Long Line (#52Ancestors, Week 3)

This week’s prompt took some thought. I don’t have an extensive family line that I have researched, there’s no occupation that keeps cropping up in the family, and we don’t even have anyone named Long.

However, I do have a characteristic that has shown itself consistently in my family for at least five generations back. So I’m choosing to focus on a long line of believers in the Christian faith that has become evident to me as I have researched my family.

Admittedly, it’s hard to judge anyone’s heart, especially the heart of an ancestor from long ago, but I do see that church was a “given,” a way of life, and the fact that faith continued to be important from one generation to the next tells me how sincere their faith was. In earlier generations I find obituaries that testify to the strength of faith in my ancestors’ lives, and in the later generations I can attest from personal knowledge that my family were strong believers.

My parents, Stan and Sarah Peterson, a Lutheran minister and his wife, brought me up in the Christian faith. Their belief and relationship with the Lord was a model for me as I grew. I have had the privilege of watching my parents live their lives, good and bad, knowing the Lord and having faith in His love and provision for them.

Burton and Verna Graf Falk

I knew three out of my four grandparents and can say from personal knowledge that they all believed in Jesus Christ.  My mom’s parents were Burton and Verna Graf Falk. I knew my maternal grandmother, Grandma Falk (Verna Graf Falk), pretty well. Verna grew up in a strict Seventh Day Adventist household but went to the Lutheran church when she married Burt. I know that she often attended Bible studies and I remember her reading the Bible from beginning to end every year; she would put a dot by each chapter after she read it. Grandma was also one who lived out her faith by volunteering (I remember her making “cancer pads”) and serving through church activities.

I don’t know much about Burton’s faith, he died when I was about four. I know he was baptized in the Lutheran church and that he attended church regularly with my mom and grandma.

Adrienne Falk Frazier

I also knew Burton’s sister, my mom’s Aunt Adrienne Falk, who was raised in the same Lutheran household as Burt but embraced a more evangelical faith in her adulthood. She always shared the gospel with us when we visited, and although her forthright talk sometimes made this quiet Lutheran uncomfortable, there was no doubt about where she stood and the faith that we shared, even if we lived it out differently.

Burton and Adrienne's parents were Eric Gustaf Falk and Helen Hedin Falk. Their obituaries list their membership at Grace Lutheran Church in Aurora, Illinois, the same church in which her granddaughter (my mom) was married. So not only was the faith passed down, but membership in the same church was shared as well.

Martha Bonin Graf and John Graf

Of Verna’s parents, her mom Martha Bonin Graf was the believer. Martha was born in northern Germany in 1875 and she died in 1958. Her obituary reads: “Forty-nine years ago she was baptized [at age 34] and joined the Seventh-day Adventist church in Elgin and remained true to her faith until the time of her death.” I don’t think that her husband John Graf went to church either as a young man once he immigrated to America or after he and Martha were married.

Edna Johnson Peterson and Harry Peterson,
as I knew them

My dad grew up in Princeton, Illinois where the First Lutheran Church (formerly the Swedish Lutheran Church) was a centerpiece of the family’s life. My dad’s father, Harry Peterson, didn’t or wouldn’t talk much about his faith but he attended church regularly. He served on the church council and was a deacon, usher, and served in many other ways at the Princeton First Lutheran Church. Harry’s wife Edna, Dad’s mom, sang in the church choir and was the choir director at one time. When I knew her later in life she attended Bible studies and I even have one or two of her reference books with some of her notes in it. I also remember that she would often shed tears when she prayed; when I was young I didn’t understand this but now I interpret those tears as an emotional response to her Lord.

Herman Peterson

Celia Anderson Peterson

Harry’s dad Herman Peterson was a member of First Lutheran Church in Princeton and served on the church council for many years. His wife Cecilia maintained membership at First Lutheran church in Princeton with her husband and was a charter member of the missionary society of that church. She raised nine children who also attended church and had a strong Christian faith. Celia’s mother Inga Anderson was a member of Zion Lutheran church in Kewanee, and she was also a member of the Ladies’ Aid and Missionary Societies of the church.

My dad’s maternal grandparents also attended First Lutheran Church in Princeton, Illinois. Edna’s father Theodore Johnson was a life member of the First Lutheran Church of Princeton (according to his obituary) and at the time of his death was the financial secretary of the church. His wife, Anna Lindgren Johnson, was confirmed in the New Bedford Illinois Lutheran church and held membership there and at the Princeton Lutheran Church when her family moved there. According to her obituary, Anna was a member of Ladies Aid and Missionary Societies, a member of choir and a Sunday School teacher. Her obituary testifies to the strength of her faith: “Early in her life she accepted Christ as her Savior and has lived a consistent Christian life.”

Swan Lindgren

Anna’s father (Edna’s grandfather) Swan Lindgren was also a member of First Lutheran Church in New Bedford, served as deacon for 27 years, also taught adult Bible class. His obituary also gives testimony to his character: “Mr. Lindgren gradually failed in physical strength during the last years of his life, but he retained his mental vigor to a large degree and his Christian faith was strong and conquering.”

Interestingly, Swan Lindgren’s second wife Anna was a friend of Celia Peterson (Herman Peterson’s wife). The two ladies were often mentioned together in church news items, as in this article where they entertained the Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary society of the Swedish Lutheran church (1919)

And the faith continues. My sisters and I share a strong faith in Jesus, and I am always encouraged at our Peterson reunions to hear the faith stories of my dad’s cousins. In fact, one of his cousin’s sons is a missionary in Central America.

Now we work and pray to instill a love of the Lord in our own children, so that they will live knowing the Lord and be light to the world as we are called to do. An old saying is that the church is one generation away from extinction. As I look back over my family history, I am inspired to see that I come from a long line of Christians who have kept the faith in their lives and have planted it in the generations that followed.

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!

Burton Gustaf Falk

Dear Grandpa Falk,

You are my mom’s father, but I never got a chance to know you the way I knew my Grandpa Pete. You died a month before my third birthday; my brother was one and a half. I have a vague fuzzy memory of seeing you in a hospital bed but I don’t remember anything about what you were like. I wish I could sit down with you and talk for a while to get to know you better.

Here is what I know about you.

I know the basic facts of your life.

You were born on 1 February 1901 in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois.

Little Burton Falk, about 3 years old

You had two younger sisters, Norma and Adrienne.

The Falk family
Back: father Erik Falk, Adrienne, Norma, Burt
Front: mother Helen

You graduated from West Aurora High School and spent a year at the University of Nebraska but never graduated.

Young Burt

You married my grandmother Verna Graf on 30 June 1936 in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois.

Burt and Verna on their wedding day

You lived in Berwin Illinois after you were married and later moved to Aurora.

You died on 2 October 1965.

I know a few “tidbits” about you.

You had terrible eyesight, in fact you had cataracts. I remember Grandma Falk showing me your early version of contact lenses that you wore, hoping that they would help your vision.

Burt out west

You were bald. My grandma had a copy of American Gothic on her living room wall and for a long time I thought the farmer in that picture was you.

When I was newly married my mom said that my husband reminded me of you. I know that you had a passion for photography and often took my mom with you when you went out taking pictures. You were meticulous about noting details of your photographs on your slides. My husband is pretty meticulous about recording and cataloging his favorite radio programs. Is this the similarity that Mom saw?  

You worked for International Harvester when you lived in Aurora but had to carpool east every day. So every morning you drove east into the rising sun and in the evening you drove west into the setting sun. What a drag, and yet you did it for years.

You smoked cigarettes. In one of my mom’s old family movies there is a scene where she strikes a match to light your cigarette. But you told your daughter never to start smoking, and she never did. You died of lung cancer. My mom told me that when you were in the hospital with the cancer that killed you, you cried, regretting that you would never see me or my brother grow up.

Burt at the Municipal Pier in Chicago

Here are some things I can guess about you.

Burt and Verna

You were sensitive. You met Verna, your future wife, and then traveled west for some kind of a job you had with the telephone/telegraph company. I have a letter that you wrote to your mom and you told her how much you cared for Verna.

You were a peacemaker. You and Grandma didn’t play cards. My mom said it wasn't because you believed it was wrong to play cards, but because you and Grandma once had a nasty fight over a card game and you didn’t ever want to fight like that again.

You were a hard worker and you loved your little family. You brought your daughter Sarah to the circus, parades, and ball games. She was the light of your life

Burt and baby Sarah, my mom

You were patient. Your wife’s mother lived with you for several years when she had dementia—“senility” they called it back then—and hers was an angry dementia. There must have been some pretty rough times.

I’m sorry I never knew you, Grandpa. My dad says you were introverted but friendly, words I would also use to describe myself! I've got so many questions I'd like to ask you, if we could sit down together. Why did you quit college? What was that trip out west all about? How did you meet Verna? Did you wish you had a different job? What was your hardest day? What was your best? What made you laugh? Yes, there's a lot I don't know about you, Grandpa Falk, but I know enough to say I'm glad you are my grandpa.

Burton Gustaf Falk