Summer of 1930, Liden Girls

Summer of 1930

In the summer of 1930, my grandmother would have been 15 years old.  Life on a farm was a struggle for many, as this was part of the depression era.

In her memoirs, she wrote:  "Our farm had one hundred sixty acres, which was the average size of the farms people claimed as homesteads.  The farm was a mile and a half south of Thief River Falls.  The home that my father built here had a large kitchen, a large bedroom and a large living room with two porches - one in the front and one in the back.  There were two large bedrooms upstairs, one for the boys and one for the girls. 

Living on the farm we always had plenty of food to eat and clothes to wear.  We had a very large garden where we grew all our own vegetables.  The staples were potatoes, corn, carrots, onions, beans, peas, rutabagas and turnips.  There were a few things we couldn't grow very well because of the cold winters and short growing year like tomatoes.  Yet we did grow enough to get us by.
Under the house was a large cellar where we stored our fruits and vegetables.  We had a lot of potatoes.  A large box of sand is where we stored the carrots and they stayed fresh all winter.  We would dry the ears of corn, beans and peas.  The onions and rutabagas were stored down there too.  In the winter when it was very cold my folks would hang a lighted lantern down there to keep it from freezing.  My mother would place a dish of water on the step going down there to see how cold it would get. If it looked like it would get cold enough to freeze she hung the lantern.

When we got home from school it was our job to slop the hogs, pick the eggs, feed the chickens, then it was up to us to milk all of the cows.  We did it all by hand as there were no milking machines then.  We had a water pump and we would have to pump all of the water for the animals to drink.  It took so much water it seemed we just pumped and pumped and pumped.  We had to take turns.  It took a lot of water to water all of our animals.

When the depression of 1929 hit the country, we hardly knew it on the farm.  The only things we had to purchase were coffee and sugar.  One day my father sent a cow to the herd stockyards in St. Paul but the price of meat was so low it didn't even pay for the freight so my father had to send them money instead of him getting anything for it.  He never sold any more."

Spring!

Perhaps Easter or Mother's Day ... 

Dad, Mom, Grandma Myrtle and husband Bill Greer. 

ca 1976/1977

Buffy lolling in the grass (we STILL have flamingos in 1976/77??)

 Lori dressed up, that was such a cute dress style! 

And Lori with Diana and Rene Nault in the front yard. 

(and a flamingo in the background here too!!!)

The Rose Garden

Easter perhaps?  We're posed in front of the Snowball Bush. 

Pretty, but such a pain to clean up after when the petals dropped.

This looks like we made a trip to the Rose Garden in San Jose.

You still have a lotta hair, Mom!

So many beautiful roses 

Grandma Myrtle and her husband, Bill.

Hello Again, Summer!

Grandma Myrtle and her husband, Bill Greer

Grandma has a corsage, was it Mother's Day?

Definitely a Sunday, we're all dressed up!

and here's the rest of the family, blue must have been the

"color of the year" ... we all sorta match!

Those are some long pearls, Mom!

Standing in front of the oleander bush in full bloom,

And another mystery photo:  I'm guessing this is

one of Myrtle's sisters?

Let us know, Dorothy!

Lori with one of Mom's roses.

And what says 70s better than this flashy skirt and vest??

Oregon Trip

A different direction in this vacation- 

we headed to Oregon for Gary's Graduation

Grandma Myrtle lived in a trailer park

with very small bedrooms!

I remember she had a lot of little knick knacks around

and how walking on her floors felt noisy

Grandma Myrtle and Gary

Just look at his smile!  Such a happy kid!!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

In a letter from Myrtle (my grandmother) to my parents dated 6/27/1996, she writes:

          I often wondered about her [Harold's mother].  She came from the same place in Sweden where Mom [Anna Kringsberg Liden] came from.  Harold and I went to church with Mom on Sunday, and Rev. Lundell, the minister, came right over and said "You must be Mom's youngest brother, I'd know you any place."  Mom said, "Oh no, that's Myrtle's boyfriend."   In our wedding picture so many people commented about Harold and I looked so much alike.   I've never said this to anyone before but I have thought of it often, just a thought, I don't think his mom really knew who his father was as the names on his birth certificate and baptism certificate were different. I just haven't wanted to check into his family.  His mom was a Hendrickson, tho.

          Several of the kids have wanted to check on our family history and I've kind of discouraged it.  "Why not let sleeping dogs lie?"

Pretty much sums up how both sides of my family felt about family history and events.

I'm sure other families have these kinds of "skeletons in the closet"!!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

In a letter from Myrtle (my grandmother) to my parents dated 6/27/1996, she writes:
          I often wondered about her [Harold's mother].  She came from the same place in Sweden where Mom [Anna Kringsberg Liden] came from.  Harold and I went to church with Mom on Sunday, and Rev. Lundell, the minister, came right over and said "You must be Mom's youngest brother, I'd know you any place."  Mom said, "Oh no, that's Myrtle's boyfriend."   In our wedding picture so many people commented about Harold and I looked so much alike.   I've never said this to anyone before but I have thought of it often, just a thought, I don't think his mom really knew who his father was as the names on his birth certificate and baptism certificate were different. I just haven't wanted to check into his family.  His mom was a Hendrickson, tho.

          Several of the kids have wanted to check on our family history and I've kind of discouraged it.  "Why not let sleeping dogs lie?"

Pretty much sums up how both sides of my family felt about family history and events.

Who's Pregnant?

Back in the 1930s, it was considered SHOCKING to be pregnant out of wedlock.  I've been researching family trees and genealogy off and on now for 20 years, and I found out today that my own Grandmother, Myrtle, was pregnant when she got married.  I guess you'd call that a shotgun wedding?!?!

I've been having discussions with my own mother about family history, and I'm quite shocked and somewhat shamed to find out that there have been some family secrets that were never let out.  I understand everyone wants their privacy, to keep what they considered their own shame to themselves, and not feel others are judging them.  In the year 2016, I don't think anyone is concerned about unwed mothers, it's just not an issue.  But back in the 1930s, that wasn't acceptable.

We've been talking about family relationships, the distance between family farms or homes, and get-togethers that happened, or didn't happen, when Mom told me that grandma "had to get married".   I wonder if that played an issue in how life turned out?  After all, her husband Harold was 15 years older than her, and just a farmhand.  I'm sure I've written about how I felt she was keeping secrets all along -- turns out she was!  They were married July 20, 1935 and the baby arrived Mar 18, 1936. No long term planning of this wedding!


It's OK, Grandma, no judgement from me!

There are things we may never know,
but this one surprised me!


Harold, late 40s or early 50s.

Grandma liked to cut up her photos,
no idea who he's standing with, or where.

Family Mysteries

Kajsa Anderson.  My great great grandmother.  She must have been quite a woman.
She had her first child at 19, Henry, in 1857.  Peter was born 6 years later, then Charlie, and last, Anna.  From what little I've been able to piece together, she emigrated from Sweden to America around 1883.   She was 45 years old at the time, and traveled here with her four children.  Henry was 26, Peter was 19, Charles was 13 and Anna, just 6.

How do you imagine that you can start a new life at 45?
What motivates you to make such a move?

I can only relate in my own experiences.  I was 49 years old when I rented a truck, loaded all my belongings, towed my car, moving me and my son across country.  Brian was 22 at the time.  But I was moving to be closer to family, needed to be closer to them.

So that brings me back to the same question:  What was the driving reason behind Kajsa moving from Sweden to America?  I know younger men and women moved for the dream of a better life.  Was she doing that for her children, a new place where they could make a better life on their own?  

I don't ever recall my father talking about visits with his grandfather, Charles.  They lived in Pennington county, my father was born in Marshall county, the distance between Thief River Falls and Alvarado, MN, is  ... according to Google 39 miles.  Was there ever a family picnic or Christmas gathering?  Grandfather Charles died in 1952.  My father was born in 1937.  Surely there must have been some kind of .... relationship.

Or perhaps there was a family rift, they didn't seem to approve of Grandmother Myrtle marrying Harold Danielson.  And I've always been curious about that.  Grandma was always secretive, never wanting to talk about Harold's background.  Now with the advent of the internet and census data being readily available and searchable, I have found several things that lead me to believe that the stories told were fiction.  Or embellished 'truths' based on very little facts.  I've contacted people over the years, and there have been differing opinions as to the real truth.

In the Alvarado cemetery, there are some other Danielsons buried there.  Relatives?  If so, they were never spoken of, either.  And Alvarado has never been a town of thousands.  Harold's mother, Christina, had family around as well.  Her brother, Peter Hendrickson, was raising Harold at one point, as he's listed on the census as his nephew.  So what's the real story?    She was buried without a headstone, I haven't been able to locate any kind of information whatsoever about her, other than her being listed on different census' over the years.

About every six months, the urge to dig a little bit more grabs hold of me and I can't seem to let go without finding out something about a relative!   Even a tidbit puts the whole story more into focus.

Genealogy sure is addicting!

Here's my great grandfather Charles with a cow on a lead ... one of my fav pictures because it tells more of a story than just a posed photograph:

Danielson or Pederson?

I've been trying to locate information about my grandfather, Harold, and his mother, Christine, over several decades.  Of course, the one solid source of information, my paternal grandmother Myrtle has since passed on.  But even when she was living, she didn't speak much about her husband Harold's history, or of his mother.   So I started my own investigation over the years, and have even more questions now.

Harold was born in 1900.  The most expedient way to track him as been through the Census records.   Working backwards, in
1940 he's married, living in Rural Marshall Co, MN.
1930 he's single, lodger with Theo Bergman, MN
1920 he's single, laborer to Ole Bergman (Theo's father)
1910 he's listed as nephew to Pete Hendrickson (so my assumption is he's Christine's brother)

Nothing else was found under Harold Danielson, however in checking the 1905 Minnesota State Census, I find Christine listed, age 33, and under her name I find Harold Pederson, age 4.  The age timeline follows in line with Christine through the other years I found her in the census.  And if Harold was born in 1900, in 1905 he could easily be 4 when the census was taken, before his birthday had arrived.  The above photo, line 51 shows Christine, and line 52 shows Harold.  It also shows that they both have been a resident of the state for 1year 8months, and in their current residence for 6 months.

Which leaves me with a number of questions, of course.  Most of all, why is his name listed differently?  A census taker error?   Where did they live the other 1year 2 months in MN?  and based on the way she is listed as servant, is she working for the Henry Nystrom family?

I searched Harold Pederson, there is one born the same year as my Harold in the same location to a Simon Pederson.

It's been told down through the family that Harold arrived in New York with Christine in 1903.  Again, time wise, this would fit with census information that in 1905 they'd been in MN for 1 year, 8 months.  However, I have not been able to find either of their names on any incoming ship manifest.  Were they using different names before arriving?  Did she come to this part of MN because her brother was already there?

So many questions, no solid answers.
Sometimes I think my grandmother was right:  "let sleeping dogs lie"
She never wanted to share or reveal whatever it was she knew.

Young Myrtle

My grandmother, Myrtle, as a young girl.  Not sure who she's with-- her mother?

This was taken aprox 1919-1922.  My grandmother was born in 1915, and

this girl looks to be 4-6 years old.  If the woman is my great grandmother,

she would be approx 36yo in this photo, and she looks so young!

She's wearing a ring on her left hand.  Grandmother's sisters

were at most 12  years apart.

Ahh the mysteries of unmarked photos! and one of my passions!

Updated:  August 2014  this is Myrtle with her sister, Ruth

it was taken in 1919; Myrtle had been ill, and they

weren't sure she would survive, so they had a formal portrait made.

This is the only photo of my grandmother when she was young.

Myrtle's Sisters

My paternal grandmother, Myrtle, and her sisters.

I wish I knew more about this picture, where it was taken,

or about when it was taken.  I was assuming late 30s, early 40s.

What stories could there be behind a simple picture? 

perhaps that's what my fascination with old photos are.....

the things we'll never know!