Chris was disappointed that the letter that had offered her hope of finding SOMETHING about her great grandfather didn't turn out to be written by the correct person. She had already traveled to Gaylordsville last year and had tracked down all the local records she could find for Eric HELSTEN (land records, vital records, historical society, etc). What could we try next?Chris made a generous suggestion. What about translating the 6 letters from Sweden written to Eric during the years just before John CARLSON came through the time he was in Gaylordsville? Maybe someone would mention John and say something about his apprenticeship and Swedish family. That would be from 1858 through 1863.
These letters are not the easiest things to read, even if my language was Swedish. Eric was from a large family, he was one of 13 children. As many family members who happened to be around in one part of Sweden at a time would take one piece of paper, fold in half, and each write to Eric. So, the letter pictured here was written in December 1863.I scanned the 6 letters, she printed and mailed them to Sweden and over the next three months they were translated.
We learned a lot about how tough life was for those in Sweden. We learned the everyday nitty gritty of life and trying to get by. I learned more about each of the siblings. BUT we DIDN'T learn anything about John Carlson and his family!
Welcome to GeneaBloggers. I look forward to learning about your Copeland ancestors, as that is my mother's maiden name.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother was Adelaide Copeland Harvey Richardson.
ReplyDeleteShe would tell me:
"I am Adelaide Copeland of Copeland Shoes".
I started investigating and sure enough her uncle was the Copeland of the Copeland Rider Shoes that were made in Wisconsin. They came from MA to Wisconsin. Is that your line?