Viola Mildred Strand Henrickson

 Today, September 9, 2023, we're celebrating the 101 year birthday of Viola Mildred Strand Henrickson. Last year was her actual 100th birthday. Viola is one year older than the Walt Disney Company which is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. 

Viola was born to Mildred and Carl Strand on September 9, 1922 in Allegan, Michigan. Viola was the only child of Carl and Mildred's 7 children to be born in a hospital, the others all being born at home with Mildred's mother Elnora acting as a midwife. Shortly after being born Mildred suffered from post partem depression and voluntarily checked into the Kalamazoo State Hospital. Older brother Howard went to live with his Bellingar grandparents and Viola was taken care of by neighbor Jay Treece and family. Viola slept in a dresser drawer. Mildred eventually came back home and got better with help from a local Native American medicine man.

In the 1930's Viola and her family moved to the Strand family farm. It was while she was living on this farm that as a teenager she met Raymond Henrickson, a local farmer. Ray and Viola started seeing each other and became engaged. They were married in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 20, 1940. On April 6, 1941 Viola was baptized into the Lutheran faith and confirmed as a member of the Sandhem Lutheran Church. 

Ray and Viola lived on the Henrickson family farm Ray had taken over from his parents. Together Ray and Viola raised 8 children on the farm. There were 20 grandchildren, and even great grandchildren born before Viola passed away on December 8, 1999 at home. Viola raised children, cooked, cleaned, helped with farm chores and always had food on the table. Despite Ray saying her cooking wasn't as good as his mother's, Viola's children thought her cooking was pretty good, especially her pies and cookies. I can attest to the fact that the macaroni and cheese, and chicken and dumplings she made while visiting us in Florida once were the best I'd ever tasted. I always enjoyed any time I got to spend with her. One time while visiting her on the farm a phone solicitor called and said she had won a free prize. She said, Great, send it to me then. He said she had to pay for the shipping and handling. Viola huffed and said, "It's not free then, is it?!" and slammed down the phone. lol. I knew then I'd never have to worry about her being scammed. I also remember how she and Ray would sit and watch Jerry Springer every day and get a hoot out of the people who came on. She was definitely a treasure and continues to be missed. 

Mildred and most likely Howard and Viola

Mildred, with Viola standing to the left, Mildred's right.

Viola and Milton

Viola and Ray, and kids, having dinner with Carl and Mildred. 

Viola, 2nd from right, front row. With Carl and Mildred and brothers and sisters, circa 1970.

Feel free to leave any stories about Viola down below. I know there are a lot of good ones out there. The prompt for this week was "prosperity". I think prosperity fits Viola. She brought a lot of happiness and joy to all who knew her. She may not have been prosperous in a financial sense, but she was prosperous in friends and family. 

In the newspaper

This week's prompt is "In the newspaper." I've been able to find out a lot about my various family members by searching the newspapers. Not only are newspapers great ways to find out about weddings and obituaries, but you can also find out if they ran for office, who they had Easter dinner with, or if they visited friends at Camp Custer. I have a subscription to Newspapers.com and that has been a tremendous help, especially with extended relatives who moved to other parts of the country. Unfortunately, the Allegan Gazette, and Allegan Journal have not been made a part of the Newspapers.com family. I did find a way, though. While searching the Allegan Library website one day I discovered that they had digitized the two newspapers and put them online. There was even a search engine! Unfortunately the search results just tell me which issue of the paper my relative may be in. It doesn't show me which article or highlight the name like Newspapers does. Nevertheless, it's been an invaluable tool in helping me research the Strands, Henricksons, Thompsons, and Ashleys. 

For this prompt I went back and searched for Henrickson and popularly misspelled "Hendrickson" again to see what I could find.

We start with June 25, 1915. I've mentioned wanting to know if our Swedish ancestors observed Midsummer festivities in Michigan as they would have in Sweden. Well, I wonder no more. I found this article describing the Midsummer party hosted at the farm of Mr. and Mrs. George Hen(d)rickson.

Allegan Gazette June 25, 1915

Malvina's father, Charles, had passed away in March of 1915, so by June she and George were already living on the farm. This also shows that George must've had a good singing voice to be part of a group that performed. It also shows that Hjalmar Anderson was part of the social circle. Hjalmar would go on to marry oldest Henrickson daughter Selma. 

The next article also concerns Hjalmar, and the Sandahl boys again. In November 1917 we find Hjalmar, Charlie Sandahl and friend Carl Peterson visiting William Sandahl and Martin Swanty at Camp Custer. William and Martin must've signed up to fight in World War I. Interestingly enough, in this same blurb, we also find Carl Strandt and his friend Gordon visiting a school. If that makes any kind of sense to anyone I'd love to know more. Maybe it's a school future wife Mildred Bellingar was teaching at?

Allegan Gazette November 1917

The next mention I find is the wedding of Grace Henrickson to Harold Wall in August 1928. The reception, once again, was held at the Henrickson family farm. 

Allegan Gazette August 18, 1928

 

In the same issue, I also find mention of where Grace and Harold spent time at a cottage with Selma and Hjalmar. 

Our last mention of Selma in the newspapers is when she was celebrated on her 80th birthday. It mentions her long service to the Lutheran church and also that she was church organist for many years. A job her mother once held.

Allegan Gazette November 1980

These are just a few snippets I've found in the Allegan papers. My hope is that one day Newspapers will pick up the Allegan Gazette and Journal as their search engine is so much better, but until then I'll make do with what I have. 

As always, post any questions, comments or additional information down below. Or email me. Feel free to share and repost.

As a side note, Malvina's brother-in-law was Andrew Sandahl, so I'm guessing maybe Charlie and William Sandahl were related to him in some way? I'll have to research and see. 
 

Update. Charlie and William Sandahl were the younger brothers of Anders "Andrew" Sandahl, who married Selma Anderson. Younger sister of Malvina. I also discovered that their father Gustavus Sandahl, was from Slatthog, Sweden. Same parish as where George Henrickson was from. Gustavus also changed his last name from "Johansson" too, to Sandahl. Reason was there were too many Swedish men named Johnson in the lumber camps were he worked. 

The marriage of Viola Strand and Raymond Henrickson

 The prompt for last week's blog was "random." I decided to write about a random article I found in the paper about Viola Strand.

Viola Strand was the daughter of Carl and Mildred Strand. She was born in September 1922. By all accounts she couldn't wait to get out of her parents house and start her own life. When she caught the eye of nearby farmer Raymond Henrickson, that seemed to be her way out. 

colorized picture of Howard Strand, Viola Strand, Ray Henrickson

By Spring of 1940 Viola and Ray were engaged to be married. The random article I found was from the Thursday, March 28, 1940 issue of the Allegan Gazette. It's about a kitchen shower given to one Viola Strand. 

Allegan Gazette, March 28, 1940

I can only imagine the fun and excitement Viola must have had opening her presents. I wonder what happened to the recipe box and the recipes?

Viola and Ray were officially married on April 20, 1940. Viola's age is given as 18, but she was actually only 17 at the time of marriage. I've seen the age of many women inflated on marriage certificates back in the day. 

I found it interesting that the marriage occurred in Grand Rapids, and not Allegan. Also interesting is that Ray's sister Esther and her husband Milo are listed as witnesses. They were married by a Lutheran pastor, though. Ray's family was very involved with the Lutheran church. The Strand family has been described as not very religious and not officially belonging to any one church. 

Ray and Viola's marriage was later recorded in the Allegan Gazette.

Allegan Gazette, April 25, 1940

A few more interesting notes about the wedding. The marriage occurred on April 20. The 1940 US Federal Census was being conducted that year. On May 9, 1940 a census taker came to the Henrickson farm and recorded the persons living there, which included new daughter-in-law Viola. 

What's interesting is that Viola is also recorded as living with Carl and Mildred, and being single, on May 17, 1940. Viola was recorded twice on the 1940 census, living in two different households! I wonder if maybe a neighbor gave the census taker information for the Strand household? Or maybe there was a cutoff date? Anyway, Viola was counted twice. 

The next piece of random information I have concerns Viola's baptism. Ray Henrickson's grandparents had been instrumental in starting a Lutheran church in Allegan, Michigan. Ray was already a member so it only made sense for his new wife to join the church too. I found church records indicating that Viola was baptized and officially joined the church as a member on April 6, 1941. This would be one year before giving birth to her first child in May 1942.

Does anyone have anymore information on the wedding of Ray and Viola? Why they were married in Grand Rapids? Was there another wedding in Allegan at the Lutheran Church down the road? What happened to the recipe box full of recipes Viola was given at her shower? Did she use them? Let me know in the comments down below or email me. 

 

Translation: Strandt Travel Documents

 Another prompt was "Translation." Having many ancestors who migrated from "the Old Country" I've found documents that needed translating. Google translate helps some. Having a wordlist also helps. The best thing I've found is to find someone who speaks and has knowledge of the language needing translating. Languages are living, breathing things. Just as English from 2023 is not like English from 1723, German and Swedish from today is not like German and Swedish from the 1800's and before.

One particular document that needed translating was this piece of paper that Fred Strand found in the old Bible kept by Carl and Mildred Strand. 

I recognized it immediately as having to do with Carl Friedrich Theodore Strand, grandfather to Carl Strand. Carl Friedrich is the first Strand, in our family, to come to America. The letter is written in old German handwriting and I had no way of translating it. I sent a copy of it to Heidi Strandt Andrews. Heidi is descended from Carl Friedrich Strandt, Carl FT's oldest son, and half brother to William Strandt. Heidi posted the letter on a genealogy Facebook group she belongs to and someone on there was able to translate it. It roughly translates to:

Carl Friedrich Theodore Strand

legitimate son of the former Hunter (southern German term for farmer-archaic) of Gros Schonfeld Christian Friedrich Strand and his wife Anna Dorothee born Winter, is of Gr. Schonfeld on March 27, 1834 - on March seven and twentieth of the year a thousand eight hundred and four and thirty-born and on was baptized April 6 of the same year. Baptismal witnesses were: Carl Schulz, Kathner zu Gr.Nice-field; Fritz Krempin, farmhand at Dianehof; Dorothee Strand, father's sister. The literal agreement of the previous standing information with the local baptismal register officially certified and certified bigt Rodlin May 14th, 1871.

This letter is important for 3 reasons.

Our guess is that this was some kind of certified birth certificate that Carl FT could use for travel papers. It was a document proving his identity. It's dated May 14, 1871 and the Strandt family left Hamburg on October 27, 1871. I believe this shows that Carl was preparing then to move to America. 

Another interesting note about this paper is the spelling of the name "Strandt". Strand is spelled without the letter "t" on the end. This is how Carl Strand (1901-1996) started spelling it sometime in his teenage years/ early 20's. On the passenger lists coming to America Carl FT's last name is spelled "Strandt" with the "t". The "t" always seems to be appearing and disappearing. Even in Germany. 

The final reason this letter is important is because it tells us the identity of Carl FT's father and mother. When Carl died, William filled out the death certificate. For father he listed "John Strandt" and for mother he listed "not known". He also listed Carl's birthday as March 25, 1834. He was off by 2 days. Not only does this letter give us the correct name of Carl's father, it also provides us with his mother's name and her maiden name. We also have a place of birth of Carl too. A place to start researching in Germany. 

If anyone has any extra insight or knowledge of this letter or what it might have been or means please let me know. Big Thank You to Heidi Strandt Andrews for getting this translated.

Here is the death certificate of Carl FT Strandt, for comparison's sake. Since William was born in America and was the youngest he must not have known much about his family's life in Germany.

 

Carl Johan Anderson

 Carl Johan Anderson was born and christened on November 18, 1840 in Slatto Nybygge, Hjalmseryd Parish, Jonkoping County, Sweden. His mother was Maria Andersdotter. Carl is listed as her illegitimate child. Carl lives with Maria and her parents at the parents' home. His grandfather worked as a day laborer. Carl's grandparents were listed as penniless. Carl's mother, Maria, worked as a maid.

In 1844 Maria had another child, a daughter named Christina. She was also listed as illegitimate. However, this time Maria was churched as the wife of Anders Svensson. When someone was "Churched" it means they were being welcomed back into the church after an absence. Different religions had their own version of "churching." In Sweden it was mainly seen as a way to welcome someone back who had been out of the church. When women gave birth it was the custom that the woman giving birth would stay at home and do no work. Just work on recovering from childbirth and regain her strength. Other women would come to help her by doing her chores, cooking, cleaning, looking after the house, etc. After 6 weeks she would be churched and welcomed back to society. Maria was churched as the wife of Anders Svensson. However, Maria and Anders were not married. They didn't even live in the same household it appears. While Anders was seen as the father of Christina, and also Carl, he was not married to Maria when she gave birth to either child.  In fact, Anders and Maria would not formally get married until May 2, 1863. So, Anders Svensson is the assumed father of both children, since he and Maria were not married at the birth of either child. Since the Swedish Church churched Maria, welcomed her back, as the wife of Anders, that means that in the eyes of the church they saw Maria and Anders as a married couple, even though they were not legally wed. Living together without being married was not looked kindly on and would have been discouraged. Even so, the church still seemed to approve of Maria and Carl's unusual for the time relationship.  Carl's last name is Anderson. That could be because Anders Svensson WAS his father, or because Anders was his step-father. It could also reference the fact that his maternal grandfather's name was Anders. 

In 1844 Maria and her children moved to Soldier Croft Number 50 at Stora Hokhemmet, Hjalmseryd Parish, still in Jonkoping County. Anders was a practicing farmer.  Carl was confirmed in the church in 1856. In 1858 there is a note about Carl working at a railroad station but it's not clear what he did. He may have moved around between Rotebro, Sollentuna between 1859 and 1861. Maria and Anders legally marry in 1863. In 1866 Carl moves to Stockholm. In December 1866 he married Ulrika Johansdotter. 

After marriage, Carl and Ulrika are found back in Stora Hokhemmet, Hjalmseryd Parish, Jonkoping County. Carl is able to buy a small piece of property. Carl and Ulrika move back to where Carl grew up.

On May 2, 1870 Carl and Ulrika register to move to America. He is listed as a lodging pauper and Ulrika is his wife. On May 13, 1870 they sail on the ship "Orlando" to Hull, England where they continued on to America. I know they briefly settled first in Indiana before coming to Michigan where they eventually settled and raised their children. 

Annika Hostmad, a genealogist from "Find a Swede" who I hired to research Carl said she had never seen a case like this before. Where an unmarried couple was apparently viewed and treated by the church as a married couple.  Why did Maria and Anders wait so long to marry? Until 1885 a woman had to have permission from her father, a brother, a widowed mother, or her employer to marry. Was there someone who would not give Maria permission to marry Anders? Did her parents want Maria to stay at home and take care of them? Or perhaps she had an employer who didn't want her to leave? The Swedish church normally didn't look kindly on couple having children out of wedlock. Why did they treat Maria and welcome her back as if she and Anders were a married couple?  

As an orphan, Ulrika and her siblings were helped a great deal by the church. It also appears that the church helped Carl's mother and father too. Maybe that explains why they were so generous to the Swedish Lutheran church they helped start in Michigan. Now that they were both in a position of having much more did they want to payback for the kindness shown to them earlier? One thing is certain, both came from very humble roots. America offered them the opportunity they didn't have in Sweden. 

I definitely think that looking more into the lives of Maria and Anders is warranted. Hopefully 2023 will provide some answers. :)

Post any questions, comments, observations in the comments or email me.

The first picture is of the railroad station where Carl and Ulrika met while working.

The second picture is of the church in Hjalmseryd Parish. This is the church Carl would have attended until 1853, when a new church was built. 

Research help provided by Annika Hostmad from "Find a Swede"

https://findaswede.com/

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.

 

The Anderson and Henrickson connection to Immanuel Lutheran Church

 This week's writing prompt was "Groups." I thought I would write about the connection of the Anderson and Henrickson families to the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Allegan, Michigan. 

According to a pamphlet written to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of Allegan, Michigan, in 1953, the Swedish settlers of what was then known as Abronia, Michigan met on August 4, 1878 to organize a "Swedish Lutheran Church."  Charles and Hulda Anderson were among the Swedish settlers present. In 1879 Charles and Hulda donated land to the church to be used as a cemetery. The deed was given on April 15, 1879.  On July 2, 1879  Charles and Hulda's daughter Malvina Olivia was the first person buried in the cemetery. In October of  1879 Hulda would give birth to another daughter who was also christened Malvina Christina. She would go on to marry George Henrickson.

Charles Anderson was one of the first trustees of the church. He served four terms as a church trustee. He served two terms as a Deacon, and 2 years as Sunday School Superintendent. In 1895 the church bought a Moline Organ for $75. I remember hearing a family story about how the organ was bought in Detroit and Charles and Hulda drove to Detroit in a horse and buggy wagon and brought the organ back to the church. Malvina was the first organist for the church. She played from 1895 to 1900. 1900 is the year she married George Henrickson. 

Charles passed away in 1915. That is the year that George and Malvina returned to Allegan, taking over the farm purchased by Charles and Hulda many years before. George and Malvina quickly became involved in the church. One of the first duties George took on was as church organist. He served as organist for many years. He was paid $52 a year. He also served as a Sunday School Superintendent.  He was often selected to attend church conferences in Detroit, Chicago and other places. George also served on a committee to raise funds for missionary work and aid overseas. He was a vital member of the leadership of the church. In later years when George got older and couldn't keep up as much, eldest daughter Selma took over and became quite active in the church. Following in the footsteps of both her parents she served as church organist for 15 years, from 1945-1959. She also worked with the Ladies Aid and the Missionary Society. 

The church played quite a large part in the lives of Charles and Hulda Anderson and George and Malvina Henrickson. And daughter Selma too. 

This is from the church secretary's book. If you look at lines 8, 13, 14, you'll see George Henrickson's name mentioned. Serving as Deacon, School Superintendent, organist and attendee to a conference. 

Another copy from the church secretary book from the end of 1929. Featuring a report by George Henrickson, Deacon. Also, reports by G. Henrickson as acting Treasurer. At the bottom is a report by Selma Anderson as Treasurer of the Ladies Home Foreign Ministries Society. 

The church played a major role in the lives of my great, great grandparents and my great grandparents. 

Leave any questions, comments, or your own personal stories relating to the Andersons or Henricksons below in the comments. Thanks for reading!