Slideshow!

Experiment to see if I can add a slideshow of all the photos on the blog. Enjoy!

More Cousin Reunion Photos

Joan sent me (and a lot of others) the link to Lin Dishaw's photos of the cousin's reunion. I've never seen these particular photos before and thought somebody else out there might want to see them as well.

Lin's photos can be located here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/109144211305198786817/albums/5770455971479797873

After you look at the photos, you will also have a chance to see Paul's photos!!!!!

Eugene and Alice, Norene, Doug and I enjoyed brook trout, wonderful salads, and rhubarb dessert on Sunday, all brought to Norene's by Eugene and Alice. The topic of the reunion came up, and we all agreed what a wonderful time we had -- and we are all hoping somebody decides to plan another one.

Norene is doing wonderfully well after her last surgery and will begin chemo again in the second week of August.

So Many Things I Haven't Thought About Before

This morning I found information in Familysearch.org about other immigrant ships coming into Baltimore, and reading, found the following paragraph:

     "The passenger arrival list was used by legal inspectors to cross-examine each immigrant during a legal inspection prior to the person being allowed to live in America. Only two percent of the prospective immigrants were denied entry. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the clerk guessed at the spelling of foreign names."

This explains how Anders Anderson became Andrew Lundwall, and how Anders Ekekvist became Andrew Ekquist. If you are looking for other ancestors, don't forget to use as many different spellings of names as you can imagine.

Have you ever wondered what our ancestors needed to come to America? Did they need a green card? What did they need to come to America?

I looked for the history of immigration and found this at:
        http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-green-cards-citizenship-121159749.html

                                          HISTORY: DOING THE WAVE

The U.S. is in its fourth and largest immigration wave.

First came the Colonial era, then an 1820-1870 influx of newcomers mostly from Northern and Western Europe. Most were Germans and Irish, but the gold rush and jobs on the transcontinental railroad also attracted Chinese immigrants.

In the 1870s, immigration declined due to economic problems and restrictive legislation.

The third wave, between 1881 and 1920, brought more than 23 million people to the U.S., mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, aided by cheaper trans-Atlantic travel and lured by employers seeking workers.

Then came the Great Depression and more restrictive immigration laws, and immigration went into decline for decades.

The fourth wave, still underway, began in 1965 with the end of immigration limits based on nationality. Foreign-born people made up 1 in 20 residents of the U.S. in 1960; today, the figure is about 1 in 8.

___

HISTORY: HERE A LAW, THERE A LAW

Until the late 1800s, immigration was largely a free-for-all. Then came country-by-country limits. Since then, big changes in U.S. immigration law have helped produce big shifts in migration patterns.

Among the more notable laws:

—1965 Immigration and Nationality Act: Abolished country-by-country limits, established a new system that determined immigration preference based on family relationships and needed skills, and expanded the categories of family members who could enter without numerical limits.

—1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act: Legalized about 2.7 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, 84 percent of them from Mexico and Central America.

—1990 Immigration Act: Increased worldwide immigration limit to a "flexible cap" of 675,000 a year. The number can go higher in some years if there are unused visas available from the previous year.

—1996 Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Expanded possible reasons for deporting people or ruling them ineligible to enter the U.S., expedited removal procedures, gave state and local police power to enforce immigration laws.

—Post-2001: In 2001, talk percolated about a new immigration plan to deal with unauthorized immigrants, guest workers and violence along the Mexican border. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of 2001 put an end to that, amid growing unease over illegal immigration."

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All our ancestors needed to legally immigrate was the decision to come, save enough money for the boat, and the courage to board the boat to find a new life in "Amerika."  

Ward Elwood

Baby Ward

The scowl on his face was the same his entire life!

Baby Ward?

The above is a photo that I thought of Grandpa and Marlin, and I found a duplicate of it in another pile of photos with Ward's name on it. Looking at Grandpa, he does look younger on this photo than he would have been when Marlin was born. ??? Although Ward was the oldest boy, and Marlin was the youngest, their features had a lot of similarities..... but it still looks like Marlin to me.

Not sure if this was taken in Commonwealth or Caspian!

Another one of those AP photos of the Negaunee Snow Storm of 1937!
This one with Margaret's handwriting on it.

Nancy after move to St. Paul the first time.

Nancy, Margaret holding Norene, Ward
on Norene's Baptismal day in Hibbing
taken when we lived in the apartment in back of Ward's Grocery Store.

Ward, Lloyd, Teckla, Marlin with Nancy standing on steps

Doug, Nancy and Norene

Nancy's Graduation Photo

Nancy and Norene

Nancy

Margaret and Ward when they were Swedish Dancers at the American Swedish Institute

Norene's Graduation Photo?

Doug

Ward, Bob, Nancy in back, Margaret Seated,
with Suzanne and Germaine Reis in front

Cheryl Reis Malluege Senior Picture

Bob with Randy behind him. Funny, I can't see Randy's face in this photo.

Christine, our youngest at Graduation time

Germaine, my oldest grandchild, and her sister Suzanne

Ward -- I think this cemetery may have been in Sweden.

I was going to add more photos, but this post has been waiting a long time -- so I will post it now.