The last of the Johnson family information

I was going to write about Erik and Emma last night but discovered that the blog for Erik was getting a tad too long to add Emma's information.  I'll write about Emma and throw in some additional information at the end.

Emma Andersdotter was born 30 Mar 1852 at Qvilla (now Kvilla), Torsås Parish, Kalmar County Sweden, the 2nd of 7 children born to Anders Börjesson (1815-1900) and Ingrid Petersdotter (1827-1867)

Line #50 - Emma Andersdotter

Emma's siblings included:

Peter Andersson 1849-1857
Anna Maria Andersdotter 1855-1934
Helena Andersdotter 1858-1880
Mathilda Andersdotter 1860-1943
Lydia Maria Andersdotter 1863-1897
Johanna Andersdotter died at birth 17 Oct 1865

I wrote about my connections found in Sweden and America a couple of years ago so I have already written some about Emma.  In addition to her niece Hildegard's son that came to America I have now found that her sister Lydia Maria had a daughter Alma Lovisa that also came to America, through Chicago and settled in Wisconsin.  Alma has several grandchildren still living here in America.



I found the ship log for Emma, Hilda and Freda's arrival in New York on either 4 Aug or 11 Aug 1884.  They arrived on the ship "The City of Chester".

Emma and family are at the bottom of the 2nd page - the 1st image is the cover page showing the columns.

The most I can write about Emma that didn't get covered in Erik's blog is that it's said she hated living in America.  Having lost 3 daughters between 1904-1909 couldn't have helped.  Her death occurred 22 May 1911 at Bridgeton, Newaygo County MI.  The cause of death is listed as "consumption", which for years I thought meant she was an alcoholic.  Upon getting better at researching I found that it's an old term for tuberculosis.  I'm not sure how long she was ill or why she wasn't in a sanitarium.

Note how absolutely ridiculously wrong the names of her parents are on this certificate.  The informant appears to have been her husband Erik, who's final "maltreatment" of his father-in-law was to horribly butcher his name.

A good lesson in genealogy is that you have to remember that the information on a death certificate is only as good as the person supplying it, who is obviously not the person on the certificate (that would know the information).  Erik even got her date of birth wrong!

I only have one photo of Emma, that came from my great-grandmother's photo album.  As with the photo of her mother Freda, she identified Emma and it was confirmed by Johnson cousins that have the same photo.  She certainly doesn't look happy to be having her photograph taken and looks (in my opinion) to be older than the age she had to be, since she was only 59 when she passed away.

Emma was laid to rest with her 3 daughters, and eventually Erik at Bridgeton Township Cemetery.  Erik and Emma purchased a monument for their graves and their daughters Anna and Freda were carved into it but that's it.  I worked with Judy and Sheryl, granddaughters of Frank and Alta and we got Erik, Emma and their daughter Jennifer added to the stone in Oct 2016, 105 years after Emma's death.  We'll never know the reason why this wasn't done, especially given that their other children are all buried nearby.  Even Erik's 2nd wife needed the death year added.

  
We had Jennie added to the stone as well, but other than her appearing in the census records, her marriage record and her death certificate we know nothing about her.  She was a mystery for a long time until I stumbled on her death certificate.  I found her marriage to Fred Price (1890-1923) 28 Oct 1908 at Ravenna, Muskegon Co MI and she died 20 Feb 1909 at Ravenna.  Fred remarried 31 Dec 1909 and had 2 sons before his early death.

Anna is the other daughter that we don't know anything about (or have a photo of) except that with Anna, we think we know what caused her untimely demise.  Family lore is that one of her brothers wanted to cut a deck of cards in half with an ax and had Anna hold onto them.  He either missed or the ax bounced but either way she got cut and got an infection that caused her death.

Her death certificate cause of death isn't easy to read but you can read "septicemia at first from abscess in finger not cared for soon enough".  That leads me to believe the story is probably true.




The other 4 children of Erik and Emma died well into adulthood and had families of their own.

Hilda Johnson McKenzie

Hilda was the eldest child and married James McKenzie.  My grandma doesn't recall ever meeting her but tells of how her parents used to tell her they were going to send her to live with aunt Hilda in Wisconsin if she didn't stop misbehaving.  Hilda had a son named Milon in 1901.  My grandma had a brother named Milon as well.  The name is so uncommon that I can't help but think this was done on purpose.

Arnold and Bessie Drake Johnson family

I met with a grandson of Arnold and Bessie quite a few years ago and he shared this picture with me.  I was glad to meet up with him as Arnold and Bessie lived in the Muskegon area most of their lives and therefore the other Johnson families don't seem to know much about them.  My grandma knew her aunt Emily and knew of her aunt Hilda and uncle Frank but had never heard of Arnold and Bessie.

Frank and Alta Johnson 1/3/1967

Frank and Alta Johson 1/3/1917

 Frank and Alta stayed in contact with my great-grandmother and I'm in contact with 2 of their granddaughters.  These photos were courtesy of their granddaughter Sheryl and their granddaughter Judy has remained in contact with my grandmother, who is tickled every time she receives a letter from her.  Getting to know them has been one of the rewarding experiences from doing genealogy.  I enjoy visits with them and like that generations removed that we can stay in touch.

Emily Johnson with niece Doris Colson

Emily visiting Nick and Doris Denhof in Florida

Emily and Vernon Fellows wedding

Emily and Vernon Fellows undated

Emily Johnson Fellows with 2nd husband Floyd Lambson

Emily is the one of my great-grandmother's biological siblings that must have stayed in contact the most.  My grandma remembers that her parents would visit Frank and Alta but she specifically remembers visiting with aunt Emily and uncle Vernon.  Emily ran a grocery store in Bridgeton that my grandma lived near so she remembers going to the store.  Emily even traveled to FL to visit with Nick and Doris.  Vernon and Emily had 4 children, 3 that were stillborn or died the day of birth and one that lived 2 days.  She and Vernon fostered several children and treated them as their own.  Because of this my grandma always wondered why on Earth aunt Emily allowed her mother to be given to the neighbors and didn't just take her in.  I pointed out to my grandma that Emily was only 6 when her sister Freda died.  I have no doubt she would have taken her in had she been old enough.

Emily has 2 obituaries that I've found, one stating she died at Grant Community Hospital and one that says she died at the McKinley Funeral Home (Grant, Newaygo Co MI) while visiting her neighbor Josephine Halverson, who was lying in state.  I'm sure it happens but this is the first time I've heard of someone dying while at a funeral visitation.

The Johnson family could have been a complete mystery to me if not for the help of Frank and Alta's granddaughters.  I found my first email thread with Sheryl from November of 2001.  She soon after got me in touch with Judy and they filled in so many blanks.  My grandma is at an age that she wouldn't have remembered much without the cues that they were able to provide.  I can't thank them enough!