Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy Seaver chose another fun activity for geneabloggers. Finally my timing is right on (!) and I can play along. Here are Randy's questions/my answers:

1.) How old is your great-grandfather now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

The great-grandfather I chose is Gustave Robert Mangels who would be (had he lived) 122 years old next month. 122 divided by 4 = 30.5. Rounding up, my roulette number is 31 which corresponds with my second great-grandmother Maria Fredrika Peterssdotter:

Randy writes "Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number." Here goes:

1.) Maria Fredrika Peterssdotter was born in Tånnö, Jonkopings, Sweden on the 22nd of November 1864. She was Peter Johan Johanisson's and Johanna Kristina Andreassdotter's first child. (Click here for information about patronymic names.) 

2.) Maria left Sweden for North America in 1880. This is a copy of the Tånnö parish record showing her date of departure. Maria is on line 4. Her name is crossed out because she no longer resides in the parish. The date she left is on the far right. Two other family members' names are also crossed out. Their dates of death appear in the furthest right column on the left page:

2.) Mary Fredrika settled in the midwest, and in 1883 she married a Norwegian immigrant named Peter Thompson. Their four children were born in Chicago.

3.) In her later years, Mary lived with her daughter Julia (Thompson) Chinell and Julia's son. She died in Chicago on the 23rd of July 1941.
 

Looking at Maria's Swedish records reminded me that her sisters Emma Justina and Elise also immigrated to the US in 1883 and 1887 respectively. It's been awhile since I looked for them. Thanks for the reminder Randy - this will be fun for more than just a Saturday night!

#1 Source: Genline, http://www.genline.com/ GID 100006.33.5600 Jönköping _scb Jönköping  :143 Births 1864-1864 0/0.
#2 Source: ArkivDigital, Tånnö-AI-2-1874-1880-Bild-144-sid-136.

Surname Saturday ~ Peterson, Thompson, Tolf

Four generations of women posed for this picture on a hot summer day in 1934. 

My mother is the toddler in front. Her mother, Harriet Kathlyn Tolf is on the left in back. My grandmother was born in Chicago in 1909.

Harriet's mother Julia Christine Thompson (back row right) was also born in Chicago. At age 19, Julia married Harry Wilhelm Tolf in St. Joseph Michigan. They had three children before they divorced.

Julia's mother (seated) was Maria Frederika Peterson. Maria immigrated from Tånnö Sweden at age 16. When she reached America in August of 1880, she became known as Mary. She married a Norwegian immigrant named Peter Thompson in Chicago in January 1883. Shortly before this picture was taken, Peter went to Norway to help his father. The family story is that he was delayed at Ellis Island on the return trip and died there of pneumonia.

The photo was taken in my grandmother's mother-in-law's (Mrs. Flood) yard.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mary F Thompson

Mary F. Thompson was born Maria Fredrika Petersdotter November 22, 1864 in Tånnö, Jonkopings, Sweden.

At sixteen, Mary traveled alone to America. According to family stories, she worked as a domestic on Nob Hill in San Francisco for a time. Somehow Mary ended up in Chicago where she married Norwegian-born Peter Thompson in January of 1883.

Mary and and her husband had two sons and two daughters. At the height of the Great Depression, Peter traveled to Norway to help during a family emergency. He contracted pnemonia on the return trip and died before reaching Chicago.

After losing her husband, Mary was swindled out of money she deposited on an apartment building. She moved to Wisconsin and farmed with her son for a few years until he had an accident that prevented him from farming successfully. Mary returned to Illinois and lived her last years with a grandson and his wife in suburban Chicago.