Jill's Genealogy Journey

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Evelyn Frances Fjerstad

Appreciation for an Old Photograph

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Four Generations Photo
Claire, Pete holding Fran, Atchie & Margaret seated
circa 1921


Okay a little description . . . this photograph has been through the wringer! It is bent and torn in several places. There are numerous spills, discolorations and even some thumbprints. There are two thumbtack holes. There are stains and specks and smudges. One corner is very mangled and three corners are missing and it looks like another part of it is going to break off at any moment!


So there it is in all it’s pathetic glory! I’m so grateful that it has made it to me! It is pretty old, from about 1921 or 1922. (Margaret died the end of 1923, so it could not have been taken after that. ) It is a four-generations picture, so that is valuable and it has clearly been through a lot in the past 90 years.


Okay here’s the full old-photograph analysis . . .

  • The coloring is quite yellow and the surface shiny.
  • The size of the original is 3.75 inches x 6 inches.
  • Written on the back: Mom & Dad Fjerstad, Fran, Atchie & Atchie’s mom.
  • Fran looks to be about one or two years old, her mom was about 23, her dad was about 26, Atchie (May Williams was Claire’s mom) was about 46 and Margaret (Claire’s grandmother) was about 83 years old.
  • I’m not sure where it was taken. Fran was born in 1920 in Toronto, South Dakota and I know they moved around a lot between the towns on the border between South Dakota and Minnesota. So I’m not quite sure where they were at this exact moment. I’m guessing this picture was taken in front of the house where they lived because their clothes look pretty casual.

Does anyone else have any more information about this photo?

The Basic Facts:
Margaret (Emma) JONES WILLIAMS
b. 9 Jul 1838, Chester, England
d. 4 Dec 1923, Staples, Todd, MN
m. 31 Aug 1867, England
May (Atchie) (Mary E) WILLIAMS ATCHISON
b. 25 Dec 1875, Beaver Dam, Dodge, WI
d. 15 Dec 1971, Staples, Todd, MN (Mary Rondorf home)
m. 27 Oct 1897, Staples, Todd, MN
Claire (Clara) ATCHISON
b. 2 Sep 1898, Staples, Todd, MN
d. 30 Aug 1951, St. Paul, Ramsey, MN
& Peter Ole FJERSTAD
b. 2 Oct 1895, Amhurst, Fillmore, MN
d. 2 Aug 1974, Robbinsdale, Hennepin, MN
m. 1919, Hendricks, Lincoln, MN
Evelyn Frances FJERSTAD HOLMAN
b. 23 Jan 1920, Toronto, Deuel, SD
d. 17 May 2002, Brooklyn Center, Hennepin, MN
m. 16 Feb 1937, Milbank, Grant, SD

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A Brief Timeline for the Fjerstads

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Here is the draft of what I have so far – I haven’t been able to find out a great deal about this part of the family yet, but I still hope it is useful to someone! Here are facts and their sources:

  • Oct 1864 – Lasse born Norway (1900 census)
  • 13 Sep 1866 – Anna born Norway to Louis & Marie (death cert, 1900 census)
  • 1885 immigrated (1920 census)
  • 22 Nov 1889 – Lasse Fjerstad & Anna Jordahl married Arendahl, Fillmore, MN (marriage cert)
  • 1895 – Lars & Anna & baby Johan are with brother Ole & a 65-year-old Anna in Fillmore (census)
Pic of Fjerstads1922
Amanda, her son, her husband, Anna holding Fran & Atchie circa 1922
  • 2 Oct 1895 – Pete b. Fillmore MN (grandma, death cert, draft card)
  • 2 Sep 1898 – Claire Fjerstad born Staples MN (funeral card, death cert)
  • 1900 – Lasse & Anna with 4 kids & brother Ole in Arendahl, Fillmore, MN (census)
  • 1910 – Louis & Anna with 6 kids in Brookings SD (census)
  • 1915 – Anna owned land in Hansonville (plat book)
  • 1917 – Pete farmed in Hendricks MN (draft card)
  • 1919 – Claire & Pete married Hendricks MN, she worked in a bank at the time (Fran & Margaret)
Pic of Fjerstads1922
Claire holding Fran
circa 1922
  • 1920 – Pete & Claire in Toronto, Deuel SD, he worked in a restaurant (census)
  • 1920 – Anna & 2 sons in Hansonville Lincoln MN (census)
  • 23 Jan 1920 – Frances Fjerstad born to Peter and Clair Deuel SD (birth cert)
  • 1930 – Pete & Claire in Yellow Medicine MN with 7 kids, he’s a car mechanic (census)
  • 1934 – Anna is in Mpls at 3853 44th Ave (city dir)
  • 16 Feb 1937 – Glen and Fran married in Milbank living in Ortonville MN (marriage cert)
Pic of Fjerstads1940
Fran & her father Pete
His mother Anna holding Fran’s son Boyd
Four Generations!
  • 1940 – Claire has 8 kids in Lac qui Parle MN (census)
  • 1948 – Anna is still in Mpls at 3853 44th Ave (city dir)
  • 7 Jun 1950 – Anna dies Hennepin MN (death cert)
  • 30 Aug 1951 – Claire dies St Paul MN, marriage box says separated (funeral card, death cert)
  • 23 Jan 1968 – Glen Holman dies Hennepin Co MN (death cert)
  • 2 Aug 1974 – Pete dies Hennepin MN (death cert)
  • 17 May 2002 – Fran dies Hennepin Co MN (death cert)
  • (As always, there are no details about living descendants to protect their privacy.)
Pic of Fjerstads1941
“Fjerstad Brats August 24, 1941”
(that was written on the back)
L-R back: Fran, Robert, Margaret, Lorraine
front: Paul, Mary Ann, Dick, Dean, Jody


*Funny thing – the birth in the Fillmore records for 2 Oct 1895 for Lars & Anna says Alfred Benjamin not Peter Ole! What is up with that?
*In case you were confused, Lars, Lasse & Louis are the same person! He was rather flexible about his name.
*Where was Pete in 1940?
*Who was the older Anna in 1895?
*Who knows more about Lars & Anna’s parents? I am so curious about them.

The Basic Facts:
Lars J. FJERSTAD
b. Oct 1864, Norway
d. & Anna N JORDAHL
b. 13 Sep 1866, Norway
d. 7 Jun 1950, Minneapolis, Hennepin, MN
m. 22 Nov 1889, Arendahl, Fillmore, MN
Peter Ole FJERSTAD
b. 2 Oct 1895, Amhurst, Fillmore, MN
d. 2 Aug 1974, Robbinsdale, Hennepin, MN
& Claire (Clara) ATCHISON
b. 2 Sep 1898, Staples, Todd, MN
d. 30 Aug 1951, St. Paul, Ramsey, MN
m. 1919, Hendricks, Lincoln, MN
Evelyn Frances FJERSTAD
b. 23 Jan 1920, Toronto, Deuel, SD
d. 17 May 2002, Brooklyn Center, Hennepin, MN
& Glen Oliver HOLMAN
b. 18 Jun 1915, Odessa, Big Stone, MN
d. 23 Jan 1968, Minneapolis, Hennepin, MN
m. 16 Feb 1937, Milbank, Grant, SD

 
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