Super Sister Sunday - The Swedish Sisters

This is the first Super Sister Sunday I have blogged about. It is something I have wanted to do for awhile. Being one of four sisters - I just love stories and pictures of sisters. I hope you will join me from time to time with your stories and pictures of sisters.

The Swedish Sisters
Here is a great photo taken in 1922 of my Grandma on my mothers side (the one on the right) and her sisters. Their parents came to America in 1890 with their Eldest child Mary (the one on the left) when she was about 18 months old or so. They came to the little town of Ruthven, Iowa where the rest of the children were born. My Grandmother was the youngest of her siblings. They also had two brothers. It was also taken the year before my grandparents married.

On a trip to Iowa in 2008 my sisters and I visited my mothers cousin Bob. I asked him to tell me about his parents. Both his parents died during the same year for different reasons which was a very difficult year for Bob and his siblings. This is the lady in the middle.
She was only 53 years of age when she died.

Back to the Swedish Sisters. Bob told me that the sisters used to drive he and all the cousins crazy because these ladies would either be on the telephone with each other or at family gatherings speaking in Swedish! This was a surprise to me because I never knew my grandmother even spoke swedish. Obviously their parents taught it to them. Plus in those days - if you don't ask, you won't ever find out. I never asked and barely found out! From a cousin of my mom's! Even she did not tell us kids about this.

Here are the sisters. They are actually standing Oldest to Youngest from left to right.

Mary B Nelson
B August 31, 1888, Genarp, Malmohus, Sweden
D December 17, 1971, Spencer, Iowa

Elizabeth Nelson
B June 23, 1896, Ruthven, Iowa
D February 14, 1949, Spencer, Iowa

Laura Marjorie Nelson
B November 20, 1903, Ruthven, Iowa
D October 1, 1979, Spencer, Iowa


All sisters are buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Ruthven, Iowa.

Sentimental Sunday - Grandpa's Junk Yard

My Grandpa was cool. He owned and ran a pretty popular junk yard. It was full of old cars that did not run, old and I mean really old farm machinery, sheep that meandered in the rows and many other items. He would sell parts to machinery and parts to cars. People would stop by quite often. After all it was right off of a main highway.

I can remember my Grandma standing by the kitchen sink pealing potatoes, snapping beans or shucking corn from the fields. There was a window above the sink to look out of. Sometimes a truck would pull in with a trailer full of metal. She would shake her head and say "oh my, he went and bought more junk". That used to make me laugh.

This place of course was in Ruthven, Iowa. When the cousins would stop by, us kids would go out to the rows of cars and hop from one car to the other on the roofs of the cars. Sometimes there were twenty in a row! Funny thing - I never remember any of us getting hurt. The cars as I remember were pretty close together so we could do this easily. It was thrilling! My Grandpa would never complain when we did this. We could have really done some damage to the cars, but he did not care!

What a neat Grandpa.
Stuart Donald Davis
Born April 18, 1902, Grinnell, Iowa
Death March 18, 1993, Ruthven, Iowa
Buried Crown Hill Cemetery

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma's Coffee

As a kid, when my family was home from the Mission Field (Indonesia, Japan, Singapore) on furlough, we would spend many summer days staying at my Grandma and Grandpa Davis's house in Ruthven. I believe I have mentioned Ruthven before. :)

While my sisters were still alseep I would get up and head downstairs. It was a wrap around staircase and the second I got to the landing between the staircases the smell of coffee came wafting through my nose. Now I do not know what kind of coffee my grandmother used, but she did use a percalator type coffee maker. It smelled sooooo good. I loved the smell of it and even today if I smelled the same coffee I would recognize it.

There was also the sound of the radio that was always on a news type radio station. Come to think of it there was never any sight of Grandma or Grandpa. Weird. I suppose Grandpa was already in the field or junk yard or tending the farm animals and Grandma was in her garden.

The smell of that coffee will remain a memory forever. I wish I could go there today just for the smell of the coffee.

Tombstone Tuesday - The Best

Here is the tombstone of Stuart and Laura (Nelson) Davis, my Grandparents. They lived in Ruthven, Iowa, just one of my favorite places in the world. They are resting in Crown Hill Cemetery. A nice shady resting place.

They are greatly missed and will always be remembered.

Tombstone Tuesday - Baby Great Aunt

Today for Tombstone Tuesday I chose to share a photo of my Great Aunt's tombstone. No one ever talked about her so when I came across her during the beginning of my research, some of us were shocked that Grandma had a baby sister who had died. Although Grandma was the youngest of her siblings, Betty had died before she was even born.

It really makes you wonder - here was a family that came from Sweden with one daughter, settled in the small town of Ruthven, Iowa, then had another little girl who died before she was even two years old. What happened to her? Was she ill? Did she get into an accident? How sad for my Gr Grandparents who lost a baby in a new land. They could not mourn with their parents or other siblings they had left behind in Sweden. The sorrow must have been unbearable. Years later they were laid to rest beside their baby Betty.

This post is dedicated to my Great Aunt Betty Nelson. She was the very first family member buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Ruthven, Iowa. Since then, many family members have joined her in this special cemetery. A couple of years ago I had the priviledge of visiting the gravestones of of Betty and many other ancestors there.

Sentimental Sunday Grandpa's Dilly Bars

For Sentimental Sunday I thought of a very fond memory. Saturday night was always a special night for my Grandpa Davis. He would travel from Ruthven, Iowa in to the larger town of Spencer to get a sack full of Dilly Bars from the Dairy Queen. Then he would bring them back for all the kids who waited excitingly at his house with Grandma, Aunts and Uncles. Usually this consisted of quite a few cousins.

I can remember the sack. It was really thick to keep the cold in. The sack went from one person to another as they selected their treat. I was so happy when there were enough Dilly Bars so that I could have one too! It made me feel special. Everyone paused to eat their favorite flavored Dilly Bar as Grandpa happily watched. Of course he bought enough for the adults to have one, him included!

My Grandpa on my maternal side was Stuart Donald Davis. He owned a junk yard which I will tell you about some day. I loved him very much.

Sentimental Sunday - Strawberries and Ice Cream

It's June now and although the strawberries in Oregon are late this year because of the rain rain rain, I cannot wait until they are ready and the fruit stands start selling them. It will start happening this week I believe.

Being that today is Sentimental Sunday and thinking about strawberries coming soon, a fond memory came to mind. I thought about my grandparents farm in Ruthven, Iowa. Always on a Sunday, Grandma, my Aunt's and my mother would start preparing the strawberries. There were a ton of them to prepare. Grandpa and some of the Uncles would start cranking the old fashioned ice cream makers. Several of us cousins would help with the cranking, such as 50 cranks each. Then that evening everyone got some ice cream with plenty of strawberries on it! There were lots of cousins, Uncles and Aunts all enjoying strawberries and home made ice cream on a hot Iowa evening. There never were any left overs! What a fond memory.

Yum, Yum.