Wait, is that even possible? I guess it's all a matter of what you consider "too long". But I have discovered that spending too much time on Ancestry in one sitting can get just a bit frustrating. I may be able to speak for most people of Scandinavian descent when I say this: "Everybody in …
Continue reading You’ve Been on “Ancestry” Too Long When . . .
There was a time when the students at Augustana College, in Rock Island, Illinois, were living the typical 1917 college life. As a seminary student, my grandfather, Emil Johnson, was highly involved in the college experience. In this photo of the Augustana football team, Emil is in the front row, second from right. Sports and …
Christmas on the Western Front If you've read "(Not) Home for Christmas, Part 1", you've seen this photo, and you also know how Emil and the Augustana bandsmen had spent Christmas of 1917. Christmas, 1918 found Emil "billeted" with the Bougnot family in Doulaincourt, Hte Marne, with Theo Lenz as a roommate. The Armistice had …
Grandpa's Book, Part 2 You may remember that at the end of "The Forgotten Bandsmen", I said there were interesting stories about quite a few members of the Augustana Band/123rd Field Artillery. Some of the stories are kind of humorous, like the one about draftee Frank Vasco, who refused to be told when to use …
Ludington Daily News The postcard on the left shows the Ludington Daily News building in the early 1900s. My grandfather, Emil, (the one typing) worked there for several years starting in 1913. There was also the Record Appeal, a weekly publication that would condense the main stories from the Daily News, and add other news …
No, I sincerely doubt if that's him. Frank is first mentioned on this blog by Foster in "Why You Probably Shouldn't Try to Eat a Broom". I guess you know I haven't given up on finding Frank. I won't go so far as to say it's become an obsession with me, but I've spent hours …
Learning Swedish from "Google Translate" This is my great grandfather, Nels Johnson, in his tailor shop in Ludington, Michigan. I'm not sure of the date, or of the exact location, because he had a few different shops in Ludington over the years. If you remember, he's the one who made the wool quilt that Foster …
One of my great uncles was named Kermit. Whenever I mention this fact to people outside the family, they always question me: "Kermit? Really?" Today, people immediately associate the name with Kermit the Frog. But in 1916, well before the Muppets were ever thought of, little Kermit Johnson had a feeling his name would become …
You might remember... That ever since I was little, I have helped Mom paint. The first thing she painted after I came to live with her was the "Talavera Kitchen". That was when I discovered my natural artistic talent. It was also when I discovered the step stool, which enabled me to get into the …
Okay, you've seen this photo before... It seems almost universal; we just don't think we will ever forget the people in our family photos. And most likely, we ourselves won't. But what about our descendants, when those of us who knew the subjects of the photos are no longer around? The man in the red …