Tombstone Tuesday–A Sad Little Grave Marker for Karen Carlsson

My awesome readers may have noticed that I’ve been kind of quiet here on my blog lately.  Well, there’s a fun reason for that.  My family and I just got home this last Saturday from a fun-filled week’s vacation in Utah.  We had a great time visiting with both immediate and extended family. 

Of course I made sure to include some family history in our trip.  We were able to visit two cemeteries and we got together with a 3rd cousin of mine who has in her possession the photo albums of my maternal 2nd great-grandparents (more about these amazing photo albums in a future post).

One of the cemeteries we visited was the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Salt Lake City Cemetery
Me with three of my sons in the background

Karen Johnsson Carlsson, my paternal 2nd great-grandmother, is buried there.  She was born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States sometime before 1910.  (The 1910 census states her year of immigration as 1891, but that conflicts with my grandmother’s vocal history.  I’d like to resolve this conflict in the near future.)



Karen Johnsson Carlsson

With anticipation we searched for Karen’s grave marker.  I have to say I was somewhat saddened when we finally found it.





Yes, I’m glad that Karen at least has a gravestone.  I just wish Karen’s grave marker was more than just a name on a slab of stone.  I think she deserves to be honored more than that.  So, we are looking into purchasing a more fitting grave marker for her.

This year, 2012, is the centennial anniversary of Karen’s death.  She was born in Gillberga, Sodermanland, Sweden on July 9, 1850.  She passed away on January 29, 1912 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I imagine the reason her grave marker isn’t more elaborate is because Karen’s daughter Hilda (my great-grandmother) and her family were probably still struggling immigrants at the time of Karen’s death.  I assume they couldn’t afford a more fitting gravestone for Karen.  Hilda and her family immigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1909 and 1910, only two to three years before Karen’s death.

The 1910 Census shows that Karen, who went by Carrie at this time, was living with Hilda and her family.

Click to Enlarge

According to this census, Hilda and her husband Carl only spoke Swedish at that time.  Carrie was able to speak English, as it appears she had been living in the United States longer than her daughter’s family.

I’m so glad we were able to visit Karen’s grave, even though I was saddened to find her grave marker to be of a very humble nature.  I’m also glad we are planning on giving Karen a more fitting gravestone some day in the future.


Thanks for reading!

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

I’m Back!!

My awesome regular readers may have noticed that my blog was a bit quiet last week.  I didn’t post my weekly Fab Finds List or my regular Sepia Saturday post, let alone any other posts during the week.

The reason?  My family and I were on a week-long vacation in Utah.  We had a lovely time visiting with our immediate and extended family, and with a 3rd cousin of mine.

We not only enjoyed each other’s company, but we also enjoyed

the magnificent beauty of Utah,

Bridal Veil Falls at Provo Canyon Utah

View from Bridal Veil Falls at Provo Canyon Utah

shopping at the new City Creek Center Mall in Salt Lake City

City Creek Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

City Creek Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

visiting Park City’s Historic Main Street

Historic Main Street, Park City, Utah

Family Tree Center on Historic Main Street, Park City, Utah

visiting the Utah Olympic Park at Park City (so cool!).  Do you see the skier about to go into the water?

Amazing Training Facility at Utah Olympic Park - Park City, Utah

Training Facility at Utah Olympic Park - Park City, Utah

eating delicious food at various restaurants including Cafe Zupas, Kneaders Bakery and Café, Maxwell's East Coast Eatery, Cafe Rio Mexican Grill, Nick's Greek Café, The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Café, and Chunga’s Mexican Food in Salt Lake City.  Oh, and how could I forget the BYU Creamery?  YUM!

We also took a tour of the beautiful LDS Temple Square Conference Center.  We have done this tour before on past visits to Utah, but it was still fun to take the tour again.

Conference Center at Temple Square - Salt Lake City, Utah

View of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square
from Conference Center Roof at Salt Lake City, Utah

And of course, the genealogist in me made sure we spent some time visiting a couple cemeteries.  More on those visits in future posts.

All in all, it was a very fun vacation with family, food, fun and laughter as we spent time together.

Now it’s time to get back into the regular swing of things.

Thanks for reading!

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Sepia Saturday 135–A Family Portrait Before They Leave

 
Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.



Today’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a photo of the “Health Fairy” with a group of children at Ithaca High School in 1920.

I’m going to be way off-theme for today’s post…unless we change the “Health Fairy” into the “Tooth Fairy.”  Hmm…yes…I think I will do just that.  Voila!  The “Health Fairy” is now the “Tooth Fairy.”

So, in keeping with my new “Tooth Fairy” theme, I will share a photo of my Dentist Grandpa, Debs Webster and his family before they left Brazil to immigrate to the United States.  If you’ve been following their story, then you’ll remember that in the last installment, they just arrived in New York City in July of 1952.

This family portrait was taken in Sao Paulo, Brazil on June 10, 1952.  Included in the photo are Debs and my step-grandmother Willis, whom I introduced to you in a previous post, my mother, and my two uncles.
 

I promise to continue with their story as they travel across the United States by car on their way to their final destination of Southern California.

Please click here to see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written about this week.

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for July 20, 2012

My Fabulous Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Own Newspaper Article by Genea-Musings
2. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: guest post by Wendy Mathias by Wrote by Rote
3. Forgotten Cemetery Found, and I've Been Vindicated! by Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
4. Who can register for FamilySearch Family Tree? A definitive answer? by Genealogy’s Star
5. you might be a genieholic if: by Hopelessly Addicted to Genealogy
6. Build Better Blog SEO with Rich Snippets by Matt Beswick at ProBlogger
7. The Diary, 3-7 Jan, 1895 by Ancestral Breezes
8. FamilySearch Adds 76 Million New, Free Historic Records for Brazil, China, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and Spain by FamilySearch Blog
9. Out of the loop...for a good cause by Leaves for Trees
10. Follow-up on the Research Plan webinar by Marian’s Roots & Rambles
11. Garage Sale Linens: Treasure Chest Thursday by Journey to the Past
12. Their Magnificent Old Home by Kinexxions
13. Treasure Chest Thursday — The Gillespie Family Bible by Finding Forgotten Stories
14. Marathon Scanning Project by Not Your Mother’s Genealogy
15. Templates from the Citing Your Sources presentation on facebook by Ancestry.com Sticky Notes

New Blog Discoveries

• Sifting Through The Past
• Denise's Genealogy Journey
• From A to Zophar
• Ancestry Search
• Pearls Of Great Families
• Wrote By Rote
• One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
• Hopelessly Addicted to Genealogy
• Garrison Family Roots

Those Place Thursday - Speaking of Camping….

For those of you who follow my Fab Finds posts, you will know that my family and I went camping last week.  We spent several days at Shaver Lake enjoying time with our immediate and extended family.


We had fun kayaking…




swimming and jumping off the “jumping rock”…





and cooking in our Dutch Oven.




And for the first time in the 10 years we’ve camped at Shaver Lake, we saw cows meandering out of the forest to walk through the meadow.



So, what does all this have to do with my ancestors or genealogy?

Well, it turns out my grandpa and grandma, Arthur and Ingrid Iverson, spent time camping too.

Here’s what Grandma Ingrid said about her camping experiences:

“I know for every vacation it seemed like we would go to Yosemite.  It was just a beautiful place.  To get away and to be alone, but I of course, was frightened of the bears because it was always a little frightening to go where the wild animals were.  Where they were able to roam at ease.  And they would come around your tent and sniff and the fearful thought of the children in the tent, hoping they wouldn’t crash in.”  (Vocal History of Ingrid Gilberg Iverson Crawford)

Yikes!  I would not want to go camping where bears were sniffing at the tent!  No thank you!  I'll take cows in the meadow over bears around my tent any day!

Here are some photos of my brave grandparents from a few of their camping trips.

I love this picture of Arthur at home in his camping gear.

Arthur at Home in his Camping Gear
circa 1934

Ingrid in Front of Yosemite Falls
1933

Ingrid and Arthur at Yosemite

Ingrid at Yosemite

Ingrid at Yosemite

I think I see a box of Kellogg’s cereal sitting on the table behind Ingrid.  Do you see it?

Ingrid at Yosemite

Don’t you just love that old car in this photo?

Ingrid at her Campsite

This photo of Arthur is fun too.

Arthur Needs a Shave After Camping

What about you?  Do you enjoy camping?  Do you have a favorite place to go camping?  Share your camping stories in the comments below or on your own blog.  And if you’d like to, you can include a link to your blog post in the comments section below.

If you don't have any camping stories, I'd still love to hear your comments.  Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Illuminating Blogger Award

Susan at Family History Fun has nominated my blog for the Illuminating Blogger Award, which is presented by Food Stories.

Thank you Susan for this amazing honor!  I am very grateful for your kindness in considering my blog for this award.

The rules for the award are (quoted from the Food Stories blog):

If you are nominated then you have been awarded the Illuminating Blogger Award. Just follow the steps below:

1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).
2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.
3. The Nominee should include a courtesy link back to the official award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) in their blog post.
4. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.
5. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Many people indicate that they wish they could nominate more so please feel free to nominate all your favorites.
6. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).

Well, per rule 5, I’m supposed to share one random thing about myself.  Actually, I’ll share two random things.

First random thing:  While attending BYU when I was a young single adult, I tried out for the Ballroom Dance Team.  Did I make the team?  Nope.  I did make the first cut though.  Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

Second random thing:  So the other random thing about myself isn’t that extraordinary.  In my spare time I enjoy reading.  Who are some of my favorite authors?  The photo I’ve included will give you a hint.  I took this photo while taking a photography class at our local community college back in 2008.



Yes, you’ve guessed it, some of my favorite authors are Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis.  I also adore books by Lucy Maude Montgomery.

 Here are the five blogs I’d like to nominate for the Illuminating Blogger Award:

1. Rosehaven Cottage by Cindy Garber Iverson
2. Ancestral Breezes by Jen Baldwin 
3. Ancestors Live Here by Leslie Ann
4. Climbing My Family Tree by  Jennifer
5. Abbie and Eveline by Kathy

There are so many other blogs I enjoy...I wish I could just nominate all my genealogy blogger friends, but that list would be way too long.

Thanks again Susan for nominating my blog.  I appreciate your kindness!

Sepia Saturday 134–Sarah Webster Holding Her Sweet Little Baby

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.
 

Sarah Vasques Madeira Webster Holding Her Daughter (My Mom)

Today’s Sepia Saturday theme suggests babies.  What a fun theme! 

Recently my mom let me borrow one of her old photo albums and in it was this amazing photograph of her as a baby with her mother, Sarah Vasques Madeira Webster.  This photo, along with others in this album, are new discoveries to me since I don’t remember ever seeing them before.  The above photograph of Sarah and my mom was taken in Brazil in 1939.

I’ve written about Sarah before in a previous Sepia Saturday post here and in a post here regarding the circumstances of her untimely death.  My mom was only four years old at the time of Sarah’s death.  Seeing the two of them together like this is very special indeed!

To read what other Sepia Saturday participants have written about this week, just click  here.


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for July 13, 2012

This week was a short week for me in terms of Genealogy Blogging.  I just got back from a camping trip with my family, so I didn’t read any genealogy blogs from Wednesday through Friday.  My fab finds for this week only include posts through Tuesday, July 10.  With that in mind….

My Fabulous Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. Genealogist's Signature Bag by Crafty Family Tree
2. To Clean or Not to Clean... by The Adventures of Andrea and Alisha ~ Genealogy Blog
3. Norway’s Oldest Shoe – 1400 BC by ThorNews
4. Small but sweet celebrations and milestones... ripe plums and a blogiversary by Rosehaven Cottage
5. Involve Your Extended Family in Family History by FamilySearch
6. Sorting Saturday: Starting a Narrative Lineage and Tuesday’s Tip — Ask Ancestry Anne’s Top 20 Search Tips by Finding Forgotten Stories
7. How do you end a genealogy blog post or story by Blogging Genealogy
8. 6 Ways for Writers to Overcome Perfectionist Tendencies and It’s Time to Get Intentional About Blogging by Jeff Goins
9. About that Ancestry.com Move to Ireland . . . by GeneaBloggers
10. Tombstone Tuesday by sassygenealogist
11. Those Places Thursday: A Kaleidoscope Perspective by Wisteria
12. At What Cost, Gaining an Education in Genealogy by Gopher Genealogy
13. Tombstone Tuesday: Power of the Unexpected by A Patient Genealogist

New Blog Discoveries

• Gail Grunst Genealogy
• Tall Tales of a Family
• Nuts from the Family Tree
• A Hundred Years Ago
• On Granny's Trail
• A Patient Genealogist

Sepia Saturday 133–July 7, 2012: The Bird Park, Santa Catalina Island, California - Vintage Postcards

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.
 


Once again I perused my Grandfather Debs Webster’s collection of vintage postcards for today’s Sepia Saturday post.  The above photo suggests zoos or animal sanctuaries.

I understand it is not necessary to follow the proposed theme, but when I found these two beautiful postcards of The Bird Park at Santa Catalina Island, California, I knew they were a perfect fit for today's theme.

Santa Catalina Island, often referred to as Catalina Island, or simply Catalina, is about 22 miles off the coast of Southern California.  The Catalina Chamber of Commerce has an official website.  If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link.

According to another website, The Bird Park was established in 1929 and covered eight acres of land.  It had over 500 cages and housed over 8,000 rare and exotic birds.

The Bird Park was a very popular attraction on Catalina Island for over thirty-five years.  During World War 2, the Park was scaled back and never regained it’s prewar vitality.  It closed in 1966.

(To enlarge the postcards, just click on them.)














To view other Sepia Saturday participant's posts, click here.
 
Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Follow Friday–Fab Finds for July 6, 2012

My Fabulous Finds for this week are (in no particular order) -

1. FamilySearch Family Tree is not just for Members of the LDS Church by Genealogy’s Star
2. A carte de visite from Harry and Minnie Murray – Sepia Saturday 132 by Images Past
3. Tips for Doing Double-Duty Genealogy and How Do Y'all Manage to go to Conferences All the Time?! and Captivated by Technology by Marian’s Roots and Rambles
4. Monday Mailbox: Fantastic Webinar by The Ancestry Insider
5. Tuesday’s Tip: What To Do When You Start Researching A New Place by finding forgotten stories
6. Eliminating the Costs of Your Next Genealogy Conference by the Armchair Genealogist
7. Thankful Thursday — Good Books by Branch and Leaf…a family history blog
8. Book of Names: Remembering Our Irish Women by The Irish in America
9. Websites for Researching Revolutionary War Genealogy by Genealogy Insider
10. I is for Inspiration, Identity, Impasse, Imagination - and much more by Family History Fun
11. Thriller Thursday - My First Photo Reunion Success Story! by Forgotten Faces and Long Ago Places
12. Fish, Anyone? A Family Tapestry
13. FamilySearch Indexers Leave a Legacy in a Record Setting Event by FamilySearch Blog
14. A Baby Boy! by Family Stories
15. Treasure Chest Thursday - Treasures of Truth by Ancestors Live Here

New Blog Discoveries

• The Irish in America
• The Hunt for John Gannan

Treasure Chest Thursday–Goodbye Trinidad, Hello New York City - My Webster Family: Coming Full Circle - From The U.S.A. to Brazil and Back Again - Part 6

This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.

Today’s post finds Debs Webster and his family leaving Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and sailing toward their final destination of The United States of America.  They still have 1,942 miles to go on the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

As the photo below shows, the crew of the S.S. Brazil did a fantastic job keeping the kids entertained.

For more photos of the kids at play, see my previous post Children's Games on Board the S.S. Brazil.




Welcome to America!

Imagine the excitement Debs and his family felt as they finally approached the shores of the United States.  I love that my Grandpa Debs took this photo of The Statue of Liberty while on board the S.S. Brazil.



The Statue of Liberty – July 1952
Click to Enlarge

Hello New York City!

Debs and his family arrived in New York City on July 22, 1952 and stayed there until the end of the month.

They had just left winter in Brazil and arrived during summer here in America.
Following their arrival in New York City, Debs and his family stayed at the Hotel Greystone.

My mom recalls that they stayed on one of the upper floors of the hotel and that there was no air conditioning.  She said it was so hot!

Originally built as a stately hotel in 1923, the Hotel Greystone is now an apartment building.  Here is their current website - Hotel Greystone.







This vintage postcard of the William Sloane House YMCA sits next to the Hotel Greystone postcard in my Grandfather Debs’ photo album.  I asked my mom if they stayed there too, but she said no.  She thinks my Grandfather bought the postcard because he and his dad, The Traveling Dentist, may have stayed there on one of their trips to the U.S.






 
Well, my Webster family has finally arrived in The United States of America, so that is the end of this series of posts.

But it’s not the end of their adventures.  They still have a trip across the United States to make to reach their final destination in Southern California.

So stay tuned for more stories, photos and vintage postcards from across the United States.

Thanks for reading!


 
Copyright © Jana Last 2012