Nicknames: How did Ulrika become Hilda?

 The prompt for this week is "nicknames." It made me think of my great, great grandmother Ulrika Johannesdotter Anderson. Her given name was Ulrika and that is what she is known by in all Swedish records found on her. She is also known as Ulrika in early documentation in America and in the Swedish Lutheran Church records kept in America. Sometime around 1910, though, she acquired the nickname "Hilda/Hulda." I have found records past 1910 referring to her as Hilda and there is one record that refers to her as Hulda. Why did this occur? Let's find out.

Ulrika was born March 24, 1840 to Johannes Pehrsson and Britta Carlsdotter. The name "Ulrika" means "wealthy ruler" and comes from Old High German. It's the feminized form of Ulric. Two queens in Sweden were named Ulrika and it was popular in literature in the 19th century. There were characters named Ulrika in "Ivanhoe" and "Count Robert of Paris." 

The record shows that Ulrika was the only name given to her. She had no second name given. She was simply called Ulrika. All of the records in Sweden, household examination, marriage, and passenger immigration lists, all list her name as Ulrika. Hilda or Hulda is never used with her. 

When she comes to America, the first U.S. Federal census she's recorded in, 1880, lists her name as "Eureka." To English ears, hearing the name Ulrika pronounced the Swedish way, it would sound very close to 'eureka" She and Carl had only been in the US 10 years by that point. It's also noted that neither she nor Carl could read or write in English. However, by the 1900 Federal census, she is listed under her proper name of Ulrika, even though it is spelled "Uhrick." The local Swedish Lutheran church lists her name as Ulrika. Again, no other name given.

The 1910 Federal census is where we find Ulrika listed as "Hilda." She and Carl can both read and write English at this point too. After 1910 we see Hilda used to refer to Ulrika in documents, especially in documents also referencing her oldest son, Frank, and youngest daughter, Selma. In the marriage records for both Frank and Selma, she is referred to as Hulda/Hilda Anderson. Interestingly, in the marriage record for Malvena, she is listed by her Swedish name, Ulrika. When Ulrika dies, her death certificate was filled out with information provided by oldest son, Frank. She is listed as Hilda Anderson. "Ulrika" is then listed next to that name in parentheses, almost as an afterthought. When Frank passes away, his mother's name is listed as Hilda. Daughter Selma also passes away soon after, and Hilda is listed as her mother's name. I haven't found Malvena's death certificate yet, but I have a feeling I'd find the name Ulrika listed. 

The name "Hilda" comes from the Old Norse word hildr, which was the name of a Valkyrie who carried fallen warriors to Valhalla. Hilda means "battle or battle woman." It's a name of strength. Since the name Hilda is never used in Swedish, it must've been a nickname given to her in America, but why? Was it to differentiate her from another Ulrika? Or perhaps it was given to her because of her personality? We know Ulrika was orphaned by the time she was 7, lost a child in Sweden, lost another child who was killed by a train in Michigan. With all the tragedies in her life, maybe her friends and family wanted to honor her? Or, maybe they just preferred it to Hilda and found it easier to pronounce than Ulrika? Her husband Carl was known as Charles after coming to America. Maybe Ulrika wanted a new name too? 

Carl and Ulrika marriage record

Carl and "Hilda" in 1910 census

Death Certificate for Ulrika Anderson, using nickname Hilda

Preserves

 The prompt for this week is "preserve". It can have many meanings, but the one my sister and I thought of is to preserve food. Canning. Before modern marvels like freezing vegetables and fruit immediately after being picked or being able to buy canned food at the local supermarket, our ancestors had to can and preserve their own food. Making preserves allowed them to be able to eat fruits, vegetables, and meat through the harsh, long winters. It also saved all the fresh fruit and veggies that couldn't be eaten at harvest time. Our ancestors were lucky as since they lived on farms they could grow, harvest, and can their own preserves. They didn't have to buy from a grocer. They had a ready supply of fresh food that people who lived in big cities didn't always have access to. 

I asked my dad if he remembered his own mother (Lois Ashley Thompson) canning, and he said she wasn't really into canning. He remembered her doing some canning, but not a lot. He remembered his grandmother Ashley (Emily Dobbratz Ashley) was very big into canning. When she passed away, he remembered cleaning out the cellar with many jars of fruit preserves. The Ashleys lived on a big farm and had lots of different crops. 

I also asked my mom if she remembered her mother canning preserves. Interestingly, she and my dad both remembered grandma Henrickson (Viola Strand Henrickson) making canned beef that tasted delicious. When Ray Henrickson would slaughter a steer, Viola would cut up the beef and can it. Later during the winter, Viola would make beef and gravy and mashed potatoes. She'd use the canned beef in the gravy. Poured over the mashed potatoes. Both my parents remembered this dish fondly. :)

Viola would also get help from her mother, Mildred Bellinger Strand. Mildred would come to Viola's kitchen and the two of them would can peaches and make strawberry preserves. They would be stored down in the cellar, which kept the items cool. I remember going down there with grandma one day in the cellar. It was one of the scariest places I'd been. lol. Very dark, and definitely cooler than the upstairs.

The only memory I have of preserving food is one summer I was visiting Ray and Viola and grandma was making homemade pickles. She told me she was using special cucumbers to pickle. I tasted one and decided it was much better than any pickle I had eaten up to that point from a jar. It was so crisp and tasty.

Mom remembered that Viola and Mildred would use wax over the preserves and the jars would make a popping sound when they were set. She also remembered them canning tomatoes. They would all be eaten during the winter months. Everything tasted good.

Do you have any memories of eating homemade canned food, or helping to can? Leave them down below in the comments, please. That's all for this week.

War: What was the Civil War like for David Bellinger?

This week's prompt is "War." Of course, that immediately makes me think of David Bellinger and his service in the Union army during the American Civil War. He served in the 19th Michigan Regiment, Company B. While researching David's service I came across 2 books for sale. One is "They Died to make Men Free: A history of the 19th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War," by William M. Anderson. Hardscrabble Books. Berrien Springs, Michigan 1980. The other book is, "I Hope to Do My Country Service" The Civil War letters of John Bennitt, MD, Surgeon, 19th Michigan Regiment. Wayne State University Press, 2005. I was able to order them off Amazon and eBay. I haven't had a chance to read them yet but I have skimmed through them. Here are a few snippets of information from They Died to Make Men Free.  

When David signed up he was given his first month's pay plus $25 of a $100 bonus upon enlistment. Money was a great motivator used to encourage men to sign up and fight.

After signing up, Company B, which was mostly from Allegan, took the train to Dowagiac, Michigan. They brought the Allegan brass band along with them. The band played while the company marched through the streets from the train station to where they were housed. 

For their first Thanksgiving in the army, the men enjoyed boiled salted beef, hard crackers, and coffee. 

For the first Christmas, the officers supplied the men with oysters and a half keg of beer for each company. 

The battle at Thompson's Station in Tennessee is where David Bellinger was wounded in his thigh and taken prisoner. The fighting was fierce on both sides and while it looked as if it would be a Union victory, the win ultimately went to the Confederates. The 19th Michigan went into the battle with 531 men. They suffered a 21% casualty rate. 20 men were killed, 92 wounded. The 19th suffered a greater casualty rate than any other regiment, including the Confederates. 

The 19th was marched 17 days to a prison camp 75 miles away in Tullahoma, Tennessee. The Rebel enlisted men were reported to have treated the 19th with compassion, even sharing their meager rations with the 19th, but only when the Confederate officers were not watching. The officers of the Confederacy did not share in the compassionate treatment.  After being housed in Tullahoma, the 19th was put on a train and moved to Libby prison in Richmond, Virginia. At Richmond their main meal mostly consisted of one food, mule meat. Sometimes they were given the water the mule meat was cooked in also. Mule meat was not a favorite of the men. After approximately 30 days from originally being taken prisoner, the 19th was released. 

Here is the daily schedule the men followed after first signing up and getting adjusted to Army life.

5 am            Reveille

6:30 am       Roll Call

7 am            Breakfast

8 am            Clean up tents

9-11 am       Drill

12 noon        Dinner

2-4 pm          Drill

4 pm             Half hour swim and supper

6:30 pm        Dress parade (as long as the Colonel likes)

9:30 pm        Tattoo and lights out

The 19th Michigan came under General Sherman's command and marched with him through Georgia and to the sea. The first picture shows the march. The second picture shows all the engagements and places visited by the 19th during the course of the war. 

I can't wait until I have more time to properly read these two books to find out what life was like for David and the men of the 19th. One thing is for sure, David Bellinger was very lucky he survived and lived to come back to Michigan and marry Loretta Foster. Lorett's first husband, David, died while being held prisoner at the infamous Andersonville POW camp in Georgia. 

How David Bellinger fits in:

David Bellinger, father of 

Charles Bellinger, father of

Mildred Bellinger Strand, mother of

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

Worship: Were our ancestors Non-Conformists?

 The prompt for this week is "worship." I've already written about the connection between Carl and Ulrika Anderson and the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Allegan, Michigan. Also, the connection George and Malvina Henrickson had with it. I looked at the family tree to see if any other branches had a connection with a church or religion and discovered something interesting.

Mildred Bellinger Strand's maternal grandmother was Harriet Mabbs. Harriet's father William was born in England. William's father was also named William. William, Sr was born March 12, 1791 in Mountnessing, Essex, England. His parents were John Mabbs and Sofia Andrews. 

What is interesting is the book this record was found in. It wasn't found in a record from the Church of England, the official state church at the time. It was found in a separate book.

William, Sr's father was John Mabbs. John's brother was named James. Looking into the life of John and James Mabbs, it seems the Mabbs family has long ties in and around Billericay, Essex. Essex is a county northeast of London, bordered by the North Sea on the east. It was one of the original 7 kingdoms that united to form the Kingdom of England. It was occupied by the Romans and then the Saxons, who created the Kingdom of Essex. It was later occupied by the Vikings.

During the 1600's, England underwent several transitions. The monarchy was overthrown by Oliver Cromwell. Then Oliver was overthrown, and the monarchy returned. When the monarchy returned, the Church of England was reestablished as the official Church of England. All bishops and clergy were required to join. Those who did not wish to join the Church of England were known as Dissenters and Non-Conformists. A "Dissenter" was anyone who did not worship in the Church of England. These included Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Catholics among others.

Essex has a history of being a home to Dissenters and Nonconformers. Many of the Puritans who later sailed to America on the Mayflower lived in and around Billericay. I also discovered that the Mabbs were a well-known dissenting family in Billericay. Dissenters in Billericay

While William, Sr's family was involved in practicing freedom of religion, William seems to have been more involved in the free market. William, Sr. left Essex and moved to London where he married and started his soap making business. Later, he moved to America where he made his way to Michigan and farming. His son, William, Jr. farmed, but later he turned back to religion. He was a Methodist minister when consumption took his life at the age of 60, in 1884. 

It's fun to think of our ancestors as being dissenters and nonconformists in the annals of English history.

Radio: Yes or No? Technology in the 1930's

 In the 1930 United States Federal Census a question was asked if respondents had a radio. It was the first time a consumer question had been asked on the census. Radio had been introduced earlier and was increasingly becoming a popular way of obtaining news, entertainment and a way of selling items to consumers. If anyone in the household owned a radio set, an "R" was placed next to the family name in box 9. I decided to look into it and see how many of our ancestors had a radio in 1930.

First up is George and Malvina Henrickson.

From the census record we know that George and Malvina did NOT have a radio set in 1930. In fact, they were like most of their neighbors. Only a few families in their area had a radio set. We also see that Malvina's older brother, Frank Anderson, didn't have a radio set. Malvina's younger sister, Selma, and her husband Andrew, did not have a radio set either. All 3 families lived on a farm. What about George's sister, Amanda, who lived in Illinois? Amanda and George Fahnstrom did not have a radio set either. They also lived on a farm.

I looked up the Henrickson children who weren't living at home in 1930. Sisters Selma, Eulalia, Grace, and Pearl all lived in Allegan, yet none of them had a radio set either. Only sister Ingrid, who lived in Allegan, had a radio set.

What about Carl and Mildred Strand? 

Located at the bottom of the page we see that Carl and Mildred did NOT live on a farm in 1930 and they DID have a radio set. Listening to the radio at night must have been a fun way to pass the evening. Some of the popular radio programs of the 1930's include "Amos 'n' Andy", "The Eddie Cantor Show", "The Adventures of Sam Spade," "The 64,000 Question". What about William and Mary Strandt? They lived on a farm in 1930. Did they have a radio?

Yes! Not only did they live on farm and have a radio set, it looks like most of their neighbors had a radio too.

While William and Mary Strandt had a radio, Mildred's parents, Charles and Elnora did NOT have a radio. They also lived on a farm. William and Mary seem to be the exception to living on a farm and not having a radio. Mildred's sister, Helen, who lived in Glendale, California had a radio, as did her brother, Lynn, who lived in Kalamazoo. I'm not sure of the whereabouts of wandering brother Ray in 1930.

On my paternal side, Albert and Emily Ashley lived on a farm and did not have a radio. Frank and Anna Thompson lived in Allegan and DID have a radio set. 

With the exception of William and Mary Strandt, most of our farming ancestors didn't have a radio in 1930. Radio sets mostly belonged to those living in town. After radio, television was the next big home entertainment. The Federal Census never asked a question about having a television set, but according to my mother, the Ray and Viola Henrickson household acquired their first television in the mid 1950's. Some of the programs watched were "Winky Dink" and "You". Later, "The Mickey Mouse Club" after school. The TV was a Sylvania and they were one of the first to have one. It was fun having moving pictures in the home, and not having to go to the theater in Allegan.

My dad also remembers getting their first television set sometime in the mid 1950's too. His cousin Ross had a television before he did. It was also fun getting to watch television programs at home.

Do you have any memories about new technology coming to your home? Radio, television, Internet? We've come a long way in being entertained at home.

Changing Names: Was Our Family Name Changed at Ellis Island?

 Almost every family seems to have a story about an ancestor whose name was changed at Ellis Island. Hollywood loves to use this urban legend of a character coming to America and an unfeeling, disinterested customs official can't pronounce the foreign name, so he gives the character a new, Americanized name. It never happened. Custom officials used the manifest that was created at the point of departure. Also, most of the inspectors could speak more than one language. If names were changed, it came from the immigrant, not from the inspector.

On my paternal side, my Bellgraph family became Bellgraph from Bellgrowa in Pomerania long before they immigrated to America. My 2x great grandfather John Knach became John Conor when he settled among many Irish Catholics in Nebraska. He even went so far as to claim to be from Ireland on the census, even though his family was from eastern Prussia.

On my maternal side there are many instances of the appearing and disappearing letter "t" at the end of Strandt. Even in Germany the letter appears and disappears. In America, Carl Strand seems to be the only family member who left it off. It seems to have disappeared permanantly from him around the time of World War I when there was large anti-German sentiment in the country.

This leaves us with Sven Goran Henrik Johansson, known as George Henrickson in America. If we look at George's family, we can see that there is actually a history of men in his family changing surnames.

Going back we find George's great grandfather, Anders Skjold, born in 1788 in Sweden. His father's name was Lars Christian Hultberg. When Anders joined the Swedish military, though, he took on a military surname. Men would do this to distinguish themselves from all the other men with the same name as them. "Skjold" means "Shield" in Swedish. 

Anders Skjold later had a son named Sven Andersson, born in 1810. Sven also joined the Swedish military and took on a soldier surname. His surname was "Fahna", which means "Flag." So, Sven Andersson Fahna is how he became known. His children had the last name Fahna. 

Sven had two sons, Jonas and Anders. They also joined the Swedish military and took on military surnames. Jonas could not use Fahna, as his father was using it. Jonas's surname became "Fahnstrom". Anders took the last name "Lindblad." Lindblad is an ornamental name. "lind" refers to the Lind, or Lime tree. "blad" refers to Leaf. 

Sven's daughter, Ingrid, married Johan Jonasson. Their son, Sven Goran Henrik, would have had the last name of Johansson. Johan was one of the most popular, if not the most popular name in Sweden at the time. That means, there would have been very many Swedish immigrants in America with the last name of Johansson. We've already seen how common it was to change the surname in Sweden. There was no tradition of carrying on a family name as the surname changed each generation, or with entry to the military. So, when Sven Goran Henrik Johansson came to America and saw how many other Swedish immigrants had the last name Johansson, he decided he wanted to stand out and be different. When he became a naturalized American citizen he chose a new, more American sounding name for himself. He went with George Henrickson. He dropped Johansson, and turned his name of Henrik into his surname by adding "son." 

The first paper is the passenger manifest from the ship leaving Malmo, Sweden. His name is listed as Sven G.H. Johansson. The next picture is the manifest of the ship coming into Ellis Island, in New York. The name is listed exactly the same. And that, is how we became Henrickson's, and not Johanson's. :)

How George fits in:

George Henrickson (Sven Goran Henrik Johansson) son of, 

Ingrid Svensson Fahna, daughter of,

Sven Andersson Fahna, son of,

Anders Skjold, son of,

Lars Christian Hultberg. (Lars was also in the military and I believe Hultberg is also a name given to him in the military but I'm not sure. At least 3 generations of Swedish military service.)

 

Heirloom: The story behind the mysterious painting

 One of the things I remember most about spending an afternoon with my great grandparents, Carl and Mildred Strand, was a black and white print hanging on their wall in the living room. It was of a young woman, standing on a porch, staring out as a man on a horse came riding up the road. I remember saying I thought the woman was in love and she was waiting for a letter from her boyfriend, or her boyfriend was the one on the horse. I was around 10 at the time. I remember Mildred saying she thought the same. That the woman was in love and waiting for her intended. Then my grandmother Viola spoke up and said she just thought the rider was the mailman bringing the mail. No love involved. Mildred and I laughed together, agreeing we were more romantic about the young woman than Viola. 

You can see the print in the above picture. What or who was the woman waiting for? Where did the print come from? So many questions. 

After Carl and Mildred's passing, I learned the print went to their granddaughter Colleen. It had actually belonged to Colleen's mother, Marylaine initially. Marylaine had moved out on her own and was living in Kalamazoo, I think. She found it in a closet and hung it up. Later, when she moved, she gave it to Carl and Mildred and Mildred hung it in the living room where it stayed for years. After corresponding with Colleen, it turns out that Mildred and I were right about the young woman.

The name of the painting is, "Love's Young Dream." It was painted by Jennie Brownscombe in 1887. Jennifer Brownscombe was born in Pennsylvania in 1850. She moved to New York where she studied art and painting, later traveling to Paris and Europe where she studied and gained attention. She's best known for historical genre paintings, the best-known being "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" which hangs in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She's also known for idealized, romantic visions of rural life, of which "Love's Young Dream" is an example of. The young woman is waiting for her intended to come on horseback. Her mother is gazing up at her, and her father is wholly unconcerned. Below is a copy of the print in color.

nmwa.org

I'm really glad Marylaine found this picture, and even happier she gave it to Mildred, where it eventually found its way back to Colleen.