My Aunt Jane gave me this stash of Pearson and Brodd letters several years ago. I put all the letters into acid-free page protectors, sorted them by date, and put them into 3-ring binders. As I was doing so, I read through the letters briefly to get a sense of what they were about. There they sat for several years.
Today’s letter is written in Swedish and at the time I filed it away, I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought because I had no means of translating it. Well, now that we have Google Translate, it’s a whole different world. When I took a good hard look at this letter a couple of weeks ago, I was stunned to discover that it was written by Johanna, P.W.’s mother, and the handwriting was legible enough that Google Translate could be an effective tool.
Johanna Nilsdotter was born in Sweden in 1850. She left Sweden – apparently alone – in 1873 at the age of 22. We don’t know exactly when or where she met and married Christian Pearson. Their first two children, both boys, were lost in a tragic house fire. It was said that Johanna never really got over the loss. She had six more children. Her husband died in 1908 when she was 58 years old. She lived another five years after that. The 1910 census records show that she was living in Weston with her daughter Lydia.
This letter was written on January 25, 1905, just a week after Christian sent the first letter to P.W. begging him to come back to the farm. He must not have gotten a response and so decided to call in for reinforcements: a letter from mother!
I had a bit of trouble reading some of the handwriting. And since Google Translate is probably tuned to a more modern form of Swedish, I don’t think the translation is all that great. Still, it was good enough to get the overall idea.
The main point seems to be that Johanna believes that P.W. doesn’t have much work at this time, and it would be better for him to come home and work the farm. She mentions something about Clara and her Uncle Johnson – maybe that she has worked for him long enough.
Here’s the text of the letter – Swedish on the left, English on the right.
| January den 25, 1905 Älskade son och dotter, Vi har tänkt saken och ting öfver efter som du såger att arbetet är litet så vore det bra för dig och äfven för oss om du komma hem och togo landet i besittning så kan du ställa, ditt den för alltid, vi har ännu intet haft någon sale ännu än det så att du vill komma hem och arbeta landet då säljer vi intet ut utan då skall du få ha det, men du säger att arbetet är litte så kan du komma hem, Klara kan väl vara hos Jonsson så länge. |
January 25, 1905 Beloved son and daughter, We have considered the matter and things over for you says that the work is small so it would be good for you and even to us if you get home and took the country possession so you can set, Your it forever, we yet nothing had any sale yet than so you want to come home and work the land then sell we are nothing without then you shall have it, but you say that the work is litte so you can come home, Klara can well be at Jonsson so long. |
| Vi har köpt hus i Weston men kan vi intet få någon på landet så få vi lefva den till vi kan sälja det men on du skulle vill ja komma låt ingen af denna syskon vetta det för än du är den de är så afund sjuka att du skall hafva någon ting det är det mesta att Oskar lämnar hemmet tänk ofver detta och låt oss veta det snar |
We bought the house in Weston but we can no get someone on the country then we live it for we can sell it but one you would want yes come let none of this siblings vetta the for than you are the one they are so envy sick to you should have any thing that is most Oskar leaves home Think over this and let us know as soon |
| Tack nar vänligen din möder Johanna nästa tisdag väll så skall Lena komma hem |
Thank you kindly when your mother Johanna next Tuesday swell so Lena must come home |
I know a lot of it doesn’t make any sense. But how wonderful to see Johanna’s handwriting and to get a little glimpse into her character!
