Postcards from the past: the Gustafson-Van Wert Family pt. 1

 There is something truly special about reading the handwriting of your ancestors. 100 years ago they carefully inked a name or a word, and now you are once again reading that same word in the same writing. Even more spectacular is reading postcards from your ancestors. Each one is a memento of a story, a voice from the past. I was lucky enough to receive a box of postcards from my Great Uncle Everette Van Wert a year or so ago. Below is the first installment of some of the specimens from the box collection.

Postcard to Frances from her Father (Date Unknown)

Relations to me:

Frances Gustafson: Great Grandma

Papa/ F. O. W. Gustafson: 2nd great grandpa

The text of the postcard is in half English half Swedish and reads the following:

Dear Frances, How are you? 

We will stay in Pueblo till Thursday morning. Brandelle(?) kommer icke hit. Hälsa allesammans. Har din mormor kommit till dig? (illegible sentence) 

Pueblo Colo. 

August 21st 9:15 am 

din papa

The fully translated  version looks something like this:

Dear Frances, How are you? 

We will stay in Pueblo till Thursday morning. Brandelle(?) will not come here. Greet everyone for me. Has your grandmother come to you? (illegible sentence) 

Pueblo Colo. 

August 21st 9:15 am 

your papa

A look in Grandma Joan's Baby Book

Over the past few years, it has become my job and passion to preserve and find all the fascinating history, stories, and photographs from my family's past. A few months ago I was ecstatic to receive a box of memories from my grandma Joan Van Wert, within which I was happy to find a collection of photographs bound lovingly in a book by my grandma's mother, Frances Gustafson-Van Wert. This post contains all of these photos as well as descriptions and some labels of who appears inside them.

People featured and their relationship to me, as well as a numerical identifier which is used to identify them alongside their name in the photograph descriptions:

• Allen, Carolyn, (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P1)
• Allen, Marion Blanch (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P2)
• Anderson, Evert (Unknown Relation) (P3)
• Anderson, Maria (Unknown Relation) (P4)
• Arnette, Judy (No Relation) (P5)
• Arnette, Mrs. (No Relation) (P6)
• Bengtson, Don (Nephew of Husband of 2nd Great Aunt) (P7)
• Bengtson, Gilbert Eddie (Husband of Sister-in-law of 2nd Great Aunt) (P8)
• Bengtson, John (Nephew of Husband of 2nd Great Aunt) (P9)
• Boddie, Laura Linda John (Wife of Great Uncle) (P10)
• Burbank, Judy (No Relation) (P11)
• Case, Lainey Virginia (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P12)
• Collins, Barry (No Relation) (P13)
• Ekeberg, Blanche Aurora (2nd Great Grandma) (P14)
• Falagrady, Nancy (Wife of Great Uncle) (P15)
• Folansbee, Sharon (No Relation) (P16)
• Folansbee, Mrs. (No Relation) (P17)
• Gardner, Janet (No Relation) (P18)
• Gardner, Mrs. (No Relation) (P19)
• Goedert, Marcia (No Relation) (P20)
• Goldberg, Carole (No Relation) (P21)
• Gustafson, Alva Ruth Elizabeth (2nd Great Aunt) (P22)
• Gustafson, Ann Ester Dorothea (2nd Great Aunt) (P23)
• Gustafson, Faith Elaine (2nd Great Aunt) (P24)
• Gustafson, Florence Evangeline (2nd Great Aunt) (P25)
• Gustafson, Frances Elsie Caroline (Great Grandma) (P26)
• Gustafson, Frans Oscar Wilhelm (2nd Great Grandpa) (P27)
• Gustafson, Frans Von (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P28)
• Gustafson, Gretchen (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P29)
• Gustafson, Ingrid L. (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P30)
• Gustafson, Paul Oscar Emanuel (2nd Great Uncle) (P31)
• Gustafson, Thure (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P32)
• Johnson, Peggy (No Relation) (P33)
• K., Clair (No Relation) (P34)
• Larsdotter, Malena Wilhelmina (3rd Great Grandma) (P35)
• Leaf, Kitty Belle (No Relation) (P36)
• Lipnick, Michael (No Relation) (P37)
• Magners, Melvin (Husband of 1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P38)
• Male, Marie (P39)
• Male, Susan Huskin (3rd Great Grandma) (P40)
• Neff, ? (No Relation) (P41)
• Neff, Mrs. (No Relation) (P42)
• O., Donna (No Relation) (P43)
• Osborne, Jessica (Wife of 2nd Great Uncle) (P44)
• Rudd, John (Husband of 1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P45)
• Segerhammar, Carl William (Husband of 2nd Great Aunt) (P46)
• Segerhammar, Karen Elizabeth Segerhammer (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P47)
• Segerhammar, Kathleen (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P48)
• Segerhammar, Kathryn (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P49)
• Segerhammar, Margaret Irene (Sister-In-Law of 2nd Great Aunt) (P50)
• Segerhammar, Paul Kempton (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P51)
• Shue, Glen M. (2nd Cousin 3x Removed) (P52)
• Smith, Carrie Blanch (2nd Great Grandma) (P53)
• Stafford, Susan (No Relation) (P54)
• Tilton, Roberta (No Relation) (P55)
• Van Wert, Barry (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P56)
• Van Wert, Beverly Ann (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P57)
• Van Wert, Everette Clayton (Great Uncle) (P58)
• Van Wert, Forrest Richard (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P59)
• Van Wert, Harold Benson (3rd Great Uncle) (P60)
• Van Wert, James Cordell (Great Uncle) (P61)
• Van Wert, Joan Elaine (Grandma) (P62)
• Van Wert, Reuben Everette (Great Grandpa) (P63)
• Van Wert, Ruth (2nd Great Aunt) (P64)
• W., Jimmie (No Relation) (P65)
• Waldmann, Eric Eugene (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P66)
• Waldmann, Eugene John (Husband of 2nd Great Aunt) (P67)
• Waldmann, Sonja C. (1st Cousin 2x Removed) (P68)
• Wikgren, John Arthur (Husband of 2nd Great Aunt) (P69)
• ?, Jackie (P70)
• ?, Kay (P71)
• ?, Penny (P72)

 Pictured above are the identical Segerhammar twins in 2nd grade at the age of 7 yrs in Longmont, Colorado with their mother Ruth. From left to right those shown in the image are Kathleen Segerhammar (P48), Alva Ruth Elizabeth Gustafson-Segerhammar (P22), and Kathryn Segerhammar (P49).