All of us have heard testimonies of people with difficult pasts who’ve somehow, against all odds, turned their lives around. They might have had a history of dreadful choices or even a rap sheet a mile long, but for many of them the turnaround came after connecting with Christ.
As often as not, their testimonies include a statement like this: “My grandmother prayed for me for decades, and God finally answered.”
If we could piece together our family trees for many generations back, all of us would probably find that God’s representatives had been placed in strategic places all along, to pray for their families. Some even prayed for “those yet unborn,” which would include us.
My sister has done an excellent job as our “Family Historian,” keeping memorabilia safe and well categorized in labeled storage bins. She’s amassed everything from diplomas and photographs to wedding gowns, jewelry, infant-wear, and letters.
Several years ago a family friend, Sally, offered to go through Mary’s bins and condense everything into two 9” x 12” albums, one for Dad’s side of the family and one for Mom’s. She scanned or photographed everything so that even bulky items morphed into crisp, flat notebook pages. She also typed up old hand-written letters, some over 100 years old, to place alongside originals, which in some cases included translations from other languages.
Sally also added official census records rewritten from hard-to-read official documents to legible charts. These pages take account of birth dates and all known addresses, emigration and immigration dates, occupations, marriages, children’s birth and death dates, causes of death where known, burial locations, and an all-inclusive family tree.
Recently I’ve spent time with my distant relatives via these two family albums, going on a hunt for God-sightings through the 5 generations represented. And what I learned is God establishes his Spirit somewhere in every family tree.
For example, my paternal grandfather (Carl Johan Johansson) came to America in 1886 as a 19 year old laborer with a homemade wooden box of tools, and he brought Jesus Christ with him. By the end of his 68 years, he’d married, fathered four children, had become a building contractor and finally the vice president of a Chicago bank. He died 10 years before I was born, so we never met, except through these albums.
Taking in the details of his life, which of course include my own father’s 1899 birth, has been a satisfying exercise that’s made me grateful for God’s involvement in this “old world” family, my family. Sally’s charted numbers have told a non-numerical story of personal lows and highs similar to the lives of today’s families. And God is in the details.
But most importantly, when Carl Johannson’s death date had been written into the record books, God’s Spirit lived on within him.
(Tomorrow: the life he lived)
“Remember your Creator… before the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
I noted that your grandfather arrived in America as a laborer in 1886—I presume he came alone and his parents never came here. The situation was similar for my grandfather Henry Anderson who came here at the age of only 17 with his brother John who I think was only 16. Henry gave his parents cups with”Mother” and”Father” on them to have as a remembrance of him, knowing that he would most likely never return. Elaine and I were given these cups by my cousin Elna during a trip to Sweden and we have them in our china cabinet.
Elaine’s grandfather Carl Anderson arrived in 1896 at the age of only 13. Hence, we all have grandfathers who arrived here as teenagers with only some basic possessions;their ambition; and their faith.
I suspect some of your other readers have grandfathers or great-grandfathers who came here by themselves or with a young sibling at a very young age. I have several friends who had grandfathers that arrived at 13 or 14 years of age. I think it is a part of our history which is known to families but was not mentioned in most history books. I have not heard of any girls coming by themselves in their early teens; I think they tended to come in groups when they were closer to 20 years old. Perhaps some of your readers may have more knowledge than I of the immigration of young girls at that time.
I just love your blogpost today!!! I would also lie to look thru all the albums that Sally lady made for you on our side it had been awesome!!! I know a little about Carl’s Johan’s wife Hilma since she was related to me 🙂 I’m thankful that these young boys and girls toke the move to American since I now have you as a family there to go back and visit :). Even if Hilma and three siblings moved in young age four stayed and that is stil amazing for me that half of the kids actually stayed and for left for adventures. I moved for one year to the states a few years back but I don’t think I would be able to stay for life as they did I’m thankful we can travel back and forth. See you in summer!!
Love Malin
I love historical family photos and stories! I think I will now go into my bins, and papers, and start putting some on facebook, for all the grandkids to see. Fun times.
I have more items from my Mother’s side, than I do from my Father’s side of the family, which I discovered has a heritage of Native American Indian. About 6 yrs ago, I also found out that I am Mohawk, Iroquois, Susquehanna, and Cherokee. They never felt comfortable talking about it…..fear.
I’ve so enjoyed your blogs about the ancestors…..this is the kind of stories America was built on and such a proud heritage we have..so diverse..and GOD-connected.
I, too, am of Scotch, Irish, Welch and Cherokee Indian descent, and my Indian ancestors I am especially proud of….they were the ORIGINAL AMERICANS. Where did they come from? Go back about 3 thousand years!! Personally, I believe that when God confused the language at the Tower of Babel and scattered the people…..they went into all parts of the earth….as He knew they would.
How fascinating to learn your family history.