Amanuensis Monday....long lost letters

It's been a long time since I've participated in a Geneabloggers daily prompt. But with the arrival of the packet from Marita in Sweden, I'm excited to transcribe two family letters.            


                              

Laramie 3/12 1896

Beloved Parents
I received your letter the 30th of November, a few days late of my birthday. But it was a pleasant and warming when it did arrive. Thank you so much for the little rose leaf. It is very precious to me. It is now almost Christmas again and I wish that my writing will reach you by Christmas.

I am thinking that I am going to celebrate Christmas with my uncle and Christmas morning at 4:30 going to church. Then I will probably have to stay home and cook dinner for my master.
I will go to church in the evening again where all the Christmas gifts, apples and nuts are given out. I heard that Sven is now home helping you. That glads me, now that he is so big and nice too I hope.

Have you received any letters from Johanna and Andy lately? Are they sending you any money at all? We have not seen each other for a long time, Johanna and I. I long to see her again and the girls, but I am thinking that I might just walk from home to Montana, sometime during the winter.

Have you heard anything from Hulda? I am just wondering what has happened to her. I never really hear from her. I hope that she will write you sometime if she is still alive. Is Nils planning to return to America or is he content with his farming at home? I am sending with this letter five dollars for you for Christmas and if Johanna sends some money then it might cover the cost for a winter coat to mom. Now the letter is filled almost and I wish with my whole heart a very happy Christmas.

Love your daughter Anna
Look above the Crucified Jesus. Greetings to everyone in the family, Uncle gives his regards. I send some small presents.
letter from Anna Fält, from the Marita Fäldt collection, Sweden. Translation provided by  Marita Fäldt

Rock Springs Wyoming
1 April 1895

Beloved Parents and brother Sven,

Many thank for the letter that we received some time ago. It is lovely to hear that you are in good health. I also would like to inform you  that we are in good health. We have our good Lord to thank for this.

 I saw in your letter that you have already bought a piece of land from Nils. I can even see that you would sell your place to us. I don't think that will happen for some time, because we do not have the money to pay for the whole place, and travel to Sweden and be in debt. That would be crazy. As long as I can earn 300 Krones a month in America. But if you would like to borrow some money to pay for Nils then we can let you received against security deposit of some kind. I am not really familiar with farming but I thought that I could buy your place and build a blacksmithy there and earn my liviing that way. But can happen that it is not worth while so then I am better off where I am right now. At last, a dear greeting to all from us including Esther and Ruth.

Best regards,
Gus Borgreen
Rock Springs
Box 416 Wyoming
North America
letter from Gus Borgreen to Lave and Hanna Fält in Sweden, from the Marita Fäldt collection, Sweden. Translation provided by  Marita Fäldt

Fält family photos, letters and documentation from Sweden



 

I was contacted by a distant cousin in Sweden. We exchanged notes and email messages and two days ago a packet arrived in the mail box from her. It was full of photos, letters and translations, family group sheets and other documentation connecting Johanna Fält with her parents and siblings. Below is a sampling of items from the packet. There are no words to describe the excitment at this windfall of information and a new relative to add to my Christmas card list. I can hardly believe my luck. All items from the collection of Marita Fäldt.

 

Anders Fält, brother of Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

Gunhild Fält, sister of Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

Hanna Isberg, mother of Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

Lave Fält, father of Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

Letter  from Anna Fält, sister of  Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen



Translation of letter  from Anna Fält,

Letter from Johanna and Gust Borgreen to Johanna's parents in Sweden

Translation of letter from Johann and Gust Borgreen

Sven Fält and family, brother of Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

Happy Email from Yvonne in Sweden

Hi Jennie,

It´s been a while and I'm sitting here in rainy Sweden, did not know what to do so...I began the search for your ancestors Isberg and Fält in Sweden, I hope you don´t mind...?

I found some info that I do not know if you already have. I'll send it to you.

Hopefully, it may be of interest....

I think you have a very interesting blog!
I also have a small blog, but I'm not so good, it often becomes a little different things that I add ..
I have no real “common red thread” to follow....;))

Sincerely,

Yvonne 

Hi again,

I found a brother of Johanna: Anders, born April 1866 and emigrated together with his family in 1889, se the attached file.

I also found one of the sisters, Anna, who emigrated in 1890.

... Hope you do not mind that I am looking for your ancestors, you might want to find yourself ..;)

Sincerely

Yvonne

Thank you, Yvonne. You have been a huge help on more than one occasion. Everyone should visit Yvonne's blog Swedish Thoughts.

Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen's Obituary

Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen

click to enlarge

March 29...

March 29 - Create a free Footnote Page or a Genealogy Trading Card at Big Huge Labs for a female ancestor. Some of you may have created your own card back in September 2009 following Sheri Fenley's post over at The Educated Genealogist. This time, the card is for your female ancestor. Tell us about who you've selected and why and then post a link to what you've created.

Mary Alice (Coleman) Johnstone

Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen

I originally posted these on Feb. 9 2011 here.They were a gift for my mom for Christmas. They're part of a set of 12 or so, cards featuring all my maternal grandparents and and great grandparents.

March 20....Brick by Brick

March 20 - Is there a female ancestor who is your brick wall? Why? List possible sources for finding more information.


My Brickwall is Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen. She and her husband Gust never spoke of Sweden. As far as I can tell they never told anyone anything at all. I ordered death certificates in hopes of finding a town of origin or a parent's name. NOTHING. I ordered a marriage certificate for the same reason. NOTHING. I have scoured every document that I can find for any clue as to where they may have come from. Here's what I know of Johanna so far...
Born 22 May 1868 Nävlinge, Kristianstad, Sweden   The name of her town and parish came from Swedish Emigration Records found on Ancestry.com. She left Eljaröd, Nävlinge, Kristianstad, Sweden in 1891 to move to North America with her final destination being Rock Springs WY. This information came from the Swedish church records at Ancestry.com. She married Gust Borgreen on 5 Dec 1891 and a gentleman named A. Felt was a witness. This found on the marriage certificate. We then lose track of the family until we can pick up the trail again in MT on the 1900 census where they live with their four oldest children and surprisingly, they live right next door to an Andrew Felt and his family. This is where I decided to pick up the trail of Andrew. Who is he and how is he related to my family? The 1900 census shows that Andrew, his wife and oldest child came to WY in 1890, just one year before Johanna. We know that Gust was already in WY at that time. Several of Andrew's children were born in WY according to the census. So I tracked the whole family back and forth through time and found that those WY births had occurred in Rock Springs. I have yet to find Andrew and his family's immigration papers. But I continue to search. I also continue to search for Johanna in Swedish church records. Hopefully, one day I'll find the birth register I'm looking for. I'm also searching forward in time. I'm looking at Gust and Johanna's children, along with Andrew's children, and their children hoping to find a living descendant who might know just a bit more than me. I still don't know if Andrew is actually related. It would seem that he must be and based on their ages, I suspect he's a brother. But until I have proof in hand, I can only speculate. Come on Johanna. Give it up. 

March 19.....HOLD THE PRESSES!!!!

March 19 - Have you discovered a surprising fact about one of your female ancestors? What was it and how did you learn it? How did you feel when you found out?

 

Gust and Johanna Brogreen were married on Dec. 5, 1891 in Rock Springs WY. We have th document to corroborate this fact. So imagine my surprise, when I'm skipping through the pages of the Rock Springs Miner for 19892 at  The WY Newspaper Project and I come across this little tidbit.

Title: Rock Springs Miner. no. 26. June 29, 1892, page 4

"Gus Borgreen is the father of a fine boy. Dr. Murray, the attending physician informs us that the mother and child are doing nicely."

It would appear that Gt. Grandma was already expecting at the time of the wedding. This did surprise me until I buckled down to do some Swedish research and found it was perfectly acceptable and quite common for young people to co-habitate before the marriage, as long as they had made their intention to marry public. Its not uncommon to find the births of children entered in the church register before the actual marriage date of the parents. It would seem that Gust and Johanna simply brought this tradition to the states with them.

I do have to make one correction to the newspaper bit, though. The oldest child of Gust and Johanna, who was actually born in June of 1892, was their daughter, Esther.

Sunday go to Meeting

March 10 - What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn't they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity?

Katherine (Wanger) Marxer

Great grandma Katherine Marxer lived out in the country on the family homestead with husband Joseph and 14 children. There wasn't a church nearby and a trip to town was an overnight affair, so they worshiped at home. The Marxer's were from Eschen Liechtenstein and were Catholic. Katherine kept a Bible by her favorite chair and they would all gather upstairs to pray every night.

Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen

Johanna Borgreen came from Sweden, so naturally, she was Lutheran. I posted about her prayer book earlier this week. It's written in Swedish but tucked in between the pages are clippings from an American newspaper of little Bible verses. So the book is something that she kept close to her and used regularly even after coming to the U.S. Mom told me that they belonged to the Lutheran church in Great Falls.

I'm not sure if or how any of my female ancestors served their church, but some research of church records in Great Falls will probably tell the tale. I'll add that to my list of things to look for in the future.

March 6 - Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don't have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

Prayer book of Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen

Inside cover of Jennie Borgreen's prayer book

Jennie Borgreen's prayer book 

This little prayer book was given to me last year, by my mother. I can't read a word written in it, as it's entirely in Swedish, but I treasure it none-the-less. I also use this book several times a year. I'm an historical

re-enactor and one of my "characters" is a woman who lived in my community from 1870-1919. She was the second school teacher here and started the first Sunday school. She was instrumental in the founding of the Episcopal church and her husband became the first mayor of our town and served many years as a judge. This prayer book serves as a prop for my reenacting and as long as no one asks to see it close up, my secret is safe.

I hope that Great Grandma Borgreen would be happy to know that her little prayer book was still being used and appreciated and that from time to time it was getting out into the world and serving a new purpose, rather than languishing in a drawer or box in some dark corner.

Namesake

Johanna "Jennie" (Fält) Borgreen

March 3 - Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you've come across in your family tree.


My name is Jennie and I was named after my Great Grandma Borgreen.  


Jennie Fält was born on 22 May 1868 in Nävlinge, Kristianstad, Sweden  . On 16 Jul 1891 she arrived the U.S. traveling directly to Rock Springs WY. Research shows an individual named Andrew Felt was already living in Rock Springs and I suspect he was her brother. She married Grandpa Gust Borgreen on 5 Dec 1891 and the mysterious A. Felt served as witness.


 Gust and Jennie reportedly homesteaded in Rock Springs, but as yet, no land patent has been found. By 1898 they had moved to Belt MT with three of their 7 children. The rest would be born in MT.


While living in Belt, they appear next door to one Andrew Felt and family on the 1900 census. Four children were born in MT bringing the grand total to 7. They moved to Great Falls by 1905 and resided there until they passed. 


Jennie passed on 14 Apr 1936 and Gust on 6 Apr 1946. 


We'll visit Jennie Felt again, as she is my brickwall ancestor. I have not been able to locate the parish in Sweden where her baptism record is kept, so have not been able to identify her parents or any siblings. She is a stubborn woman, this great grandma. But with time and persistence, I will find her.


[ETA] almost immediately after posting this, I DID locate the parish register where I found a record of the date she left for the U.S. I haven't found a baptism entry, but she may have not been baptized in the same parish. Regardless, one baby step forward and I'm very excited about that.

Wordless Wednesday...The Grand Canyon Tour

Johanna "Jennie" Borgreen, her daughter and son Carl Borgreen
Grand Canyon circa 1930

Of course they're visiting the Grand Canyon, look how they're dressed!