Places – Page 2 of 13 – Up In The Tree

November 23, 2018November 22, 2018

{Treasure Box} Loretta Palmatier Death Certificate

Loretta Elizabeth Palmatier (January 29, 1887- January 21, 1979) is my husband’s great grandmother. She was married first to Percy Fuller and then to Alexander Fraser. Born in Nebraska, she lived there until moving to Chicago, Illinois in her forties. Her last move was to California to be closer to her children, Marshall and Gwendolyn (June).

I know from talking my mother in law that the family brought Loretta to Novato, California a few weeks before her death because she was sick. Clearlake is about a two hour drive from Novato. Loretta’s daughter and granddaughter were both living in Novato at the time of Loretta’s death.

Fraser, Lauretta Death Certificate (1979), Certificate #79-002411, January 21, 1979, Novato, Marin, California. Department of Health, State of California, Sacramento, California.

November 18, 2018

My First Photo Restoration

Last weekend, while enjoying time in Hopland, California with friends and family, I had an incredible find! Currently, our family is in the fifth generation of staying and playing on this land. My husband’s grandmother was the original family historian on that side of the family. Grandma Shirley left the most incredible treasure trove of documents and photos as part of her legacy. Most of these documents are now in my possession. I have been slowly digitizing them to share with family.

To my surprise, on a trip into the barn, my husband found another (previously unknown) 100+ year old photo. It is a photo of the members of the Star of Finland celebrating 15 years (1896-1911). There are approximately 140 individual photos included. Someone (maybe Agnes Mattson) left markings on the photo to identify her parents (Charles Mattson and Wendla Botmaster, and Uncle and his wife, Matts Mattson). The Star of Finland was a sick benefit society. The information I have found online includes many names from Malax and Solf where my husband’s ancestors immigrated from.

So why does the photo need some love? Unfortunately, being left out in the open in the barn means it was covered in dust and mouse poop. We carefully wrapped the the photo before coming home.

Luckily, my local genealogy society, Marin County Genealogical Society, had Gawain Weaver speak at one of our meetings years ago. Gawain is a photo conservation expert who owns his own conservation studio here in Marin, California.

Since I know very little about photo conservation and this photo is so old, I made the call to Gawain Weaver Art Conservation . After a consultation with Gawain, I contracted with him to clean the photo, make a small fix to a corner, and take high resolution scans.

I am so excited to add this photo to my family archive! After the photo gets some love, I will be sharing it!

Gawain Weaver with Star of Finland photo

June 25, 2018June 20, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #2

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother. She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931. You can read more information about the diary at this link: Diary Prologue.

This clipping, hand dated Feb 1928, refers to Nancy Malone. Nancy was married to Charles Britton Wells (Frank Gingg’s grandparents). Agnes’ first husband was Frank Gingg. I had to check twice to make sure I had the correct person because Charles and Nancy had a daughter named Carrie Bell Wells.

This clipping is full of information to research. I need to follow-up to identify the grand children. I also need to check the Santa Rosa Newspapers for 1881-1885 for any references to the Malone and Wells family.

There is also at least one error in this clipping. The baby was actually a girl. My husband’s grandmother (Shirley Gingg, 1927-2003) was born six months before the visit.

Mrs. C.B. Wells Here On Visit With Relatives

Mrs. C.B. Wells is here for a visit with relatives and is delighted to make the acquaintance of her youngest great grandchild, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gingg of Benton street. Mrs. Wells first came to California shortly after the Civil War and was a resident of Santa Rosa from 1881-1885. The oldest of her grandchildren is thirty-eight years, and the age of her eldest great grandchild is seventeen years.

Mrs Ellen Wells of this city is a relative also. The visitor will spend several weeks here and will renew many old acquaintances.

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #1

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother. She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931.

This clipping is about Agnes’ younger brother, Carl (1913-1996). The clipping is hand dated as 1928.

BOY. 15. SAVED FROM DEATH IN RUSSIAN RIVER

Seized with cramps in deep water, Carl Mattson, 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. J Long of 2 Wright street, San Francisco, had a narrow escape from drowning yesterday afternoon in the Russian River at Vacation Beach, near Guerneville, when his brother, Albert, 18, and Albert Saaransen, 19, plunged to his rescue.

The boys, who are vacationing on the Russian River, were swimming at the beach. Mattson swam out into deep water and was seized with cramps before he could return to the beach.

He shouted for help and was able to keep afloat after going down once until the other two boys reached him.

He is a brother of Mrs. Frank Gingg, of this city.

This is a google map of of Vacation Beach, California. Carl and Albert most likely visited their sister in Santa Rosa on the way out to their vacation.

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary (Prologue)

My husband’s great-grandmother, Agnes Mattson, married Charles Frank Gingg as a young woman. After moving to Santa Rosa, California, Agnes kept a newspaper clipping diary. The diary is a book with lined blank pages. The newspaper clippings were glued onto each page. Many clippings have the month and year written next to the item of interest. The Diary begins in 1928 and ends somewhere about 1931.

From what I can tell, most if not all of the clippings are related to family, friends, or acquaintances of Agnes. I recognize names in 80 percent of the clippings.

I am going to post photos of the newspaper clippings. They offer an interesting insight to the world Agnes lived in.

First page of diary written by Agnes Mattson Gingg

This is a google maps street view of the home the Gingg’s lived in while the diary was created. The home is just north of Downtown Santa Rosa. It sits on an east-west street between downtown and the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

There was an envelope of photo negatives in the genealogy papers my husband’s Grandma Shirley collected. The outside of the envelope was dated 1933. There were several different types of negatives and based on the age of Grandma Shirley in the photos they were taken anywhere from 1925-1933. I believe this photo of Shirley and Frank Gingg (ca.1932) was taken in front of the home at 485 Benton Street. The shape of the front door stairs and wood porch supports match closely.

Frank and Shirley Gingg (about 1932 or 1933)

February 20, 2018February 14, 2018

Weather Has Always Been A Topic Of Conversation

This past summer my mom gave me several more family history related items. There is an undated letter addressed to my mom from her paternal Grandmother (Effie Bender Lawbaugh). The half sheet of paper is hand written on both sides of the paper. My best guess for dating the letter is the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s.

There are several references to other family members is the letter. The first is to Uncle Ben (Effie’s brother). The second is a more vague reference to “your Uncle”. I believe this is one of my mom’s maternal uncles who lived just east of a town that is mentioned.

The focus of the letter is the non stop rain/tornadoes in Kansas and the resulting flooding. It may have made national news with the way my mom’s Grandmother is talking about it. The towns that are mentioned are all in the middle of Kansas generally North and West of Wichita.

I apologize for the long transcription. I think it is important to include exactly how the letter is written to get a feel for the whole thing. The spacing and line break also tell a story. Here is a transcription of the letter:

Dear Sheryl –

I know you all been reading

about the tornados we have been

having. there were 24 tornados in

the last 2 day – cause cold air from

the North + hot air from the gulf –

there has been 5 to 10 ins. of rain in

all parts off the State all rivers are

flooding in every part of state

been raining for 48 hrs – or more

Little River was hit bad and

North I think you Uncle lives

just North of Little River. been

trying to get Uncle Ben but

phones all down, he lives just

2 blocks west of the Post Office –

don’t know if they are in trouble

or not – Rice County was hit

the hardest of all – but they

had tornados in all parts of

state. Not going to Eugenia

for a while, hope you and

friend could come out love

to have you. Janice is home

not got a job.

the river behind your house

at Pratt – is all under water

not heard but probly. got in

your house again. I’ll always

call it your house

just a note to tell you about the

Kansas storm in last 2 days still

Raining = all my love

Grandmother

February 14, 2018

A Finnish Death

My children have a branch of their paternal tree that originates in Finland. We had the most amazing trip last summer to the area just south of Vasa, Finland to see where the husband’s ancestors lived. I have found several photos relating to this branch of the family.

This photo appears to be a trip Wendla Batmaster took back to Finland in 1930 to visit family. It also indicates I need to look for a passenger ship manifest to find Wendla coming back to the United States in that year.

Grandma “Great” lived to be over 100 then fell & broke her neck. In Finland

Grandma Botmaster & Great Grandma Botmaster

Grandma Long & her sister Anna Ostergard. June or July 1930.

I am not sure who wrote on the back of this photo but I am inclined to believe it was Shirley (Gingg) Pope. This reasoning is that she refers to Grandma Long (Wendla Batmaster). Wendla Batmaster remarried after the death of her husband Charles Mattson. Her second husband was John Long. Even today, a few generations youger everyone calls her Grandma Long. It is hard for me to see Agnes Mattson (Shirley’s mom) referring to her mom as Grandma Long. Other photos Agnes owned say Mom in reference to Wendla.

I am not sure how accurate this description is. Far right in the photo is Brita Maria Marander, Wendla’s mother. She lived to 81 (died 1939). This dates her to 72 years old in this photo. I do not know how old Brita’s mother, Maria Stina Alskog, lived. If she was born approximately 1835, theoretically, the person at the left could be Maria Stina Alskog. In 1930 she would have been 95. I am not convinced the person at the left looks 95 years old. Also the person is referred to as Great Grandma Batmaster. This points to Jonas Batmaster’s (Brita’s husband) mother, Ulrika Johannesdotter. We do know that only lived to 47. Unfortunately, I do not have any other photos of the woman at the left. I do not know who she is. There is family resemblance but I am just not sure who she is.

August 13, 2017

Wait…. Are My Kids Russian?

Our trip to Finland this summer was incredible for so many reasons. My favorite being connecting with extended family on my husband’s side. Another important part of the trip was learning more about Scandinavian history. Specifically, this year is the 100 year anniversary of Finland as a country. The Republic of Finland, as we know it today, gained independence from Russia in December 1917.

The area has a long history though. After the middle ages, Finland became part of Sweden. It remained this way until the early 1700’s when Sweden and Russia began to take turns controlling the area. Russian forces occupied Finland twice in the first half of the 1700’s. Sweden once again regained control of the area by 1743. Also by this time the area was called Finland by both the Swedish and the Russians.

The Finnish war of 1808-1809 ended with Finland being taken over by Russia once again. It was declared the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1918. This was an autonomous part of Russia. Finland was okay with this arrangement until Alexander III took the Russian throne in 1881. He began a period of “Russification.” My husband’s relatives explained this time as Russia remembering they owned Finland and began to exploit it. Men were required to spend time in the Russian Army, the Finnish economy was overtaken by Russians, towns were renamed after Russians, etc. The worst of it came in 1899 when Russia declared Russian Law as the law of the land.

The Russian Revolution occurred in 1917. Finland took the opportunity to declare their independence and create the Republic of Finland.

So what does this history have to do with my children? A lot. My husband’s 2nd great grandparents, Charles Mattson and Wendla Batmaster, both immigrated to the San Francisco area from Ostrobothnia at the turn of the century. Both left Finland due to hard economic times under Russian rule. Both were born in the 1880’s and both identified as Finnish.

So are my kids Russian or Finnish?

When looking at history, technically they were Russian since Finland was part of Russia. Deep history would indicate they were Swedish. Sweden had control of the land area first. So maybe my kids are Finnish Russian Swedes? Haha! Just kidding.

The answer is no. Your identity is not always rooted in the dates of history. My kid’s immigrant ancestors came from families who had lived in Finland for hundreds of years. We know Finland was referred to as Finland and the people as Finnish since the late 1600’s. The families identified as Finnish even during Russian rule. My kids are part Finnish.

July 25, 2017

New Social Research Methodology

I have returned from an incredible trip abroad. Part of our trip was to Finland for my husband to attend a conference and the family to visit the homeland. The hubby, kids, and I met up with my in-laws for this portion of our trip.

After a few days relaxing in the Åland Islands between Sweden and Finland, we took the ferry into Turku, Finland. We drove north towards the area around Vasa, Finland. To break up the drive, we spent the night in Kristinestad, Finland. This is where I learned something new about research methodology.

Let me back up and give you some information important to this story. My husband has 2nd great grandparents who immigrated from the area outside Vaasa, Finland. Grandma Shirley (hubby’s grandmother) was the granddaughter of Wendla Båtmäster and Charles O. Mattson. Forty years ago Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John visited the family that still remained in Finland.

Grandma Shirley passed away in 2003. She was the main contact from our branch of the family to the family from Finland. Before our trip, Grandpa John was able to put together a list of names and addresses he still had. We were unsuccessful with the phone numbers before our trip began.

While on the trip, we decided to focus on finding one person from the list who we knew was young enough to still be alive. I will call her Anna Lena for privacy. Anna Lena came and stayed with my in-laws during the 80’s when she was about 16 years old. My husband was about 9 or 10 years old during this visit.

We had tried phone numbers and Facebook but our biggest problem seemed to be marriage. We did not know what Anna Lena’s married name was.

Plan B, if we could not find Anna Lena, was to drive to the addresses we had and cross our fingers that the current occupants would have information about my husband’s ancestors.

Back to Kristinestad. Kristinestad is a town in the southern area of Ostrobothinia. Ostrobothinia is the equivalent of a state in the United States. Vasa is a little more than an hours drive north of Kristinestad.

The owner of our hotel in Kristinestad checked us in. He was incredibly welcoming and nice (a theme we found with every person we met in Finland). We spoke for a few minutes about the area and how we, as Americans, came to visit. My father-in-law (will be referred to as J) used the opportunity to say we were trying to visit family from Sundom and Malax (just south of Vasa). He explained we had a list of names and addresses that was old and were having a hard time contacting family.

The hotel owner offered the phone book because it included towns south of Vasa. J was unable to find Anna Lena in the book. The hotel owner told us to wait a minute because he was going to try to look up something online. He returned from his office with a slip of paper which had a phone number for a woman named Anna Lena. Her last name was very close to the information we had.

J made the phone call. The woman who answered the phone was not our Anna Lena. But she knew of our Anna Lena! She promised to call Anna Lena’s mom for us. A half hour later we had a text from the woman we called. She informed us she had spoken with Anna Lena’s mom and had learned Anna Lena was married and living in Norway.

We were so excited to have found the information we were looking for but bummed we would not be able to visit Anna Lena. During dinner, my husband received a text from Anna Lena herself! Quickly the conversation moved to a telephone call. Anna Lena was happy to speak with us. Apparently she had tried to reconnect with our family too but did not remember enough information to find us in California. She said most of the people on our list of family had passed in the last several years but she would make some phone calls to see if anyone else could see us.

With Anna Lena’s help, we spent the next day in Sundom and Solf visiting with J’s 3rd cousin and his family. We also got to meet a couple of people in the prior generation who showed us where some of the “old” family lived. It was an incredible moment when Henrik brought out a framed picture of his and J’s common ancestors, Jonas Båtmäster and Britia Maria Marander. We have seen copies of the photo from Grandma Shirley’s trip but the original was amazing. The other highlight was watching my kids play with their 4th cousins even with a language barrier. They had so much fun together.

So lesson learned. Don’t be scared to be the person who asks questions! Although the hotel owner lived more than an hour south of Sundom, he got us started in the right direction. If J had not spoken up, we would not have gotten to enjoy the best day of our vacation.

If you want to have solid research skills, they need to include talking to anyone who will listen. You never know who has the missing piece.

July 10, 2017

Serendipity While Traveling

Last month my family had the opportunity to travel to Finland. It was part work for my husband and part vacation travel. Our adventure started when we met up with my husband’s parents, J and S, who had been on their own vacation. Our travel plans included arriving in a few days in the Åland Islands on our way to Finland.

J was very excited to be going to Finland. His great-grandparents, Wendla Båtmäster and Charles Oscar Mattson, had immigrated to the United States from Finland.

Although Wendla and Charles came from towns only 13 kilometers apart from each other, all family oral histories say they met in San Francisco through the Star of Finland Relief Society.

Grandma Shirley, J’s mom, did an excellent job of documenting her family in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I am so thankful to have digital copies of her research! While she had information regarding family in Finland for Wendla, there is really no further information for Charles. Part of this is due to the fact he died the young age of 33. His obituary states he left behind (besides his immediate family) a brother, Matt Mattson, and a sister, Mrs. Lena Carlson. Grandma Shirley had also found out Charles was from the town of Malax, Finland.

Basic searches for Charles did not have any positive results before our trip. I have to admit, I was not very thorough with my research due to the crazy that was the end of the school year.

Back to our trip. The Åland Islands were included in our trip because Grandpa John (J’s dad) had such fond memories from the trip he and Grandma Shirley had taken 40 years ago. We arrived early in the morning after an overnight ferry from Stockholm. The morning was spent enjoying Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. We then made our way to the summer cottage my husband had found for us to stay at. It was gorgeous!

Every afternoon was spent enjoying the front porch. The wifi made it one of the best offices my husband has ever used. I spent some of the porch time on my tablet trying to find more information about Charles Mattson and his family.

Then it happens. I get a hit for Lena Carlson at Ancestry.com. And not just a little hit. A big, bright shiny moment of search success.

It turns out Lena Carlson was just one of variations of names for Charles’ sister. And I was lucky enough to have most of them listed on the Petition for Naturalization I found.

No wonder why I was having difficulty finding her! I have found Lena under every possible variation of the above name plus the additional variations using her husband’s last name, Victor. More proof the family was from Malax, Finland but again no names for Charles’ parents.

So what is the serendipitous moment? About half way down the Petition for Naturalization are questions about Lena’s husband Victor. Guess where he was born? Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland. You will notice Åland is spelled with an “O.” This is not surprising at all since Å with a ring above it is pronounced as “oh”.

Seriously, how crazy that I had traveled a little more than 5,300 miles to find a document online that says Lena’s husband was born only 10 miles from where I sat on the porch with the most incredible view?!