Our Family Tree

[When my grandmother compiled this family tree in the mid 1950s, some of her grandchildren, such as myself, had not yet been born. I have added these individuals, as well enumerating some of their children, to this compilation in an effort to make it complete. —LRS]

It was no easy task to assemble a sort of family tree, and much data is missing, but since I do think it will be of interest not only to us now living, but for coming generations, I have endeavoured to get a fairly accurate account of both Father’s and Mother’s families.

Our Great Grandfather’s name was Sjostrand, a surname that was retained from generation to generation in contrast to the custom in Sweden of the children’s surname being derived from the father’s given name. Thus, our paternal grandfather was Per Jonsson, and Father’s name therefore was Jonas Peterson. Had he remained in Sweden instead of emigrating to America, our surname would in turn have been Jonasson or Jonsson.

The Sjostrand family was rather above average in initiative and ability. Many professional men has come from this lineage. The name was translated to Seashore by those who came to America to make their homes.

Great Grandfather Sjostrand’s Family

I. KLAS – Sweden

II. ANNA LOVISA – Sweden

III. JOHAN AUGUST – Sweden (1832-1904)

JOHANNA SOFIA his first wife, died in 1868, had three children

1. Emma Sofia, our mother, (1862-1954), eleven children listed under Father’s name

2. Carl Alfred (died 1933) two sons

a. Karl, farmer in Tigerstad, Sweden

b. Hilding, pastor in Ulrika, Sweden

3. Johan August (died 1934) unmarried

MARIA KRISTINA PETTERSDOTTER, his second wife, who died in 1920. She was a sister of our Father, and also Mother’s step-mother. This created a rather peculiar relationship between their children and our family. On Father’s side we are cousins, while on Mother’s side they are our step-uncles and aunts. Of their eight children, all remained in Sweden except the oldest son.

1. Oscar Gottfried, came to America at the age of 18. Moved to North Dakota from Iowa. His wife died when their fifth child was born. After 33 years in North Dakota, he moved with his family, and located in Kent, Washington, where he now lives at the age of 85 with two unmarried daughters. Five children.

a. Esther Leona (unmarried)

b. Verna Eleanor (unmarried) works in Seattle as office worker

c. Clifford (married) work for Boeing Aircraft, Renton, Wash., one child

d. Carl Leonard (died in 1948)

e. Ruth Nellie (Mrs. Charles F. Lichtenberg) has three children: Robert Keith, Carol Jean, and Paul Duane

2. Anna (unmarried) lives in Rosenfors, Sweden

3. Otto (died in 1952)

4. Tekla (died in 1949)

5. Albert, retired professor in Eksjo, Sweden. His wife is a member of parliament in Sweden, three children.

a. Ingegard, lives in Huskvarne

b. Kerstin, married name “Larsby” and lives in Malmo

c. Nils Goran, civil engineer and atomic scientist, Stockholm

6. Martin, author and editor, three children

a. Gunnel, teacher

b. Karl Martin, still in school

c. Karin, still in school

7. Henry, engineer in Karlstad, three children

a. Erik, meteorologist, Stockholm

b. Anna-Greta, office worker, Stockholm

c. Sven Goran, engineer, Stockholm

8. Edla, died in 1927

IV. CARL GUSTAF — Came with his wife to America and lived on a farm south of Dayton, Iowa. Besides being a farmer, he also did carpenter work. His outstanding work was that of serving as a lay preacher, or “kateket” in the Grant Center Lutheran congregation which he helped to organize.

CHARLOTTA, his wife, had five children, all now dead

1. Carl E., PhD, was an eminent psychologist and Dean of Graduate College at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

2. Emma, was married to B.F. Anderson, Madrid, Iowa. Her husband still lives at the age of 96.

3. Selma, unmarried, died when a young girl

4. August, pastor, for some time President of Luther College, Wahoo, Nebraska

5. Theodore, pastor, a foster son, the son of Otto Seashore, who died shortly after coming to America to live.

V. OTTO — father of Theodore Seashore

VI. FERDINAND — also died a few years after coming to America

VII. MARIA MATILDA — married to August Callerstrom, a carpenter. It was to her home that Mother came when she came to America. She was like a grandmother to us. Although all their children were well educated and the daughters taught school for longer or shorter lengths of time, Auntie Callerstrom never adopted the American language as her own. She lived to be 90 years old, though very frail for many years. Had eight children.

1. Selma, unmarried, dead

2. Carl, pastor, dead, three children: Theodore, Carolyn, Evangeline

3. Anna Augusta, widow of the Rev. J.P. Berg, two sons are dead. Lives with her daughter Linnea Evalyn, in Minneapolis, Minn.

4. Marie, Mrs. Albert Renquist, dead, one son, Harold, Personnel Office, Internal Revenue Service, Minnesota District, St. Paul.

5. Edla, Mrs. Victor Benson, Buffalo, Minnesota. Two sons, Caryl, a pastor, and Laurel in business in Buffalo

6. Gottfried, M.D., dead, three daughters: Solveig, Goldwin, Betty

7. Lily, wife of the Rev. David W. Vikner, before her death served with her husband as missionaries in China. Three children: Ruth, Philip, and David, a missionary pastor in Japan

8. Daisy, unmarried, lives in Buffalo with Edla. Lily and Daisy were twins

VIII. ALFRED — settled on a farm near Dayton, Iowa

SOFIA, his wife. Had seven children, four still living

1. Edwin, dead

2. Gilbert, M.D., dead, had two daughters: Marion and Ruth

3. Annie, Mrs. Pete Johnson, now lives at the Home for the Aged at Madrid, Iowa. One son, Harold.

4. Minnie, Mrs. Charles Newstead (dead). One daughter, Myrtle

5. Emma, Mrs. George Nelson, Siren, Wisconsin, one son dead, daughter Doris still living

6. Esther, Mrs. Emil Blomquist, Dayton, Iowa. Two sons: Clemens and Paul

7. Selma, Mrs. Carl Bloom, Siren, Wisconsin. Four children: Gladys, Melvin, Elaine, and Kenneth

Father’s parents, Per Jonsson and Kristina Sofia Magnidotter, lived in Tigerstad, Smaland, Sweden. They had a family of seven children of whom three remained in Sweden, while four came to America.

I. MARIA KRISTINA — died in 1920. Grandfather Sjostrand’s second wife and thus Mother’s step-mother. Her eight children are listed under the Sjostrand lineage.

II. KARL JOHAN

1. Henry, has several children

2. Eivor, married to Mother’s nephew Hilding, Pastor, at Ulrika.

3. Oscar, changed surname to Melander when he came to America. Now lives in Rockford, Illinois.

4. One other son came to America, but returned to Sweden. I can’t recall his name.

III. LOVISA — two living children, David and Elsa

IV. HENRY — died in 1921 at age of 74. Emigrated to America as Father did, but he went south and located in Texas. Married a Southern girl. In 1902 he and his wife and Maggie came north to visit. It was most interesting to meet these relatives of Father’s. Henry who had lived in Texas for so many years completely cut off from Swedish speaking people had almost forgotten his native tongue. After some weeks he was able to visit with Father in the Swedish language and they would sit for hours talking about the life back in their home land. Then Mother, Father and Ruth accompanied Uncle Henry’s to Illinois to visit their relatives there, especially their youngest sister, Sofia Munson. Uncle Fred’s joined them. It was a real reunion of the four Petersons who had emigrated to America.

LIZZIE — his wife, died in 1927 at the age of 70. Had twelve children.

1. Nils Franklin, Lamesa, Texas. 80 years old. 2 girls and 2 boys

2. John Wylie, Brawley, California. 2 boys and 1 girl

3. James Madison, Lamesa, Texas. First wife is dead; 11 children by first marriage, 6 girls and 5 boys; one daughter died at 7 mo., one son at 27 years. Re-married in 1951. Manages a large farm at age of 75 years.

4. Otto Frederich, Fort Worth, Texas, 3 girls, only two living. He and James are twins.

5. Peter Edward, died at age of 7 years

6. Oscar Willard, Fort Worth, Texas, two girls and two boys

7. Carl Clifton, died at the age of 13 years

8. George Earnest, died at the age of 44 years, 3 girls all living

9. William Henry, died in infancy

10. Anna Elizabeth, Mrs. H.M. Cott, Lamesa, Texas, 6 boys and 2 girls

11. Joseph Marvin, Lovington, New Mexico, 2 boys and 2 girls

12. Mary Magdalene, Mrs. Mary Hamilton, Lubbock, Texas, one girl

V. FRED — died in 1922. Came to America in 1877, one of the relatives who came with Father when he returned from his visit to Sweden. He lived in Illinois for a time and was married there. Later the family moved to Nebraska, living first in Saronville, and then moving farther west to Dix.

AUGUSTA — his wife, died in 1919

1. Reuben, died three years ago. Married twice; both wives are dead. Two children from first marriage and four from second marriage are living.

2. Clarence, married, two daughters

3. Esther, Mrs. Claude Sizemore, 1345 South 11th St., Lincoln, Nebraska

a. Dale, electrical engineer, Kansas City

b. Harold, in Civil Service, Omaha, Nebraska

c. Mary Lou, married, lives in Los Angeles, California

4. George, married, lives in Vallejo, California, no children

5. Maud, married, also lives in California

VI. SOFIA — Came to America at the age of 14 in 1877 with brother Jonas. Lived with relatives in Illinois until her marriage to Charles A. Munson. After living a number of years in Galesburg, Illinois, they moved to a farm in Indiana and lived there until by reason of failing health, they entered a nursing home. Both died in 1954, aged 91 years. Their children are all engaged in farming.

1. Fred, Paulding, Ohio, wife Maybelle and he have no children

2. Harry, Bluffton, Indiana, married, had three children. One son was killed in army training, one daughter died of cancer at 3 years of age, one son living has 5 children and 1 grand-child.

3. Myrtle, Mrs. Everett Cadwallader, Payne, Ohio

a. Harold, married a Texas girl while in the army, have one and and live in Austin, Texas

b. Dorothy, two girls

c. Raymond, two girls and one boy

d. Donald, four children

e. Warren, unmarried and lives at home

VII. JONAS PETER — our Father, and I believe the oldest of Grandfather’s family. Emigrated to America at the age of 19 and worked in the gold mines out in Montana for about ten years; then came back to Sweden for a visit. When he returned to America, he brought with him his youngest brother, Fred, and sister, Sofia, and also his niece (by marriage) Emma Sofia Sjostrand, whom he later married.

1. Carl Algot, now 77, unmarried, lives in Gowrie and still engaged in farming on the home farm.

2. Esther Adelia, 75, unmarried, living with Carl in the old home

3. George Walfrid, a semi-invalid most of his life, died in 1939

4. Emma Elvera, died at the age of 9 months in 1887

5. Lawrence, the Rev. August P. Lawrence, having taken his Christian name as surname. He and wife, Dagmar, have no children. He is now pastor in Albert City, Iowa.

6. Naomi, Mrs. Clarence Strand, husband is a retired book-keeper.

a. Clarice, Mrs. Albert E. Schmeiser, wife of a Presbyterian pastor in Joplin, Missouri. Have three children: Ann (2 daughters and 2 sons), Robert, William

b. Carl, Chemical Research Engineer with Shell Development Co., El Cerrito, California. He and his wife, Jean have three daughters, Muriel Elise, Palma Joy (2 daughters and 1 son), and Laurel Ruth (1 daughter).

c. Ruth Vivian, Mrs. Eugene V. Olson, her husband is a refrigeration mechanic in Des Moines. Have two daughters, Ruth Laurine (1 son) and Nancy (adopted, 2 sons and 1 daughter).

d. Vincent, an agricultural engineer graduate, but now engaged in farming and lives on the old Strand farm. He and his wife, Jean, have two children, Julie (adopted) and Joel (adopted, 3 stepchildren and 1 daughter).

e. Verner, the Rev. V.E. Strand, ordained in 1954, and now the pastor of a Home Mission congregation, St. James, in Rock Island, Illinois. He and his wife, Marlys, have four children, Peter (2 sons), Miriam (1 daughter and 1 son), Vivian (1 daughter and 1 son), and Naomi (Noni) (1 son).

f. Marold, married to Jeanne Youngquist, the grand-daughter of Mother’s old friend and neighbor from pioneer days. He is now studying accounting at the University of Minnesota, after serving in the U.S. Navy until September 1955. They have two children, Gregg (married, 1 daughter and 1 son) and Marcia (married, two or three children).

7. Serenus, the Rev. S.E. Peterson, pastor at Mason City, Iowa. He and his wife Edythe have one son.

a. Eugene, unmarried and in the advertising business in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

8. Ruth, died in 1941 at the age of 46. For many years she was the organist of our local Zion Lutheran Church.

9. Milton, Dr. John P. Milton, having changed his surname. Now teacher of Old Testament at the Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife, Euphemia, have five children.

a. John, married, no children. Part time teacher at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota, also pursuing studies for his Doctor’s degree at the University of Minnesota.

b. David, married, two children, Terry and Scott. A lawyer with Shell Oil Co., in Los Angeles, California.

c. Alice, Mrs. Duane Carlson, Arlington, Virginia, pastor’s wife, and mother of two children, Stephen and Barbara.

d. Roy, married, no children, at present an Ensign in the U.S. Navy.

e. Donald, student at Gustavus Adolphis College, St. Peter, Minn.

10. Lillian, wife or the Rev. Verner A. Granquist, died in 1951 at the age of 51 years.

a. Phoebe Ann, teacher, married to Arne Peterson, student at Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois

b. Theodore, senior at Gustavus Adolphus, St. Peter, Minnesota

c. Luther, freshman at Gustavus Adolphus, St. Peter, Minnesota

11. Laurine, unmarried, for many years primary school teacher. Now is Director of Teacher Education and Placement at Luther College, Wahoo, Nebraska.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to express sincere gratitude to all those who have helped me with this undertaking by supplying information for the story or for the family tree. Especially do I wish to thank my children who made it possible for me to have my story in this format. Jean in Gowrie, Iowa, typed the first copy from the written manuscript. Vivian in Des Moines, Iowa, drew the original pen sketches for the beginning of each chapter. Carl in El Cerrito, California, reproduced the picture from old prints. Al and Clarice in Joplin, Missouri, typed, mimeographed, and assembled the pages. My family helped me with my story of the Peterson family.

- Naomi -

Chapter Nine: The Sunset Years

As the years went by, the difference of 17 years in the ages of Father and Mother became more noticeable, perhaps even more so because Father seemed to age prematurely. Until his last illness he had always enjoyed good health, but for several years before his death he had retired from active work on the farm, and had left it all to the boys to manage as they saw best.

The maples and spruce trees which he had laboriously planted in earlier days were not beautiful large trees. He loved to sit in their shade on the front lawn and meditate. On what? Maybe dreaming of that visit to the old home land which he had long saved and planned for. But he never made that visit. He seemed so withdrawn from the family conversations and plans, as if they were something apart from his life. He preferred to live in the past.

In the summer of 1914 his health began to fail. Father had never had much faith in doctors and would not consult one himself. But when we consulted a doctor and described the symptoms, it was thought that he had cancer of the stomach.

In early November he became very ill and we were all called home; Esther from Bethphage where she was working at that time, and Lawrence, Milton and I from St. Peter. In order to catch the night train from Waseca we decided to hire an automobile to get us there. Very few cars were then on the roads; none of us had ever ridden in one of those “new-fangled contraptions,” and that was just 42 years ago. What changes since then!

We started out at 9:00 p.m. after evening church services, thinking we would have plenty of time for it was only a 30 mile ride. What a ride that was! Over the winding Minnesota roads we rode and rode for several hours, an all the time I got more and more car-sick, no doubt from nervousness as well as from the motion of the car bumping over rough country roads. About midnight the driver stopped on a lonely side road and admitted that he was lost and had no idea where we were. Seeing lights in the distance, he headed for them and we found ourselves in Janesville. After all the night train had lone since come through and there was nothing else for us to do but to take in at an unheated hotel and shiver in our beds until morning, when we were able to get a train for Gowrie.

When we came home we found that Father had rallied, but we stayed home until after Thanksgiving, when we three returned to school. Esther, however, stayed at home to help Carl and Mother with caring for Father, who lingered on until the next spring, when death came as a relief from his suffering on March 13, 1915. Had he lived until March 28m he would have been 70 years old. As we consider lives today, that wasn’t very old, but for many years he had seemed like an old man to us all.

After Father’s death Carl and Serenus carried on the farm work as they had been doing for several years, until the fall of 1917 when Serenus and Edythe were married and took over the farm home. Mother with yet a good-sized family, Carl, George, Ruth, Lillian, and Laurine, moved in to the new house in town, which that summer had been built on the lot neat her beloved church, the lot that Father had had the foresight to buy many years before.

That fall I had the chance to help Mother get established in the new home, for I did not plan to tech school any more. Ruth went to Gustavus to study music; Lillian and Laurine were in High School. I did not get to stay home long, for there was an acute shortage of teachers everywhere, and through some college friends I was prevailed upon to teach grades 7 to 9 in a two-room school up near Hector, Minnesota, until they could secure another teacher.

So much pf living and working, striving and achieving were packed into the 37½ years since that spring in 1880 when Father, Mother, and baby Carl came to live in the humble pioneer home on the farm. Ten more children had been born; one had died; Father now was gone; and most of the children were grown. In her new home in town Mother’s life was quite different. How much she appreciated being within walking distance of church. In 1922 Ruth came home from Minnesota to take up her work as organist and from that time on she was Mother’s faithful helper and companion for 19 years.

Mother was very happy to now live so near to church. The pastor’s family, living right across from the street were adopted as almost her own family. Her home was always open to welcome visiting pastors also, since Carl was for many years a deacon, and this was her way of helping in the work. Although now 55 years old, her health was better than it had been for years, possibly because her work was lighter.

Emma in middle age

But she was never idle. Her kitchen was her domain. She let Ruth care for the rest of the house. But she was busy also in the garden and picking berries until her fall and broken leg at the age of 86. In her spare time she wrote letters, loved to read, and also sat busily crocheting laces for numberless pairs of pillow cases. It truly was her hobby to give these lovely pillow cases to her children, grand-children, cousins and friends for any special occasion.

In the spring of 1931, when she was 69 years old, she was suddenly taken very ill with an infected gall bladder. Had it not been for Dr. Wassell’s diagnosis and prompt action to have an operation without delay, she would certainly have left us at that time. For this was long before the discovery of the wonder-drugs of today. Mother dreaded so much to undergo this operation but she made an almost miraculous recovery and after getting well seemed to have a renewed lease on life, and was in better health than before. In June she even was able to help plan, if not to actively work on, the preparations for Lillian’s wedding, Esther coming home from her work in Des Moines to help Ruth with the work.

When the depression of 1933 came, and Clarence lost his job at the bank, we thought it would be easier for us to make both ends meet by renting our home in town and moving out to the old farm home to live. Mother was very happy to come and visit us there and to see how liveable the old home still was, thought it had stood vacant and neglected at times when Carl had no one living there. There grew up a close bond between our children and their wonderful grandmother. It has been a great job to me that we were privileged to live near to her all those years. Carl still lived in town with Mother, but would eat his dinner with us. He often said it was as if he had a second home out on the farm. It was seldom that Mother did not have our whole large family stay for Sunday dinner after we had been to church.

Mother still had her family. At this time there were the four of them, Mother, Carl, George, and Ruth, with the others coming often. How she loved the home comings! But time brought changes. Since moving to town, George’s health gradually failed and he withdrew more and more from contact with folks outside the immediate family. Though growing weaker he persisted in doing his usual tasks such as mowing the lawn and helping in the garden. Death came to him suddenly and unexpectedly although he had become very emaciated and weak. He had a hemorrhage and died after a few hours on June 19, 1939, at the age of 56 years.

Ruth’s health had been failing for several years, but she was able to continue her work until a few months before her death. Those last months her body literally wasted away by a strange illness diagnosed as Oriental Sprue. Her death in March 1941, came as a release to her but a severe blow to Mother, who was now hearing her 80 years, and had become dependent on Ruth for many things. After Ruth’s death, Esther came home to stay and now she and Carl carry on in the home up by church after Mother’s death.

When Mother reached her 80th birthday it was our joy that all of her still living children were able to come home and make that day a memorable one. Mother was “A Queen for the Day.” Could she then look forward to a peaceful, tranquil, sunset of life? She remained in good health and very active for her years until the fall of 1948. Now 86 years old, Esther and I felt that Mother ought not to have to work with heavy work like the family washing, but always independent, Mother would not give up and this maybe led to her accident.

Emma at 85

For I determined to come unasked that one morning and help Esther in the basement. As always, I walked in without rapping, Mother still sitting by the breakfast table, got up to see who was coming. In so doing, she tripped on a rug and fell. She could not get up so we realized that she was badly hurt. Dr. Borgen confirmed this, her leg was broken, though the bone was not out of place. Always in dread of operations, Mother did not want to have the bone pegged and we hesitated to insist on it. So, for three long months she lay still in one position, waiting for the bone to heal. Esther had more nurse’s skill than I, but because of her arthritic hands, she was not able to handle Mother and care for her. With the Doctor’s warning that any false move might get the bones out of place, it was not easy for me to undertake the responsibility of caring for Mother. But she was so wonderfully patient and it was a privilege to do what I could. It did seem like a miracle when after those three months the x-rays showed that the bones had knit together.

At that advanced age it was very, very difficult for her to learn to walk again. She often felt like giving up but in time she was again able to be back at her usual duties in her kitchen, work she did not give up. She was disappointed that she was not as sure in her walking out in the yard, so her activity was limited from that time on. But she was able to be in her place at Sunday worship, with Carl’s help in her walking to church.

When Lillian died of the dread Hodgkins Disease in September of 1951, it was another hard blow for Mother, not almost 90 years old. She truly had experienced that having a large family brings much of joy and happiness, but also sorrow and bereavement. And so it was as we prepared the next February to observe Mother’s 90th birthday, there was another vacant place in her family circle. Although Mother retained her interest in life, and her mind was keen until the time of her death, the deaths of Ruth and Lillian were hard blows for her spirit. She missed them so much and often wondered why they were called home, instead of herself who had lived such a long life.

On her ninetieth birthday there were only seven children to come home and honor her. We tried to make it a memorable day, by arranging for an open house at church, with several of her older friends as special guests. It was a joyful occasion, for Mother had many friends who welcomed this opportunity to honor her. If I were to attempt to pay a tribute to Mother, I believe it should be to that true friendliness she showed to every one, and in turn she was loved by all who knew her.

On her ninety first birthday Clarence and I were in far-off California. I do think she missed us those four months that we were gone and I treasure the dear letters she wrote to us that winter, for she still could write wonderful letters. Then when we did return, and Clarence became ill, we did so miss our frequent visits up to Mother’s and I know that she missed our coming.

After New Years Day in 1954, Mother was not very well. Her own diagnosis when she got sick was always, “It’s just a cold.” This cold hung on for weeks, and she had to stay home from church services, as it was too cold her her to get out. But she was up and about her daily tasks even up to the morning of Jan. 26, when as usual she prepared her breakfast. Then she became nauseated and ill so she could not eat. Realizing that something was seriously wrong, Carl called Dr. Borgen. He noticed at once that her heart was giving up and suggested that the children be called home. But death does not wait. “It is appointed a time for man to die.” Only I, who lived near, had time to come home and be with her those last hours; when the others came, her spirit had gone home to God.

The merciful God spared her a long illness and suffering, and so we could not wish her back, much as we have missed her. Faithful to the end, one of her last concerns was that Jean should that evening at W.M.S. see that her yearly obligations were paid. Before evening came, her work in life was ended.

Ever since Mother’s death I have felt that some story of her life should be handed down to coming generations. I well realize others could have done this far better than I, but being shut-ins as Clarence and I now are, I alone had the time and I enjoyed trying to gather information, especially from Carl and Esther who remembered more than I did of the by-gone days, so I have done my best.

- Naomi -

Salvaged from the Peterson farmhouse by Uncle Vincent