Here is a letter from J.W. Johnson to P.W. “Will” Pearson and Clara. It is typed on the letterhead of the Albany County National Bank, where J.W. is listed as the Vice-President. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, J.W. Johnson was Clara’s uncle. He came to America in 1869 , had many “wild west” adventures, and […]
Johanna Pearson to “Beloved Son and Daughter”, 1905
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 […]
Christian Pearson to P.W., 1905
This letter and the one that will follow are pretty much my favorite letters in this collection. In January of 1905, P.W. and Clara Pearson are living in Laramie, Wyoming with their sons Elmer and Herman (my grandfather). P.W. is working as an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. Back in Saunders County, Christian and […]
From Pastor Torrell, 1902
I have a lovely letter penned by Pastor Torrell to Clara (Brodd) Pearson, but it is entirely in Swedish. I can reliably recognize “genealogy” words like birth, death, married, etc. but deciphering three pages of Swedish handwriting is beyond my ability. I have had good luck with putting Swedish text into Google Translate and getting a […]
Western Union Telegram, 1901
Have you ever seen or touched a real Western Union telegram? I’m guessing that anyone of my generation or younger is only familiar with telegrams from movies and television. This congratulatory telegram was sent by Rev. J. Torrell of Swedeburg, Nebraska to Mr. and Mrs. P.W. Pearson of Laramie, Wyoming. This is yet another of […]
