1950 Census Andrew and Ruth Soderstrom

1408 9th Street, Moline, Rock Island, Illinois

not a farm, less than 3 acres

#18 - Soderstrom, Andrew, Head, white, male, 61 yrs old, married, born in Sweden, naturalized citizen, worked 40 hrs in last week, as a toolmaker, in a farm implement factory, private business

#19 - Soderstrom, Ruth, wife, white, female, 55 yrs old, married, born in Sweden, naturalized citizen, at home, does not work outside of home 

#20 - Soderstrom, Evelyn, daughter, white, female, 15 yrs old, never married, born in Illinois, OT, not working outside of home  (OT refers to as other, 14 yrs and under considered to be at school. Evelyn is at school but many over 14 are working at this point.)

my great uncle

Andrew Olof Soderstrom

1888-1960

my great Aunt

Ruth Abrahamsson Soderstrom

1894-1969

my first cousin once removed

Evelyn Ruth Soderstrom Eckberg 

1935 -

Andrew and Ruth's older 3 children are all pretty newly married. So far they have 1 grandaughter.

An Anniversary to Remember

Seventy five years ago today my parents, 

Melvin Kallman and Grace Sevald, became husband and wife.

75th is the diamond anniversary.

The happy young couple

Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Kallman

married: October 1, 1949

**click on photo or document to enlarge for easier viewing**

Another Lovely Baby Cousin

 Another lovely baby photo of a long ago cousin, found on Ancestry.com. 

my second cousin once removed

Nanna Ragnhild Arvida Landen

b. May 23, 1891 Göteborg och Bohus, Sweden

d. February 21, 1960 Stockholm, Sweden

Swedish Covenant Hospital

 The Swedish Covenant Hospital, on Foster Avenue, is on the north side of Chicago. The hospital was established in 1885 in an area heavily populated with newly immigrant Swedes. It was Swedes, more specifically members of the Swedish Mission Covenant church that founded this great hospital.  I was born there and both of my Swedish grandparents died there. I found an interesting article on the history of Swedes and the Swedish Covenant Hospital that continues to serve the now ethnically diverse area. I enjoyed the read and thought perhaps you would also?

click here →   A NEW SHIFT FOR SWEDISH

Birth of my Great Grandfather Carl Theodor Källman on this day

 

From the Riksarkivet in Sweden

↓

"Födde in Tjellmo 1853 pg 405"

My great grqndfather Carl Theodor (alternately spelled Karl Teodor) was born on the farm Nystugan in Tjellmo, Östergötland, Sweden September 10, 1853 to Anders Larsson and his wife Stina Caisa Jaensdotter who had wed in 1843. He was baptised into the church of Sweden (Lutheran) the next day. The names of his sponsors or godparents are not legible to me. He would be known as Carl Theodor Andersson until as an adult he adopted the name Källman.

Like many of my grandfather's ancestors, Carl most likely had a hard life and died far too young of Tuberculosis. My father Carl Melvin, was named for him.

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.