Swanson Reunion

Descendants of Adolph and Greta Swanson met last weekend in Sioux Falls, SD. We were probably the smallest gathering of cousins ever to meet in the name of a Swanson Reunion but there was still time for good food, stories and sharing and a photo or two.

Only two first cousins remain. Margaret Swanson Scholten and Harold Swanson reign at the reunion.



Robert Swanson and I grew up in Grandview Church together as cousins. Sunday School, Confirmation, Young Peoples, Christmas Caroling, Hayrides, Easter Breakfasts, Campouts, etc. It wouldn't be a trip home if I didn't attend Grandview and talk at coffee time with Robert.

Back from the Black Hills

Our quick trip out and back is through. We filled the time we were there by visiting family, friends, and special sites with lots of food thrown in here and there.

On our first full day there we had to go to the clinic as Mom had a painful reaction in her hand/arm after driving some on the way out. She began and ended the trip driving, and while she wore a brace on her hand when she got to Hill City she had pain shooting up her arm and swollen joints. We went to a clinic in Custer, SD and she got a cortizone shot and he made a form fitting splint on her forearm to emobilize it. The clinic was near our cousin/niece Linda Ball, we had plans to visit her when we planned the trip, so all worked for the best. Linda will have her 59th birthday next week. She is blind and unable to move, except for one hand, but she recognized our voices and told us some jokes and we shared some stories and a song. We got a kick out of the fact she called Dad, Uncle Kelly. Kelly was what my Grandma called Dad, her Kelly Boy.

My Aunt Carol and Uncle Wes live south of Hill City on Reno Gulch Road. Here is a photo of Mom and Dad and Carol and Wes in the summer kitchen Wes Built Carol. It has a cook stove and serving window and lots of treasurers. She has it decorated so cute.

I made a photo and music video about Linda for my Aunt Carol and she in turn made me this quilt in thanks. We just had to cuddle under it to treasure the moment.

Saturday we went out to my Cousin Bill and his wife Tina's log cabin. They built the cabin entirely themselves and it is really a site to see snuggled back in the hills. The huge logs fit together so tight. We listed to stories again about the building process, truly amazing! On this trip they also had a grandchild to show off. Riley and his Mom, Kim joined us for a morning of relaxing, reminising and catching up. Riley amazed us all with his sign language skills, ball throwing with the dog and ability to entertain a crowd of adults without too much trouble.

We didn't make it up to the faces on this trip, but a trip to the Hills wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Crazy Horse Monument. It began 61 years ago by Korczak Ziolkowski. I actually met the man when I went to the monument on the band trip in 1972 and paid him for his autograph on a sheet of paper with the poem that is on the smaller carving in the lookout/viewing gallery. So I can say I was hooked at age 13 on the carving...! I'll have to dig out some old photos to compare the progress in the carving. A friend who used to live in Sioux Falls has an antique store across the road from the monument so we had to stop and visit with Boyd too.

Heading to the north end of The Hills, We visited with the Whitcher side of the family. I missed getting my camera in action but we toured Uncle Dales new home and then went to Blackhawk where my Cousin Greg and wife Nancy have a home. We grilled hamburgers and had more treats there with more cousins and generations as well as the Uncles and Aunt Carol.

On the way home we stopped in Mitchell, SD (the home of the world famous Corn Palace) to visit with Friends. This time Diane did almost all of the driving with Dad giving me a little relief in the middle of the trip.

Heading Home... and on to The Black Hills

I'm packing the car for a trip home. We're also going to the Black Hills Thursday to spend some time with relatives. It's been a while since I've gone out to The Hills, and we've gone many times over the years. Back in 1967, we stayed at a campground outside Hill City, which ended up being across the road from the place my aunt and uncle eventually retired to. Then my other aunt and uncle moved down the road from them. Cousins follow, so as generations continue, the relatives out there grow and grow. On that 1967 trip my brother Joe cut his foot at the campground and got blood poisoning, ending up in the hospital the night we got home.
On one trip to the hills, Dad was sleeping in the back of the car and Mom and I decided to continue on to Devils Tower in Wyoming. Dad woke up a couple miles from our destination and was not thrilled, but he's smiling in the photos. We came back to Rapid City without too much of a detour.
That year, 1988, there were fires and while we stayed at my cousin Greg's motel on Canyon Lake we spent the night watching the glow of the flames in the sky, as helicopters dipped huge buckets of water from the lake to fight the fires.
Since the relatives live so close to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument, we usually go there for breakfast or lunch. These usually are our only touristy stops (and the fudge shop in Hill City).
I've also gone to the Black Hills twice with my high school band. The first time, the summer of 72, when the HS band director decided to include many of the 8th grade students on the trip. We were there the week before the Big Flood in Rapid City and the motel where we stayed was totally flooded along Canyon Lake. (This was the same hotel my cousin Greg eventually purchased) The second band trip there was my senior year in 1976.
I can't really count all the trips I've taken out to the Hills, but I've gone with family, the band and different groups of friends. Once I went and spent the week painting in the hills, while my friend Beth went to a workshop for work. Lets hope there are no fires, floods or injuries on this trip! I'll get back to you next week on the details.

More Artwork

Like I Said before, I've been photographing artwork I've done that I still have around. Many of the pieces I do now are examples I do for my students. Hopefully I inspire them with a project or to show a technique. I'm notorious for starting a project with them, but I never finish it, as I get too busy helping them or one of the other tasks the art room and teaching requires. I'll take a few photos of paintings I've given to Mom and Dad, that are on the farm, in the weeks ahead when I head that way for a visit.

Right: This is a project I do with 8th graders using crayon resist techniques with watercolors.Above: I chose perfume bottles for subject matter for this monochromatic painting with tempera paint. I did this along with students at school.

Left: This watercolor was done on location in Cedar Falls, IA, the summer of 1985, when I was taking a watercolor workshop at UNI with Shirley Haupt (1929-1988). All the buildings in the painting are now long gone at this intersection near the Historic Round Barn on Main St.
Shirley was a professor when I attended UNI and I had her for three drawing classes. She was my favorite art professor and about the age I am now when she taught me!Above: This is an oil painting I did ages ago. We don't do oil painting in class anymore due to the toxicity.

Angels

"I believe in angels- that they're always hovering near, whispering encouragement whenever clouds appear, protecting us from danger and showing us the way. Performing little miracles within our lives each day." - AnonymousI've been trying to photograph some of the art I've created over the years. I painted this watercolor years ago. May the angels be your constant companions.

Maps from Sweden

For the family members who are logging onto my blog, here are some maps of the area our ancestors lived in Östergötland, Sweden.
The first map below, was sent by a friend of mine (Inger Nyberg) in Ljungsbro, Sweden about 10 years ago. She underlined some of the farms in our ancestry around Ljung. This area is just north of the city of Linköping.
Before he was married, my Great Grandfather Anders Peter Jönsson lived with his parents in the cottage Slättmotorp in Ljung parish. He moved in 1854, to the farm Djupsjö in Ljung parish and worked for the farmer Bengt Jonsson. In 1855, he moved to Tjällmo parish and came back to Ljung parish in 1859, and worked for farmers in the village Slättmon. In 1860, he moved to Bänorp. There he lived and worked on a farm when he married Albertina Gustafsdotter in 1873. Albertina was born and lived in Nybrofallet, Kottorp, Stjärnorp Parish until her marriage to Anders. Together they lived in a cottage Fredriksberg, that belonged to the Bänorp farm in Ljung parish. Albertina and Anders Peter moved in 1874, to the cottage Nysätter. In 1880, they moved to Grönkulla and in 1881, to North America where they ended up in the Canton, SD area.
Click on the maps to enlarge, can you find some of the farm names?
Below; this map (two views of the same map) is from 1878, and shows some of the old farm places. It even has Brohemmet and Fallhemmet on it, the homes of my GG Grandparents (Swanson sides) who emigrated from Sweden to America.
My GG Grandfather Carl August Svensson was born at Brohemmet, Ljung, in 1832 Apr. 19, (son of Sven Svensson, born 1801 Jan. 6 in Klasbäck, Ljung, and his wife Catharina Larsdotter, born 1802 Jun.13 in Stora Högåsa, Ljung.) Carl August was a crofter at Fallhemmet on Norrby lands in Ljung. He was married in 1862 May 9 in Stjärnorp to Carolina Gustafsdotter, born 1839 Aug.2 in Grönlund, Stjärnorp. (She was a sister to my G Grandmother Albertina mentioned above and they were the daughters of Gustav Jönsson & Johanna Nilsdotter) They lived in Fallhemmet with Karl's brother Adolph and his wife Greta. Karl and Karolina and three children emigrated from Ljung to North America in April 1869, eventually settling near Canton, Lincoln County in Dakota Territory.
My GG Grandfather Adolph Frederik Svensson was born at Brohemmet, Ljung, in 1835 Feb. 22, (also the son of Sven Svensson and Catharina Larsdotter) Greta Månsson was born in August 1, 1840 in Lillbränna, Åsnästorp, Ljung parish. Greta came to Sven & Katerina’s home, Brohemmet, to help the ill mother Katerina as her husband Sven was sick and eventually died in Oct. of 1860. Greta ended up marrying Adolph at Brohemmet in Dec. of 1860. Soon brothers Karl and Adolph Svensson built a home north of Brohemmet in the woods and called it Fallhemmet. Adolph and Greta emigrated from Ljung in April 1889, via Copenhagen to New York to Canton, South Dakota.

Memorial Day

The US holiday Memorial Day was originally and is still intended as a day to honor women and men who gave their lives in military service. It has evolved to include a day of remembering all veterans and family and friends who have passed away also. Denver has a parade this morning, my home church, Grandview Covenant, has a service at the church cemetery. (Right: Entrance to Grandview Cemetery) Flowers adorn cemeteries, flags line streets and stand at graves of servicemen and women.
I don’t have many in my line who served in the military, although my Dad was in the Army. My 4th G Grandfather Thomas Ward (1759-1839) served in the Revolutionary War in the North Carolina Militia. He enlisted in 1777, as a Private in Capt. Cepon's Company, 1st NC Regiment, under Col. Thomas Clark. A Quaker, he's buried in the Friends Cemetery (left photo) in White River township, Winchester Co., Randolph, IN.
My GG Grandfather J.M. Pierce (1826-1865) died in Washington, D.C., at the end of the Civil War, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was with Sherman's "March to the Sea" and was with A Company Forage Men, whose duty it was to help get supplies from the territory in which they were located. As he said "they would kill the rebels by burning and stealing their crops and stealing their livestock". (Do a search of this blog for a posting (January) of three letters he wrote while in the war.)

Here are some graves stones I have scanned, I know my genealogy records and books contain more photos of tombstones but I’ve yet to scan them all.
The next four photos are all stones at Grandview Covenant Cemetery, rural Larchwood, Lyon County, IA
Left: My GG Grandparents Adolph & Greta Swanson

Right: My Grandparents Joe & Phoebe Johnson

Left: My brother Steve

Right: Johnson stones.

Left: At a reunion of Joe and Phoebe Johnson's descendants in 2005, we visited the Grandview Cemetery.

My G Grandparents, Charles and Anna Swanson are buried at Grandview Covenant Cemetery, rural Larchwood, IA

My GG Grandparents, Carl and Carolina Swanson are buried at the Lutheran Cemetery north of Canton, SD

My G Grandparents, Andrew and Albertina Johnson are buried at Grandview Covenant Cemetery, rural Larchwood, IA

I took a day trip in Eastern Iowa a few years ago to search out the graves of some of my Pierce relatives. I first went to Ackley, IA to find my GG Grandmother Sarah Wilson Pierce Watters and her second husband’s stones. (Her first husband was J. M. Pierce, of Ackley, IA, who died at the end of the Civil War and is pictured above.) When I drove in the cemetery I had no clue where the stone was. I parked the car and saw a caretaker talking with someone and he said wait a second and he would talk to me in a bit. I decided to move the car out of the lane and pulled over and got out of the car and guess who's stones I was standing in front of? Yep, Sarah (1830-1903) and Robert Watters (1841-1898). Robert had lived in Washington Co. IA until May of 1861 when he responded to his country's call and enlisted in the 8th IA Volunteer Infantry. He entered the ranks as a Private and after serving valiantly for 4 years, 7 months and 20 days, returned as a Corporal. In the Battle of Shiloh a ball went whizzing past his head so closely that it cut a track, he lanquished in a prison pen for seven long months and was released. About a year after the war he came to Ackley, IA, May 1966, and was fond of sitting down and recounting his army experiences with the Grand Army boys as often as opportunity permitted.

Then I drove down to Bevin’s Grove Cemetery, Liberty Township in Marshall County, IA., going off a map I pulled off the internet to get to the cemetery. Well I came over a hill from the south and was surprised at how fast I came upon the cemetery and missed the first driveway because I was driving so fast, so I quickly pulled into the second lane. As I stopped I noticed a parking area over to the north and thought of driving over there but someone was parked there so I decided to stay where I was and when I got out of the car guess who's stone I was standing in front of? Yep, the Pierce family! My GGG Grandmother Lydia Ward Pierce (1803-1880) is buried there. I got chills! Two cemeteries in one day and someone was showing me the way to the stones.

Lydia's husband, my GGG Grandfather Thomas Pierce (1800-1868), a quaker, died in Indiana and his tombstone also has Lydia's information on it at White River Friends Cemetery in Randolph, IN.