This week has been a fun week spent with family....
Tuesday my sister came down from the cities to spend the day with me and dad.
We wanted to go with dad to see the places of his childhood. We saw many old homesteads, (or what's left of them), we visited the house he and his twin brother were born in. We visited many churches and cemeteries to see family plots from the past. We learned some history from the years gone by and found it facinating to hear dad's stories of his "growing up years"
~~~
We started in Rushford MN
Its where my great great grandfather Eric Madson
started working when he came over from Norway.
The old wagon factory.
Eric's son, Anton (my Great-gradfather) also worked here. He changed his name to Anton "Eric"son, because he was eric's son....I guess that was common practice. So thats where my maiden name came from.... ERICKSON
While in Rushford we stopped in at the lefse factory to watch the production.
I've made lefse at home and it don't get it done quite this fast & perfect.
"not only am I PERFECT.... I'm Norwegian too".
Jodi and I are 1/2 Norwegian, dad's full-blooded
~~~
Next stop....Henry town cemetery
My Grandpa & Grandma Erickson
Great-grandparents
Thought this was one of the cooest headstones....ever (no relation)
~~~
Ever heard of a state farm or poor house,
well this was one of them
It's A farm that houses, supports, and employs the poor at public expense.
...and when those folks died....
they were buried here with only a #number on a tiny stone.
~
Then we came to this old amish farm...The people who live here all know my dad
The old amish lady sitting at the kitchen table points over to a near corner and says...
"the twins were born right over there"
the twins were my dad and his brother.
~~~
This little one lives here now. I wonder if she was born in this house too.
~~~
it's a beautiful church
with REAL wooden pews....remember those ?
***
The road to my grandpa's old farmstead...
..or what's left of it. My grandpa actually built this windmill
Looking across the field from the farm to this little country school,
Dad only attended here a few years.
The old creamery that my dad hauled milk cans into after milking their cows.
***
The southfork church, my sister and I remembered being here when we were little...
we had a picnic here...I remember :)
Favorite picture,
it was fun visiting with the amish family, they are very hospitable and seemed to enjoy having visitors.
It was a great day to spend with dad, he had many great stories to share.
He even showed us the l-o-n-g downhill 2 1/2 mile road he had to walk to school each morning, he really did have to walk 2 1/2 miles....that's not just a story
That's so cool Mom! I bet that was a lot of fun. It's amazing how much has changed since Grandpa was little. I love the pics and the fact that the old Amish lady said, "the twins were born right there" crazy! I'm sure that was so special to be able to share all of that with you and Jodi.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures Jackie.
ReplyDelete