Publisher's holiday

We're writing books today. Grandma Kathleen figured out that if you staple some blank pages together it makes it ever so much more interesting to write stories in them. Emily filled three volumes, mostly illustrations. Very creative. Then she asked Grandpa to read the new books back to her. That got to be quite creative too but fortunately he was corrected on the spot when he misread or misunderstood something.

Stan's fellow publisher Steve Messick called from his office in Red Wing today, interrupting the book review session. Stan worked with Steve for at least 20 years before Stan retired. Steve's a new grandpa, he reports with some pride. Samuel Messick is four months old now. Steve promises to send a link to some photos. Standby.

September smiles

The Shakopee Applebee's hosted the September Ladies Who Lunch gathering yesterday.  The two regular members, Kathleen and M'liss, enjoyed a bite and then repaired to the nearby Canterbury Card Room where they dealt hardship to the menfolk at the tables (no photos allowed, thank you). Earlier the duo touched on old business (Chuck and Stan) and discovered that M'liss has a big kayak and a big paddle, too big, she says. Stan has a regular-size kayak and a small paddle. Too small, he says. Could there be a negotiation in the works? Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Joe!

When we last got together for an extended family portrait at Mom's 90th, Jennifer's boyfriend, Joe Simestad, was pulled into the photo as a member of the family, even described by someone there as a "keeper." He was, however, also told by some smartass to stand on the end so he could be cropped out later if necessary. Today it's his birthday and, we're happy to report, he's still very much in the picture. Can you find him? Yes. He's on the end. Below, that's him with Jennifer more recently. Hmm. Below that, it's Christmas dinner, Halloween, dances, birthdays, weddings, open houses. He's a regular at these things. Happy Birthday, Joe!

Our "new relative"

Turns out that Denise Comstock Kurkowski from New Hope, Minnesota is Stan's Fourth Cousin. She's been sending Stan some geneology material about our Scottish roots -- the John Jackson lineage. Turns out that our great great grandparents were brothers... and we have the very same great great great grandparents: John and Elizabeth (Oliver) Jackson had sixteen kids, one new Scot came along just about every year from 1811 to 1833. Peter (our forefather) was their second child, Simon (Denise's forefather) was the 13th.
Denise has already corresponded with our North Carolina cousins, the Kullbergs. Denise mentions that her branch of the Jackson tree has a lot of twins on it. Not ours.
Anyway, here's the lineage.
Denise:
John Jackson begat Simon Jackson, Edwin Jackson, Her mother -- still living, Denise

Stan (and his five siblings):
John Jackson begat Peter Jackson, Ella Mae Jackson, Jessie Jackson Wendelkin, Jessie Beverly Rolfsrud age 90, Stan and sibs

If you would like access to an on-line document giving great detail to this, email Stan and he'll provide a link. This material is not available to the general public.

You may remember seeing some Jackson grave markers in Belle Plaine that we posted on this blog sometime ago. Sosie visited the graves this past summer. They are our great great grandparents and a couple of their children. We now have obituaries, published in the Belle Plaine Herald, to go with these photos. We'll post soon when we get the typing done.
BTW, if you want to greet a new relative, Stan can get you her address too.
He's at Rolfsrud@gmail.com

Our Hannover Roots

Sonke Wessel with Kathleen's mom, the late Florence Neilson, on a field trip to the state capitol building in St. Paul, circa 1982.

Back in the early 80s when we had three girls in school, we took an opportunity to host a foreign student, Sonke Wessel of Hannover, Germany. It was an adventure for us all, as we learned much from each other about our small world. 

Ingeborg, Kathleen, Thomas, Sonke's brother

But the most enduring part of the experience was the relationship gained with Sonke’s mother, Ingeborg. She loved everything about America and not long after Sonke’s short time with us, she came for her own visit to Minnesota. It was to be her first of a number of trips here. During those extended stays in the 80s and 90s, we spent a good deal of time comparing cultures and attitudes. We could do this because she had a good command of the English language -- although an occasional idiomatic lapse would bring hilarity. For example, a shortened nightgown is a nightie, logical, right? Doesn’t always work that way, though, as Ingeborg well knew. As in “a pair of pants.” (Pair? What pair? Pair of shoes, yes.)
But Ingeborg was never discouraged. One morning Stan came into the kitchen wearing a new pair of shorts. Those are short pants, right? So then Ingeborg innocently observes: “Stan, I see you are wearing panties today.”
--
A favorite topic was always her beloved Hannover. A beautiful mid-sized city, she has presented us with maps and books and travelogues about it. She’s invited us to come many times. Today we have yet another reason to go.
The current buzz about Mom's geneology sent Stan downstairs today into the Rolfsrud archives -- only recently organized in bins by Sosie. Stan pulled out a batch of papers filed under “Wendelken.” That’s Stan’s grandmother’s maiden name. Leafing through the copious notes, he soon discovered that Hannover is an even more worthy city than he had ever realized. Much more.
Stan’s great great grandfather and great great grandmother (Mom’s blood) were both born near Hannover, Germany.
Here’s the citation, confirmed by an internet web site, word for word:
Johann Wendelken Jr was born on 31 March 1817 at Winkelmoor, Ottersberg, Hanover, Germany. He married Anna Katharina Kohlmann, daughter of Zeband Kohlmann and Katherina Gutindes, on 3 December 1841 at Worpswede, Hanover, Germany. He emigrated in 1843 from Spring, Emigrated to, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. He appeared on the census of 6 August 1850 at Ward 2, Page 177-B, Dwelling 21, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. He was (an unknown value) on 6 August 1850 at Carpenter, Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. He died in 1903 at Elkton, Brookings County, South Dakota.

The senior Wendelkens hail from the same general location. Stan’s great-great-great grandfather and great great great grandmother were married near Hannover, Germany.
Johann Wendelken Sr was born on 17 September 1786 at Mevenstedt, Hanover, Germany. He married Mettje Schnackenberg, daughter of Gerd Schnackenberg and Trina Brunjes, on 20 October 1809 at Worpswede, Hanover, Germany. He died on 26 September 1862 at Winkelmoor, Hanover, Germany, at age 76.
Grandma Mettje was born in 1788 and died in 1844.
-------

So there you have it. Roots in Hannover. We’ll send this off to Ingeborg right away!

Contact!

Denise Kurkowski, who has plenty of interest in the Jackson genealogy, reached me by phone last night. We had a nice conversation and exchanged email addresses. She will be sending me some family tree information she has developed. What fun. And what a nice lady. Not sure how we are related, but we shall soon see.

She speaks of our living relatives in the Catskills in upstate New York. That would be interesting to know as well. In the 1860s Nancy Ives wrote letters to those relatives (we have the transcripts).

Jim Kullberg, who is married to our cousin Judy and inherited the Chase research files. He says " I have a "Chase-Brown Tree" Ancestry but I have a lot more info than shows up there that I would be glad to share. Since we live in North Carolina now, I have not had the opportunity to visit the Minnesota sites and am glad to find someone who is following up on them. I think we need to share some information."

We'll share whatever we can, of course.

Understand that it is easy to make mistakes when we're doing all this, so if you'll keep me between the lines, I will do what I can to get this material blogged and googled.

We'll do our best and make it fun. Just how Scotch are we?

Jackson research continues

Stan stopped by the Scott County Historical Society building today and came up with a bunch of new info about Mom's great grandfather, Scotsman Peter Jackson. As you know, Peter married Nancy Ives and they raised four daughters at the farm home near Belle Plaine. Two of the daughters were school teachers; the other two were twins that mother knew of in the 1920s.
Peter and his brother James arrived in Scott County by steamboat in 1855. Today Stan went through the census records that record their names as well as Nancy's.

Peter was a farmer and also an original supervisor of the Town of Blakeley, located along the Minnesota River. He served on the school board. He and his brother each farmed 160 acres of land. Stan found the legal location on an 1880 Scott County map and will make an expedition there soon to see what is there now. The railroad eventually cut through James' property.
One of the history books on file notes that James was a "wealthy bachelor" and lived in a big house near the tracks. We'll get transcripts of all this stuff and post it soon.

On a past post, we showed you the five family gravesites in Belle Plaine. (James, Peter, Nancy, Adel and Adelia)
Interestingly, Stan found a note in a card file of someone else researching the Jacksons. Her name is Denise Kurkowski and she lives in New Hope. She left a phone number for anyone else interested in the family. We left a phone number on her recorder today.

I am sorry to be so dramatic,

"I am sorry to be so dramatic," said Jenn LaBrie (Stan's nephew Zach's wife) as she tasted her first ever oyster on a sunny, glorious afternoon in Petaluma, California today.

(Photo from her mother-in-law's I-phone)

Summer days on the picnic table

Everyone enjoys this gorgeous late summer weather with its shortened days, but this sweet pair will leave us soon. Our departure plans are still open.