I
wanted to start this post with my parents but so much of who they were
came from their parents so I decided to go up a generation. It helps to
understand where they came from.
My maternal grandparents were William James Anderson and Mary Jeanette Hanson. I originally started my genealogy journey with my grandfather's history in mind as I never met anyone from his family. I knew all of my maternal grandmother's family, but my grandfather's family lived in Port Huron, Michigan and he was estranged from them when I was growing up. He and my grandmother, Mary Hanson were married from 1931 until his death in 1976. Although I knew my grandfather for the first 18 years of my life, he did not interact with us kids much and stayed in his room more in his later years. A few years ago one of my mother's cousins commented that he remembered my grandfather early on being 'one of the guys' as he had 4 brother-in-laws and I assume he wanted to fit into my grandmother's big family. He went on to say that as the years went by my grandfather became more reclusive and didn't want to be photographed. I have no photos of him with me or any of my cousins. Since I've been doing genealogy I've been able to uncover more of his life & family in my research but sadly will never fully 'know' him.
Ontario, Canada, the first child of James E. and Sarah Hager Anderson. Bill's father James was also born in Ontario, to Irish & Scottish immigrants; George and Sarah Mills Anderson. Bill's father James was a carpenter, and his grandfather George a ships carpenter. This skill was passed down to my grandfather as he was also a carpenter and my grandmother recorded the different items he would build for the family; a swingset, a cradle, etc.
My grandmother, Mary Hanson was born July 6, 1908 in Open Meadows, Chautauqua County, New York to Ernest Julius and Ruth Dickson Hanson. Her father Ernest was born in Tåssjö, Kristianstad, Sweden and emigrated to the US when he as 18 years old. Her mother, Ruth Dickson was the only child of Harvey and Orilla Matson Dickson whose farm my grandmother grew up on. The farm belonged to my great grandmother's grandfather Henry Dickson who moved to Chautauqua County in That farm would be in our family for over 200 years.
This
is cropped from the photo above. Pictured are my great grandmother,
great great grandmother and the first 5 children of Ruth & Ernest
Hanson. My grandmother was the second of 7 children, with the first 5
being all girls; Gerda (b. 1907), Mary (b. 1908), Orilla (b. 1910),
Hilda (b. 1912), and Hilda (b. 1914). How my great grandfather must have
despaired thinking he was never getting a son! He was soon rewarded
with 2 sons, Ernest (b. 1918) and Franklin (b. 1930-surprise!).
L-R: Fido the dog, Orilla Hanson, Ruth Dickson Hanson holding daughter Mabel, Gerda Hanson, Ruth's mother Orilla Matson Dickson holding Hilda Hanson and my grandmother Mary Hanson.
The next photo was taken when my grandmother was a young woman and likely around the time she and Bill were married in 1931. My grandmother only attended school until the 8th grade and worked manual labor the rest of her life as a maid, in childcare or in restaurants. She was very industrious, a very good cook, seamstress, and knitter. She always had yarn and needles or a crochet hook in her hand when she was sitting down to 'keep her hands busy'. She would knit mittens and hats to give away to those less fortunate for many, many years. Lucky for me, she kept a diary from the 1920s until just before her death on Jan. 1, 1999 and while most entries were short, they provide a ton of information about our family and her life over those 70 years.
