Tombstone Tuesday ~ Hilma Elizabeth (Carlsson) Taylor

This is the tombstone of my great-grandaunt Hilma Elizabeth (Carlsson) Taylor and her husband Charles Alvin Taylor.

Many thanks go to Alton and Loudonia, Find A Grave volunteers, who took this photo of Hilma and Charles' tombstone.

Hilma was born on June 1, 1888 in Eskilstuna, Sodermanland, Sweden to Johan Erik Carlsson and Karin Johnsson. According to both the 1910 and 1930 federal censuses, Hilma's year of immigration to the United States was 1900.

Hilma married Charles Alvin Taylor on November 16, 1907 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were the parents of two daughters:

1. Hazel Hilma Taylor (1909-1977)
2. Catherine Amy Taylor

I love this photo of Hilma with her sister Hilda Maria (Carlsson) Gillberg. Hilda was my great-grandmother. Hilda is on the left and Hilma is on the right in the photo.

Hilma passed away on June 14, 1976 in Suwannee County, Florida.

To view Hilma's Find A Grave Memorial Page, click HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Sepia Saturday 153 ~ Two Sisters and a Cactus

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

The Sepia Saturday photo prompt (at end of post) is a photo of Lala Williams and Elgie Crook.  In doing research on Google.com about Lala and Elgie, I found out the following:  When Elgie’s mother died, Elgie was sent to live with her uncle J. Shelby Williams, Lala’s father.  Elgie and Lala were first cousins, but Elgie grew up as a sister to Lala.

The adorable photo of Lala and Elgie, cousins who were more like sisters, provides me with the perfect opportunity to share this sweet photo of my Great-Grandmother, Hilda Carlsson Gillberg, and her sister Hilma Carlsson Taylor.




Two Sweet Sisters
Hilda Carlsson Gillberg (left) and Hilma Carlsson Taylor (right)

I love how Hilda and Hilma are holding hands.   Sweet, sisterly love on display!  Unfortunately, I don’t have any information about when or where this photo was taken, but it’s so precious. 

Hilda and Hilma were the daughters of Johan Erik Carlsson and Karin Johnsson.  Both Hilda and Hilma were born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States.

Hilda was married to my Great-Grandfather, Carl Albert Gillberg, and Hilma was married to Charles Alvin Taylor.

To see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written about this week, click HERE.



Thanks for reading!

Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2012

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.

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!

Jana


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

Thankful Thursday–FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and Names In Stone

I was so thrilled to find my 2nd great-grandmother's death certificate on FamilySearch.org recently! Her name is Karin Johnsson and she was born in Sweden on July 9, 1850. Karin is the grandmother of my Grandma Ingrid. I introduced you to Ingrid in my earlier posts Wedding Wednesday - Arthur Harry Iverson and Ingrid Anna Gilberg and Matrilineal Monday: Flour Sack Dresses - Ingrid Anna Gilberg. Karin’s parents' names are Johan Larsson and Johanna Christina Lycka. Karin married Johan Erik Carlsson. She immigrated to the United States sometime before 1910.

In the 1910 Federal Census she is listed as "Carrie," not Karin and she was living with her daughter Hilda Gillberg's family in Salt Lake City, Utah.[1] The census also lists Karin's year of immigration as 1891. That is a different year than what was recorded in my Grandmother Ingrid's history. I'll have to do some research to resolve this. I also find it interesting to see that according to this census, Karin (Carrie) could speak English, while the rest of the family could not, and instead spoke Swedish.
 


1910 Federal Census

I had been looking at how I could order Karin's death certificate online. Little did I know that it was waiting for me here on FamilySearch.org! It turned out the death date I had was incorrect. I was off by a year, and I had the wrong month. It was great to see the correct date on the death certificate so I could update my records. The informant on Karin's death certificate is Mrs. Hilda Gillberg, who is Karin's daughter. I was able to find Hilda and her family in the 1940 Census. I also see that Karin's father is listed as Larson Grip. Not sure what that means. Actually I guess it means more research. J

I’m also thankful for Ancestry.com because I was able to find cemetery records for Karin so now I can go visit her gravesite.

Speaking of Karin's gravesite, I discovered a really awesome website called Names In Stone. Maybe I'm a latecomer in regards to knowing about this website, but just in case there is anyone out there who doesn't know about it, I wanted to share. I googled Salt Lake City Cemetery, which is where Karin is buried and found this awesome website Names In Stone. I was able to pinpoint Karin's exact plot at the cemetery using their website's search engine. How great is that? Here's a link to Karin's actual plot map so you can see what this page on the website looks like: Carrie Carlson. And if you click on the Cemetery Info tab at the top you see a map of the cemetery and the location of your ancestor's grave. This should definitely be helpful when I visit Karin's grave sometime in the future.

More about Karin Johnsson in an upcoming post....

Thanks for reading!


Copyright © Jana Last 2012

[1] Year: 1910; Census Place: Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake, Utah; Roll: T624_1605; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0096; Image: 667; FHL microfilm: 1375618. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.