Swedish blacksmiths find work in Moline, Illinois. The JOHN DEERE factory

"In 1870, Swedes were the largest ethnic group in Moline, at nearly 50% of the population. John Deere located its plow factory in Moline in 1847 and many Swedish immigrants came to the Quad Cities for this manufacturing work. In fact, many blacksmiths were recruited from Sweden to come work in Moline. The railroad came to Moline in 1854 and legend states that the conductor would yell “John Deere” as the train pulled into Moline so the immigrants knew they were in the right place."*

In 1906 Richard Kallman, my grandfather, was an 18 year old blacksmith who left Sweden with the lure of jobs and a bright future in America, The 1910 US Census says he was working in the plow factory in Moline. Here in Moline he met my grandmother, Lydia Abrahamson. Lydia's sister Ruth would meet and marry Andrew Soderstrom in Moline, where he also worked at the plow factory.

*AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center > 

  Swenson Center Exhibits - Permanent  Exhibit: Swedish Immigration to North America

  https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonexhibits_permanentexhibit/

*** right click on and enlarge newspaper article on your computer for easier, and interesting, reading***

My grandfather Richard's adventure in steerage, 1906

In 1906 my grandfather Richard, a poor blacksmith, immigrated to the states from Sweden on the steamship Ivernia. His family arrived, as many did through "chain immigration". His older brother Patrik was the first to arrive in 1901, sister Olga arrived in 1902, sister Sarona arrived in 1904 and it was she who purchased a  "steerage" ticket for her younger brother Rikard to follow.

"Steerage passengers were herded below decks like cattle. Large rooms were set apart for the sexes and married couples, and as many as forty and fifty persons slept in one room. The companies furnished only the bare berth and food and each passenger had to purchase a straw mattress, a tin dish, cup and knife and fork before leaving the docks. The mattress was thrown overboard at the end of the trip. When meal time came a large cauldron was brought into the dining room and the hungry immigrants turned in and helped themselves. Hunks of bread were thrown down beside the cauldron and in the scramble for food there were frequent desperate fights between the passengers."*

After 1907 conditions for the steerage passenger did substantially improve with the carriers now refering to not "steerage" but "third class" passengers. 

It would seem that my grandmother, arriving in the U.S. in 1909 would have a much better if not even a pleasant trip. Her more affluent family bought her a second-class cabin ticket, also on the Ivernia.

*The above quote is from the historical website Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives, Adventures in the Steerage 1906. Do read the entire post HERE to fully understand and appreciate the experience of my grandfather Richard.

Death of Grandpa Kallman

 On this date in 1968 my paternal grandfather, Richard Severin Kallman, died.

I grew up in a neighborhood with a significant Jewish population. At a young age I noticed how some Jewish contemporaries had no grandparents. In fact they had no extended family at all as their parents had been Holocaust survivors. Perhaps the only survivors of their family.

My grandpa Kallman was the first of my grandparents to pass on. I was already in high school. I was almost 40 when I lost my last grandparent. I had Uncles, Aunts, cousins in the Chicago area, throughout the U.S. and in Europe, in spite of WWII, I had loads of more relatives.

I feel very fortunate/lucky/blessed, however you may describe it.

my paternal Grandfather
Richard Severin Kallman

b. October 3, 1887 Hällestad, Östergötland, Sweden
d. August 28, 1968 Chicago, Cook, Illinois,  U.S.A.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #36: "Tradesman" - Richard Severin Kallman

 Prompt #36 (Sep 3 - Sep 9): "Tradesman"- Richard Severin Kallman

Second from the right is my grandfather, Richard Severin Kallman 1887-1968, with his work buddies. My Dad Melvin had told me he was a "body and fender man". When coming from Sweden he stated he was a blacksmith and in the 1910 census he was working as a blacksmith in a wagon wheel factory. Well, times were certainly changing and luckily his smith skills were of value in the exploding auto industry. I wish I could see the car the fellows are posing in front of better but from the rounded top and the apparent age of grandpa I am guessing this photo was taken in the early thirties.

 From Amy Johnson Crow, a genealogist, far more experienced then I. "The data that we've accumulated in our genealogy software and in our binders and folders doesn't do a whole lot of good just sitting there. We need to do something with it." Each week she sends out a prompt to share a bit about an ancestor, collateral relative, or family friend.

1950 Census - Richard and Lydia Kallman

 In the 1950 census my grandparents, Richard and Lydia Kallman, are living on the second floor of 4512 N. Seeley in Chicago. Four of their children, including my father, are now married. Daughter Ebba alone lives with them. Richard is unable to work. At the age of 63 his rheumatoid arthritis is already well advanced. They have a lodger, an unmarried male to help pay the rent. This was a common practice, a holdover from "Great Depression" days.

Line #20 - Kallman, Richard, Head, White, Male, 62 yrs old, married, born in Sweden, citizen, unable to work 

 Line #21 - , Lydia, Wife, White, Female, 60 married, born in Sweden, citizen, at home, not employed or seeking work

Line #22 - Ebba Rebecka, daughter, White, Female, 30, never married, born in Illinois, working 40 hrs last week, clerk, cleaning co., living in same house last year, both parents born in Sweden, attended and finished 12th grade, worked 52 weeks last year, earned 2500 last year

135 years ago today

 My grandfather was born on this day, October 3, 1887.  Born in Hällestad, Östergötland, Sweden, I do not know if his birth was met with joy or worry. His family was in grinding poverty and he was the 5th of what would be 6 children to feed and raise. His mother died when he was just eleven and not long after he worked with his father in the iron factory. Both of his parents died of Tuberculosis as did an older brother. Rikard was lucky enough to escape that illness and with the help of siblings who had gone before, he emigrated to the United States in 1906.

Richard Severin Kallman

b. October 3, 1887 Hällestad, Östergøtland, Sweden

d. August 28, 1968 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

   vila i frid Grandpa Kallman,

1930 US Census - The Kallman Family - Chicago

 In the 1930 US census we see my grandparent's family complete. They own a home at 3215 74th St. in Chicago. I tried to find it on Google maps but it seems streets 74th through 76th are no longer (at that west Kedsie ave.intersection). A railroad passover was build in their stead. Oh well, I think it was highly unlikely that the original building would be standing anyway.

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

line 25: Richard Kallman, head of household, owns home, worth $6,000, owns a radio*, not a farm, male, white, age 40, married, 23 at age of marriage, not attending school, can read and write, born in Sweden, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, Swedish spoke in country of birth, immigrated in 1907, Naturalized citizen, able to speak English, Mechanic in auto repair shop, working presently, not a veteran

line 26:  Lydia Kallman, wife, female, white, age 40, married, 21 at age of marriage, not in school, can read and write, born in Sweden, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, Swedish spoken in country of birth, immigrated in 1909, Alien, able to speak English, no occupation

line 27:  Alvin R Kallman, Son, male, white, age 18, single, not in school, can speak English, born in Iowa, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, no occupation

line 28:  Eva D L Kallman, daughter, female, white, age 15, single, in school, can speak English, born in Illinois, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, able to speak English, no occupation

line 29:  Melvin C Kallman, son, male, white, single, age 13, in school, able to speak English, born in Illinois, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, no occupation

line 30: Ebba R Kallman, daughter, female, white, age 10, single, in school, able to speak English, born in Illinois, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, no occupation

line 31: LaVerne E R Kallman, daughter, female, white, age 7, single, in school, able to speak English, born in Illinois, father born in Sweden, mother born in Sweden, no occupation

It is marked that grandma Lydia answered the questions for the census taker. I guess that the census taker was not Swedish as he misunderstood my uncle's name as Alvin not Albin.  Albin is the more common name in Sweden. Although not in school Albin is not working. Indicative of the Great Depression? My brother once told me that Uncle Albin had told him that without work in Chicago he hopped a freight to California to seek his fortune.

*A question of interest in the 1930 census is "does the family own a radio?". An indication of how well or up to date/modern Americans were in 1930?

A photo of the Kallman family around this time

1890 Swedish Census - The family of great grandfather Karl Teodor Källman

Living on Grytgol in Hellestads, Östergötlands, Sweden

In this 1890 census the Källman family is complete with daughter Tekla being born the year before. By the next census in 1900 mother Klara Sofia will be gone. She died of Tuberculosis in 1898. Karl is listed as an arbetare or laborer. In 1901 surnames became compulsory in Sweden. The family dropped the patronymic Andersson and solely used the name Källman.

    Karl Teodor Andersson Källman arbetare born: 1853 in Tjällmo, Östergötlands 

    wife: Klara Sofia Bergvall born: 1854 in Lerbäck, Örebro

    son: Håkan Patrik born 1880 in Hellestads, Östergötlands

    son: Karl Botvid born 1883 in Hellestads, Östergötlands

    son: Richard Severin born 1887 in Hellestads, Östergötlands

    daughter: Sarona Rebecak born 1878 in Tjällmo, Östergötlands

    daughter: Olga Eufemia born 1885 in Hellestads, Östergötlands

    daughter: Tekla Eugenia born 1889 in Hellestads, Östergötlands

***accessed through the Riksarkivet SVAR-Svensk arkivinformation (Swedish Archives)
https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/Folk_905090-056#?c=&m=&s=&cv=55&xywh=-940%2C-76%2C2678%2C1501

Grandpa and Grandma Kallman

 I was luckier than most. I had all four of my grandparents well into my high school years and three of my grandparents did not pass until I was an adult. Here is a photo of my paternal grandparents Richard and Lydia perhaps a year before Grandpa Kallman passed on. I remember him being a bit grumpy that my father made them pose for this picture. I am glad he did.

My Paternal Grandparents

Richard Severin Kallman

b. October 3, 1887 Hällestad, Östergötland, Sweden

d. 28 August 1968 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

Lydia Abrahamson Kallman

b. 25 February 1890 Östra Frölunda, Älvsborg, Sweden

d. 23 April 1978 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

† Peace over their memory

Body and Fender Man - Richard Severin Kallman

 

I am a little confused here. I know my father often said that my grandfather Richard Kallman was a "body and fender man". but I never recall my dad speaking of grandpa owning his own business. Yet here is. This is definitely grandma and grandpa posing in front of a large sign reading "Kallman and Sons Body and Fender Shop"? And sons indicates both my Dad and Uncle Albin were involved but funny it was never mentioned, to me anyway By the 1940 census the family was out on a farm in Lake Zurich and Albin was married so I date this photo to the 30's?

Any of you cousins have any input or thoughts on this business?

     Just wondering,

110 Years Ago

Rock Island, Illinois, Wednesday May 10, 1911, 8pm
My grandparents Richard Kallman and Lydia Abrahamson were married. 
My grandfather had come from Sweden in 1906, my grandmother in 1909.

KALLMAN-ABRAHAMSON

The home of Dr. L.G. Abrahamson, 4216 Eighth avenue was the scene of a pretty home wedding Wednesday evening when Miss Lidia Abrahamson, cousin of Dr. Abrahamson, became the bride of Richard Kallman of Moline. The simple but impressive ring ceremony was performed at 8 o'clock by Dr. Abrahamson. The bride's aunt, Mrs. Abrahamson, giving her away. The attendants were the bride's cousin, Miss Florinda Abrahamson and Miss Kallman, the bridegroom's sister, and F. Beckstrom and G. Samuelson. The bride was charming in a gown of white embroidered mull. She wore a bridal veil and carried a shower bouquet of bride roses. The bridesmaids were gowned in pretty white robes and carried pink carnations. The house was decorated in green and pink and the ceremony was performed in the parlor before a bank of palms. After congratulations a wedding dinner was served. The young couple will make their home in Moline upon return from a short wedding trip.

Introducing my Chicago family, just as I remember them.

This is one of, if not THE, favorite picture of my family in Chicago. I found this in a box of slides and converted it to digital format. It was taken the year I was born in 1952. The occasion was my father's 36th birthday in August. Why the favorite picture? They are all there! All four of my grandparents and my aunts and uncles, just as I remember them. Missing is my Dad's older brother Albin. He and his family moved to California in the `40's and I maybe only saw them a few times growing up. But the rest are there and they look just as I remember.

Let me introduce you to my family, as I remember them, of course!

left to right

standing: 

• My grandpa Kallman. See his lips? Well, that is the biggest smile you would ever get from him. He was sort of a tough and stern old Swede, those crossed arms say it all. His favorite saying? Tyst meg dig! (Be quiet!) as he pounded his cane on the floor. To be fair, he did have a rather tough life and was quite crippled with arthritis at a young age. To me he didn't seem to care for much...except his snus...chewing tobacco tucked into his lower lip which seemed to constantly dribble from the corner of his mouth.

•My favorite uncle, Uncle Arnold. Always happy and laughing with red hair as bright and curly as mine. My mom's older brother, grandma's favorite, he worried our religious family with his chain smoking and love of a nip now and again. When he gave you one of his big hugs, oddly enough, it made me happy to breathe deeply that faint smell of smoke that clung to his collar. 

•Tall fellow in the middle? Uncle Howard. He always seemed as he looks here. A little uncomfortable as he quietly walked around observing, never saying much, just "ummm" now and again. Almost like he was thinking "who are these people and how did I get hooked up with them?". A straight-up dependable guy.

•Uncle Bill. A burly, swaggering Irishman. Loud, fun, vocal, outgoing and straightforward. Exactly what our tightly wound Scandinavian family needed, whether they knew it or not. He would chase me, grab me in a headlock and give my head a knuckle rub. "It's good luck to rub a red head and I need some good luck". I loved him. 

•My Grandpa Sevald. Kind, honest, loving and generous. Short and bandy legged...he could tap dance! He adored my grandmother. His right arm no doubt is draped across her back so he could give her a little klappa (pat) now and again.

seated:

•Aunt Ebba. She never married nor left Grandma and Grandpa to have a life of her own. Or any life really in my opinion. She didn't work, I don't think she ever did. She spent her time at the Salvation Army and playing religious hymns on the piano. To me things just didn't seem right about her. She had a big box under her bed where she had many many notebooks where she kept daily diaries. But of what? I never saw her actually DO anything. After she died the box was tossed. I often wonder now... what was in those diaries?

•Aunt Laverne. She was the youngest and the prettiest. Never overweight, her hair always done nicely and makeup on. My favorite of the aunts, she was gentle, kind, dependable and forgiving of everyone. She seemed to always have a look of wide-eyed wonder on her. She saw the positive side of everything.

•My grandma Kallman. She always seemed grey, elderly and crippled to me. Always wincing in pain but she never did complain. Family, close and remote speak well of her but I never really knew her at all. I regret that now.

•My grandma Sevald. I spent loads of time with her. They never lived far away and my mom was ill a lot so I remember my grandmother coming and caring for us quite often. A devout Christian, she lived it. She didn't just pray for you, she worked beside you and for you. She could be feisty, opinionated and strong willed but she was dependable, a rock that could weather any storm. You never worried because whatever happened you knew that grandma would always know what to do. She would "make a plan". All would be well.

•Aunt Eva. I think she was my Dad's favorite. She had the same goofy sense of humor as he. She was a lot of fun. No putting on airs with her. See her bit of a buck tooth grin? I remember when she had to get false teeth she asked them to please make them overlap a little so my friends recognize me!

Up front:

 My Dad the birthday boy. He just loved everyone getting together and laughing so I am sure it was his prompting to get a picture of the whole gang.

A few of the cousins have already been born and are pictured here (Karen, Marilyn, Rita and Robert) in 1952 but where am I? At four months, probably napping or beside my Mom who no doubt is the one taking the photo.

Good job Mom! You caught them all, just as I remember them!

“How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but—mainly—to ourselves.” 

― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

1936 The Kallman Family

Another photo of the Kallman Family taken about 1936. This was also in my brother's family album, newly discovered while I visited him this summer.

 Below is a photo in my possession, obviously taken at the same time with the family members arranged a bit differently. I believe I like the top version better.  Those on the couch look a bit squished but it's a better likeness of my Dad, Melvin.

Looks like poor Aunt Eva was the only one who never got a chance to sit! Unless there is a third version out there somewhere?

Thanks to my brother for sharing,

1961 The Kallman Family

I visited my brother this past week in Fort Worth Texas and came across this photo I had never before seen in an album of his. "I thought you had a copy of this", he said. I did not and was pleased to get this photo of my grandparents and their adult children. I could be wrong but I believe this photo was taken on the occasion of Richard and Lydia's 50th anniversary. I was only 9 at the time but I feel confident that I recognized her dress as the one she wore to the party given for them.

1961 Chicago, Illinois
top row - Melvin, Ebba, Eva and Laverne - bottom row - Albin, Lydia and Richard

Grandpa looks a bit grumpy doesn't he? Just as I remember him!

The end of a dream - Richard Kallman

For my grandfather Richard, the dream was to have a farm. Back in Sweden, one of the main "pulls" bringing men to America was the possibility of owning land. Swedish farms were small and families were large. Only the oldest son inherited the family farm. The later sons were out of luck. Their only future was working anothers farm as a field hand, the military or merchant marines, going down into the mines or the long hard dirty hours of factory work.

My grandfather Richard was also forever working on his "inventions". Looked like some type of farm equipment. I remember one he called the "plowmaster". Hate to tell you grandpa but I think that's a combine and Cyrus McCormick beat you to it.

He was finally able to farm but that dream was short lived. Why? Perhaps his health, the depression economy, his children growing up and moving on to their own lives?...nothing worked in his favor. The farm and all it held went up for auction.

Grandpa Richard with Grandma Lydia and their two youngest daughters returned to Chicago. Their youngest son, my Dad? World War II was already raging overseas and in just a few months he would be off to Europe.

Rikard Severin Källman

This month marks 130 years since my grandfather was born. 

Rikard Severin Källman was born October 3 1887 in the foundry town of Grytgol, Sweden. He was the fourth child of seven born to a poor wire factory worker. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was ten. At 18 he worked his way to Gothenburg where he boarded the boat "Ariosto" to travel to Hull, England. At Hull he boarded the train packed with other immigrants which took him to the Liverpool wharf. His older sister Sarona, who had gone to America in 1904, had bought him a steerage ticket on the "Ivernia", destination America. Life must have been pretty hard for him in Sweden because he never returned and I don't think he ever looked back. Maybe the only positive thing a poor and dirty town of foundries and wire factories gave him was black smith skills. Those same skills he had heard were welcome in the large growing industrial cities of America.  Cities like Chicago.

my paternal grandfather

Rikard Severin Källman

b: 03 October 1887 Grytgol, Hällestad, Östergötland, Sweden

d: 28 August 1968 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

His eyes were the lightest blue....just like my Dad.

Grandpa Richard Kallman = snus

If I had only one word to describe what I remember about my grandfather the word would be snus. Seal brand Snus. That is what I remember about him. He seemed to forever have a scowl on his face and a frown. A frown with a little dribble of tobacco slipping out of the corner of his mouth.  I don't ever recall seeing him smile or laugh. Sitting with his arthritic hands curled around his cane with a growl he would bang his cane on the floor and holler "SNUS"!!! Grandma would painfully get up (she too was very arthritic) and fetch his snus. I remember once her crying silently over his demands. One summer he sat on our back porch. My grandmother, mother and aunt were inside in the kitchen. As my cousin and I were coming up the stairs he reached out and grabbed my cousin. "you two go to the store and buy Seal brand snus". We tried to explain to him that they would not sell tobacco to kids and he proceeded to  swing his cane at my cousin. I ran into the kitchen hollering for my Aunt and Mom. "Grandpa is hitting Robert with his cane." Funny, I remember it like yesterday because to me it epitomized the type of man my grandfather was yet my cousin has no memory of the event. Seal brand snus is what he always used, tucked under his lip making little sucking sounds. Sorry to say, I did not like the man.

These past years as I have looked into my family history my thoughts of the man have softened considerably. Or is it my own advancing age?  Here is what I now think about that crippled crabby old man with the snus dribbling out of his mouth.

I belong to a facebook group with a focus on Swedish genealogy. We in America are searching for our Swedish ancestry. Those in Sweden are looking for family in America. I have numerous times seen a post by a Swede, most likely my age, looking for their grandfather. Leaving a hard life he scraped together the money for a ticket to America with the promise to send for the wife and family he left behind. But he never did and their genealogical research now shows he married again leaving  a wife and children forever in poverty. Grandpa Richard came to America for a better life and although it certainly was better it was also tough. He lived in a time of two world wars and the Great Depression.  Hard times in America and one business venture after another failed.  I heard he often had to pack and leave his home in the middle of the night as he did not have the rent money. But he always took his wife and children with him. His children loved him. I remembered my Aunt crying uncontrollably at his funeral. My father named his son after him. He was a good father. An older cousin remembers him fondly as the one who took her out for driving lessons. I now have photos of him as a younger man, healthy and full of hope and smiling. The crippling arthritis he suffered? There were none of the drugs then that are available today. By the time I came along life had beat him down, he was old and severely crippled, in pain with rheumatoid arthritis. And he just wanted his snus.

Who was I to judge him? I who was born in a very different time and place to a much easier life? How bad a man could he have been to produce such a good man as my Dad? Seal brand snus? Even today snus is a very popular Swedish habit. Heck grandpa, if that is what made things tolerable for you? You go right ahead.We owe you that.....and more.....much much more.

my grandfather

Richard Severin Kallman 

b. 3 October 1887 Grytgòl, Hällestad, Östergötland, Sweden

d. 28 August 1968 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

1920 US Census - Richard Kallman Family - Chicago

1920 The Richard Kallman Family has left the quad city area and is now living in Chicago, where they will remain.

• 3056 Clifton Avenue - the family is renting 

• Richard, head of household, white, age 32, immigrated in 1906, pending naturalization, can read and write, born in Sweden as were both parents, occupation blacksmith, working in a wagonshop.

• Lydia, wife, white, age 29, immigrated in 1892, alien, can read and write, born in Sweden as were both parents, occupation none

• Albin R, son, white, age 7, attending school, born in Iowa, both parents born in Sweden

• Eva L.D.,daughter, white, age 4 4/12, not yet in school. born in Illinois, both parents born in Sweden

• Carl M., son, white, age 3 4/12, born in Illinois, both parents born in Sweden

Noted: 

• The family is living in Lakeview which at this time was a predominantly Swedish immigrant area. Most of the adults on this page are foreign born. Today this is an upscale and expensive part of Chicago.

• Richard's job in a wagonshop will be soon no longer exist with the coming of the model T Ford and cars being made possible for the working man. He will soon translate his blacksmith skills into doing body and fender work on cars.

• 1892 is the incorrect year of immigration for Lydia (1911)

• Carl M is my Dad Melvin, who always went by middle name Melvin

• daughters Ebba and Laverne are not yet born although Ebba was born just 5 days after this census.

On a personal note, my Dad once told me that he could not speak English until he started school

*click on record to enlarge for easier viewing*

The Kallman Smile

Chicago, Illinois - The Kallman Family
Laverne, Eva, Melvin, Richard, Albin, Lydia & Ebba

 This is one of my favorite photos of my Kallman grandparents and their children. It is just a small snapshot so it unfortunately doesn't enlarge clearly but it shows the nature of the family. I am dating this the late 1930's, the midst of the Great Depression. It was a very hard and uncertain time in the world. The family had been through one world war and was about to enter another. They had financial difficulties, health issues and no doubt family troubles of all sorts. But don't they look happy together?  This season I am most thankful for the legacy of descending from stable, loving, godly, happy people. People who never forgot how to smile.

Happy Thanksgiving!

World War I began on this day, July 28

On this day, July 28 in 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This was the beginning of WWI. The U.S. had hoped to remain neutral but that was not to be and in April of  1917 we entered the war. My grandfather, my great uncles and their contemporaries were required to register for the draft in 1917. My great uncle Andrew Soderstrom and my great uncle Richard Peterson were called to serve. The rest were luckily not called but World War I draft enlistment records still exist that tell us a bit about our ancestors and who they were, what they were doing and what their family situation was at the time.

my great uncle Hugo Henry Alvine was born in 1875. In 1917 he was married to my great aunt Sarona Kallman and they had 2 boys. He was already 41 so not likely to be drafted. I learned from this registration that he was medium height and build with blue eyes and light hair. He lived in Chicago, Illinois and worked for Marshall Field as a clerk.

My great uncle Richard Reinhold Peterson was born in 1892. 1917 found him unmarried and only 25, primo for drafting. Uncle Richard served in France and before discharge was given his citizenship. Richard was a Chicago chauffeur of medium height and build, with blue eyes and light hair. He had the good sense to marry great aunt Tekla Kallman before he went in to the Army.

My great uncle Uno Markus Palm was born in 1883. At 34 and married to my great aunt Olga Kallman, he wasn't chosen to serve. He was a tall, medium built man with blue eyes and light hair. He filed first in California and registered in Alaska where he said he was a miner. His wife was in Washington state. I don't know much about this fellow. Seems he was a bit shifty. Aunt Olga had the good sense to leave him or the good luck that he left her, I don't know which. She said he was "a ladies man" and in true Swedish style that's all she would say about that!

My great uncle Andrew Olaf Soderstrom was just the man our country was looking for. He was born in 1888 and unmarried, plus he had military experience back in Sweden.   He was a machinist for the Deere company in Moline, Illinois. He served in the cavalry but before he left he married great aunt Ruth Abrahamson. Tall with a medium build, blue eyes, light hair and that square jaw, he made quite a good looking soldier didn't he?

My great uncle John Emil Jacobson was born in 1878. A farmer from Illinois, he was recorded as medium height and build and you guessed it....blue eyes and light hair. Pushing 40, married to great aunt Anna Abrahamson, with 4 kids and one on the way, he also was not a good candidate to draft. 

And of course my grandfather Richard Severin Kallman. Born in 1887 he was the right age but he was already married to my grandmother Lydia Abrahamson. They had 3 children whom he supported as a chauffeur in Chicago. He was of medium height and medium build with light hair and light blue eyes. Interesting to note that his right index finger was 'crippled". The family joke was he was rejected because that was his trigger finger. Most likely that was a beginning sign of the terrible rheumatoid arthritis he would later suffer from.

These documents give us a little glimpse of who the ancestors were at the onset of World War I. I really like seeing their personal signatures also. The "WAR TO END ALL WARS" is what they called World War I. Boy, how I wish that had been the truth.

 **click on documents and photos to enlarge for easier viewing**