In the first installment about Gust’s probate papers, we saw that he had assets totaling about $2800 at the time of his death. He did not own any real estate, but he had a nice little farming operation, some money in the bank, and a promissory note against his cousin Augusta Samuelson and her son […]

Before we resume our look at Gust’s probate records, I wanted to share some observations about where the family lived between 1882 and 1907, when Gust died. Mom and I stopped at Bethlehem Covenant Church in June and were able to inspect the old church books. The listing for Gust’s family showed that they left […]

When I was back in Nebraska in June, I was able to collect the probate files for five of my ancestors. This post will take a look at the file for Gust Rudeen. To review, Gust was my great-grandfather, the father of Lawrence Rudeen. He was born in Sweden in in 1855 on the Eket Farm. […]

While at the Johnson Family Reunion back in June, there was a table strewn with “lost and found” photos that were free for the taking. As the afternoon was winding down, there were lots of photos left unclaimed so I snagged all the old-looking ones. That’s where I got the photo labeled, “Augusta’s Brother“. My […]

My great-great-grandparents Gustaf and Clara met and were married while they were servants at the Nobynäs estate in the 1850’s. Shortly after they were married, they left Nobynäs and eventually acquired a farm of their own. Twenty years later, their future son-in-law, Gust Rudeen (my great-grandfather) worked at Nobynäs for one year as a coachman (I just found that […]