Favorite Photo

 This week's prompt is "Favorite Photo." Our first favorite photo is the wedding photo of my great grandparents, George Henrickson and Malvina Anderson.

Tina said she really liked this one because of the whole vibe of it. The clothes, the style, the way they are posed. I also really like the clothes. George looks very dapper and Malvina has flowers on her corsage and in her hair as part of her veil. Time and money and planning went into this wedding. I'm sure Malvina's parents were very happy, as were George's family. I wonder if any of his relatives were there? After marrying they went to Wisconsin to live for a time before moving to Chicago and then back to Michigan. 

Another favorite photo of mine is this one of my great grandmother Emilie (Emily) Dobbratz Ashley.

This photo shows Emily sitting in a field with her four children. She has knitting/sewing in her hands. I really like it because it looks like a nice, pleasant summer afternoon, relaxing in a field. The children are all happy and smiling. Everyone looks at ease. I also like it because it's not a studio posed photo. It was taken out in the field at their house. 

Do you have a favorite photo?

Memorable

The last prompt of 2025 is "memorable." This Fall I came into contact with the wife of a descendant of Jonas Fahnstrom, brother of Ingrid Fahna. She is the family historian in her family and had a wealth of information on the Fahnstrom/Fahna family in America, and their life in Sweden. It was her research into her husband's family in Sweden that greatly helped me in researching our branch of the family. I am eternally grateful to her for putting that online as it helped me so much in my research. Out of all the information she sent me, 2 pieces really stood out. One was a picture, and one was a letter. 

The first is a picture of a young George Henrickson. I'm guessing he was in his early 20's when the picture was taken. He arrived at age 17 and was married at 25. You can see just how handsome he was. No wonder Malvina fell in love with him. I really like this picture because it's rare to get a picture of an ancestor so young in age. Most of the pictures I've seen of George are when he's older, and his health has started to fail. In this picture he's young and has his whole life ahead of him.

George Henrickson

The second memorable piece of information this year is a letter written from Malvina to her sister in-law, Amanda, George's younger sister. The letter is dated April 1938, and it's written near the beginning of George's illness. George suffered from Pernicious Anemia, the body's inability to absorb vitamin B12. It's an autoimmune disease that occurs primarily in people of northern European descent. This link explains the disease in more detail. Pernicious Anemia I'm not sure the doctors had an adequate way of treating it back then.

Allegan, April 22nd, 1938.
Dear Amanda.
You will probably be surprised to get a letter from me. I don’t know that I
have ever written to you but I want you to know that Goran is ill. He has been ill since the beginning of March but during these last few weeks he has been in bed and I fear the worse.
He has become so thin and it seems he gets weaker and weaker day by day so I have been thinking, maybe, if it’s possible for you, that you could come and see him.
He is himself having great courage and believes that he will recover and it is good because the doctor says that this is the best of medicine for him.
If you can come, write me a few lines in advance but say nothing more than I have written that he us I’ll and that you are coming to see him.
If you will be coming by railway it would be best to get off at Kalamazoo because there aren’t any passenger trains going to Allegan anymore.
I have two daughters living there.
They will meet you and give you the address to Eulalia. If you write to her they will meet you and bring you here.
Write  me in English.
Her address is Mrs Charles Marsh
1023 Eagleston Avenue.
Kalamazoo
Michigan.
Her telephone number is 8071
Maybe you have got a car and will get someone to drive you here.
That would be the least trouble.
I would like you to know, though, that he is ill
My two youngest boys are at home and are doing the work now.
Hope that all of you are well. Now I want to finish this time by many dear greetings to all of you. Kindly and in a hurry.
Malvina.
Excuse my bad writing. I haven’t written in Swedish for a long time. I have almost forgotten how but I hope that you will be able to read.

I know that George was not said to be a fan of his sister marrying their cousin. I wonder if that also means the families did not have much contact with each other. Malvina says that she thinks her letter will surprise Amanda as she's never written her before. Or maybe George is the one who wrote to his sister? You can also tell from the tone that Malvina is very concerned about George, enough to write to his sister herself. Her two youngest sons would have been Ray and Evald. 1938 is also the time Ray started seeing a young Viola Strand. 

Another interesting fact we learn from the letter is that Malvina knows how to write in Swedish! She learned not only how to fluently speak it, but also to write it. She does say it's pretty rusty and for Amanda to try and reply in English so she must not have felt good about trying to read it. The local Lutheran Church stopped Swedish language services in the early 1920's so that's probably when Malvina stopped using it more often. I also think it's interesting she referred to George by his Swedish name of Goran. Maybe she thought Amanda would be more comforted by that name than his American name? 

Unfortunately, we don't know if Amanda made the journey or not. Hopefully she was able to. 

What were your memorable family history moments from this year? Surprising stories or information? Surprising relatives or ancestors? Let me know down below. As always, feel free to share and repost with anyone you think might be interested.

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Animals!

This week's prompt is "Animals." Living and working on farms, our ancestors were with animals all the time. Here is a collection of my ancestors and relatives with animals over the years.

Bum

The first one, above, is Bum. Bum was owned by my grandpa Thompson. Bum liked to sit on the running board of my grandfather's car and ride into town, sitting on the running board.

Horace Ashley with cat

Next up is my great granduncle Horace Ashley with a farm cat. Horace was my great grandpa Ashley's older brother. He's pictured here with his wife Jesse and an unknown farm cat. Judging by the cat sitting on Horace's shoulders, I think the cat really liked Uncle Horace. He probably also liked the free milk from the cows. 

Boys on outhouse

This picture comes from the Strand family archives. I'm guessing that Carl Strand is one of the boys in this picture. Maybe with brother Howard? Cousin George? Or friends? Either way, an unknown cat made it into the picture.

Strandt siblings with horse

In this picture we have eldest Strandt child, Eva, with, I think, brothers Carl and Howard on a horse.

Carl Strand with horses. Around age 14.

Here is Carl Strand with plough horses when he was around 14 years old. Carl had his horses trained so well he could line them up, and have them walk down the row, ploughing, and wait for him at the end. He was good with horses. Better than his father, which led to conflicts between them.

Carl Strand horses, approx. 1917.

Another picture of Carl Strand's horses.

Ray and Evald Henrickson with horses.

I also have a picture of my grandpa Henrickson with his brother, Evald, and their team of plough horses. 

Ray Henrickson with cows

And last but not least, here is Ray Henrickson with some of his cows. This picture was taken in 2003. He had a great affection for cows.

And there you have it. Animals my ancestors and relatives have known throughout the years. Questions, comments, more information to add? Post them below in the comments or feel free to email me.

Ray Henrickson with horse. Rowdy?

I found this picture after I first published the blog, but I wanted to include it. It just shows how important horses were to farmers before tractors.

 

Off to school

 This week's prompt is "Off to school." I decided to post some pictures I found that are school related. These were all found by my dad in my aunt Toni's house. If anyone has any insight to any of the photos, please comment down below.

Up first is this one room school house. Back in the day, all country schools looked like this. One teacher, numerous students in different grades. I don't know how the teachers did it, but they did.

Michigan one room school house

2nd grade Allegan

Dawson school

Effie Carlotta Madden. High School graduation 1886

 

Mildred Bellinger High school diploma 1918

My 5th grade class picture

Blackman school reunion 2005

There you have it. Class pictures through time. :)

Off to Work: Mildred Strand

This week's prompt is "Off to work." Besides farming, the other profession that keeps repeating itself in our family is teaching. We have had a great many teachers over the years. Granted, women did not have many opportunities for other careers back in the day, but it is interesting how many women in our family have taught over the years. Carl Strand's mother, Mary Pulsipher, taught school before marrying William Strandt. Mary even taught school again in her later years. She attended Western Michigan College in the 1940's to add to her teaching credentials. Her daughter and Carl's older sister, Eva, also taught school. Eva's daughter, Ruth, grew up to be a schoolteacher in Florida.

June 1941

On the Henrickson side, George Henrickson's aunt, Sarah Lena Fahna, taught school in Sweden. She taught until she retired. 

Mildred Strand also came from a line of teachers. Her mother, Elnora Truman, taught in a one room school before marrying Charles Bellinger. 

After graduating from high school, Mildred earned a diploma from a Normal School and was allowed to teach. Normal schools were educational institutions dedicated to training teachers. Mildred attended one for one year and was then credentialed to teach school in the state of Michigan. 

It states that Mildred V. Bellingar has successfully completed the prescribed course of study and completed practice teaching at Allegan County Normal School. Dated June 12, 1919.

Mildred taught for one year before marrying Carl Strand on July 9, 1920. While Mildred gave up teaching to become a wife and mother, she never stopped learning. She read voraciously and loved to study and learn new things. Several of Mildred's grandchildren and great grandchildren work in education today. 

I haven't been able to locate where Mildred taught yet. I'm still working on that. Mildred's high school diploma has also been found. Here's a copy of that.

It says that Mildred Bellingar has completed the scientific course of study and is declared a graduate of the High School. Dated May 30, 1918.

Many thanks to Mildred's son, Fred, who recently found these diplomas. They are the only records at the moment of Mildred graduating high school and Normal school. I'm very thankful they were saved and shared.

Questions, comments, more info to add? Leave them down below in the comments or email me. 

Play Time: The Henrickson sisters

 This week's prompt is "play time." There are so many ways to go with this prompt but while researching Henrickson ancestors I discovered some play time the Henrickson sisters had back in August 1928.

On August 11, 1928 Grace Henrickson married Harold Wall. Harold was an apprentice plumber and Grace worked as a clerk. Witnesses were Mr. Ralph Quarry and Miss Ingrid Henrickson. Ralph Quarry had married Grace's sister, Pearl, in January 1927. The wedding took place at the Swedish Lutheran Church with the reception at the Henrickson farm.

The next article I found tells us exactly where Grace and her new husband went, and with whom.

Mr. and Mrs. Hjalmar Anderson, of course, is Selma and Hjalmar Anderson. Selma was the oldest child and daughter of George and Malvina Henrickson. Grace and her new husband honeymooned with Selma and her husband at Pine Lake. I looked up Pine Lake and there are several Pine Lakes around the country. Most likely she went to Pine Lake, Michigan in southeastern Michigan. Selma and Hjalmar had a 1-year-old daughter at the time. It's not known if she came too, or if she was cared for by someone else. 

This entry sheet from the Swedish Lutheran Church shows that the Henrickson sisters took turns being witnesses for each other at their weddings. 

I just thought it was nice that the sisters seemed so close to each other. I've found other instances in the newspaper of the sisters visiting each other at their houses or going with Malvina to visit each other. 

Do you have anything to add? Questions, comments? I do not have any pictures of Grace, aside from the group family shots and I'm not sure which one she is. If you do have a known picture of Grace, and Harold, I would love to see it. 

All newspaper articles are from the August 18, 1928 edition of the Allegan Gazette.

Legal Troubles: The many divorces of Monroe Lee Diver

To hear many people tell it, no one ever got a divorce before 1976. That divorces have only been common in modern society. This could not be further from the truth. Divorce has been around since at least King Henry VIII. It IS true that divorce has been hard to obtain, and even illegal in some places, but it was an option for an unhappy spouse. This week's prompt is "legal troubles" and I'm going to tell you about the many legal troubles of Monroe Lee Diver, and his many divorces.

Before we get to Monroe, let me introduce you to Sarah Ballou. Sarah is the niece of my 2x great grandmother Catherine Eldred, on my paternal side of the family. This makes her my 1st cousin, 3x removed. Sarah was born in Otsego, Michigan in 1850. As a woman, not too much is known of her early life. The 1870 U.S. Federal census lists her as living at home. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census lists her as living with her aunt and uncle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her occupation is Dressmaker, and a "D" is listed under the box of Widowed/Divorced. Sometime in her 20's she was married and then divorced. I've been unable to find documentation of either a marriage or divorce. I will keep searching. On July 24, 1894, Sarah is married to Monroe Lee Diver, also of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is the beginning of Monroe's legal troubles.

Monroe Lee Diver was born in 1849 in New York. He moved with his family to Michigan soon after. He married Marion Robberds and had 8 children with her. He became an agent, selling agricultural and threshing equipment. He worked as a traveling salesman for a time, selling machinery around the country. He also worked for the railroads for a time. A newspaper article from the Grand Rapids Press on June 23, 1894 states that Anna Diver was granted a divorce from Monroe Diver yesterday. It also states that Monroe is forbidden from getting remarried again for 2 years. This was the law in Michigan at the time. If you were divorced, you had to wait 2 years before you could remarry. Monroe obviously did not wait.

The next mention I find of Monroe is in September 1894. His ex-wife, and the Court, found out about his remarriage. I found the incident mentioned in a Chicago newspaper and the Detroit Free Press.

I have searched and searched and have not been able to find any more newspaper articles about this case. I am assuming Monroe must've won because the next newspaper article I find is this one, announcing another divorce for Monroe. June 25, 1896. Grand Rapids Press.

I am going to guess that "extreme cruelty" in this case probably meant that Monroe was seeing other women.

Now, you would think that with 2 divorces under his belt, Monroe has learned his lesson and will turn over a new leaf. He'll either stay single, or settle down and become a good husband for the third and final time. You would be wrong. 

On August 22, 1896, only 2 months after getting a divorce from Sarah, Monroe marries Frankie Standish. In May 1898 Frankie files for divorce from Monroe, citing "cruelty". This article is from June 1898.

On a sidenote, Judge Adsit is the same judge who ruled Monroe couldn't marry again for 2 years after being divorced the first time in 1894. In February 1899 the third divorce is finalized. Monroe has learned his lesson this time, right? No.

On May 29, 1905 Monroe marries Alice Hayhurst, a widow. 

This was NOT the new beginning that Monroe hoped for.

On June 20, 1905 his first ex-wife filed charges against him claiming that he had not paid her alimony or child support payments for their youngest children. He claims he had paid and that the younger children were self-supporting. He also claims he was not as rich as his ex-wife claimed he was. 

In September, the judge finds in favor of ex-wife number 1 and orders Monroe to pay.

September 14, 1906, Alice, wife number 4, is now seeking a divorce. This newspaper article tells all.

On October 4, 1906 Monroe responded, with his own accusations against Alice. 

On October 23, a judge grants an injunction against Monroe, at Alice's request, of visiting and harassing her at her place of employment, a boarding house called The Oaks. Monroe doesn't pay attention to the injunction though.

Finally, on May 7, 1907 Alice is granted a divorce from Monroe. 

Monroe didn't remarry after Alice. I'm not sure where he went but he passed away on April 18, 1913. He definitely led a life filled with much drama. He was married and divorced 4 times. All before 1913. Every divorce was initiated by his wife too. 

Monroe Lee Diver is not a blood relative to me. He's only a passing through relative. I discovered his whole history when I was trying to figure out what happened to him and Sarah. I never dreamed he would lead such a soap opera worthy life. I think we often romanticize the past. Thinking that people "back then" were so much better than us. That they would "never" act the way people today act. They definitely did, and Monroe is proof of that. 

Questions, comments, any more information to add on Monroe or any of his many wives? Let me know down below.

Oh, I should mention that My ancestor, Sarah, never remarried after Monroe. She stayed single, opened and ran her own dressmaking/wig shop and was quite a successful business owner. She ran her own shop in Detroit and gave skin and haircare advice in the local newspaper. She did very well for herself.

Sarah Ballou, my 1at cousin, 3x removed. Approx. 56 years old.