Family secret

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about finding things that surprised me while doing family research. This week's prompt is "family secrets." I haven't found any long-lost relatives on the Henrickson/Strand side. Yet. :) This is more of a surprise, and I guess it could be a secret too.

Something we often hear when people bemoan modern society is that no one stays married anymore. That back in "the good old days" people got married and stayed married forever. Celebrating 50 and 60 years of wedded bliss. That is false. People have been getting divorced since the beginning of time. It may not have been socially acceptable, and it may have been difficult if not at times impossible, but divorce has always been an option our ancestors had. I have found instances of ancestors getting divorced starting back in the late 1800's. Many times, there were no children involved, and the couple had only been married a year or two. The divorce that surprised me the most, though, was finding out that William and Mary Strandt had been divorced, back in 1917. 

William Strandt and Mary 'Matie" Elizabeth Pulsipher were married June 8, 1888. By all accounts William and Mary often struggled to make ends meet. William farmed, trained horses, and worked as a laborer. He also drank alcohol, often getting drunk. One time William got drunk and into an argument with oldest son, Carl. William ended up chasing Carl around the house with an ax. William also moved the family to Illinois to find better work, promised by other Strandt family members. The better work never showed up, so William moved the family back to Michigan. Upon moving back to Michigan is when Mary's uncle gave her the deed to the Strandt family farm, which was wisely placed in Mary's name.

Finally, on January 13, 1917, Mary filed for divorce from William. She alleged Cruelty as the reason for divorce. "Cruelty" could mean anything from William being unfaithful, to him being a drunkard, to him being physically and mentally abusive. It was probably a combination of all of the above. One of my research goals is to find the divorce complaint that Mary filed that would cite the reasons for cruelty. We know that William contested the divorce. I would also love to hear his reasons defending himself. According to a newspaper article from the time, there was not enough evidence to grant a divorce. The lawyers got together and came up with a plan where William was given machinery, money, and a chance to visit the children at certain times. A full divorce was granted to Mary on July 31, 1917. She was 40 years old, had 4 children at home, and no job, that we know of.

When I found the divorce record, at first I thought it must belong to another William and Mary Strandt. The more I investigated it though, the more I realized that it was my William and Mary Strandt. I had never heard any mention of Carl's parents getting divorced. I knew he had a feud with them, and with his siblings, but I had never heard of a divorce. My mother had never heard of a divorce either. So, this was a family surprise/secret. 

Now, I had heard the story of how Carl had fought with his parents over control of the farm so I wondered how that could have happened if William and Mary had been divorced? None of this was making any sense. I kept researching and then I found my answer. William and Mary HAD divorced, but then they had remarried.

On July 15, 1918, William and Mary Strandt remarried. They were married by J. Ford Stratten, Probate Judge. This record also confirmed that the William and Mary who divorced on July 31, 1917, were the same couple. According to the record, Mary was a housekeeper, which could have just meant that she kept house at home. Not that she was employed as a housekeeper. William was listed as a taxi driver living in Otsego.

William must've used the last year to try and win Mary back. I'm sure he said he was a changed man, maybe he offered to give up drinking? Either way, he got Mary to take him back. Not happy with the family reunification was oldest son, Carl. Carl and his father never seemed to get along and Mary taking William back was the last straw for Carl. Shortly after William moved back home, he and Carl resumed their fights. Carl moved out. The 1920 Federal census shows Carl working and living with a young couple as their hired hand. Later that year he would marry Mildred Bellinger and begin his own family. 

I don't see this so much as a family secret, but as, a family event not talked about. Something better not talked about.

If you have any information or can add more to William and Mary's divorce, or marriage and relationship, please add them in the comments below. You can also email me.

Also, as you can tell from the divorce ledger above, there were a lot of couple filing for divorce in 1917. Most of them were by women, but a few men filed too.

Migration

 The prompt for this week is "Migration." Our ancestors all migrated here from somewhere else. I thought I'd take a look at some of them this week.

Prior to 1875, when the Supreme Court ruled that it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to make and enforce immigration laws, there was no overriding immigration policy. Some states had their own laws regarding immigrants but the United States as a whole had no policy. Anyone, from anywhere, arriving on a boat could immigrate to America.

On August 22, 1833, William Mabbs,Jr and his parents, William and Hannah Mabbs arrived in New York City on the ship "Amity." They had departed London, England and sailed in steerage to America. William and Hannah came with their 7 children ranging in age from 12 to 1 year old. We don't know why they decided to sail to America. William had a business selling soap in London and was a Methodist. He may have felt he could be more prosperous in America, or perhaps he felt he could practice his faith more openly. Either way, he decided to make the journey across the sea, leaving his parents and siblings in England.

After getting off the ship they lived in New York City for a time until William lost his money in a bank failure. He then brought his family to Michigan to start anew as a farmer. William Mabbs, Jr, was the grandfather to Elnora Truman Bellinger.

On May 13,1870, Carl Johan Anderson and his wife, Ulrika, left Sweden to immigrate to America. We know that Carl had been a farmer in Sweden and Sweden had had 2 bad famines in 1868 and 1869. The area where Carl and Ulrika lived had a very large number of people leaving in 1869 and 1870. The famine almost definitely played a part in their decision to leave Sweden for America. Especially since they were newly married and trying to start a family. They sailed on the ship "Orlando" from Goteborg, Sweden to Hull, England. From Hull they took a train to Liverpool where they would sail on a ship to New York City. The manifest lists New York as their final destination. I'm not sure how long they stayed in New York, but they quickly came to LaPorte, Indiana and then onto Allegan, Michigan. Looking at the manifest most of the other immigrants are going to the Midwest. Some of the destinations listed are Chicago, Kalamazoo, and Cleveland.

On October 27, 1871, Carl Friedrich Theodor Standt and his wife, Wilhelmine, along with their three children, departed from Hamburg, Germany on the ship "Hansa" to sail to Hull, England. From Hull they would also continue by train to Liverpool where they would sail to America. They arrived in New York City on the ship "Minnesota" on November 17, 1871. From New York they made their way to Chicago, where apparently other family members were already living. Their youngest child, William, would be born in Chicago in 1876. According to the Strand family Bible, there were already Strandt family members living in Chicago. That would be one reason for immigration. Also, the Franco-Prussian War had just been fought from July 19, 1870 to May 10, 1871. Prussian Prime Minister Otto Von Bismark successfully unified all the German states into the German Empire on January 18, 1871. Needless to say, all the wars fought between Germany and other countries took a toll on the people. I'm sure that also played a part in the Strandt family decision to come to America. Wilhelmine had a sister who lived in Allegan, Michigan. William traveled to Allegan and at some point met and married Mary Pulsipher, where they started their family. 

On November 29, 1892, Sven Goren Henrich Johansson left from Malmo, Sweden and sailed to Copenhagen, Denmark on the ship "Kopenhamn". From Copenhagen he sailed directly to America on the ship "Hekla" arriving on December 19, 1892. He was 17 years old. From the manifest we know that his ticket was paid for by someone else. We know he already had several family members living in the United States. He had aunts and uncles and cousins. It is most likely that one of his uncles paid for his ticket to America. What is slightly unusual for Sven, who later changed his name to George Henrickson, is that he left from Malmo and sailed to Copenhagen, instead of leaving from Goteborg and sailing to Hull, train to Liverpool, and then ship to America. I learned that it was cheaper to go from Malmo to Copenhagen and then sail to America. George also lived in southern Sweden so Malmo may have been easier to travel to then Goteborg on the west coast. 

Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, so George would have passed through here. He would have seen the Statue of Liberty as he sailed into New York harbor and then waited for a ferry boat to take him to Ellis Island to be processed. He would have been asked identifying questions, given a physical, and then released to be on his way. We know he probably went to extended family first in Indiana and Illinois. He eventually made his way to Allegan, Michigan where he married Malvina Anderson, daughter of Carl and Ulrika Anderson. 

On December 11, 1912, our last ancestor came to America. Ingrid Fahna, the mother of George Henrickson, left Goteborg, Sweden and sailed to Grimsby, England on the ship "Salmo." She took a train to Liverpool where she sailed on the "Lusitania". She arrived at Ellis Island on December 21, 1912. She passed her physical and had $25 with her. She stood 5'2" and had gray hair and blue eyes. She listed a cousin as a contact in the "old country" and George Fahnstrom as her contact in America. George was listed as her brother-in-law but was really her son-in-law. While Ingrid sailed third class on the Lusitania her experience was far better than anyone else's. She had her own bedroom and was able to eat at a table and walk around on a nice ship. Much better than steerage in the 1800's. 

That's just a brief history of our immigrant family. As a reminder, NO NAMES were changed at Ellis Island. The inspectors checked the passengers' names against the manifest from the departing country. If any names were changed, they were changed by the immigrants themselves. Sven Goren Henrick Johansson decided to change his name to George Henrickson when he became a naturalized citizen. It was his choice to change it.

 

 

 

Surprising

 This week the prompt is "surprising." There have been several surprises I've found out while researching my family history. Here are a few surprises that I've discovered.

• 7th great grandfather David Pulsipher fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. First, I hadn't really thought about any of my ancestors fighting in the American Revolution. I thought almost all had come over after 1776. I was surprised when I found out that David and his son, John, had fought at Bunker Hill, one of the most infamous battles at the start of the war. 
• Another surprising thing about the Pulsipher line is that the Pulsiphers who stayed in Ohio were quite active in the abolitionist movement in Ohio prior to the start of the Civil War. A Pulsipher cousin who stayed in Ohio even served with a son of John Brown in the Civil War.
• Another surprise, once again through the Pulsipher line, is that we are connected to the Mayflower. David Pulsipher's son, Ebeneezer, my 6th great grandfather, married Unity Reed. Unity goes back to Isabell Chilton on her father's side. Isabell came to America on the second ship after the Mayflower's arrival. Isabell's father was James Chilton. James and his wife arrived on the Mayflower. James is known as being the first passenger who died after arriving in America. Sometime in the future when I have time and money, I'd like to properly research this and obtain membership in the Mayflower Society. 
• Finding out that the Bellingers were originally from Germany was surprising. I'd always thought that Mildred Strand was English and Scottish and Irish. She was, but she was also German too. Finding out that Mildred and Carl could both speak German was surprising.
• On the Henrickson side, finding out that 2x great grandmother Ingrid Fahna had had a child out of wedlock was a great surprise. In actuality she had two children out of wedlock. I'd already discovered that she and her future husband Johan had a child before getting married. What was a true surprise was finding out that she had a child out of wedlock in her early 20's. Long before Johan. She was counseled by the Church on the wrongness of her act. I guess she forgot later. The child died around 3 months old. The child she had out of wedlock with Johan died around 1 year old. I wonder how the deaths of her first two children affected her relationship with George and Amanda. If any? 
• One more surprise involving the Swedish relatives was finding out that Carl Anderson, Malvina's father, was born to parents who were not legally wed. Again, Carl and his sister were born out of wedlock to their parents. In Carl's case though, the Church seemed to make an exception and welcomed his mother back with the same rights afforded a married woman. His parents, even though not legally wed, seemed to be accepted by everyone as a couple. They definitely need some more researching and looking into. 
• As a longtime fan of "Gone with the Wind" book and movie, the burning of Atlanta scene always fascinated me. I wondered how it must've felt to the citizens in General Sherman's path, and I wondered how it affected the soldiers marching. So, finding out that 3x great grandfather David Bellinger not only served in the Civil War, but marched with Sherman through Georgia and on to Charleston and Washington, D.C. was a big surprise.

Those are a few of the surprises I've come across in the past few years while researching. Every time I think I know someone, or I've searched a line as far as I can and I've found everything out, something new pops up. Regarding the Bellinger line, there seems to be a line that went with John Smith and Bringham Young to Utah and were Mormon pioneers. That's definitely a surprise! What are some of the surprising things you've learned and discovered? Leave a comment down below or email me. 

Challenge

 This week the prompt is "challenge" so I am keeping up with my own challenge of recording the births, deaths, and marriages of each month. February is the shortest month and as a result I didn't find that many results for February.

Births in February include:

Marvin Henrickson, born on Feb. 11, 1944.

2x great grandfather William Strandt, born on Feb. 15, 1876. (Chicago, Illinois)

Gary Thompson, born on Feb. 20, 1949.

3x Great grandmother Wilhelmina Gley Strandt was born on Feb. 21, 1841, Prussia (Germany)

Paternal 2x great grandmother Mary Bellegraph born on Feb. 26, 1869 in Pomerania (Poland)

Marriages

Despite being the month of Valentine's Day, February only contains two marriages.

Great grandparents George Henrickson and Malvina Anderson were wed on February 21, 1900.

Paternal 2x great grandparents Mary Bellegraph and Joannes "John" Knach Conors were wed on February 7, 1888 in Indiana.

Deaths

Great granduncle Frank Anderson (older brother of Malvina Henrickson) died on February 5, 1939.

Paternal 3x Great grandmother Abigail Eldred died on Feb. 9, 1847.

Marvin Henrickson and 2x Great grandmother Elnora Truman Bellinger both died on Feb. 28. 2005, and 1953 respectively.

That's for this month. Not a lot happening in February. March will be completely different. Just the number of birthdays to keep up with. April, too! :)

Feel free to add additional birthdays, deaths, and marriages in the comments below. I try not to go back too many generations, or, go too much into extended family.

Mary Bellegraph and John Knach Conors Wedding day 1888.

George Henrickson and Malvina Anderson Wedding Day 1900.

Unless noted, births, deaths, and marriages occurred in Michigan. If they occurred in another state, or in "the Old Country" I tried to note it, if available. 

Favorite photo, Nickname, Overlooked

 January has been a wild and crazy month. It literally snowed up to 9" of snow in Florida. This week I'm playing catch up with the prompts of the week of #52Ancestors. 

First prompt was "Favorite Photo." This is another photo of the Carl Strand family. I like this one because it's one of the few, maybe the only one, I have of Mildred Strand smiling. In most of her pictures she's looking at the camera with no smile. In this one she is smiling and looks to be laughing too. Carl has his arms crossed, as usual. Howard and Viola also look to be smiling. It's outside and the weather looks warm. Maybe it was taken on a Sunday visit to Mildred's parents' house for a Sunday dinner? I used the AI photo shop tools on Ancestry to enhance the picture as the original one is grainy. 

The next prompt was "Nickname." The most interesting nickname I've come across in my research is that of Johan Jonasson, the father of George Henrickson, aka Sven Goren Henrick Johansson. In the Swedish Church records, Johan Jonasson has the nickname of Styfva Johan. It translates to English as "Stiff" Johan. "Stiff" could have one of many meanings. It might refer to his appearance. He had stiff joints, or maybe he was strong and tall? It could also refer to his character. "Stiff" could mean that he was moral and of good character. He was proud, or arrogant. Maybe he was uncompromising? It's interesting to note that his father, Jonas Johansson also had the same nickname. Whatever it meant, father and son must've been the same. 

The next prompt was "Overlooked". In researching, I find that my female ancestors, the 3x and 4x great grandmothers often get overlooked. Women were treated as property of their husbands, and before that, taken care of by their fathers. It is hard to research female ancestors unless I can find a reliable document with their maiden name. Not all marriage certificates list parents. Sometimes I can find a maiden name, but I may not find first names of parents. Oftentimes in obituaries I'll find, Mrs. Edward Jones, wife of Edward Jones died yesterday. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Smith. Sometimes I don't even get that! Men have biographies, sketches, and full-blown obits about them. Women are just sidekicks and afterthoughts. 

That's it for this week. Do you have a favorite photo? Any nicknames of relatives, ancestors you'd like to share? Or who is someone you think is overlooked and would like to know more about? Leave me a note here or email me. I'm always looking for more material. 

In the Beginning

 Happy New Year! 

The first prompt of 2025 is "In the beginning." I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a while, compile a list of all the birthdays, deaths, and anniversaries on a monthly basis. January is the first month so it's a good place to start. 

Let's start off on a happy note with some of the birthdays I've found in January.

My paternal Great aunt Fern Thompson was born on January 1, 1927.

January 3rd has 2 birthdays, Sidney Henrickson in 1902 and my Dad in 1941.

Frank Ashley, a paternal Great Uncle was born on January 4, 1915.

Paternal 3x Great Grandmother Abigail Eldred was born on January 9, 1804.

Paternal Great Grandmother Emilia Dobbratz Ashley was born on January 15, 1888.

Great Grandfather George Henrickson was born January 19, 1875.

2x Great Grandmother Mary Pulispher Strandt was born January 20, 1877.

January 23 was the birthday of paternal 2x Great Grandfather Andrew Thompson in 1859 and paternal Grand uncle Orville Ashley in 1919

Toni Thompson was born January 28,1945.

Next up we celebrate the marriages that occurred in January.

Paternal 2x Great Grandparents Orville Ashley and Kate Eldred were united in marriage on January 1, 1863.

2x Great Grandparents Ingrid Fahna and Johan Jonasson were also united in marriage in January, on the 10th, in 1874.

Our In Memoriam segment is sadly, the largest. 

January 1 was the day Grand Aunt Esther M. Henrickson and Grand Uncle Lynn Bellinger passed away. In 1995 and 1981.

3x Great Grandfather Madison Truman passed away on January 2, 1884.

3x Great Grandfather Sven Fahna passed away on January 3, 1881 and Victor Henrickson passed away on the same date in 1923.

Howard C. Strand passed away on January 8, 2017.

Paternal 3x Great Grandfather Riley Thompson passed away on January 9, 1908.

Grand Aunt Helen Bellinger passed away on January 10, 1980.

3x Great Grandfather Carl F. T. Strand passed away on January 18, 1914.

Paternal 2x Great Grandmother Mary Bellegraph Conors passed away on January 21, 1941.

Grandfather Lawrence F. Thompson, Sr, passed away on January 19, 2006.

3x Great Grandmother Loretta Foster Bellinger passed away on January 30, 1912.

This list is by no means inclusive. If you know of any other birthdays, anniversaries or deaths in January, please list them below in the comments or email me. 

Colonel Howard C. Strand. Passed away on January 8, 2017.

Random Number-Madison Taylor Truman

 This week's prompt was "Random Number". Every ancestor was assigned a number. I asked Tina to pick one and she chose "26". "26" would be Carl Johan Anderson, who I've already written about, so, I flipped the number to "62" and that brings us to Madison Taylor Truman, grandfather of Mildred Bellinger Strand.

Madison Taylor Truman was born approximately September 20, 1849 in Hillsdale County, Michigan to Henry and Lydia Wilson Truman. Henry was originally from New York and made his way to Michigan via Ohio. Madison was the fourth child and third son born to Henry and Lydia. One more daughter was born to Henry and Lydia before Lydia died in November 1859 of inflammation of the lungs. She was 41 years old, and Madison was only 10. 

Madison's father, Henry, was active in Republican Party politics and was a farmer who participated in local fairs. I've found newspaper articles mentioning Henry's name in regard to local Hillsdale politics and entering bulls in local fairs for competition. Even placing second and third. 

On April 22, 1869 Madison married Harriet Mabbs, of the Mabbs family recently of London, England. Like his father, Madison also farmed for a living. Their first child, William Henry, was born March 18, 1870. Three daughters followed, Isabel in 1872 and Elnora on March 2, 1873. Mary was born June 16, 1877.

Madison's father, Henry, died in February 1880. We know that Madison and Harriet's next child, son Judson, was born May 28, 1880, in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have not been able to find out why, or when Madison and Harriet made the decision to move to Arkansas. I don't know if it's connected to his father's death or not. Henry's will states that he gave Madison twenty acres of land before his death as part of Madison's inheritance. Either way, Madison and Harriet live in and around Little Rock, Arkansas. Judson is the infamous Uncle Judson that Mildred's brother Ray spent a summer searching for in Oregon and Washington. Madison is listed in the 1880 United States Federal Census as living in Totten, Arkansas and profession is Farmer. 

I haven't been able to find any records of Madison's life in Arkansas. For whatever reason, Madison and Harriet make the decision to move back to Ransom, Michigan. Madison dies on January 2, 1884. I haven't been able to find a cause of death either. Madison was only 34 years old. Elnora Truman was 10 years old. The same age her father was when he lost his mother. Elnora would go on to marry Charlie Bellinger and raise Mildred Bellinger. 

Madison Taylor Truman is something of a mystery. He's been a difficult man to find information on. I've found many articles in the newspapers mentioning his father, but none about him. I know he may have gone by the name Elwin, and Judson's middle name is even Elwin. I haven't found any pictures of him either. 

How Madison fits into the family tree:

Madison Taylor Truman is the father of

Elnora Truman, the mother of

Mildred Bellinger, the mother of

Howard, Viola, Marylaine, Yvonne, Milton, Joyce, Fred

1850 census. First mention of Madison Truman