I had an address for my great-grandparents in Seattle in 1935 and went from there.  It was much easier than I thought it would be to use the enumeration district calculator and start searching in their neighborhood.

Lars Julius and Eugenia Bergman (Eleanore’s parents) were divorced in 1937.  I wasn’t sure who I was going to find at the address – if anyone.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my relatives were still in the same house.

My great-grandmother Eugenia, my great-uncle Walden, and my grandma Eleanore (17) living in the same home.  I searched the rest of the neighborhood, but didn’t find Lars.  I’m not sure where he moved to, but I know that he stayed in Seattle.  I think I’m going to have to wait until the index comes out to find him, because I’m not going to search the entire city of Seattle page by page.

I had really been hoping that the death certificate of my great-great grandmother, Christina (Söderlund) Bergman would list her parents’ names.  I know who her mother was, but she was born out of wedlock and her father was not listed on her birth certificate.  Her mother married Jonas Söderlund about 10 years after she was born and I’m not sure if he was her real father or not.  I was hoping that this might clear that up, but it didn’t.  Her parents are actually listed as “unobtainable” which surprises me.  She lived with her bachelor son, who is old enough to have known his grandmother (her mother).  I’m not sure why at least her name isn’t listed – especially since he was listed as the informant.

She died tragically – she was hit by a car.  Maybe the trauma of the event clouded his memory.

It looks like I’m going to have to do some serious digging in the Swedish parish records to solve the mystery of her birth father.

I did a simple search at GenealogyBank.com today and I’ve unearthed some great news articles about her death from the Seattle Daily Times.

A little background information first.  Christina was born 26 May 1852 in Ösaren, Valbo, Gävleborg, Sweden.  I have very little information about her childhood, but I know that she was born out of wedlock.  Her mother was married when Christina was about 11 years old and I”m not sure if she married Christina’s father, or someone else.  So many things to research!

Anyway, Christina married Lars Larsson Bergman in 1871, but her husband died of something alcohol-related just one month before their seventh child (my great-grandfather) was born.  She ended up immigrating to Seattle, WA one year after her bachelor son, David Bergman moved there.  They lived together in the Ballard neighborhood.

And on to the articles…

The first article I found was dated March 10, 1924.  She must have been in horrible pain and it breaks my heart that she lay in the hospital for several hours before she was identified – without any family around.  It doesn’t mention whether she was conscious or not, but with a fractured skull, I’m not sure.

Another little mention on March 11th.  There seem to have been quite a few car accidents reported.And also from March 11th, this article gives some more information on the accident.  She was hit by a 17-yr-old Ballard High School student, Fred Schultheis.  He was arrested and held in city jail over night.  He apparently didn’t have a driving permit. The coroner ordered an inquest.  My great-great grandmother was crossing the street on a Saturday night to attend a church function.  He said that he saw her before he hit her, but couldn’t stop his car in time to avoid the accident.He was found to be responsible for her death, by reason of gross negligence.  Some of the witnesses testified that the car kept going over 75 feet after she had been hit.  He wasn’t going over 20 miles per hour though (this was 1924).Despite the fact that he was found to be responsible, no charges were brought against him.  He was a minor and even though he was a negligent driver and didn’t have a license, there was no testimony to indicate that he was driving at an excessive rate of speed and Christina was crossing the street between intersections when she was hit.  Fred was driving the car without the authority of his father – and I bet he got in more trouble from him than he did with the law!! {this articled dated March 14, 1924}

I didn’t find an obituary for Christina Bergman, but I did find this Card of Thanks, dated March 20, 1924.

So now I know that my great-great grandma did in fact get hit by a car. I hope that the boy learned his lesson, but wasn’t haunted by the accident the rest of his life.  That would be a hard thing to live with.

This last article, the Card of Thanks, left me a little mystery – which may have been nothing but a typo.  The three children of Christina Bergman’s who were living in Seattle (that I know of) were Kerstin Elisabet (Mrs. Peterson), David Bergman (a bachelor), and my great-grandfather, Lars Julius Bergman.  My question is – who the heck is Talino?  That doesn’t sound very Swedish to me!  Maybe they just simply wrote the wrong name?

Her mother kept a diary, which thankfully mentioned my grandmother quite a few times.  This is very helpful to me, since I don’t have any diaries to read through.

What a treasure!!!!  I am so thankful that this woman took the time to find me, to send me the picture, and to write out the diary entries which mentioned my grandmother.  I can’t thank her enough.  It makes you wonder how many hidden sources are out there, just waiting to be found, doesn’t it?  And it really makes me remember that I need to be better about paying attention to who my ancestors were friends with – because they could often have pictures or diary entries about my ancestors!!

One of the interesting things that I discovered through this diary, is that my grandma appears to have attended the University of Washington for a while.  My mom had no clue that her mom had ever gone there.

Here are a few of the diary entries and some of my thoughts on them:

• April 30, 1941.  “Elinor Bergman and I are going to “The Penthouse” tomorrow night to see “Holiday”".   The Penthouse Theatre was on the University of Washington campus.  It was a 172-seat theater with an elliptical stage and a domed ceiling. The following picture was found on Flickr.com

• May 22, 1941. Ellie came over and we went to song fest….Bill showed us the back stage of the Showboat and we drove around until after twelve. I believe that song fest was an annual spring event at the UW.  Here is a picture of the Showboat Theatre.  I never imagined my grandma going to plays and driving around until midnight.
  

• May 27, 1941.” …Ellie came to the Commons at noon and had lunch with me.  We had 1:00 quiz and lab from 2-4.   Ellie met Paul at 4.” It appears that my grandma was in class at the UW in May of 1941, which confuses me a bit since she didn’t graduate from high school until June 10, 1941 (according to her diploma).  Maybe she started college classes early?  Any ideas?  I wonder who Paul was….
• May 28, 1941. “I skipped my swim class and ate lunch with Ellie. Nan and Bill were there too – Paul asked Ellie to go out Friday night”  My grandma had a date!!!
• June 2, 1941. “Ellie told me that she and Paul missed the bus after the show Friday night and he took her home in a taxi.”  I wonder if they missed the bus on purpose….
• June 9, 1941. “Ellie made reservations at the “Penthouse” for Friday night.  It looks like grandma attended plays quite regularly!
• June 10, 1941. “We all sat under a tree at the Commons and talked.  Ellie and I went down in the evening and got “Cokes” Fun!”
• June 13, 1941. “…came by this afternoon and took me for a drive.   We went to Ballard and after much trouble found Ellie’s house!  … We went to the Penthouse.  Good show!…Ellie is staying here all night. Lake tomorrow”  My grandmother lived in Ballard, a neighborhood in Seattle.  It had a large Scandinavian population – and her parents were both from Sweden.  Her friend lived in another part of town.
• June 15, 1941.  “At Pine Lake. We slept late, about 1 o’clock….Ellie and I went swimming before we ate.  The water was fine…Ellie, Dad and I were going to stay all night but 11:30  and decided to come in town. Val, Rex, Charlie, Ellie, and I saw a beautiful view of the lakes.  We went to Dave’s and then danced at La Pine.  Ellie is sleeping with me tonight.”  It sounds like grandma was having a great time with her friends!
• June 23, 1941.  “Ellie called me up and she got an A, C, and D on her grade sheet. I got a C, C, C.”  It sounds like grandma was having more fun than studying!!!
• July 9, 1941.  “I called Ellie this evening.  I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
• July 12, 1941. “Ellie came over this afternoon and we went to town and saw a show. When Mom got home from work, we went to the Lake and got there after midnight”. 
• July 13, 1941.  “We got up rather late.  Ellie and I went swimming twice.  John Isaacson went in too.  We had a bonfire on the beach this PM…It was a lovely day and this PM too.  We didn’t get to bed until 1 o’clock.” 
• July 16, 1941.  “This was the hottest day in Seattle’s history. 99 degrees.”  No wonder why they were spending so much time swimming at the lake!
• September 22, 1941. “Ellie called this AM and came over.  I gave her the little souvenirs I had bought her…”
• September 29, 1941. “I started back to school….I saw Ellie in Chem.  I had lunch in the Commons and met the old crowd.”  Apparently Grandma continued school into the fall.
• October 6, 1941.  “Ellie, Adele and I had lunch at the Chalet this noon…”
• October 9, 1941.  “I studied in the library with Ellie and Adele until noon today.”
• October 25, 1941. “I slept late and then got ready to go to the football game… Ellie and I waited for Adele.  We walked down to the stadium.  We lost 13-7 but it was a good game.”  Thanks to Wikipedia, I found out that the Huskies were playing the Stanford Indians this evening.
  
• December 7, 1941.  “This may be the Most Important Day in modern history. Japan has declared war on the U.S. and has attacked Hawaii, Wake, Guam, and the Philippines.  The whole west coast is in a state of emergency and it is all so frightening…”  I can’t even imagine what a scary day this must have been!  Especially living on the West Coast.
  
• December 11, 1941.  “I worked at the phone company again this PM.  I came home with Ellie and Don.” I believe that this “Don” is actually my grandfather, Donald Sanchez.  They were married in July of 1943. 
  
• December 16, 1941. “…Ellie came home to dinner with me and then we went to work from here. Then Don and Ellie brought me home again.” I wonder if she also worked at the phone company.
  
• December 31, 1941. “I got up rather early this AM and went down to meet Ellie and Adele at the Paramount and saw Louisiana Purchase.  Wow was it good.”  Louisiana Purchase came out on this day, so it sounds like they went to the opening show of this Bob Hope movie.  I think I might have to add this one to my Netflix queue since I’ve actually never seen it before.

“Ellie Bergman” August 25, 1941.

She graduated from high school in June of 1941, so this is just a couple of months after that.  I don’t have many pics of her from this time period, so this is very special to me.

The other thing that excited me so much, was that she used the nickname “Ellie” – which is what we’ve always called my daughter Elizabeth.

Looking at this picture, I think that she might be wearing a nurse’s uniform under the jacket.  My mom has kept one of her old uniforms and it is  grayish blue and white striped (as far as I can remember).

Oh, and the resemblance to my mom is STRIKING!

Don’t you just love it when old pictures or documents find their way to you?  Have you had anything great fall into your lap recently??

He was only 39 when he died and he left behind a family that needed him.  I was very curious as to what his cause of death was.

Was it some work-related accident or perhaps an epidemic going through town? Nope.

I don’t speak Swedish, but between the help of some foreign friends and online translating, what I can came up with is this:

omöjligt (possible a different spelling since many of the spellings changed over the years) = impossible

förlamad, förlammat = paralyzed

starka drycker = strong drink

What does this mean when I put it all together?  I’m not exactly sure, but it looks like he became paralyzed from having drank too much.

Anyone have any different thoughts? Better yet, can you speak Swedish and correct me?

His death leaves a lot of questions for me.

He was a 39-year old man with 5 children and a pregnant wife.  What caused him to drink this much?

Was he sick?  Out of work?  Depressed? Did he have a nag for a wife?  Was he an alcoholic or was this a one-time episode of binge drinking?

I also wonder how his death changed the lives of those he left behind.  Did his wife have to find work?  His oldest son would have been 15 – did he have to support the family?

I have a lot of research to do on this branch of the family and I’m hoping that as I do that, I will be able to answer some of these questions.  The one thing holding me back right now is time.  I have to search page by page through the registers to find them in the household examinations and unlike many of my other Swedish ancestors, they actually lived in a city – and that means many more pages of searching.

MRS. EUGENIA V. BERGMAN

Mrs. Eugenia V. Bergman, 72, of 1505 W. 60th St., died in a hospital yesterday.

Funeral services will be held at 1 o’clock Monday in Mittelstadt’s Ballard chapel. Burial will be in Mount Pleasant.

Mrs. Bergman, born in Sweden, came here 45 years ago.  She was a charter member of Frihet Lodge, Order of Vasa.

Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Albert Rangwald,  Mrs. Gunnar Kollen, and Mrs. Eleanore Sanchez, and a son, Walden J. Bergman, all of Seattle; a sister, Mrs. Olga Klarstrom, Milton Mass., and 12 grandchildren.

And here is a picture of her with her grandchildren.

I believe that it was taken at Christmas, 1956.  That would have been 3 1/2 years before she died.

I wonder what she would think of me posting her grades for the world to see…

This is a picture of Elvy Bergman from the Seattle Times, August 6, 1934.  Her future husband, Gunnar Kollen, is also in this picture. 

Ever since seeing this picture of my grandma – Eleanore Sonia Bergman (she is the 4th girl from the left), I have been intrigued by St. Lucia Day.  I had actually never heard of it before and I initially wondered what on earth this was a picture of.  It didn’t take much web-searching before I found what I was looking for. Gotta love Google.  St. Lucia Day is a very popular occasion in Sweden, although not an actual holiday.

Eleanore’s parents were from Sweden, and they lived in the very Scandinavian neighborhood of Ballard in Seattle, WA. I am assuming that this picture was taken in the Ballard area. I never knew my grandmother to be religious, but perhaps she went to church growing up – or maybe this was done at a community center.  She was born in 1922, so I’m assuming that this picture was taken around 1940.  It’s hard for me to tell how old she is here, but they all look to be teenagers to me.

The picture is very typical of what I’ve seen online.  Girls in white dresses with wreaths on their heads and candles in their hands.  One girl chosen as St. Lucia with the candles on her head.  The only thing that I notice is “missing” are the red sashes that are typically worn around their waists.

The thing I find odd about the photo is the guys in the background with the funny hats.  They look like cooks or something. Were they selling hot dogs on the street and just came in for the picture?

After some more searching online, I found many videos of St. Lucia Day.  I think that just about everything has been You Tubed.

I noticed that the boys in the videos are wearing what looks like wizard hats.  Tall, pointy, with stars on them.  I guess that the guys in the above picture were simply wearing a version of that.

The song that they sing is absolutely beautiful.  I had heard it before, but hadn’t realized that it was sung on this particular day.

Isn’t it a beautiful tradition?  There is just something so calming about the music and the candles on one of the longest nights of the year.

Sorry I included so many videos, but I just couldn’t choose.  I will definitely be adding this song to my Christmas playlist.

Here is some information on St. Lucia Day in Sweden (from www.whychristmas.com):

Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia’s Day (or St. Lucy’s Day) on December 13th. The celebration comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden.

St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means ‘light’ so this is a very appropriate name.

December 13th was also the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the old Julian calendar and a pagan festival of lights in Sweden was turned into St. Lucia’s Day.

St. Lucia’s Day is now celebrated by a girl dressing in a white dress with a red sash round her waist and a crown of candles on her head. (Normally electric candles are used for safety!) The crown is made of Lingonberry branches which are evergreen and symbolise new life in winter. Schools normally have their own St. Lucias and some town and villages also choose a girl to play St. Lucia in a procession where carols are sung.

A national Lucia is also chosen. Lucias also visit hospitals and old people’s homes singing a song about St Lucia and handing out ‘Pepparkakor’, ginger snap biscuits.

Small children sometimes like dressing up as Lucia (with the help of their parents!). Also boys might dress up as ‘Stjärngossar’ (star boys) and girls might be ‘tärnor’ (like Lucia but without the candles).

A popular food eaten at St. Lucia’s day are ‘Lussekatts’, St Lucia’s day buns flavoured with saffron and dotted with raisins which are eaten for breakfast.

I would really like the opportunity to attend a St. Lucia Day ceremony. I wonder if any of the local Lutheran churches celebrate it.  I would much rather watch it in Sweden though.   Have any of you ever seen this ceremony before?

I remember there being some old cards amongst my Grandma Eleanore’s things. I think that my mom still has them. I will have to ask. I sure wish that I lived close to “home” so that it was easier to visit!

My Grandma Eleanore (or Grammy Eleanore as we called her) was a card person. I remember going to her house when I was a kid. She only lived about 20 minutes away from us, so we saw her often. She’d always have drawers and closets full of cards and wrapping paper. She loved the “Current” catalog and was constantly ordering things from it.

My mom usually sent cards out every year. I know that once I was old enough, I was recruited in Christmas card duty and would sit and write addressed out for her.

Even though things have changed dramatically in the past 30 years, I can’t bring myself to send nothing but an emailed Christmas card. I like them and they’re free, but there is something special about getting a REAL card in the REAL mail.

I mean really, who gets REAL mail anymore?

I have always tried to get cards out. Sometimes I procrastinate. Okay, I usually procrastinate. I send them though and I think that they make it before Christmas.

This year, I decided to make a photo card with our family on it. I took the picture myself. Gotta love digital cameras. I had it clicking ever 3 seconds and somehow managed to get everyone to look the same direction at least once!

Here is what is gracing the front of this year’s card:

I think that maybe I should read into how to use Photoshop a little better and maybe I can clean it up a bit.

It’s exciting to find each new generation though – often more exciting than filling in the blanks on some of the more recent ones.

As I have been filling out my DAR paperwork, I have realized that there are a lot of things that I “skipped” concerning my grandparents and great-grandparents.  The memories of my aunts and uncles are helpful, but they are not proof of my grandparents’ birth or marriage dates.

I have been busy remedying my early mistakes by ordering a slew of birth, death, and marriage certificates.

As I was reading the most recent issue of Family Tree Magazine, I was happy to have found the website of the Washington Digital Archives listed as one of the best state websites. I didn’t even know the website existed.

And I was even happier to have found a copy of my grandparents’ marriage certificate, scanned in, just waiting for me to find it.

Theirs wasn’t the only one either.  I was able to find the certificates for both of my grandmother’s sisters, too.

The birth and death records were also helpful, but there were not scanned images of them – for obvious reasons.

So, I have found yet another great resource to add to my genealogy “toolbox”.  My bookmark list is getting pretty long!!

I popped onto Ancestry for a minute and found this gem.  It’s my great-grandmother’s naturalization record – complete with picture!!

(This was one of MANY naturalization and emigration records I found tonight.)

Now I can go to bed and feel like I accomplished something (genealogically speaking) today.

It was neat to see that she was a “library clerk”

and an “auditorium clerk”.

I’m excited to do some more searching in this database to see what I might find!!

Eleanore Bergman and Donald Sanchez.

First with my hives.  Yuck.

Then we decided to hop in the van and take a little drive.  We went from Fairbanks to Valdez to Anchorage to Denali and back to Fairbanks again.  Over 1,000 miles. In 2 days.  It was a gorgeous drive with beautiful scenery.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many mountains in my life.  Everywhere we turned, there were more. Here is Denali (aka Mt. McKinley) which is impressively humongous.

And do you know what?  I still managed to get some genealogy done.  Because I’m sneaky like that.

While we were in Anchorage, we stopped at Ft. Richardson to get something at the PX.

And I managed to talk my husband into stopping at the National Cemetery on Post.  I knew that my mom’s Uncle “Red” Walden Bergman was buried there, along with his wife June.  He was stationed up here while he was in the Army and he ended up staying. This is the only picture that I have of him.  I never knew him, because he died when I was 2.

I was worried that it was going to be hard to find the gravestone, but I was pleasantly surprised.

They had a book outside, full of all the names of the people buried there, with sections and grave numbers listed.  If only every cemetery was as organized!

Here is his gravestone: