Passing of Sharon DeVowe

Obituary from Jacobs Funeral Home, Iron River, Michigan

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SWEDISH RELATIVE

I am going to edit this and add photos as soon as I can figure out how. In the meantime, here is more information than I have ever had before!!! It was sent a while ago, and I just discovered it TODAY!
What a wonderful gift for all of us! Thank you,  thank you, thank you!!!

The family of the sisters Louisa and Anna Mathilda Olsdotter

Parents:

Olof Olsson 1819

Stina Cajsa Andersdotter 1824

Lived in Alfvestaboda Västra Skedvi, Västmanland where their children were born:

- Louisa 1847 (you have her story with the Ekquist family)

- Gustaf 1848-1913

- Carl Erik 1853-1928

- Anna Mathilda 1857 *

- Johan Olof 1860

- Augusta Wilhelmina 1862(as you know she also moved to America with her husband 1887)

* Anna Mathilda 1857-1931. In 1875 she married Karl Gustaf Höglund a blacksmith at Karmansbo Bruk. They belonged to the Baptist Church, and all their 6 children were born in Hed, Karmansbo. She died at the hospital in Köping at the age of 74

• Karl Walfrid 1875 - 1935 He and his wife had 4 children. Karl, Inez and Signe and a boy? They lived in Kolsva.
• Beda Matilda 1877 – 1908 she was married Settergren and had a baby Karl Wilhelm in 1908 and died a few months later the same year at the age of 31
• Eva Elisabet 1880 – 1918 she was married to Karl Hammar and had a son Ivar in 1900. Eva died in the Spanish disease only 38 years old
• Elin Augusta 1884 -1936 was unmarried but had a daugther Lisa who according to my mother was adopted to a family in Stockholm. Elin was 51 years old when she died
• Ester Viktoria 1892 – 1939 was my grandmother. Ester had a son Erik Holger born 1911 who stayed with the grandparents in Karmansbo when she married August Emanuel Lundgren in 1919 and moved to Horndal. Ester and August had 3 girls Elin 1922, Ingrid 1924 (my mother) and Svea 1930. Ester died in 1939 when she was 47 years old
• Gustaf Samuel 1896 – 1987 was also a blacksmith in Karmansbo but moved to the city of Köping to work in the Volvo factory. He was married to Swea and lived a long healthy life until he was over 90 and so did his wife

As Ester was not healthy (TB probably) Ingrid my mother was sent to Esters brother Gustaf and his wife Swea in Köping . After a while when they realized Ester was not getting any better it was decided that Ingrid stayed with them. As Gustaf and Swea did not have any children of their own I guess that was the best solution. So in fact they are the grandparents I have always had.

Karl, Beda, Eva, Elin, Ester and Gustaf were all cousins to your grandparents William and Teckla .

Västra Skedvi where Louisa and Anna Mathilda were born is close to Karmansbo Bruk. This iron works is a museum today where you can see the forge and even a forgemans home. Even Augusta, Anna Mathilda and Louisas yonger sister, lived there with her husband

Horndal was also an iron works a bit up north. This is where my mother Ingrid was born.

Gävle where Louisa moved to is further away along the eastcoast.

Karl and Anna Mathilda Anna Mathilda with Gustaf, her youngest son

Höglund

The Baptists in Karmansbo. Anna Mathilda seated with small Gustaf to the left, the older son Karl to the right and her husband laying down. Probably year 1900

The old Anna Mathilda and some relatives. To the left Swea (Gustafs wife) with my mother Ingrid on her lap. Second from the right is Elin her daughter. The man behind Anna Mathilda is Karl her oldest son. Probably 1930

The girl on the photo below is my mother Ingrid.

Karl Walfrid Höglund b.1875 with his family. He was Anna Mathildas oldest son.

Ester Viktoria b. 1892 my grandmother

Gustaf Höglund b. 1896 with his wife Swea. Gustaf was Anna Mathildas youngest son.

Gustaf and his wife Swea, Karl (Bedas son), Elin and Karl Walfrid Höglund

Ivar b. 1900 Eva´s son

When I write this I can´t help thinking of what kind of contact the sisters Louisa and Anna Mathilda had. But as I found a photo of their parents in my mothers old photos, they must have had some correspondence. My mother Ingrid died 2015 and I´m really glad that we, a few years before, had looked at her old photoalbums to figure out the names of all the people on these photos. But this one of Olof and Stina Cajsa she didn`t know what it was. It wasn`t until I got the same from Sue that I realized I already had it.

The parents Olof and Stina Cajsa must have been very adventurus to leave Sweden at their age. But I guess they helped Louisa and Andrew a lot. And I´ve also realized that even their younger daughter Augusta and her husband Per Österberg had moved to America.

One strange thing I discovered while digging into the churchbooks was this note

One day before Louisa was born in Västra Skedvi 1847 my great grandmother Brita was born. She is on my fathers side of my family so she is not related to you. But for me this is a strange connection. Did their mothers know each other, or did these girls go to school together. Who knows.

Stockholm December 2017 Birgitta Ahlström

Swedish Family Names and First Names

If you've ever wondered about how Swedes were named, here is a link to learn how our names developed:

http://web.comhem.se/~u31263678/genealogy/Names.pdf

Swedish Candles or Stars in the Windows!

Swedish Welcome Light

Alan Waller, lives in Sweden (1966-present)
Let’s take this the long way round. Once upon a time, when almost everyone in Sweden lived by farming, people lived in cosy villages of log cabins clustered around a church, surrounded by fields. The rest was forest.

If a family had two sons, it was tempting to let them each inherit half the farm, but half a farm wouldn’t support either family. But log cabins are inherently transportable. Using a knife, you cut a number into each log. Then you lift them all off each other and use you dray horse to drag them a few at a time to the new site where you put the cabin back together like a Lego model. In Swedish law, houses were counted as moveable chattels, while the farm land was real estate!
So one son would inherit no land, only the buildings. He would need to break new fields on the edge of the forest, but wouldn’t need to build himself a house, just move the existing one. The other son would inherit the fields, all ready to use, but he would need to build himself a new house.
In many parts of the country, land reforms re-allocated farming land, giving each family all their land in one place rather than spread around in small patches. Such families would move their farm buildings to their new land allocation and would then save loads of time previously spent trekking from the village to outlying fields. This process was called “the exploding of the villages” because the old cosy center disappeared leaving the church all by itself. (This reform process ground to a halt due to the massive emigrations to the USA, when it became impossible to secure the permission of all the property rights holders in the family.)

These two processes gave us a landscape of fields with scattered farmhouses and isolated churches. The cosy village was gone. In that situation, wouldn’t you like to see lights twinkling through the winter darkness in the windows of those people who used to be your close neighbors? And wouldn’t you do the same for them?

                     And once you get used to it, you won’t stop doing it. If Grammy had lights in the windows of her home, you will too. That’s what makes it Homey, ok?

Answer requested by Goran Salimovic

All About Statues

by Ron Osterberg

Like most Civil War buffs, I admire Robert E. Lee both as a person and as a general.  That’s why I had mixed feelings after the statue ruckus in Charlottesville.  I think I now see most sides of this controversy and, given some of the people involved, that’s not easy.

By modern and pre Civil War standards, Lee was a good man.  After he surrendered at Appomattox, he urged his comrades to go home and resume being good citizens of the United States.  He reacted with horror when firebrands wanted to wage guerilla warfare in the mountains.  He greatly treasured order and respect for the law.  In reacting strongly, he saved the nation from more bloodshed.

Lee was a slaveholder, but not a radical.  Before the war, he wrote in a letter to his wife, “In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country.”  He added that “it was a greater evil to the white man than to the black race,” a view not likely shared by many blacks.

Also, he was not always the gentle Lee we read about in history books.  After three of his slaves ran away and were caught, Lee ordered them tied to a tree and given fifty lashes.  “Lay it on well” he told the constable.  The female runaway slave received only twenty.

Books have been written about the many moral sides of Robert E. Lee and their conclusions are anything but unanimous.  In the years following the war, he was revered with religious devotion in the south and almost complete forgiveness in the north.  Yet, many called him “Traitor Lee” to their dying day.  Some Confederates blamed him for more battlefield carnage than was necessary, General Pickett among them.  He reportedly shouted that Lee slaughtered his division at Gettysburg.

From whatever angle we look at Lee, he was a complex figure and the statue controversy highlights the good and the bad of him.  People on all sides look at the matter from different viewpoints, especially blacks.  Everyone has their own lens.

Can anyone know the pain of being descended from slaves if they are not black?  How can anyone but a black person know what it’s like to walk past the statue of a man who may have enslaved one of their ancestors? If something greatly offends one group of people, it’s immoral to dismiss it as frivolous and it’s discourteous not to consider it.  Though it’s hard to know another person’s pain, we must try.

On the other side, all cultures have heroes and it’s silly to demand dismissing them when the political winds change, especially if the changes are sudden.  Generations of Americans grew up honoring Confederate heroes.  They were interesting people who did interesting things.

Some say that the statues represent the historical memory of a heroic age, but most were put up when the south was installing Jim Crow laws, between 1876 and 1920.  The statues were post-bellum propaganda for the laws enforcing segregation, but they also buoyed up a region of the country with massive self esteem issues.   We should use care in demolishing someone’s crutch.

G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”  Taking a statue down might make some feel better, but it might make others feel worse.  Those protesting the statue’s removal in Charlottesville are stinky people.  That shouldn’t overwhelm our desire to understand the rationale of people with similar opinions, but who don’t act so reprehensibly.

Understanding does not imply that we tolerate the repugnant actions of demented protesters.  Most of those favoring letting the statues remain are gentle people who are egalitarian to their core.  Never judge a group by the worst of them.  Still, the president truly shocked me when he offered his statement insinuating that all sides have equally valid points, even after a lunatic ran over Heather Heyer.  Like most Americans, I find the KKK and Nazi party disgusting beyond measure.  I wanted to punish those who honored them, even if it violated my core morality.

On the other hand, no one wants a return to the fifties when zealots looked everywhere sniffing out communist sympathizers.  Citing the atrocities of Stalin, they vowed to use whatever means necessary to root out all domestic communists.  During the subsequent witch hunt, thousands of lives were professionally ruined by direct charges and by innuendo.  Some were blacklisted simply because they didn’t show the proper enthusiasm for naming names.  Many good people allowed their fear of being labeled soft on communism to outweigh their sense of decency.

However, proud self-confident people find ways to regain objectivity and understand their reasons if not their actions.  For a period, that was almost impossible for me after hearing marchers chant, “Jews will not replace us.”  They overwhelmed me with disgust and loathing.  My son-in-law and three grandchildren are Jewish.  I found myself hating the protesters with an intensity that surprised me.  If President Trump, who also has a Jewish son-in-law and Jewish grandchildren, took offense from the chants, he didn’t show it.  What am I missing?

KRANS FAMILY HISTORY & MYSTERIES

 Grandfather Charles (Karl Wilhelm) died in 1959 at the age of 89. All of his 13 children have passed and with them all direct memories about life and family growing up on a farm in Homestead, Wisconsin. Some of the second generations are also gone and before we leave, I will attempt to put in writing a few of the stories and mysteries of our family.

EMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES Charles Krans came to the US in 1889 at the age of 19. Charlie, however, was not the first Krans to immigrate to America. The start of the Krans emigration began with his uncle August Krans in 1880. The account of early life of August is taken from a newspaper article printed in the Iron River Reporter in 1971. August, his wife Sofia and son Emil arrived at Ellis Island in 1880. They took a train west and landed in Chicago. As emigrants they arrived in Chicago where they surely heard of the work in the mines, sawmills and logging camps in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. August and his family set out for Norway, MI with a promise of a job at the Vulcan iron ore mine. Wages were low and there were seasonal layoffs so August and three other men decided to explore the possibility of homesteading land in Northern Michigan. The requirement for a homestead claim was staking out land with boundary markers. Government law allowed settlers to claim 160 acres requiring them to build a cabin and live there for 4 years. The 3 men left Norway with a surveyor and walked to the territory known as Bales Township (Iron River, Michigan), where each man claimed a 160 acre parcel. August and Sofia raised 13 children in Bates Township. Sofia died in 1935 in an automobile accident at the age of 76. August died in 1943 at the age of 85.

JOHAN KRANS - CHARLIES FATHER Charlie’s father in Sweden was Johan Krans. August (Iron River) Krans was Johans brother. Johan was born in 1843 and August in 1858. Charlie’s father was feisty to say the least. Johan married Anna-Stina Eliedotter. Together they had 7 children. They were Emil born 1868, Karl Wilhelm (Charles) born 1871, Mathilda (Tilly) born 1873, August (he stayed in Sweden) born 1876, Gustave born 1879, Beda born 1881 and Sam born 1886. Strange things happen which today would cause big problems. In 1894 when Mathilda was 21 she gave birth to a son, Gustave Bertil. Johan was the father!! The child lived only 2 years. Anna-Stina died and Johan married Anna-Maja Larsdottcr in 1902. Anna-Maja had a daughter from a previous marriage Hilma born in 1881. Johan was up to his old tricks and in 1908 when Hilma was 27 she has a child Bertil. The father was Johan. He was 65 years old at the time.

SPONSORSHIP  Because emigration to America required sponsorship, August (Iron River) most likely was involved with getting Emil to the US. Emil was Johan’s eldest and Charlie’s brother. As soon as Emil paid his debt to August he probably would have supplied the money for the next family member, Charlie, to come over. There is a little contusion as to when Charlie actually did immigrate to the US. Most references are that Charlie was 19 and came over in 1889. The family history prepared by our Swedish relatives says he emigrated in 1891? We do know for sure that Ellen and Charlie married in 1893.

MYSTERY HOW DID CHARLIE AND ELLEN MEET? Ellen Equist and Charlie were married June 17, 1893 in Marinette. Wisconsin. Ellen was born on June 13, 1877 and immigrated to the US in 1880.Therefore. Ellen had just turned 16 years old only 4 days before getting married. In Ellen’s obituary when she died in 1937 it stated that she lived in Marinette for 3 years. Assuming that's true, she must have been 12 or 13 when she lived there? One theory about how they met was that Charlie came to Northern Wisconsin from Chicago to work in the logging camps. Since Ellen Equist lived in Homestead we can assume Charlie met her there while working in the area logging. The Equist farm was located very close to the Little Popple River. The Popple was used as a tributary to float logs down to the Menonimee River and further to Marinette for sawing into lumber. Another theory about how they met and married is that they met in Marinette. It was common practice for young women to work as housekeepers and child care. Rhoda Hougland told me that her mother Ida Equist left the Equist farm when around 17 years old. She met her husband, Axel Osterberg while working. My guess is that Ellen left home at age 12 or 13, and lived/worked for a family near Marinette. Everything then makes sense about her living in Marinette for 3 years. She met Charlie in Marinette and got married there.

BIRTH OF EVAN KRANS Evan was the first born. He was born on June 14, 1894. Evans birthplace is listed as Homestead Wisconsin. In 1895 Charlie’s father in law Andrew Equist sold to him 40 acres of land for $300. One would assume that Charlie had to wait until the spring of 1895 to start building the farm house. Since Evan was born in June 1894 Ellen probably gave birth at her parents’ house not at the Krans farmhouse. Rose (Olson) Krans was born in April 1896. She was probably the first child actually born on the Krans family farm.

IS IT KRANS OR KRANTZ? Since receiving the Krans family history from our Swedish relatives, we know that “Krans" was used back as far as 1788. A mystery is why did Charlie on his marriage certificate spell his name "Krantz" only later to go back to "Krans"? Charlie’s brother Emil must have been the first to change his last name to “Krantz" The Krans Story.docx - 3 - Printed on 11/2/2013 when he immigrated to the US. Charlie must have followed his brothers lead and used "Krantz" only to change back.

EMILS DAUGHTER ANNA AND OSCAR KRANS An interesting fact concerns Oscar Krans, the fourth child of Ellen and Charlie. Oscar was born in March 1900. The marriage of first cousins was not taboo in those days because Oscar married Anna Krans, daughter of Emil Krantz. Both of Oscar and Annas children were born in lower Michigan near Mears, Michigan. They were Edward (Little Edward) and Raymond Krans. Oscar moved back to Aurora around 1945. In 1946 my father and Oscar were going to start a furnace business together. Oscar and my grandfather Ed VanDamme didn't get along so the partnership never happened. Oscar died young at age 50. Anna lived at their home on Fisher Lake until she died in 1974. "Little Edward” was probably called that because his uncle Edward Krans, the I0th child of Charlie lived in the area. "Little Edward" loved taking home 8mm movies which today still serve as visual memories of the past.

THE DEATH OF ELLEN KRANS Ellen must have been a wonderful mother. She had just turned 16 when married and had Evan when she was 17 and somehow planned to have a baby every two years. The 13 children were born in 1894, 96, 98, 1900, 02, 05, 07, 09, 11, 12, 16, 18, and 1921. Nothing much has ever been said but apparently Ellen had a miscarriage and lost a child in 1903, which explains the 3 year span. Aunt Beda Beaudry told the story about Ellen’s death. For two weeks she wasn't feeling well and went to see a chiropractor in Iron Mountain for help. She died soon after that visit. No autopsy was done in those days but an Appendix that burst during an adjustment probably was the cause. Ellen died on January 31, 1937 at the farm home. Ellen's mother, Lousia Equist, died in June 1937 at the Krans family home as mentioned in her obituary. It seems strange that Ellen died in January and her mother in June. Charlie and the kids at home at the time Carl and Mae must have helped take care of grandma Lousia. Mae (Fredrickson) Krans was 16 years old at the time of her mother’s death. It must have been a lot of responsibility for her to help feed Lousia and her father. Charlie stayed on the farm until 1943 when he sold it to Rose and Reuben Olson. That period of 6 years when Charlie was alone on the farm is a mystery. Besides Mae, who else helped keep the house up and running? Aunt Beda we assume spent time there but as we all know Uncle Tom Beaudry was a free spirit and Beda had to keep tabs on him too. Charlie moved in with Tom and Beda in 1943.

SWEDISH RELATIVES Charlie was one of 7 siblings. One brother August, born in 1876 stayed in Sweden. Charlie’s other brothers and sisters emigrated to the US. August changed his name The Krans Story.docx - 4 - Printed on 11/2/2013 in Sweden to Johanson (means son of Johan). A Swedish relative sent me a brief history of August. August Johanson stayed in Sweden and worked as a blacksmith apprentice at the Ek estate outside of Mariestad. In 1897, he moved to the island of Totso to work on the farm Bolstad and from there to the Fagelo estate in 1898. He married on April 15, 1900 to Jenny Rodrik, daughter of the soldier and tailor Johan Rodrik. August’s sister Beda (Qvist) and brother Samfried attended the wedding and both left for America. In 1909 August bought the Halllandsberg property and became mill master and blacksmith. Until 1927 the grain mill was functioning first by windpower and then be electric. In 1943 son Hugo took over and it closed in 1969. In 1999 both the mill and smithy still existed.

WHAT’S NEXT? I still am curious as to what life was like in those days. Hopefully more to come, Dale Krans A son of Vernon and Lillian (VanDamme) Krans. A grandson of Charlie and Ellen Krans

From our second cousin

with permission to add it to the blog: (Ron is a grandson of Aunt Ida, Teckla's older sister) 

From: Ron Osterberg and Holly Coppersmith
Sent: Thu, May 18, 2017 8:41 am
Subject: Happy 110th Birthday to Brun Osterberg

Happy Birthday Dad,

Much sadness since our last letter.  Aunt Rhoda, the baby of your family, died.  You gave her a rhythmic nickname which I forgot.  That’s too bad.  No one left alive knows it or even heard of it; so it’s lost forever in the ether of time.  Uncle Ralph died last year and Rhonda’s husband, Dave, a couple years before that.  Leo left us a few years ago and, last I heard, Aunt Eileen is hanging on.  She’s the last of your filial family.

Tragically, Butch died last year from sclerosis after he relapsed with the booze.  He was old enough and smart enough and should have known better.  I suspect that’s why he wished that you could have known each other as adults.  You and he might have talked the way adults do when they share a tragic problem.  Both of you went back to drinking.  Or, maybe he just wanted to know you better the way sons often do.  Whatever the reason, you’d be proud of him.  He was a pioneer in micro programming and had many interesting stories.

And I also miss you.  I remember our entire conversation, almost word for word, the afternoon you told me that you had inoperable cancer.  Neuroscientists tell us that strong emotions improve the memory wonderfully.  I argued with you until you gave up talking.  I guess I was the poster child for the word hubris.  I knew absolutely that all you needed were better doctors and I told you how to find them.  Imagine that?  I argued with you about dying.  On the other hand, after thinking about our conversation often over the years, it was probably more my inability to believe that we’d be losing you so soon.

Kookums has Parkinson’s Disease.  It’s bad, but Parkinson’s is not the tragedy it was a couple years ago.  She goes to therapy sessions and is doing remarkably well.  Bob watches over her like all good husbands do.  You’d like him dad.  Like you, he works hard and he works smart.  Uncle Ralph was like that too.  Maybe that’s why Uncle Ralph and Bob got along so well.  On the positive side of the disease, Sally stopped drinking beer entirely after the diagnosis.  In the end, of course, she will always be my big sister who knows everything.

Coky is the same as he was five, ten or twenty years ago.  He leads a low profile life.  Naturally he’s had his share of distress.  Who hasn’t?  But he faces them down, one problem at a time.  He doesn’t run from trouble, nor does Barbie.  Coky knows a lot because he reads a lot.  You were like that.  Mom talked often about the pile of books you carted home from the library when you and she first met.  Coky’s love of books must be in his genes.

I wish I could write more about your five youngest daughters, Karen, Patricia, Lynn, Wendy and Jill.  I saw Jill at Bruce’s memorial service and she’s doing well, but I was overwhelmed trying to talk with so many people and didn’t spend as much time with her as I wanted.  You’d like your second set of children; they’re all smart and all are older than you when you died.  At one time or another, each has talked about being cheated by your too early death.  I’m sure it pleases you to know that they all have your habit of looking at the serious side of life.

You’d like Happy Holly, the lady I married.  She smiles easily and often which is just what I need at this time in my life.  Together we’re learning better how to be happy.  The world can solve its own problems.  Holly and I have much laughing to do.

Happy 110th Birthday Dad, you left too soon and we miss you.  With Love, Quirt

Sally - Kookums

Ronnie - Quirt

Bruce - Butch

Kenneth - Coky