"Favorite Cousin" Betty Jacobson

 On this day in 1986 Elizabeth "Betty" Jacobson Fraser died. She was 76 years old.

My dad referred to her as his "favorite cousin". Perhaps he told me that as she was the only one in his Swedish side of the family with the same flaming red hair as I?  I do know he thought well of her.

My 1st Cousin Once Removed

Elisabeth Jacobson Fraser

b. August 5, 1910 Revesjö. Ålvsborg, Sweden

d. June 22, 1986 San Diego, California U.S.A.

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - #8 "I Can Identify" - Betty Jacobson

Prompt #8 (Feb 19-Feb 25): "I Can Identify" - Elizabeth Jacobson Fraser

I am sure everyone has heard me whining about being a flaming redhead or as they say in England a "Ginger". Perhaps that is why I felt closer to my Norwegian side. My maternal uncle and many of my cousins back in Norway were redheads. From strawberry blond to flaming orange (like me) to dark amber those were the folks I could identify with. On my paternal Swedish side there was only one person I could identify with. I remember her as a nice gal who my Dad was quite fond of.

My father's cousin

Elizabeth "Betty" Jacobson Fraser

Are you aware of any other redheads?

That gene must still be floating around somewhere amongst our Swedes

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. 

 August 5, 1910 my father's cousin Betty was born in Revesjö, Älvsborg, Sweden. Just a few weeks after her third birthday she arrived at Ellis Island immigrating with her parents and two older brothers.

I chose this photo of Betty because it was colorized, a technique before colored photographs. The technique was not always totally accurate but it does show her flaming red hair. I remember Betty as she was one of my Dad's favorite cousins. Also, she was the only other family member on Dad's side with the same flaming red hair as I had. I often wondered if, as a child, she hated that red hair as much as I did?

Betty Jacobson at 18

my 1st cousin once removed
Elizabeth "Betty" Jacobson Fraser
b. 10 August 1910 Revesjö, Älvsborg, Sweden
d. 22 June 1986 San Diego, California, USA

John Emil and Anna Jacobson Family in Sweden

 

Judging by the ages of the children of John Emil and Anna, I guessed this photo was taken just before Great Uncle Emil left for America. Elizabeth, born in 1910, appears about a year or so old and documentation shows John Emil left for America in 1911. Anna, Rudolf, David and Elizabeth would follow him in 1913.

Journey to America - Anna Abrahamsson Jacobson

 

My grandmother Lydia's older sister Anna was the second of Albin and Anna Abrahamson's nine children. Born July 31, 1885, she was tall and blond like her father. She married Johan Emil Jakobsson, a railway worker in 1907. In the first four years of their marriage they had three children. There was Rudolf b. 1907, David b. 1908 and Elisabeth b. 1910.

Anna's husband traveled first to America arriving in May 1911. He followed his brother Petrus (Peter) who had emigrated 15 years earlier.

Grandma Lydia visited Sweden with her young son Albin in 1913, Returning home to America she accompanied her sister Anna and Anna's three young children. They were joining their husband and father in America. It would have been a difficult trip alone but with three young children?

The Jakobson family
Leaving Gothenburg, Sweden
(click on document to enlarge and read)

They left the port of Gothenburg, Sweden on the "Calypso" to cross the North Sea to Hull England. From Hull the two women and four children took a three hour or so train ride to Liverpool, England where they boarded the "Caronia", bound for America.

Manifest of the "Caronia" The Jakobson Family
click on document to enlarge and read

Landing at Ellis Island, September 17, 1913 Lydia and Albin (American born) could disembark directly to the dock but Anna and her children would be processed through Ellis Island proper. They traveled steerage or third class.

To understand more about Anna and her children's immigrant journey?

click here↓

The Immigrant Journey

Welcome to America Great Aunt Anna,

1940 Census - Chicago, Illinois - Thure and Evelyn Johnson

2117 W. Gladys Chicago, Cook, Illinois

The 1940 US Census finds Thure and Evelyn Johnson living in Chicago with his widowed mother. Also in the same house is Thure's divorced sister, Mildred. Thure's two younger siblings, Stanley and Florence also live in the home. Now add Thure's sister Emma, Emma's husband Charles and Emma and Charles daughter, Thure's niece, Georgia. That's correct, there are nine people living in this rented single family home which most likely has just three bedrooms! With today's values and circumstances it would be easy to say..what a bunch of dead beat kids still living off their widowed mother! It is important to know and appreciate the times and the culture they were living in.  These last ten years in Chicago and the rest of the Western world and for the Johnson family were very tough indeed.  In the early part of the 20th century Chicago was booming and growing. Then came the Great Depression. Chicago grew by only an additional 20,000 folks in the 10 years from 1930 to 1940. Most came from the farming South, hoping to find work. Immigration from Europe had all but ceased. The work just wasn't there, 20% of Chicago was out of work. In the 1930 census Thure's parents, Thure and Frances, owned their own home. They now lived in a rented house and you see that Frances is a widow, Thure Sr. had died. In the 1940 census the government tried to get a sense of how folks had fared by asking where they were in 1935. The Johnsons were in the "same place". 1935 was the year Thure Sr. died at the young age of 50. Perhaps due to the depression or his death the family no longer could afford the mortgage and lost their home. The adult children were perhaps not working themselves or working to help their mother pay her rent, so she and the younger kids have a home. Another possibility? No where to go. During the depression virtually no new building went on and in 1940 the US is soon to enter the war raging in Europe which would revive the economy but take all building supplies, raw materials and manpower for the war effort. Extended families living together, sharing expenses or renting out your bedrooms to boarders were common and often necessary occurrences in the 30's and 40's of Chicago.

The young couple, Thure and Evelyn, had just been married 4 months previously. Living with your mother is not an ideal way to start out a marriage but when you are young and in love the future always promises to be bright.

my first cousin once removed

Evelyn Jacobson

b. 16 July 1916 Moline, Rock Island, Illinois

d. 3 December 1987 West Chicago, DuPage, Illinois

her husband

Thure Walter Johnson

b. 12 September 1912 Chicago, Cook, Illinois

d. 10 August 1994 West Chicago, DuPage, Illinois

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

Girl Cousins

Kallman and Jacobson girl cousins in 1940. Snow in March? Looks like typical Chicago weather.

left to right: Laverne Kallman, Ebba Kallman, Evelyn Jacobson, Eva Kallman, Betty Jacobson