The Marriage of George and Malvina Henrickson

This week's theme is "Landed" so I thought I would write about the marriage of George Henrickson and Malvina Anderson, when they "landed" in their married life together. February 21, 2022 is also the 122nd wedding anniversary of George and Malvina Henrickson. 

George Henrickson met Malvina Anderson when he was a student preacher. He attended, and graduated from Augustina College in Chicago, Illinois in 1897. Sometime after that he met Malvina and became engaged to her. They married in the Sandhem Lutheran Church in Abronia, Allegan, Michigan on February 21, 1900. Here is the church entry recording their marriage. 

It's interesting to note that the church records Malvina'a age as 20, but she was actually 21. George and Malvina's residence is listed as Florence, Wisconsin. Florence, Wisconsin is where first daughter Selma was born. George and Malvina must've returned to Florence after their wedding. Another interesting note is that the church lists this as their "2nd church" wedding. I'm not sure what the meaning of that is. On this same page is the wedding record of Malvina's younger sister Selma. By her and her husband's name is noted that it is their "3rd church" wedding. Was it common then to be married in more than one church? Or more than one location? Mysteries! The notes for George and Malvina go on to say that the Rev. Ryberg was the person who married them, and that they had no attendants.  Selma and her husband, at their 3rd church wedding DO have attendants listed though. 

Next we have the official Michigan marriage license to compare information with.

The official license lists Illinois as George's residence and Watson Township as Malvina's. It also correctly lists Malvina's age as 21. It lists George's father's name as John Henrickson, it's really Johan Johansson. George changed his last name to Henrickson so maybe he wanted his father to have the same last name? It also lists the Rev. Rydberg as a Swedish Lutheran pastor who married the couple. Malvina's parents Charley and Ulrika Anderson are listed as witnesses. 

I've searched newspapers but all I can find about the actual marriage of George and Malvina is this small blurb stating that it happened. 

I DID find a more descriptive article of sister Selma's wedding. It sounds quite fancy. I'm not sure if Malvina didn't have a party or if it just wasn't reported.

And finally, here is a picture of George and Malvina in their wedding clothes. It certainly looks like they were having a fancy ceremony.

In the first 10 years of marriage they lived in 4 different locations and had 7          children. George and Malvina went on to have 12 children, with 11 living to adulthood.

 

Maps

 This week's theme is "Maps." While researching my Michigan ancestors I've found some land ownership maps. What I like about them is not only do I get to see where my ancestors lived, but I get to see their neighbors and other ancestors too. When you see how close families lived to each other you can see why people got married, or you had brothers and sisters from one family marrying brothers and sisters from another family. People tended not to stray too far from home then and married someone who lived close by.

This first map is the U.S. Indexed County Land Ownership Map of 1873. I specifically downloaded it because it shows where my 3x great grandfather Riley Thompson owned land in Allegan, Michigan in 1873. 

Riley's land is on the very bottom, right hand side. He owns 18 acres near the Ashley's. He also owns another 20 acres near John Ashley. Riley's land is very near O. Ashley, my 2x great grandfather. Orville Ashley is the grandfather of Lois Ashley, my paternal grandmother. Also, in the middle of the map, on the left side, you can find D. Bellinger's 40 acres of land. D. Bellinger stands for David Bellinger, my 3x great grandfather on my maternal side. He is Mildred Bellinger Strand's grandfather. So, in this one map I can see land owned by two 3x great grandfathers, and 1 2x great grandfather. There are also various other relations shown here too. Aunts and Uncles. In-laws. 

This is another map I found. Also from 1873. It shows the land that Riley Thompson owned in Heath, Michigan. 

On this map you can find Riley's land on the bottom left hand side. He owns 80 acres of land. His is third from the left, on the bottom. Under the Kalamazoo river. Other ancestors with land living nearby are J. Sadler, and C.R. Brownell. The Sadlers and Brownells were united in marriage in 1839 when John William Brownell married Lavinia Sadler in Ogden, New York. When they moved to Michigan, many of their family members came with them. C.R.Brownell most likely refers to their son Charles R. Brownell. He was into logging and owned a lot of land in Michigan. He is also the uncle who bought the Strandt family home for Mary and William to live in. John and Lavinia are my 4x great grandparents. They are Carl Strand's great grandparents. 

Maps are a great tool to use in researching. Hopefully I'll be able to find more as time goes on.

Branching Out

 This week's theme is "Branching Out." I thought I would write about an interesting branch of the Pulsipher family. In the 1850's 3 of Ebenezer Pulsipher's 6 sons moved from Geauga County, Ohio to Allegan County, Michigan. One of them was Horace Pulsipher, great grandfather to Carl Strand. 2 brothers remained in Ohio, and 1 brother moved to California. I'm going to write about the brother who moved to California.

Orrin Pulsipher was the older brother to Horace Pulsipher. Orrin was born in 1817 in most likely Stowe, Vermont. Sometime in the 1830's Ebenezer moved his family from Vermont to Ohio, settling just outside Cleveland. In the 1850's Ebenezer's sons started to make their own way in the world. While 3 of the brothers decided to go to Michigan, Orrin decided to go to California. The 1850 census finds Orrin and his wife Sarah living in Ohio. Their daughter, Rebecca, birth is recorded on September 27, 1856 California. I haven't been able to find a document of Rebecca's birth, but all her records list that day, and place as time of her birth. From various newspaper articles I've found Orrin living in Sacramento, California from 1859 to 1863. His job is always listed as Carpenter. I've found him listed as a plaintiff and defendant in lien cases against property, sheriff sales of property, letters left behind at the post office needing to be picked up, and in 1862 he was a juror in a case involving a charge of arson. In 1863 he is listed in the city directory of San Francisco. He is still working as a carpenter. In 1866 he appears on the list of voters in San Francisco. His address is 122 Fourth Street, in the Tenth Ward of the city. 

However, on the 1870 census Orrin is listed as being denied the right to vote, on grounds other than rebellion or other crime. 

I have been researching this and I can't find WHY he was denied voting rights, especially since he was on the voter rolls in 1866. I'm thinking it may have something to do with California law and maybe one of the property lien cases he seemed to be involved with. It is a mystery.

In 1869 an ad appears in the San Francisco Examiner asking contractors and builders to come to a meeting to devise ways to thwart LUMBER THIEVES that are infesting the city. Orrin is specifically named. 

The next time we see Orrin in the newspaper, unfortunately, is for a "probably fatal" accident he took. 

Orrin's death was very tragic, but as I continued researching his family, I learned it wasn't the only tragic death. 

Orrin's daughter Rebecca married a man named John Hucks. John had been born in England and came to California with his family as a child. John started a photography studio and was very successful. In the 1880 census they lived at 904 Market Street in San Francisco. They had 2 children and seemed to have a happy life. Rebecca was involved with the Rebekah Lodge. Unfortunately, Rebecca had her own tragic death, as reported in the newspaper. From December 28, 1892.

Rebecca was only 36 years old. You would think this would be the end of tragic deaths for this family, but, no. There is one more tragedy to come.

On October 30, 1915, apparently despondent over his declining health, John decided to end things by taking his own life. His son found him dead in the studio the next morning.

Going further with this family, I found the obituary for the son George A. in the paper. He died suddenly at the age of 52 in 1928. Sarah Pulsipher, the wife of Orrin, lived to the ripe old age of 80 years and 11 months.  She passed away in 1901.

I thought this branch was especially interesting because most of my ancestors stayed in Michigan. This is one of the few branches to go somewhere else, and to California in the 1850's no less! It must've been exciting to be in California then, and to be in San Francisco at the start and to help with the building of the city.