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587 Words
Journaling:
Growing up I was always fascinated by the fact that my paternal grandmother, Olga, was born in Sweden. My paternal grandfather, Albert, was born in England. My maternal grandmother, Maude, was born in New York and my maternal grandfather, Bert was born in California. As a child and teenager I did not have the foresight to ask questions when I could have. My grandmother and grandfather, Maud and Bert, lived with us and I had many opportunities to ask them about their life growing up. I wish I would have taken advantage of that. My grandmother, Olga, passed away when my dad was five years old so I did not know her. My grandfather, Albert, was secretive about his birth. I know for a fact that he was born in Revesby England, but he chose to say he was born in Potosi, Missouri on my Dad's birth certificate.
When I got older I began to research my family history. By then it was too late to question those who came before me. For several years I didn't learn much more than I already knew. I did research at the family history library (no internet back then) pouring over microfilms of the census to see what I could find. I really wanted to know more about my grandmother Olga. I was so fascinated by her. I was able to make contact with a cousin who told me she was born in Angleholm. Now I had a place to search for her. Genealogy sites were showing up more and more on the internet so I was able to search more easily. I was thrilled when I found her on a passenger list on a boat from Copenhagen to New York in 1888. She was sixteen years old and traveling by herself. I cannot imagine myself doing that as a 16 year old! I am still trying to find out where she lived and what she did before she married my grandfather in 1901 in Colorado. I have been able to find out who her parents were through church records in Sweden that are on line.
My grandfather, Albert, has been harder to trace but I did find his birth in Revesby and found him in census records. He was also mentioned in his brother's orbituary . His brother was also born in Revesby. On one census he even said he was born in England but on another he claimed Missouri. Wish I could figure out why he said this. I don't think he ever lived in Missouri. It is still a mystery. My dad and my cousin both knew he was born in England.
My grandmother, Maude, was five years old when her family moved from New York to California. I wish I could ask her about that trip now. It must have seemed to take forever to a child of that age in 1893. She started school in New York. I know this because she did not have a birth certificate and had to prove her age when she was older. She had a letter from an old neighbor of her parents who remembered them and said when she was born. He wrote about her going to a school near the cemetery in Falconer New York. During my research I have found that her grandfather was on a gun boat during the Civil War.
My grandfather, Bert, was born in Los Angeles. I learned from a cousin that he is a small part German from the early 1700s.
So my research goes on - still learning new things about who I am.
