Brev 3

In the beginning questions from me were answered which I've taken away.

Leila wrote about "Education."

When the public school in Glenfield was ready for use, Anges and Nora were
in the fifth and sixth grades, and Arnold and Henry were in lower grades
with their small friends. One of the teachers was Lottie Posey who later
became the towns post-mistress and lived in Glenfield until her death at age
103.

Since only three years of high school were offered at the Glenfield school,
Agnes completed her education at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and then went on to several years of teaching. Nora attended the
Valley City Normal School for the completion of high school and the three
months of summer school needed to begin teaching, and then she began her
teaching career.

Arnold and Henry completed their high school education at Cooperstown, North
Dakota. When Arnold graduated, a businessman from Cooperstown came to
Glenfield and hired him as a truck driver for his gasoline service station.
When Henry graduated some men from Glenfield were about to write an exam to
fill the position as mail carrier on the rural route. Henry wrote the exam
and became the "mail man." The two Hendrickson boys held these positions
for many, many years.

Elva began her first year of school at Glenfield and Leila began two years
later. After their graduation from high school they attended Valley City
State College and received their teaching certificates. Elva taught nine
and one half years and Leila taught eighteen years.

Leila wrote about "Recreation."

During the school years in Glenfield, one of the important recreational
events was the county Play Day. The girls took part in races, broad
jumping, and the high jump. The boys did these and also pole vaulting and
chin-ups, etc. In the winter the small towns had basketball teams. In
girls basketball the guards could not cross the center line plus other
rules. The games were not as intense then.

Two lakes, Spiritwood Lake to the south of Glenfield near Courtney, and Red
Willow Lake, north of Binford, gave the whole area a great deal of pleasure.
Besides swimming, fishing, and camping, people would go for holiday
celebrations and other events. The pavilion of Spiritwood Lake ws a great
place for roller skating by all ages. Red Willow was a popular dancing
spot.

During the winter Elva and I developed a love of skiing. The land was not
hilly, but there was a fair sized hill [North Dakota standards] out of
Glenfield about two miles. We would ski to that area, have a wonderful time
skiing, and then return t town. When on the farm, there was a large
snowbank between two buildings for sledding. Much snow, plus a stiff
northwest wind made this snowbank a yearly event.

We had no TV back in those days but we found much pleasure in climbing

trees, making play houses under the trees, making swings from ropes fastened
between branches, playing in the barn hay mows, and riding ponies. One of
the most fascinating things I remember, was going to free movies in town on
Saturday nights, sitting on benches before the screen in a vacant lot in the
middle of town.

The following provides more information on the current "Hendrickson Family."

This part I've cut out since many living persons are mentioned.

Elva plans on writing an account about the farm. That will be sent tomorrow
night. Elva and Leila will be returning to North Dakota on December 10th.

We hope you're finding this information useful and interesting.

Sincerely,

Jim

Brev 2

Leila and Elva each wrote a letter concerning their childhood.

 

Leila's letter:

Nora and her piano playing were a wonderful addition to the lives of the whole

family. I remember when I was quit little, sitting on my mother's lap during a Douglas Fairbanks/Mary Pickford silent movie showing at the town hall at Glenfield, with Nora playing the piano the whole time off to the side.

Arnold and Hank were very good athletes. Almost every small town had a baseball team in those days. Arnold became the first baseman and Hank was a wonderful catcher on the Glenfield team. Mother , Elva, and I spent many summer days watching the Glenfield games and practices and also drove to neighboring towns when Glenfield played there.

The farm work was larglely done by Josephine. The two boys helped between school sessions, and a man named Paul Herman Peterson from Minnesota, who spent one or two years as "hired man " also helped on the farm. Josie milked several cows every morning and night and vowed no child of hers was ever going to milk cows. She would "separate" the milk in the house. The cream was later churned into butter, and possibly once a week there would be a trip to Glenfield or neighboring Sutton, with horses and a buggy. She would sell the butter, a five gallon can of cream, and a few dozen eggs from the farm. This money would pay for all the groceries bought.

 

John's wife Josephine b.1879 at time of marriage 1901.

 

Elva's letter:

I would like to add a beautiful story about my father, John Hendrickson, as told to me by my older sister, Nora, whom I was visiting in Mesa, Arizona, a few years ago.

When their big house burned down, the Hendrickson family, with the four oldest children, moved to a small house closer to Glenfield. When Nora was a little girl, she would stand in front of the kitchen windows and pretend that the window sills were keyboards, moving her fingers as if playing a piano. Her father, watching her, must have gotten an idea. One day he hitched the horses to a wagon and drove off. The family was not sure where he went. It was late the next day when he returned, backed the wagon up to the porch, and unloaded a piano he had located in Cooperstown about 25 miles away. Little Nora enjoyed playing a real piano, so we had lots of music in our house from then on.

Josephine a lot later.

Brev 1

The 1:st letter as it was when sent to me by Jim.

Elva and Leila have written about growing up in North Dakota.

Elva's first account is titled, "Getting to School."

When the Hendrickson children were old enough to go to school, the only

school available was a small rural school.  Fortunately, the Posey family

had moved near-by with several children.  The Posey boys were older than

Agnes and Nora so they drove some sort of horse driven vehicle to and from

school every day.  As Arnold and Henry were ready to start  school, they too

would ride with them.  The two boys spoke only Swedish at first, as it was

spoken at home by our parents.

When the Glenfield Consolidated School was built about 1912, they could all

go there.  A regular bus driver was hired to transport children from their

homes to school every school day.  School started at 9 AM and was over at 4

PM.  Busses had regular routes to follow, sometimes starting very early to

drive the enclosed horse-driven busses to get there on time.  The busses

were on wheels except in winter when there was lots of snow -  when runners

were used.  A little round stove in the center would heat the bus in cold

weather,  and the bus driver sat inside the front of the bus with a necessary window

to drive safely.  There were 2 little windows in the back,

one on each side of the aisle for the use of the students.

Elva's second story is titled, "Transportation."

Having been born in 1912, I am not qualified to speak about the methods of

transportation by the Hendrickson family before that time.  However, I

presume it was with horses.

Up until Glenfield, North Dakota, was built in 1912, trips had to be made to

Cooperstown to get some food and supplies by horse and wagon.  I remember,

however, riding the 3.5 miles to Glenfield in a one seated buggy, driven by

our horse, Julia.  We could sit 3 abreast quite comfortably with room in

back for butter, eggs, and later, a cream can to sell in exchange for

groceries etc.  On a pleasant day, it was an enjoyable trip.  Julia was a

favorite and dependable horse to drive.  Leila and I would have Mother do

the driving, but I think we kids would later go alone to get groceries and

maybe a sack of "hard" coal for our kichen cook stove during the summer.

In the snowy winter, a sleigh driven by a pair of horses was used.  When we

went to spend Christmas with the Herman Johnson family, we would dress

warmly and have quilts and put straw on the floor of the wagon, and we would

drive cross country the 5 miles or so.

The first automobile that Mother bought was a Briscoe, an open car with side

curtains to put on in bad weather.  At first she drove it, but Hank and

Arnold drove as soon as they were old enough.  Now we could ride to

Glenfield on Saturday nights, to Juanita Lake to fish, and to Cooperstown to

the Fair every summer.

Elva's husband Fred Silliman and possibly a car mentioned.

 

Later, Mother bought a four door Ford sedan.  I remember driving it.  We

enjoyed that car for several years.  When Henry finished high school and got

his first job as a mail carrier, the sedan was sold and he bought a Model A

Ford which also served as a family car as necessary.

Leila wrote about Food:

After John's death, Josie was busy meeting the needs of her family of six.

One of the most important of those needs was, of course, food.  She bought

some of the food products such as flour and sugar and other things at the

grocery store, and her sale of cream, butter, and eggs paid for these.

Incidentally, it is remembered that the year's grocery bill at the store in

the fall of one year was sixty-nine dollars!

A garden was the source of a large portion of the food supply needed.  The

Hendrickson garden covered about one acre, quite near the house, well, and

windmill, which would be the source of water for the garden in dry years.

The garden was planted by Josie and later her family joined in the care of

it.  She raised a large variety of vegetables which in the fall of the year

were stored in the dirt cellar.  This was entered by a stairway from the

outside of the house.  There was also a small area in the bedroom here one

could lift a small trap door and go down a ladder to the cellar.

Along one side of the cellar was a large bin where the year's supply of

potatoes was kept.  Above this were shelves for dozens of glass jars of

canned corn, beans, peas, a large crock of carrots buried in sand, and a

large crock of sour-kraut made from cabbage.  Other than the canned

vegetables, there were also many jars of meat such as beef, chicken, and

pickled pig's feet.  Some jars were of choke-cherry jelly or juice.  The

choke-cherries were picked each fall at the trees by the Sheyenne River near

Cooperstown. 

Elva and Leila plan to write more before they leave for home on December

10th. 

Hur Henriksson hittades

När jag 2003 försökte hitta ättlingar till de emigrerande syskonen Henriksson hittade jag en hemsida som innehöll en Henriksson som åtminstone delvis verkade stämma med de ledtrådar jag då hade. Det var uppgifter jag fått från släkten Kolnes i Norge som satte mig på spåret. De hade uppehållit kontakten längst och hade ett julkort som var ca 30 år gammalt som du kan se här intill. Efter att ha kombinerat en del udda namn på hemsidan i fråga lyckades jag komma i kontakt med en person som kunde bistå med kontaktuppgifter till en ättling.

John's son Henry med hustru.

När jag kontaktade honom (Jim Silliman) så visade det sig att han just då hade sin mor och hennes syster på besök hos sig. Dessa två systrar, Elva och Leila båda runt 90 vårar, var alltså barn till en av de emigrerande bröderna Henriksson. En intensiv mailväxling följde och kommande utdrag ur brev är delar ur dessa. Vid tiden för vår kontakt såg John's döttrar ut som nedan.

John's döttrar Elva och Leila.

Syskonen Henriksson

Här följer bilder på min mormor Annas far och hans syskon. Har bilder på 5 av dem. Tre bilder är kraftigt beskurna. Det gäller Henrik, Maria och Anna. Maria finns med i ett tidigare inlägg med komplett bild inkluderande 2 barnbarn. Bilden på Anna innehåller även man och 2 barn. Henrik ses i fullfigur på spark vid komplett bild. Viss bildförbättring har skett.

Anna f.1869



Maria f.1859 Sask., Kanada

Henrik f.1874

Johan/John f.1861 ND, USA.

Karolina f.1857

Anton Sundin med döttrar

Kortet på morfar Anton är såvitt jag vet det äldsta kortet i vår ägo. Man får väl anta att detta foto vandrat från modern Maria till Anton senast i samband med hennes död. Fotografiet är taget 1888 av John Wigsten i Bollnäs.



Anton 1888

Detta delvis renoverade kort föreställer Antons tre äldsta flickor Ann-Marie, Sonja och Eva. Det förefaller vara taget 1931 att döma av storleken på barnen. Det kan därmed vara taget vid Robert Nilssons stuga i Ytterturingen där Anton och Anna bodde 1930 till 1934. Detta enligt info på släkttavla från Eva.



Ann-Marie, Sonja och Eva

Byqvist på bild

Efter att ha upptäckt att denna bild numera är släppt och fri att användas så har jag kompletterat detta inlägg. Jag har redigerat bilden (sepiatoning och himmel bl.a.) så den som vill titta direkt på muséets bild i original klickar här.

Följande gruppbild skall enligt min moster Eva föreställa familjen Byqvist med sina hemmaboende söner. Originalet finns på Nordiska Muséet där endast noterats att den härstammar från västra Medelpad. Den kan senast vara tagen runt 1910. Bilden har varit publicerad i boken "Resan till jorden" av Sven och Penny Fagerberg.



Måns-Anders, Brita och sönerna Ante och Lars.

Följande bild skall vara Anders "Ante" Byqvist, vilket därmed torde vara den sittande av sönerna ovan. Han dog 1951 skriven på Turingen 6:44. Oklart om det är där det är taget. Men tiden torde vara runt andra världskriget eller strax efter.

Anders "Ante" Byqvist