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| Caption on back of photo: "Ken with his new arrival. How happy he is" |
Monday, November 23, 2015
Thanksgiving 1960
Flashback to Thanksgiving 1960. The table was carefully set with the whole spread; pictures were taken to capture the moment. Ken Sr. cut the turkey. All the children were neatly combed. Baby Chris was six months old. This is all I know - I wonder what other stories can be told from these pictures:
Sunday, November 15, 2015
My angel grandmothers
Last winter, in spiritual and emotional preparation for giving birth to my third baby, I was reading The Gift of Giving Life. One of the chapters of that book highlights the significance of the generations of women you have descended from. Through reading that I began to feel such gratitude for my female ancestors and their lives, faith, and sacrifices through birth. They experienced the pains of labor and so I knew they could empathize as I experienced it again. I imagined them, essentially, as my doulas on the other side, surrounding me in love as I delivered my baby. In fact, my great-great grandmother on my mom's side, Sarah Elizabeth Carter, was trained in obstetric nursing under accomplished LDS female doctor Ellis R. Shipp. Sarah Elizabeth delivered hundreds of babies in southern Alberta, Canada, taking care of them and their mothers at her home which they coined "The Stork's Nest". She surely was equipped to empathize with a charitable love as I delivered my baby Evelyn.
After feeling that love for these grandmothers of mine, I decided I wanted to create something my daughters could look to to feel that closeness to these women. I believe these women still care about me and all their descendants with a mother's love. I also looked at it as I meditated and prayed for strength in preparation for labor and delivery. Evelyn's arrival was peaceful and joyful even amid the physical intensity of it all. I believe this was made possible through the peace of the Holy Ghost and enhanced by my strengthened testimony of my divine nature as a glorious woman of God. I also don't believe it unthinkable that one or more of these ancestors played a supportive role as Evelyn sacredly crossed the veil into this mortal life.
For my Raleigh relatives, here's a file you could modify for your own relatives. You can edit it within Google Slides or download/save/export as a PowerPoint File if you prefer editing it that way. I found almost all of my pictures through Familysearch.org.
After feeling that love for these grandmothers of mine, I decided I wanted to create something my daughters could look to to feel that closeness to these women. I believe these women still care about me and all their descendants with a mother's love. I also looked at it as I meditated and prayed for strength in preparation for labor and delivery. Evelyn's arrival was peaceful and joyful even amid the physical intensity of it all. I believe this was made possible through the peace of the Holy Ghost and enhanced by my strengthened testimony of my divine nature as a glorious woman of God. I also don't believe it unthinkable that one or more of these ancestors played a supportive role as Evelyn sacredly crossed the veil into this mortal life.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Grandpa Furse
Two years since you've left us Grandpa Furse. We miss you. I miss your laugh and your love and I know Grandma misses you most. Thinking of you.
With all of you, I wanted to share one of the most touching things I read about Grandpa Furse around the time of his passing. His son Bryan wrote this on the online memorial page:
"My earliest memories are of the family getting on our Sunday best to go to church
in Portland, Oregon. Grant brought me into this world and though I only shared
my first 5 years with him the Furse influence continues its legacy. I am blessed with
my father's quirky sense of humor and good looks. (he would laugh at me if he
heard me say this.) I remember Grant picking me up on his return from work in the
afternoon and rubbing his five o' clock shadow against my tender boy face
exclaiming "you want some whisker pie?" After he and mom split up he drove from
Portland to Tucson just to see his kids again. He stormed into the house at great
peril to himself and grabbed me and my siblings and carted us off to a local ice
cream parlor. He held me and Jolynn and cried like a baby. It was the first time I
ever saw a grown man cry. And this man was my Dad. I know he wanted to take us
back to his life and I am left wondering how my life would be different if he had. I
have grown to admire the mormon culture that is my roots, especially in these
uncertain times we face. I am glad to have spoken with him several times in these
last few months to share a few laughs and to tell him how grateful I am that he gave
life to me and that I love him."
With all of you, I wanted to share one of the most touching things I read about Grandpa Furse around the time of his passing. His son Bryan wrote this on the online memorial page:
"My earliest memories are of the family getting on our Sunday best to go to church
in Portland, Oregon. Grant brought me into this world and though I only shared
my first 5 years with him the Furse influence continues its legacy. I am blessed with
my father's quirky sense of humor and good looks. (he would laugh at me if he
heard me say this.) I remember Grant picking me up on his return from work in the
afternoon and rubbing his five o' clock shadow against my tender boy face
exclaiming "you want some whisker pie?" After he and mom split up he drove from
Portland to Tucson just to see his kids again. He stormed into the house at great
peril to himself and grabbed me and my siblings and carted us off to a local ice
cream parlor. He held me and Jolynn and cried like a baby. It was the first time I
ever saw a grown man cry. And this man was my Dad. I know he wanted to take us
back to his life and I am left wondering how my life would be different if he had. I
have grown to admire the mormon culture that is my roots, especially in these
uncertain times we face. I am glad to have spoken with him several times in these
last few months to share a few laughs and to tell him how grateful I am that he gave
life to me and that I love him."
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| 1936 |
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| "Grant in his first suit, May 27, 1943" |
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| "9th grade basketball team 1947, won 1 lost 6" |
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| 1947 |
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| "Junior Prom 1949" |
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| "Grant Furse showing Dr. Killpack the new tooth he got that day. Kathy's wedding 1974" |
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| Halloween 1989 |
His terms of endearments for us including "retard" and "spaz" still ring in my mind and I don't want to forget :) What are your favorite "Grandpa Furse-isms" or memories of our Grandpa?
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
The Larson Mystery
Did you know we descend from Swedes? Maybe that's where our blonde hair and fair skin comes from:
One of my top priorities in family history is eliminating the dead-end of the Larson line - the Swedes. This is Grandpa Raleigh's mom's line and it's the most sparse in my tree. It goes:
It just stops cold. This is what we do know for certain about John L. Larson, our mystery man:
He was born in Sweden and was married to Caroline Ramstrom Larson. We have proof of their LDS sealing. This proof came from an Endowment House sealing record which was only accessible by me going to the Church History Library in SLC and after showing my temple recommend, getting to look at microfilm of very old temple records. Very fascinating stuff. This temple record is the ONLY place I've found a birth date and birth city/county for John (29 Aug 1833, Pester, Jutland, Sweden). Unfortunately, when I've searched the Swedish records for an individual with this birth date and place, nothing comes up.There's always the chance too that the temple recorder didn't write down some of those details right, especially as they came from an immigrant with an accent.
John Larson and Caroline Ramstrom got divorced in 1876, dropping John out of the family records.Want some 19th century drama? Their divorce court record reports that John stopped providing for his wife and children and Caroline had to take over. She also reports cruel treatment by him and requests custody of the children. The same month the divorce was filed, their youngest baby Samuel dies at two months old. Two years later John is listed as a witness in a warrant against Caroline and her sister for selling liquor illegally out of their home. Wow.
So to back up, John L. Larson and Caroline Ramstrom are both from Sweden, immigrated to America, sealed in an LDS ceremony in Utah, had kids (including our ancestor Oscar Nephi Larson), and divorced. That's about all I know for sure about him so far. In contrast, his ex-wife Caroline Ramstrom's story is laid out pretty nicely. She has quite a few records which lay out the rest of her life and helped me find her Swedish ancestors.
Want another twist to the story that may solve the puzzle? John Larson may have been a polygamist. There was a woman named Mary Laurena Larson or "Rena" for short. Her parents are listed in censuses as John L. Larson (wait, that sounds familiar...) and Caroline/Carolina Molander. Did Caroline Ramstrom's daughter, Rose, and Caroline Molander's daughter, Rena, share the same father? If they did and we can prove it, we will have a link to John L. Larson's lineage because Rena's father John L. is potentially more well-documented. Clear as mud?
Here is a table that lists five different John Larsons I've found that could be the same person. If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty, this will give you an overview. So many similarities between the Johns in their vital data, yet differences which complicate things.
Where to go from here to solve this puzzle? Here are some questions and clues to start with:
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| Note: These are not our ancestors although it would be cool if they were! Source |
One of my top priorities in family history is eliminating the dead-end of the Larson line - the Swedes. This is Grandpa Raleigh's mom's line and it's the most sparse in my tree. It goes:
Ken Raleigh Sr. -->
Leona May Larson -->
Oscar Nephi Larson -->
John L. Larson -->
??
It just stops cold. This is what we do know for certain about John L. Larson, our mystery man:
He was born in Sweden and was married to Caroline Ramstrom Larson. We have proof of their LDS sealing. This proof came from an Endowment House sealing record which was only accessible by me going to the Church History Library in SLC and after showing my temple recommend, getting to look at microfilm of very old temple records. Very fascinating stuff. This temple record is the ONLY place I've found a birth date and birth city/county for John (29 Aug 1833, Pester, Jutland, Sweden). Unfortunately, when I've searched the Swedish records for an individual with this birth date and place, nothing comes up.There's always the chance too that the temple recorder didn't write down some of those details right, especially as they came from an immigrant with an accent.
John Larson and Caroline Ramstrom got divorced in 1876, dropping John out of the family records.Want some 19th century drama? Their divorce court record reports that John stopped providing for his wife and children and Caroline had to take over. She also reports cruel treatment by him and requests custody of the children. The same month the divorce was filed, their youngest baby Samuel dies at two months old. Two years later John is listed as a witness in a warrant against Caroline and her sister for selling liquor illegally out of their home. Wow.
So to back up, John L. Larson and Caroline Ramstrom are both from Sweden, immigrated to America, sealed in an LDS ceremony in Utah, had kids (including our ancestor Oscar Nephi Larson), and divorced. That's about all I know for sure about him so far. In contrast, his ex-wife Caroline Ramstrom's story is laid out pretty nicely. She has quite a few records which lay out the rest of her life and helped me find her Swedish ancestors.
Want another twist to the story that may solve the puzzle? John Larson may have been a polygamist. There was a woman named Mary Laurena Larson or "Rena" for short. Her parents are listed in censuses as John L. Larson (wait, that sounds familiar...) and Caroline/Carolina Molander. Did Caroline Ramstrom's daughter, Rose, and Caroline Molander's daughter, Rena, share the same father? If they did and we can prove it, we will have a link to John L. Larson's lineage because Rena's father John L. is potentially more well-documented. Clear as mud?
Here is a table that lists five different John Larsons I've found that could be the same person. If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty, this will give you an overview. So many similarities between the Johns in their vital data, yet differences which complicate things.
Where to go from here to solve this puzzle? Here are some questions and clues to start with:
- Was John Larson was a polygamist? Was he married to two different wives: Carolina Molander and Carolina Ramstrom?
- John had assets that were probably subject to probate. A will and probate records may document family relationships.
- Caroline Ramstrom held property in her own name, likely transferred to her by John in either a divorce, or in anticipation of persecution (perhaps even prosecution) for polygamy, when he would not be allowed to support her. Land transfer records might contain information supporting a relationship.
- Rena predeceased Rose. Perhaps her obituary shows she was survived by a half-sister.
- Perhaps Rose's obituary shows she was predeceased by a half-sister.
- Other descendants of John Larson and Caroline Ramstrom or Caroline Molander could have more info.
- An obituary for John L. Larson could tell us a lot.
(Thanks to the volunteer consultants who helped me so much in research and ideas about next steps).
At the very least, we now know that family dysfunction goes up through the generations, all the way to our Mormon Swedish immigrant ancestors. If you're interested in this mystery and have more questions, please let me know! Their story is still unfolding and hopefully we can figure it out together!
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