Here are the two letters in their entirety exactly as I received them.
August 15
Dear Steve and Val,
First I would like to say how sorry we were to miss your wedding. It would have been too much travelling. As it was, we by-passed our usual trip to Oregon to visit Barbara’s family. Even so Grandma had to spend one day in bed on the way up here. She is progressing nicely now and is gaining some strength back.
About the family history. My brother Bill has done some research and I believe there is a resume at home. When we get back, I will have a copy made and send it to you, together with other information that I think will be of value.
Both my father and mother were born in Sweden and came to this country when about 4 or 5 years of age.
My father’s name was Olson. It seems that there were too many Olsens in the area where they settled so my Grand Dad had the name changed to Sather. I do not know why he chose a Norwegian name.
I never knew either of my Grand Fathers as they died relatively young. Times were hard and they had to leave the farms in the winter and join logging crews in the North woods.
Sorry about the poor writing. I have relied upon my typewriter too much.
Best of luck to both of you and someday we hope to get acquainted with you Val.
Love,
Grandad.
October 9, 1984
Dear Steve and Val,
At long last I am going to try and give you some of the family information that you requested. I am sorry that I cannot give many of the dates and other vital information that you requested. However, I will try and give you some information from memory. My brother Bill has done some research and I am inclosing a copy of some of his data that he sent me.
Presumably my Grandparents came to this country hoping for a better life. Fortunately they could not anticipate the many hardships that followed, otherwise you and I would not be here.
Both my father and mother had very little formal schooling, about four or five grades. They being the eldest children had to go to work at an early age to help support the family.
My father had three brothers, Samuel, a baker, lived in Duluth, Minnesota, had six or seven children of which I have no knowledge as to names or whereabouts. Julius, a carpenter, never married, died relatively young of T.B. William, a dentist, lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, had one daughter who married and probably still lives there. There were four sisters, Emma, married to a Minister, no children, Saide, never married, Lena Sampson, Two children who never married and are now deceased, Bertha Hendrickson, four children, Myrtle, Alice, Roy and Theron. Whereabouts unknown.
Both of my Grandfathers died relatively young and I never knew them. My Fathers mother visited us only a few brief times. She was a small woman, whom we knew as “Little Grandma.”
My father was born in 1877 and died in 1953.
My mother was born in 1879 and died in 1957.
She had one sister, Mabel Gatzmer, still living in Minneapolis, age 91.
Four brothers, John, Charles, Frank and Edwin, all deceased. No dates.
I will not attempt to give you the names and whereabouts of their children as it probably would not be accurate.
My Grandmother, Charlotte Anderson, lived next door to us in Annandale and I knew her well. She supported her family to the best of her ability by taking in washing, all of which was done by hand. She was very religious and read her bible faithfully. She was 98 years old when she died. Your Dad will remember her.
Your Grandmother, Gertrude, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Oct. 12, 1904. Her mother, Caroline Kienzle was born in Wurttenberg Germany, October 23, 1870. Her Father, Emil Friend was born in Memphis, Tennessee, September 7, 1870. He died in September 1932.
When Gertrude was about two years old, her Mother, knowing that she had a terminal illness, wished to visit her family who then lived in Berlin. She never reached Berlin but died in Hamburg. Emil Friend then returned home and established residence in Minneapolis. The children lived with an Aunt and Uncle in Berlin until Emil Friend could save enough money to bring them home. That was about two and a half years later.
There were four children, Ernest, charlotte, Meta and Gertrude.
Ernest had two children, Larry and Caroline. Your Dad knows Larry who is also an electrical engineer. He is now divorced and living somewhere in California. Once He and his son sailed their own boat across the Pacific to Hawaii.
Emil Friend remarried and two sons were born of this marriage. Edwin Friend, now retired, and living in Crystal, Minnesota. Lloyd Friend, also retired and living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I have just been informed that I made an error in saying that the Kienzle famly lived in Berlin. Actually they lived in Bechberg, Austria. Gertrude was baptized in Klagenfurt, Austria which is about 25 miles from Bechberg. The Aunts and Uncles, with whom the children stayed, lived in Berlin. Gertrude’s Grandfather operated a paper mill in Bechberg.
Ernest Friend was General Secretary of the Y.M.C.A. in Milwaukee. After he retired his wife and he took their car to Europe and after much difficulty located the towns of Bechberg and Klagenfurt. They were in Florence, Italy when the city was devastated by floods. They were in their hotel for two days without food or water, lost most of their belongings, including their car. As a result Ernest had a heart attack, was hospitalized in Paris where he suffered another more severe heart attack. He was invalided home he later died. His wife, Helen, now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
I forgot to mention what my Dad did for a living. For many years he owned and operated a feed mill. Shortly after world war 1 he sold the mill and purchased a movie theater which he operated until his retirement.
It is now Nov. 9th just one month since I started this letter. There were many documents to uncover, especially on your Grandmother’s side, all of which were in German which neither of us could read accurately. Also many times I have thought of re-writing this letter so that it would be in better order. However, I am sending it “as is.”
About anecdotes. My Dad had a cousin, Ole Olson Nyren, better known as “Big Ole.” He lived on Clearwater Lake, worked as a fishing guide during the summer and did some moonshining. He was a big powerful man. On occasions he would come to town, get drunk and land in jail. Each time the local constabulary would rush to get my Dad to go bail for him before he could wreck the jail. Healthwise he did everything wrong but still lived until he was about 86.
This letter is a jumbled mess but the best I can do.
Much love from your befuddled Grandad.
Grand Dad Sather
In re-reading these letters, I am awed by the harshness and the humor of life. My Grandfather's statement:
Presumably my Grandparents came to this country hoping for a better life. Fortunately they could not anticipate the many hardships that followed, otherwise you and I would not be here.
is stark in its honesty. The story of a grandmother who was left in Germany for several years after her mother died and her father could not raise enough money to bring the children home is sad. So is the story of my great-great-grandfathers who left the farms to work in the logging camps and died young.
On the other hand, the story of a great-great-grandfather who adopted a Norwegian name despite being Swedish for reasons unknown to my grandfather is humorous. (The mystery was solved many years later. Nils Olsson, my great-great-grandfather, came from a region in Sweden near a mountain called Saterbergen. Saterbergen became Sather, which means shepherd in Norwegian). Also, the story of Big Ole, the moonshiner who had to be bailed out before he could break the jail certainly puts my formerly wild brother Dave to shame.
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