time with everyone gathered for apple pancakes and lots of other foods (plus the ostakaka this year). And we take our time opening gifts, eating, opening, drinking coffee, opening, and eating some more.

My favorite pic of my siblings and me with Santa. Sorry, Randy!!

My very best wishes to all of my family members and readers of my blog this year. One more week to go this year before our 52 ancestors in 52 weeks project is done.

Babel Proclamation

Sometimes when I'm sitting at my computer pouring over hard-to-read records, or looking at books and maps in an archive or library, or when I find an old photo or visit a grave site of one of our ancestors, I wish I could have one day, one experience, with them.

What was their life really like in Sweden? How did they make the difficult decision to migrate? Why did they choose the prairies of the Midwest? How difficult was it for them to assimilate? To learn the English language and customs? To decide to be naturalized? What was important to them? Were they knowledgeable about politics? Did they vote? How did they feel about the issues of their day? The Civil War? Women's Suffrage? Temperance?

Some family historians are fortunate to have letters or diaries written by their ancestors that give a better picture of their struggles and thoughts and hopes. We have very few items that were written by our direct line. And so, we have to rely on what others wrote, soldiers who served with Gus in the Civil War, people who endured the hardship of the Atlantic crossing at the same time our ancestors did, who lived through prairie fires and tornadoes in the early days of their time in a new country, and, as we saw in last week's post, an autobiography written by a distant family member.

Recently, I learned about a proclamation that was signed by an Iowa governor, William L. Harding (1917-1921). Harding's tenure as a Republican governor was during the first World War. President Wilson had declared that "the world must be made safe for democracy" and that "millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy live amongst us...Should there be any disloyalty it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression."

Governor Harding decided that the way to keep Iowans safe was to force immediate assimilation and loyalty and, thus, he formulated the Babel Proclamation that determined that NO foreign language could be used in any public setting. Not in churches, schools, on the telephone, or in public. Foreign newspapers were forced out of business. The proclamation was signed on May 23, 1918, just before Frank and Peter Linn entered Camp Dodge and their service in World War I.

Catholic masses could no longer be given in Latin. The town of Berlin was renamed Lincoln. In Audubon, Iowa, a German man was dragged through the town square until he agreed to buy War Bonds. Some have said that Iowa became the most intolerant state in the entire United States for all immigrants. A copy of the proclamation wording can be found here. And another article about its impact here.

Wording of the Babel Proclamation

This proclamation was clearly aimed at Germans. And, it might not seem as if the proclamation would have any impact on our ancestors, but I would argue that it did. How well did Elin Andersson Linn speak English? What about her parents and siblings? Did Olivia Rask Olofson or her sister Brita, Olof Olofson's second wife, speak English? (NOTE: In the 1910 US Federal Census, Elin is reported as speaking English; Brita, speaking Swedish; Olivia speaking English; Anna Anderson, English. These are all SELF reported and don't indicate a level of competence.). And even if they did speak and understand English, they certainly would have been more comfortable speaking Swedish and reading Swedish newspapers, going to Swedish churches. Were they fearful of being in public? What about the Swedish ME churches? Some, maybe most, of the services were conducted only in Swedish. My own Czech/Bohemian great-grandmother never spoke English. Would this have kept her isolated during this time?

Perhaps it was Veryl Olofson (I can't remember at this moment) who told me that he had learned enough Swedish to be able to work in a store in Dayton that catered to Swedish clientele. That would have been in the 1930's or even later. And so, even then, some Swedish immigrants either didn't have a command of the English language, or they preferred to conduct their business in Swedish, their native tongue.

Governor Harding took a great deal of criticism over the Babel Proclamation, but amazingly, many fraternal organizations (Czech and Scandinavian and others), newspapers, and churches ended up supporting it. The Proclamation was rescinded in December 1918, but many believe that the intolerance that built up in Iowa during the last half of 1918 carried on for years, giving rise to a Ku Klux Klan movement in the state.

I often do wonder about my own ancestors and how they viewed the issues of the day. Were any of our ancestors living in fear during the time the Babel Proclamation was in force? This is one more example of what I would talk with them about, ask them about, if I only could.

Through Bessie's Eyes

Gus and Catherine Linn had 7 children, 3 girls and 4 boys. Two of the girls died at a young age, leaving Mary Linn as the only surviving girl with 4 brothers (John, William, Andrew, and Charley).

In 1887, when Mary was 24, she married Milan Curtis. The couple lived in Dayton where Milan worked in an egg house.

Mary was good friends with Henry (aka Harry) and Elsie Meanor Kinney, who had 6 children. Sadly, Elsie died shortly after the birth of her youngest child. Harry was unable to take care of all of the children. Some were adopted by local couples and two stayed with Harry's parents. The 5th child, Bessie, at just 18 months of age, was adopted by Milan and Mary Linn Curtis who were unable to have children of their own.

Elsie Kinney Obituary

Several years ago, I corresponded with the granddaughter of Bessie and received a remarkable 36-page autobiography written by Bessie in 1976, just 3 years before her death. Today, I'd like to share a small part of it with you because Bessie writes about her early years in Dayton and describes some of her uncles and aunts, the Linns, to the reader.

I was born December 14, 1895, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. My parents were Harry and Elsie Kinney. When I was 18 months old, my mother died. There were six children in our family, and I was next to the youngest. After my mother's death, I was adopted by Milan and Mary Curtis. They lived in Dayton, Iowa. My grandfather and grandmother Kinney also lived in Dayton. Mama and Papa Curtis were old friends of my parents. My brothers and sisters were Flossie, Dorsey, Georgia, Nellie, and Percy.

I was raised as an only child and given much love....When my mother first brought me home, she sent me to meet my father. When she saw him coming, she said "go meet papa". So I toddled down the path and when I met him I said "papa". That was all it took. He was my slave from then on!

Mama Curtis had three brothers that lived on farms near Dayton. Mama's parents [Gus and Catherine Linn] had been born in Sweden, and two of her brothers married Swedish wives. [Note: That would be John and Andrew.] I used to love to go to their places. Our Uncle John had a large house and a great big barn, at least it looked so to me. Aunt Maria [John's wife] used to make Ostakaka, or Swedish pudding, that I was crazy about. When I got old enough to have a bicycle, I would ride to their place once in awhile. It was six miles from town.

The thing I remember about Uncle Bill's place [William Peter Linn] was the fried chicken, cream gravy and home made ice cream that was out of this world. They had a big refrigerator and I loved to look in there and see the big crocks of milk. Uncle Bill had five children, and Ivy, the girl, was just about my age....My folks always kept a horse and buggy so went to each of the three places quite often.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Ellen [our Andrew and Elin Linn] lived over near Stratford. In the spring I could hardly wait for school to be out so I could go over to Uncle Andrew's. They had three children, all near my age [Elsie, Peter, and Frank], and when I went over there, their school wouldn't be out yet and I went with them. It was fun to carry my lunch in a bucket and then, when their school closed, the teacher always had me take part in the program.... Another thing I loved to do over there was to pick June berries. One day Aunt Ellen and I walked over through the field to call on one of her neighbors. We picked wild strawberries on the way.... Frank, their youngest boy, was about my age. We liked to find pretty chicken feathers. We would ... [pretend] horses and played all kinds of games.

There was a nice creek that flowed past our town and in the winter the townspeople would put in a dam so as to form an ice pond. That was before the days of the electric refrigerator, so a good many people put up their own ice. My father, being in the produce business, had two large ice houses because he used ice to ice the box cars that he shipped butter and eggs to Chicago.  

When my folks went over to Uncle Andrew's in the fall of the year, we would go to the river road. Someone had a little run-down looking store, which we called Hard Scrabble. On that road there was alot of hazel nut brush and we would gather those. 

One of the outstanding events in the summer was the Fourth of July celebration. They had a big park south of town where they had a parade and marched and gave speeches. As I remember it, someone always gave the Gettysburg Address. Dayton had a good band, so we had lots of music. 

NOTE: Milan Curtis became very ill and had 55 gallstones removed at the Mayo in Minnesota. While recuperating, he and Mary took a trip into Canada and the Western United States. Following is Bessie's recollections about their move from Iowa to Idaho.

Dad had fallen in love with Idaho, so when they came home, he sold his business, sold the house, and sold some furniture and shipped the rest to Payette, Idaho. We came out by train. [NOTE: Bessie was 15 and a junior in high school.]

The rest of her autobiography is about their time in Idaho and Oregon, with portions adopted from the granddaughter's interview of Bessie:

Bessie married twice, had 3 children. Bessie and her first husband separated when the youngest, Betty, was just about 5. Bessie sent one son to live with an Aunt in California, another son to live with Mary and Milan Curtis, and the daughter Betty to the State Home for Children. This was so that Bessie could go to business school and learn a skill to support her and her children.

Grandma Mary Curtis went to visit Betty in the State Home after she had been there several weeks. She found Betty crying in the corner and not liking how Betty was being treated insisted that Bessie remove her from there. She was only there two to three months. She then stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Curtis [Milan and Mary] until her mother finished school.

Bessie Kinney Curtis

Bessie died in 1979 of leukemia and is buried in Idaho.

Isn't this a wonderful snapshot of the late 1800's and early 1900's in the Dayton area? A peak at how loving Milan and Mary Linn Curtis were, not only with their adopted daughter Bessie, but also with their granddaughter in taking her out of the Home for Children? And a lovely look at our direct-line ancestors, John, William (Bill) and Andrew Linn, as well as a special mention about Frank Linn.

Our ancestors didn't write much that gives us clues about how they lived their lives. But what a gift, in this case, to learn about them from a life sketch written and shared by Bessie. If you have a diary, a journal, a letter, or any other document that shows something about the day-to-day lives of our ancestors, will you please share it? Scan or copy it so we can all learn and appreciate the lives our ancestors lived.

 .

Olofson Photos

I'm going to probably add a few extra posts as we wind down the year. Today, photos of my great-great grandfather, great-grandfather, grandmother, and uncle. And now we can all tell that Olof was blind, but I hadn't noticed in other photos of him.

Four generations: Olof Olofson, Maude Olofson Linn, William Edward Olofson, Stanley Linn

Olof Olofson and his son William Edward Olofson