Ole's Blog

This is a stitch! In the summer of 1979, my mother, the late Reatha “MeMe” Larson, visited Norway with my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Audrey Larson, also both deceased. She mailed the postcard below to her sister, Esther, in Longview.Nothing too remarkable about the card, except for the postmarks: Norway, some date in 1979, and Portland, Oregon, 10 Aug. 2010. It was then delivered to the Baltimore St. address, 31 years after it was mailed from Norway! Of course in the meantime, Uncle Buck has passed away, and Aunt Esther has moved her residence a half-dozen times. Esther received the postcard from the current resident, and loaned it to me to scan for the archives.

Every so often you hear about this kind of thing, but this is the first time I have been so closely involved. Send in the post-office jokes!

Here is a photo I found on findagrave.com.
Its location is Mt. Olivet cemetery, Frederick, MD, in which also lies the grave of Francis Scott Key, writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

It is a long-shot, but I am investigating the possibility this might be Philip Myers’ brother. According to cousin Paula, Michael Myers (brother of Philip) is the great-great grandfather of Dr. Charles Myers, author of  “A Connecticut Yankee in Penn’s Woods: the Life and Times of Thomas Bennet.” Michael Myers is not my direct ancestor, but I am keenly interested in finding anything out I can about him, in hopes it may lead to his (and Philip’s) parents, who purportedly immigrated from Germany, and settled in Frederick, MD in the 1760′s, but who are otherwise a total mystery, including even their names.

Michael himself is almost as vague; all I have from Paula is his name – no spouse, dates, or residence history. Also on Internet genealogy sites, his name appears (as the father of Madison Myers) with no other information. No Michael Myers is listed bearing the vital information shown on the gravestone above.

The “gravestone Michael’s” birth date is in the ball park, but so far, no other indication or counter-indication, other than geography. Incidentally, I found the marriage record of this couple (1792) in a printed source, Marriage Licenses of Frederick County 1778-1810 by Margaret E. Myers(!). Despite the author’s name, this is no real help in connecting or disconnecting the gravestone with the brother of my fourth great-grandfather.

The monument in the photo looks relatively new, indicating some interest on the part of their descendants, whom I am trying to identify, locate, and contact.

Information relating to the family’s immigration from Germany is very sketchy and somewhat contradictory – e.g., the purported year of their journey, 1760, falls in the middle of the Seven Years’ War (called the “French & Indian War” in the US). During these years, European immigration to the New World was at a virtual standstill. 1766, the alternative given by at least one printed source, is more likely historically, but without the father’s name, I am pretty much grasping at straws.

Anecdotally, distant cousin Harry Myers, of Port Clinton, Ohio, told me that Philip’s family first arrived in Philadelphia, before settling in Maryland. He did not know the source of that tidbit. If true, it is helpful, as surviving immigrant lists are fairly extensive for Philly, although far from complete. They are all consolidated in the book, Pennsylvania German Pioneers … 1727-1808, by Ralph Strassburger. As already mentioned, the Seven Years’ War pretty much interrupted the flow. Out of a total 324 ships listed between 1727 and 1775 carrying German immigrants to Philadelphia, only one is shown between 1756 and 1763. Of course, cousin Harry may have been incorrect; Philip and family may have sailed directly to Maryland colony. Passenger lists for Maryland arrivals during any of  the 18th century are nonexistent, as far as I currently know. But we can assume that there was a similar dearth of arrivals there during the Seven Years’ (aka French & Indian) War.

At least I think we can. It occurred to me that other ports, such as Baltimore, may have been less affected by the fighting than was Philadelphia. But it looks like the war in Europe was equally responsible. The page I had copied from Eighteenth Century register of emigrants from Southwest Germany by Werner Hacker, contains almost 120 names (all with the surname Mayer – that is how this book spells Myers). Of the 120, only one emigrated during the war years.

And so, the search continues. Stay tuned.

A valuable, if indirect, contributor to our family history research has passed from this life. Cousin Gail Myers informed me that his elder brother, Lawrence, died suddenly of a stroke the evening of July 29.

Larry was born November 17, 1920, in Clark, SD. Like Gail, he was the son of Lawrence Myers and Pauline Engen. The elder Lawrence was a brother of my grandfather Dan Myers; both were sons of Stephen Bennett Myers, whose Civil War service we are currently exploring on this site.

While Larry and I never met, nor had direct contact, I am deeply grateful for the information and documents he has contributed, through his brother Gail. My prayers for comfort and consolation for Larry’s entire family.

Here is Larry’s obituary in the Sheboygan (WI) Press.

I will keep this post on top for a little while, to alert readers that there is a new way to explore some of the archives. In the “pages” section of the sidebar at your right, I am grouping several multi-part series, and some posts that were not serial, but together make up a coherent narrative. There are a few new pictures, and some of the entries are clarified and expanded. Please visit the “pages,” especially if you have not closely followed my “posts” over the past two years.

I have begun organizing my posts into more coherent groups, arranged in roughly chronological order. In the jargon of my blogging software, they are called “pages.” You can see them listed in the sidebar at the right. For the most part, they are identical to the original posts, so if you have followed the blog for a long time, or thoroughly explored the archives, you will not find much new material; only a few additional pictures, and some minor clarifications. However, if you want to read a series of stories as a more smoothly flowing narrative, you may find the “pages” to your liking. The first several are now up, dealing with our earliest documented ancestors, from Roman Emperors in the B.C. era, up to King Henry VIII in the 1500′s (Well, Henry is not a known ancestor;  his father overthrew the last of our “royal” blood, Richard III). More are being added almost daily.

The original archives are still in place as well, so you can find the posts there, the same as before. I hope that some of my newer readers will find the new format helpful.

Each weekend during the summer of 1933, Reatha and Lovell spent a great deal of time together. On Sunday evenings, they drove to Sidney for the movies. North Dakota had strict blue laws at the time, forbidding any public establishment (except churches) from operating on Sundays. This was not a major factor, as Sidney in any case was the nearest town. Speaking of borders, while the Larson homesteads were all in North Dakota, the Hart farm where Reatha resided was on the Montana side.

At the theater, Reatha, because of her petite stature and appearance, was admitted on a child’s ticket ($0.05), while Lovell and their companions (often Neva and her boyfriend) paid the full price of $0.10. Lovell always had enough money for a bunch of candy bars at a nickel each.

It should be noted here that motion pictures were one of many “taboos” for Reatha’s father, so it was a new experience for Mother after her recent emancipation; one that she considered completely innocent in retrospect.

Another former taboo, which Mother embraced even more enthusiastically, was social dancing. Every other Saturday night there was a dance at the community hall in Skaar, ND. The dance hall itself was located in North Dakota, but the park next to it bordered Montana. This was significant because of Montana’s less restrictive laws. It seems that a bootlegger would come to the dances, but station his vehicle on the Montana side of the park, to “deal” illicit alcohol to the dancers. Prohibition was still in effect at the time.

Mind you, Reatha did not drink, nor smoke, ever in her life, but this anecdote was still significant to her, possibly because the bootlegger was Fred Hart, a brother of her employer, and so a cousin by marriage to all us Larsons.

On the tapes, Mother spoke fondly of her early dancing experiences. Lovell did not really like dancing, so her usual partner was Norman Amundson. He complimented her on her waltz, which she said came as naturally to her as “1-2-3.” Reatha’s passion for ballroom dancing lasted the rest of her life.

On the Fourth of July, Reatha and Lovell visited a patriotic monument at Minot, ND. They were accompanied by Uncle Walt and his future bride, Irene Nelson. Here is a composite of two photos with the monument in the background.

On Sundays, after dancing until the wee hours the night before, and before the evening movies, Reatha and Lovell went horseback riding. Lovell brought her a horse named Harvey, which she said was old, clumsy, and stumbled (! very different from Uncle Ivan’s description of Harvey the Horse). Mom also related that in good-natured retaliation, cousin Harvey Larson named one of his horses “Lovell.”

Mom was a novice at riding, but her skills improved as the summer went on. She even accompanied Lovell, and Teddy Falkvord, when they drove a herd of mustangs from the Skaar area to Wibaux, MT.1933 Mustangs

The next fall and winter, Reatha worked at the McGlenn farm. Mrs. McGlenn was a schoolteacher, who continued teaching even though she was pregnant. That must have been quite unusual in those days. Mom considered her husband rather lazy, and was somewhat scandalized that his wife had to work while pregnant. Mr. McGlenn reputedly spent his time on a nearby hill, spying on his neighbors with field glasses. All winter, Mom lived in a lean-to on the side of their house, where it was so cold, she slept wearing gloves and socks.

The following summer, Reatha got a job in Sidney, as a domestic for the manager of the local Penny’s store. On her weekends off, Lovell would bring her back to the homesteads, where they spent their days and evenings together, and Mom slept at Neva’s (what few hours she did sleep).

Next: Breaking out West

Since the “stats” indicate lots of new readers here, I encourage you, if you have not already done so, to check out my novel-in-progress. Its working title is, “Anna Hansdatter: Hunger In the Dale.” It is very loosely based on a few of the real people and events written of here. If you are already following it, disregard. I am suffering from a combination of  writer’s block, spring (gardening), a temporary full-time job, and other distractions, so am not putting up any new episodes for a while. However, there are already over 100 “episodes,” each approximately 1-2 pages of manuscript, available for your perusal. My “stats” over there are pitifully small so far, so do your part, and “read up.”