Today is Grandparent's Day ~ a special Sunday set aside each year to honor grandparents. Tim and I are grandparents of seven and proud of it.
But today, it's not about us. I want to remember our grandparents. Tim and I were both fortunate enough to not only have grandparents, but have them close enough to know them. We have complete geneology histories of all four sets of grandparents. The most extensive geneology is a 4" thick Stricker family geneolgy put together by Tim's cousin, Patty Stricker Sellenrick, who just happens to be or was the president or in the upper office ranks of the National German's from Russia Society. The other history books are smaller for the Gallwas, the Corneliusen and the Grabe geneologies. But the history is still documented. They all make for interesting reading.
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Edward & Christina Gallwas
50th anniversary |
My Grandpa and Grandma Gallwas (my mother's parents) lived in Hazen, North Dakota. I spent a couple weeks there for a couple summers during childhood, riding the Greyhound bus to get there. I remember Grandma making
knifla (a long dough rope snipped with scissors into boiling water) and we loved eating
helva, a delicacy sweet treat. We were told it was ground up horse bones! I remember Grandpa stoking his coal furnace in the basement and pumping water for his chickens from the old hand pump outside the house. Grandma made lots of quilts and did lots of crocheting and embroidering. Their house had a front enclosed porch where they kept a little red wagon for the grandkids, a narrow metal bed as an extra, and all the board games were kept in an antique cupboard.
My mother passed Grandpa's German Bible to me as a family keepsake. I also have a picture hanging in my bedroom that hung above Grandma and Grandpa's bed all the years that I remember visiting them.
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| Alexis, Janel & I visiting in 1979 |
When Tim, I, Janel and Alexis went to visit them in Hazen in 1979, they had just moved into a care center, but still had all their belongings in their house. They took us to their house to visit it one last time. I asked Grandma if I could have a memento from her house. She said to pick out something I wanted. I chose the picture of Jesus and the Lambs that hung above her bed. She said she got that picture from her aunt as a wedding gift. I also have a pink depression glass bowl and an oil lamp both which were also their wedding gifts, according to my Mom.
From the history book: Edward GALLWAS was born on 23 Apr 1888 in Zurichtal, Crimea, Russia. He was baptized on 4 May 1888 in Zurichtal Parish, Russia. He immigrated on 11 Nov 1912 to Philadelphia, Pa.
He emigrated to the USA from Liverpool, England on the ship "S S Dominion" at the age of 24. He arrived at Philadelphia, Pa. on or about Nov 11, 1912. A copy of the ship manifest lists passenger #25 Eduard Galwas, age 24, German from Zurichtal, Russia; his father as Ludwig Galwas, going to New Salem; then to Otter Creek, ND. It also lists as #26 Marie Galwas age 27 as his wife from Zurichtal Russia. He wasn't married when he came because he married Christina 3 months later. We think Marie came over to America pretending to be his wife so she could get into the USA. We don't know what became of her after they docked in Philadelphia. What a mystery!
He served in the Russian Army for a few years and spoke Russian and German fluently. While in Russia, he was married to Margaretha Landes and they had 2 children. Margaretha, died 30 Nov 1911 of dropsy (excess fluids in the body). This was all recorded in his Bible.
Edward wanted a better life and times were getting tough in Russia and that's why he came to America. He left his first child, Olga in Russia with her mother's sister and the Landes family. He lost contact with Olga and he thinks she died in Russia although we have no proof. He was naturalized on 20 Oct 1919 in Center, Oliver County, ND. DECLARATION OF INTENTION: Known as 1st PAPER was subscribed to on 11th
July 1913 in District Court, Oliver County, Center ND. It would take 5 yrs until he could be a naturalized citizen. PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION: Known as 2nd PAPER was applied for on 29 Jun 1918 and issued on 20 Oct 1919 when he became a naturalized citizen of USA.
He retired in 1953 in Hazen, ND. Edward and Christina bought a house in Hazen on the west end of main street. It was the last house on the north side of the street. They moved into town in Dec 1941. He went to work at the Hazen Grain Elevator and retired there at age 65 in 1953. He then had odd jobs as night watchman for the city, as they were having some businesses broken into. After St. Matthew's Lutheran Church burned down Jan 5, 1954, he helped with the building of the new church by being on the Building Committee, kept track of the construction crews time sheets and actually worked with the crews.
Grandma always planted a large garden every year and canned alot of vegetables for the winter months. Grandpa also had a big potato and sweetcorn patch which he tended too. They also had a strawberry bed. When they first moved to town they had a cow for milking and chickens and geese, as they were not in the city limits until a few years later when they were incorporated into the city. Grandma did alot of sewing of house dresses and aprons for herself and for all the children as they were growing up. She cut and sewed squares of material and made them into quilts and had ladies over to help with the quilting. She also crocheted doilies, dresser scarfs, lace edgings on pillow cases, and did embroidery too.
On 1 Sep 1979 they had an auction sale and moved into the Pioneer Retirement Home in Hazen until the fall of 1980 when they moved to Missoula, Mt and lived with their son, Fred and Dorothy Gallwas until their deaths.
Grandma died in 1981. Grandpa died on 15 Apr 1983, both in Missoula, Mt. They were buried in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Missoula, Mt.
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Marie and Olaf Corneliusen
50th Anniversary - 1958 |
Grandpa and Grandma Corneliusen (my dad's parents) lived in Glendive, Montana, less than an hour's drive away. We went there often for family gatherings. I can only recall staying overnite at their house once. Maybe it was more, but I don't remember. Of course, Grandma ALWAYS had lefsa at her house. Sometimes we even got to help her make it. Grandpa always had a game or puzzle going. We would play checkers, canasta, rummy, or be putting a puzzle together. I remember the big garden grandma and grandpa would raise each year, enclosed by a white picket fence. They did lots of canning and the shelves in the cellar were lined with canned goods. The cellar was entered from the outside cellar door opening from the ground and leading down into the dark dirt cellar.
The only memento I have from Grandpa and Grandma Corneliusen is a picture of their homestead house that my cousin, Arvid, moved from its original location to their farm yard. We took a picture of it when we visited them around 1999 or so. The picture is framed in the wood that was part of that house. My cousin took several pieces of the siding and made frames and gave me one. So the old house picture is framed in the old grey weathered wood that was once part of the house.
From the history book: Olaf Corneliusen was born in Gudbransdalen, Norway on November 13, 1874, one of nine children. His two oldest brothers came to American in 1883. Times were rough in Norway and in 1885 the rest of the family came to America with the help of those who had come earlier. They worked for an uncle for a short time. He helped them get settled and find homes and work.
In March 1908, Olaf married Marie Melby, whose parents had come from Norway near the same area that the Corneliusen family came from. She was born at Wild Rice, North Dakota in 1887. Olaf and Marie's first home was near Comstock, Minnesota. In 1913, the family moved to Montana homesteading 15 miles north of Fallon and about 32 miles southwest of Glendive. They had eight children, but two died.
There were some good years,but probably more bad ones than good because of hailstorms, grasshoppers, drought and poor prices. Many families gave up and moved away, but the Corneliusens stuck it out and scraped up a living somehow. In the 30's work on the W PA helped make a living. Olaf was a hard worker, and in addition to farming he had learned something about veterinary work so he was often called to help out a neighbor with a sick cow or horse. Farming was done almost entirely with horses until about 1929 when Olaf bought his first tractor. Soon he was threshing for some of the neighbors.
Life would have been quite intolerable had it not been for the good neighbors who helped each other and gave moral support when it was needed. There were good times spent playing cards and games, baseball and horseshoes, and the neighborhood and school picnics were special. There were dances at the school house. Everybody went. Kids were put to sleep on coats and blankets in the corner and the dances went on until the wee hours of the morning. There were no television sets or radios, running water or electricity. There was a telephone line that ran along the fences. It worked sometimes and one could listen in on the other people's calls. When they finally got a radio that ran on batteries, neighbors would come and listen to Amos 'n Andy together. Later Olaf and Marie moved to Glendive.
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| Alex and Kathryn Stricker |
Tim's grandparents became my grandparents when we got married. I didn't know his Grandma Kathryn Stricker ~ she died long before we were married. Tim's fondest memories were always with his Grandma Katherine who was in his life as he grew up and he lived next door to as a child.
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| Grandma Susie with Cash |
Grandpa Alex Stricker later married Susie, and that's who I knew as Grandma. Our kids called her Grandma Susie. Every Christmas Eve we gathered as a family at Grandpa and Susie's house after church ~ the entire family with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. They always displayed their silver metal tree with colored bulbs. Suzie always served her date pinwheel cookies or date filled cookies. Our kids played with the box of empty thread spools and empty perfume bottles that was always stored under the bathroom sink.
Tim has the original sausage stuffer and butter churn that once belonged to Grandpa Stricker, and then used by Tim's parents, and then by us. We used the butter churn many times in Bayard when I was milking a cow and had fresh cream to make fresh butter.
From the history book: Alexander Stricker was born March 31, 1984 in Rosenberg, Kamyshin, Russia. Alexander did not talk about his life in Russia very often. At the age of 9 he immigrated to America with his parents, brother and sister on the S.S. Kroonland. The family traveled to Herington, Kansas. It is possible that Alexander attended school while in Herrington, but he said he did not go to school very often after he came to America. He finished his formal schooling around 3rd grade.
The lack of formal education was not uncommon with many of the children of tenant farmers. Not only did the demands of the daily lives of the large families prevent the children from attending school, it is also very likely that the language barriers they experienced would have made school difficult. Alexander self-educated himself. He could read and speak German fluently; and he learned to read and speak English as well. His math was second to none.
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Grandpa and Grandma Grabe lived in California most of the time that I knew them. We travelled to Sacramento, California for our honeymoon so I could meet them and we could spend some time with them. After Grandpa died, Grandma moved to a small house in Bayard. We were able to spend alot of time with Grandma Grabe. Cash especially got to know her well. She called him "Mr Why" because he was always asking "why?"
We enjoyed many meals around Grandma's dining room table as she loved to cook for us. We learned to like her fruit soup she made. She too liked to sew and quilt and crochet. Grandpa Grabe was a good carpenter and he built us a corner curio cabinet in the early 70's which still stands in my living room today, filled with my collectibles.
When we cleaned Grandma's house after she died, we found three sets of quilt blocks that she had made but never put them into a quilt. The eskimo squares she painted when they lived in Alaska. I have since completed the quilts. I also have a crocheted doll doily that she made ~ I framed it and have it hanging on my wall.
Tim received Grandpa Grabe's railroad pocket watch that he got when working on the railroad.
These small tokens are nice to have and pass down through the family as something special belonging to our ancestors from years gone by. But they cannot take the place of the special memories embedded into our hearts and minds that we treasure of our grandparents. I enjoy keeping their pictures as a part of my family photo wall in our family room.
Grandparents are a blessing. To know them, be close to them and remember them as part of my life is truly an event. Grandparents can be the best eventful friends a child can ever have.
At the end of the day we (Tim, Cash, Annie, and I) went to dinner to celebrate. We went to Tim's folk's house where Wilma was fixing me fried chicken. She knows I love her fried chicken and that is her special treat for me. I have never been able to fry chicken; but she fries a excellent tasty chicken! 
