The prompt for this week is "Family Business." There are two occupations that come up over and over again in the family tree: farming and teaching.
People have been farming for the past 12,000 years. When society transitioned from a hunter-gatherer society to staying put, cultivating crops and domesticating animals. Our ancestors have been farming since.
While Carl and Ulrika Anderson met while Carl was working at a railroad station in Stockholm, Sweden, after marrying they moved to a farm in the country. Unfortunately, after nearly 2 years of famine they moved to America. Once again, Carl worked for the railroads first, before saving up enough money to buy a farm in Michigan. After he passed away, his farm was inherited by his daughter and her husband. George Henrickson had attended college and worked as a Lutheran minister before giving it up to come work on the farm. When he passed away, his son Raymond took over the family farm. While he also had a full-time job in the paper mill, he still kept cows and raised crops. The land is still in the family and farmed today by Ray's sons and grandsons.
Carl Strand also tried different jobs over the years, including his own successful business at one point. However, during the Great Depression he came back to the family farm and stayed there the rest of his days. His father had tried farming off and on and was never very successful at it. Carl was a much better farmer than his father, much to his father's chagrin, and was able to keep the farm in the family.
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| Ray Henrickson and brother with plough horses. |
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| Carl Strand's plough horses. |
Women have not had a lot of job options open to them over the years. They were expected to stay home and keep house and raise children. If you lived on a farm, then you also helped your husband with farm chores. The only time a woman could really work outside the home, was before she was married, which several of our ancestors did.
George Henrickson's aunt, Sara Lena Fahna, was single all her life and worked as a schoolteacher. She was known for being a good teacher who kept a disciplined classroom.
Elnora Truman, Mildred Strand's mother, taught school before marrying Charles Bellinger. Mildred Strand taught school before marrying Carl Strand. Carl Strand's mother, Mary Pulsipher, taught school before marrying William Strand. When Mary was older and her children had all left home, she taught school again. Her daughter Eva also taught school. And Eva's daughter Ruth also taught school. Several of Mildred's grandchildren and great grandchildren have also taught in varying degrees and capacities.
I feel very proud to come from such a long line of farmers and teachers. I can't think of two more nobler vocations. (If only they paid more ;)
Questions, comments, or want to add more information? Post them below or email me. Thank you for reading!
