Favorite Photo

The Hedin family

Back row: Bruce Foley, Esther Hedin Foley holding baby Esther Hedin, Helen Hedin Falk, Gustaf Falk, Frederick Nyberg Hedin, Andrew Hedin, Hazel Hedin Schwinof, Ollie Schwinof, Elsie Blank Hedin, Verner Hedin, Burton Falk

Front row: Ruth Foley, Norma Falk, Louisa Nyberg, Milton Foley, Adrienne Frazier

After some pondering I have chosen this photo of the extended Hedin family as (one of!) my favorite photos. I believe it first came into my possession from my mom’s Aunt Adrienne Frazier who had labelled everyone’s names on the back. What a gift to get me started on researching my mom’s side of the family. This photo really opened up lots of research avenues for me.

Why do I like this photo? First of all, it shows four generations of one family with the matriarch, Louisa Nyberg, seated in the middle. Louisa was born in 1823, her great-granddaughter Esther (the baby in her mother’s arms) was born in 1916. That’s almost 100 years of family!

I also like this photo because of the variety of clothes that the family members are wearing. From Louisa’s dark knitted shawl to the drop waist dresses of the young girls, you can see almost 100 years of fashion in this photo. The middle-aged women wear their dark skirts and white shirt waists, and Louisa’s daughter Fredericka (born in 1849) wears a dark dress more reminiscent of the late 1800s.

Another reason I like this photo is because there are so many personalities in it. Louisa the matriarch is in the middle, a tough woman from Sweden who came to live with her daughter late in life. She probably spoke little English. Her daughter Fredericka stands behind her next to her husband Andrew Hedin. What a mustache! Andrew and Fredericka Hedin are also from the old country (Sweden) but immigrated to Illinois where Andrew opened a shoemaker business. Doesn’t he look like a craftsman? Other personalities that I love in this photo are Bruce Foley on the left (with the straw chapeau) who was a mining engineer and lived with his family all over the country. His wife Esther stands next to him with their baby daughter also named Esther. Wife Esther was an artist but looks like a no-nonsense person. At the other end of the photo is Verner Hedin, standing tall and well dressed; he worked in the post office and has a proud bearing. His new bride Elsie stands beside him. My grandfather Burton Falk is in front of Verner and I just love the jaunty way he is wearing his cap. I could go on and on…

This photo intrigued me when I first got it because of the one person who was not in the picture: Andrew’s other son Conrad. My mom told me that he was the “black sheep” of the family and no one really talked about him. After some digging I found out his real story. He wasn’t a black sheep but there is a reason why no one ever spoke of him….but this is a topic for another post.

Finally, I like this photo because of the background. The house behind the family has sweet scalloped siding, shutters on the windows and delicate lace curtains. I don’t know whose house this is but it looks well kept up and inviting. Everyone in the photo looks happy and comfortable with each other. It’s a family I’m proud to belong to and I’m sure they’ll pop up again this year in my #52Ancestor posts!