Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Happy 100th Birthday, Grandma Nell!
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| Ellen "Nell" (Johnstone) Borgreen |
On 4 Jun 1913, Mary Alice arrived in Quebec with her two children, Steve and Nellie and her mother, Mary Coleman. The family reunited with William and moved west to British Columbia, where they would live until immigrating to the U.S. in 1916. Nellie's brothers, William and Donald were born in Canada. Mary Alice crossed into Montana at the port of Gateway on 24 Feb 1916, with her 4 children and her mother. William entered the U.S. at some point in time, but no record has been found. The family settled in Great Falls, MT. William worked as a master meat cutter for The Great Falls Meat Packing Company.
Kathleen, Gertrude, James and John were born to William and Mary Alice over the next years in Great Falls.
Nell attended St. Mary's High School and then the Columbus Hospital's School of Nursing where she graduated in 1933. These were difficult years. The nation was in the throes of the Great Depression, Grandma Coleman and William were suffering from cancer. William was unable to work and the family banded together to make ends meet. Mary Coleman died on 14 Jun 1932 and William died on 16 Oct 1933. At this same time Nell went to work for Dr. C. H. Peterson.
On 29 Jun 1935, Nell married Carl Borgreen at St. Anne's Cathedral in Great Falls MT. They made their home in Great Falls. Nell and Carl welcomed 4 children to the family; John, Judy, Jim, and Jerry.
On 22 Nov 1959, life took a drastic and tragic turn when Carl died suddenly and unexpectedly on a hunting trip. The family carried on, the kids grew and married and had children of their own. Nell returned to nursing, working at Park Place and Cascade Country Convalescent Hospital until her retirement.
Nell was spunky and fiesty until the very end and on 22 Oct 2000, she left us to reunite with Carl.
Today would be her 100th birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma. We love you and miss you.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Genealogy as Grief Therapy
I think anyone who has spent any time researching their family history can relate to this....the process brings our ancestors back to life. In the case of researching those relatives who have passed in our own lifetime, it keeps them alive in a different and special way.
I'd been researching my family for some time before my son passed in August 2011. I had become familiar and comfortable working with death certificates, funeral home and cemetery records and even traipsing through cemeteries. For 5 years I've researched a local founding family in my community and I participate in the annual Stories and Stones storytelling program at our local cemetery; the very cemetery where I would bury my son. I feel at home there. I know the names of many of the "residents' and know the stories and history of those individuals who are neighbors to my child. As gut wrenching as it is to lose a child, the entire process has been softened by the knowledge, experience and very act of researching my ancestors.
My son would often come to the computer room and sit with me. He'd act very bored and put upon, but would usually ask what I was working on, or had I found anything interesting. He'd listen and look at photos and, I hope, would absorb the information. When he passed on, I took great comfort in knowing that he would be met by people he knew. I also gives me comfort to know that I'll meet up with him again someday and have the opportunity to meet and reconnect with all those who've gone on before me.
This hobby has brought me comfort and understanding during a very dark time.
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| Alex in June of 2011 |
I'd been researching my family for some time before my son passed in August 2011. I had become familiar and comfortable working with death certificates, funeral home and cemetery records and even traipsing through cemeteries. For 5 years I've researched a local founding family in my community and I participate in the annual Stories and Stones storytelling program at our local cemetery; the very cemetery where I would bury my son. I feel at home there. I know the names of many of the "residents' and know the stories and history of those individuals who are neighbors to my child. As gut wrenching as it is to lose a child, the entire process has been softened by the knowledge, experience and very act of researching my ancestors.
My son would often come to the computer room and sit with me. He'd act very bored and put upon, but would usually ask what I was working on, or had I found anything interesting. He'd listen and look at photos and, I hope, would absorb the information. When he passed on, I took great comfort in knowing that he would be met by people he knew. I also gives me comfort to know that I'll meet up with him again someday and have the opportunity to meet and reconnect with all those who've gone on before me.
This hobby has brought me comfort and understanding during a very dark time.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Productive time
I'm also enjoying the 3 free months of Ancestry.com access. Granted, it's only US records, but I've found lots of records on my collateral lines, not to mention photographs and family stories.
Lastly, I've managed to make contact with several distant relations re; information on their trees and offering to share what I've found in my own research.
I'm hoping that with collaberation, we can knock down a brick wall or two.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Friday Funny...Smile for the Panda
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| source unknown |
I wish I knew the story behind it.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Motivation Monday...Family Tree Maker 2012 and Ancestry.com subscription
Currently waiting for my order from Amazon.com to show up. I finally broke down and bought Family Tree Maker 2012 with a free three month Ancestry.com subscription. I've been searching and bookmarking all the records that I want to examine and will be ready to hit the floor running when the box shows up in my mailbox. Can NOT wait.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
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