Tombstone Tuesday...Find a Grave.com

Ruth Borgreen

 Borgreen family marker

 Johan August "Gust" Borgreen

 Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen

Old Highland Cemetery in Great Falls MT

I was so happy the day I found Find a Grave. What a fantastic resource this site is when you are trying to

locate ancestors' final resting places from far away. At the time I found these grave site photos, I didn't even know what cemetery these ancestors were buried in. This was a very productive internet search. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work that is done by the people who volunteer for this project. You can browse by location, date, and/or name. So helpful. You can search famous graves or just stroll through looking for  interesting epitaphs. And in true "pay it forward" style, you can join the Find a Grave contributors and help out with the project. So Fantastic!

Christmas, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My Childhood memories of Santa are vivid. I would get so excited for Christmas that I would just shake and I still remember the physical ache of anticipation. I don't think I ever stopped believing. I never felt tricked or deceived by the stories. The thought of a benevolent old soul toiling all year to bring gifts the all the good boys and girls of the world just makes my heart glad. The sight of a Santa and child makes me misty eyed. Part of that may be hormones, but part of it has always been that way. 

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?"VIRGINIA O'HANLON."115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. 

Nellisms

Grandma Nell (Johnstone) Borgreen

Here's a list of funny things Grandma Nell used to say. This is only the tip of the iceberg. I'll be adding to this list as I think of more.

Grandma Nell was an RN, so many of her isms make reference to body parts or functions. That's just the way she was. 

Someone left the gate open.

Said while waiting for a break in traffic

Should have shot him and raised a pig.

Said in reference to a worthless example of a human being.

Say you eat well.

Said behind the back of someone who would do well to

cut back a little bit.

Would you look at that

Said about anything that went against the grain

Uglier than a hatful of rectums.

Pretty self explanatory

Able to sit up and take nurishment

The usual response when asked "How are you doing today?"

I was going to vacuum, then I thought better of it.

We all have this feeling from time to time.

I'm going to the hair benders
going to the beauty parlor

I have to put my face on.

Said while getting ready to go out

Went to bed with my boyfriend, Morpheus.

Referring to the god of sleep.

Went to lunch with my cronies.

Her gal pals.

That old blister

If Grandma Nell didn't like you, you were a blister

That old plaster
Similar to an old blister

Don't eat that or you'll get the Molly grubs
tummy ache

Don't get your bowels in an uproar.

Don't get excited

Don’t get your water hot.

See above

Don't get your knickers in a twist.

See above again.

Would you look at the head on that!

Quit crying, you big calf!


Quit your crying or I'll give you something to cry about

I could be wearing that like a mink stole

 Pee or get off the pot

Basically, hurry up or get out of the way

That gives me the hump

The hump was never good. Refers to feeling grossed out.

That gives me the willies

Similar to the hump but more creepy

Old Lumpy Nose - (Pres Reagan)

Hamburger 'onion' only

Always from McDonald's and in a Happy Meal

Those Places Thursday...The Cabin

Johnstone-Borgreen Cabin est. 1936

This is "The Cabin". It was built by my grandfather, Carl Borgreen 

and my Uncle Steve Johnstone, who was Grandma Nell's brother.

Our family has been coming to this place ever since 1935. There is no

electricity or running water; no plumbing or any type of modern

convenience. There is no TV, computer and no cell phone service.

This spot is truly Heaven on Earth. There are no neighbors or stores

no street noise. There is nothing but the pure silence of the mountains

and the creek running by. 

The inside of the cabin contains many of the

same items that have been there since the very beginning. The old wood stove

and picnic table have always been there. The oil lamps and pots and pans

are the same ones that I've always known. The water bucket and dipper 

are the same ones from back in the day when we could actually drink the 

water straight from the creek. 

There have been small changes over the

years and improvements like the new roof and fresh paint. But the things

that matter, the things that make this the cabin have remained the same.

The history of this place swirls around me when I step out of my car to

open the gate. To be so firmly rooted to a place is holy. I have always come

here and I will always come back. And when my time comes to leave this 

life, I want my ashes scattered here. 

Wedding Wednesday

Albert and Elina Johnson
June 27, 1913

Joseph and Katherine Marxer
May 27, 1884

These are my paternal great grandparents. 

Joseph and Katerine Marxer were married in St. Paul MN in 1884. They lived there for a couple of years before coming west to homestead near Great Falls MT. Joseph was a stone mason and helped to build many structures in and around Great Falls. He built the home that he and Katherine would raise their family in with his own two hands. They eventually went into farming, but when Joseph had to go to town for work or supplies, he'd walk the 10+ miles in order to save on livery fees for the horses. When he returned home, he'd carry all the food and supplies for his family on his back. Joseph and Katherine had 15 children over the years. My grandfather, Edward Marxer was the youngest of this bunch. When Edward married my grandmother, Marie, they took over the ranch and lived there with their own children until they retired. I spent many happy times at the ranch and rambling around the old house and all the many acres of property. I would often run down the gravel road to the old stone school house that Joseph helped to build and that his children attended. Even as a small child I knew that the history of that place was rich. I haven't been there for many years, but the memories are vivid in my mind.

Albert and Elina Johnson were married in 1913. Albert came from Sweden in 1890. Elina was born in Red Lodge MT in 1894. They met and married in Red Lodge and raised their two daughters in Roberts Montana.

Albert was a farmer by trade. Interestingly, I know little about him as a person but have a pedigree chart from a cousin that traces his family back 7 generations. There is also a long and quite detailed compiled family history on the Johnsons that mainly covers the story of his parents and their arrival and life in MT. Albert and Elina died in the 1960's and my hope is that my dad and his brothers can shed some light on what they were like as people. 

Family Stories

Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This day always reminds me of a story I was told about my Grandpa and Grandma Borgreen (Carl and Nell). Before I tell it, though let me just say a silent prayer for all those lost in that attack.

Now the story goes like this, Nell, who was expecting my mom, Judy, was vacuuming in the living room. Carl was somewhere else in the house listening to the radio. He heard the bulletin that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He ran into the living room and yanked the vacuum cord from the wall, yelling "they attacked Pearl Harbor, they attacked Pearl Harbor!" Grandma Nell, in her usual way yelled back "Why did you unplug my vacuum and who the hell is Pearl Harbor, anyway?"

Oral History....or our family's version of the truth

The most important thing I've learned through this research project is don't get too attached to the details. Some things just roll off the tongue. Great Grandma Johnstone, who was born Mary Alice Coleman and came from County Cork Ireland. That must be so, right? Except her death certificate lists place of birth as Bristol England. But that might not be so either. It is her death certificate. A secondary source with information provided long after the time of her birth and by someone who was likely not present at her birth.
Perhaps the family story was really referring to her mother, Mary Coleman. Mary's death certificate says that she was born in Ireland. But the town, Carrick-on-Suir, is in County Waterford. I looked at a current map and believe that Waterford and Cork are neighbors. I need to check an historical map from that time to see if county lines have changed. Perhaps Carrick-on-Suir WAS in County Cork. Maybe there is a grain of truth to the family lore, afterall.

So who do you believe? Well, I believe no one. If/when I find her actual birth certificate or a church record of her baptismal, than I'll believe (a little bit) the information provided. In the mean time I take the clues that I find and search for the primary source. Some people might find this frustrating, but to me it's almos the most fun part of the journey. I feel like I'm channeling my inner Sam Spade here. There's one thing that is for certain. I'll never run out of things to look for.