Letters to Sweden

The following letters were written by my great grandfather Pehr Ringwall to his only sister Karin, who married Jonas Persson and they lived in Söderhogen, Rätan.

This first letter was written to Karin and Pehr’s parents while the Ringwall family still lived in Cooperstown. Pehr had not yet heard that his mother died the previous December. News did not travel quickly in 1893. It is interesting that Pehr used the name Petrus in his first years in America. He later used Pehr and signed his letters PER (Pehr Eriksson Ringwall). Esbjörn Svensson was a distant cousin, son of Sven Esbjörnsson from the farm Kvarnbacken in Överhogdal. He is on the list of emigrants, one of those who did not stay in America. Many thanks to Karin’s great grandson Anders Magnusson for sharing these. (my translations, which are not always word for word)

      Cooperstown, 8 January 1893

Dearest beloved father and mother, God’s peace.

Thanks for the letter which we received several weeks ago. Yes, we have now begun a New Year once again. It reminds me of the words the Apostle wrote, that time is short in these days. And soon He will come, He will not delay. Yes with Him days and years do not matter.  And he does not grow old, though in one place he is called the God of the seasons, and on another the Ancient of days. The much tormented man Job said I am glad that my redeemer lives. Yes, we also have trials and testing and are glad that our Redeemer lives.

We here are all healthy and feel well. We moved into the city this autumn and planned to be there for the winter. However next thing we know, Coopers wanted us to live on their farm so we are now here at Coopers’ farm. Gölin cooks for them and I do a thing or two. She gets 4 dollars a week and I get 15 dollars a month for the winter months. I once made 30 dollars a month. But in winter he pays no more than 15 dollars a month.

And we have some free time as well. Our youngest Minnie  (turning one year) is good (natured) and Ingrid is now big (9!) and helps in watching her so mother does not have to take much time caring for her, and she now takes a bottle. So that’s fine. We have two warm rooms not counting the kitchen for ourselves. Julia and Klara (Olive) probably want to be outside playing but it is now almost too cold, however we don’t have much snow, just a couple of inches, so wheels are able to turn in it. 

Esbjörn Svensson travelled home in the Fall ( back to Sweden) so he is likely home with his father long before this. I haven’t heard from him since he travelled but I guess the trip went well.

I want to hear from you soon and how things are for you there and in the surrounding areas, and what conditions are like in the hills. Your description will paint us a picture of how things are.                                                                                                                                                         your son and daughter in law, Petrus and Gölin

The Ringwall family moved to Alberta in 1900 and built their house and farm on the shores of Red Deer Lake. For a number of years they ran the post office out of their house, so the mailing address was Ringwall. The post office was later moved to Ferintosh, about 6 miles away. Pehr’s sister Karin’s husband Jonas Persson (1859-1913) was born in Söderhögen, a rural area part of Rätan’s parish where he farmed. He contracted throat cancer and died just before this letter was written.

                   Ringwall, Alberta                  Jan 2 1914

Dear sister and family, best wishes for the New Year

Yes, now it is after Christmas and New Years eve have passed with their many happy but also busy activities. I am referring to concerts and other special events.

Our daughter Olive was married  on the weekend (30 Dec) The wedding took place here at home but it was not large. Only a few others besides ourselves (were present) to witness the action. The newlyweds travelled immediately on a trip to Winnipeg and then to Minneapolis, They will return and settle in Meeting Creek, a little town not so far from here where he has a hardware store. His name is Howard Sperry. Julia and her husband were of course here for the event (from S Dakota). Julia has been here since then. My expectation is that her husband will come for her today.

We had fine weather before Christmas. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were however very cold, but since then it has become warmer. The hens have been able to go outside every day except Christmas. Here we have no snow once again. We saw in the letter from you that you had little snow also.

And now in closing I will say thanks for your letter. We offer our condolences to you for your husband’s/father’s death. But so is the course of nature, the eternal fear that we all must face one day.   Write to us again, with brotherly love,                    Per and Gölin

You will see in some of these letters that Per liked to write poetry! Unfortunately translating the poems does not do justice to them. In Swedish they rhyme quite nicely.

Ferintosh, 8 Jan 1922

Dear sister and family!

Many thanks for the letter from 8 December. It was a real surprise to get the letter and hear from you. I had given up hope that I would hear something from you. It is gratifying to read that everyone is alive and healthy, and to hear that you are well. We also received ”Christmas time among the mountains” (a book or magazine that was also sent.) We have to thank you, thank you for this!  The beautiful illustrations and descriptions made a wonderful Christmas gift for us. We always read with fondness newspapers published in Sweden and especially if they are about Jämtland and ”the mountains”. We also are healthy and well. We also are having a fine winter, no snow, so there are no sledding parties or jingling horse bells this Christmas.

No horses and sleighs moved,
        No tinkling of bells were heard,
          Just a buzz and a whine of cars,
            Which come to and fro like arrows

We do travel however in our own car; you have to keep up with the times, as they say. You’re fine in Söderhögen as long as no one has any (cars), but wait until someone gets one and then you all have to have one. So it was here. When the flu raged, almost all our neighbors were sick, and we avoided that, but when the automobile disease came, then we too were infected, and we then we acquired a ”stink-stink” . We did not escape this disease. It (car) is in any case handy to have, It goes fast, and it is comfortable in cold and bad weather to sit dry inside. We also have a covered wagon or carriage but it has now been allowed to stand, so to speak, the last two years, for the boys do not want to drive horses. So we drive (the car) to church, to the city, or out for a ride. And I’m not much for it either (the horse and wagon), it’s rare I take in the reins these days. The boys have to (use horses), on the farm and when we have grain to drive out. We use horses for farm work. However, we also have a tractor that we sometimes use as well for ploughing. We use it also for grain grinding and wood cutting.  Yes, machinery is being used now for everything, as you can see, I am now working on a machine (typewriter). But as I’m a beginner, I’m probably making some writing errors or typos, I could say. I also use the old spellings as much as I can. so it may sound strange to the younger ones if they will read this, even more since English  does not use Å, Ä and Ö. So I have to do the dots afterwards (he handwrote in the accents in his typed letters).

Is the (train) station right in Bryngelhögen or a distance from it? It would be nice to be there next summer, when it will be ”inaugurated” but the ”Magistrate” isn’t likely to invite us. As soon as it becomes open to traffic, will you make your own trips and show that you appreciate that you got rail through the villages? Then you can travel to Östersund or Orsa, or why not  ”take off ”to Stockholm, that might be best!

It is strange that there are no photographers with you, or that the youth there do not have the small cameras or kodaks to take flash pictures or so-called eye blink photographs. It is so common here, that if there is a small gathering, there are often one or more such people who take a view or picture for fun, as it is called, and is. They are cheap and  not all understand the wider value of photography.

Yes, there is a lot more that I could tell you, but perhaps this is enough for this time. I am enclosing a picture of ourselves and the house; the kitchen part of the house is not visible as it is hidden away by the trees We have four rooms with the kitchen downstairs, which we keep warm day and night. And we also have two bedrooms upstairs. The cow shed is like the summer shelters you have. The cows are let out every day, and some of the younger and non-milking cows are allowed to be out both night and day. The pig house is a humble shed with an open door so they can go in and out as they please to their pasture. Let us hear from you again! Gölin greets you so warmly!

Your brother, P E Ringwall,
                                                                                                                                                                             Ferintosh, Alberta, Canada

I am adding in here a letter written to another relation in 1924, which included the same pictures. The letter was to Gölin’s nephew Peter E Skanse, son of her brother Peter. He was a military pilot who ended up having an illustrious career. I got this letter from his grandson and wife, John and Melody Skanse.

Stugan vid Sjöstranden                                                        Jan 18, 1924
Mr Peter E Skanse and wife, Manila, Philippine Islands

Young friends and kin,

We were very pleased to receive your Christmas greetings, thank you very much for the same. I once wrote to Skanse’s in Minnesota and asked for your address. This was around three years ago. (I think)that was while you were flying  near  the Rio Grande or Mexico border? But, he must have forgotten, because when we finally heard from them there was no address. Yes and now you are sitting, I have heard it said, in the middle of the Sea. When I say Middle of the Sea it is maybe not so (far off). And now you have a little wife by your side, and so we congratulate you and wish you all happiness and success out there among the enchanting Islands. Hoping you enjoy yourself and this finds you well even though you are far away from old -and young friends. And (from) your own people. But it must be so beautiful and nice there that you cannot do otherwise?

Here in ”Sunny Alberta” our lives go on as usual. The boys are home at least some of the time. Arthur and Clarence are always home, but Wilfred and Stanley only from Friday evenings until Monday mornings. They spend the week at the Ferintosh High school. And Minnie and Ella are both in Camrose. Minnie teaching and Ella at the phone office. Albert Hanson and Julia and children are all ok, so also Sperry and Olive.

We had a wonderful summer and a record crop as the newspapers call it. It was a good harvest throughout all of Alberta. But the prices for grains are low so that there is still complaint and dissatisfaction.

I will say that we had a great time when Olaf and Anna (Skanse) visited us in the summer. Say, you ought to have come here on your way west so that we could have seen you again and above all become acquainted with your wife. That would have been fun. We wonder if you do not need to fly so much now, since you are teaching and commanding others? Please let us know how things are going for you out there!

Kind greetings, Mr and Mrs. Ringwall

Olof and Anna are mentioned as well in the following letter. Olof was Gölin and Peter Skanse’s youngest brother.

Ferintosh, Alta, Canada, April 9, 1924

Dear sister,

Many thanks for the letter which we welcomed several days ago, where we see that you are alive and well. Yes, it is  really nice to get a letter, because it is so rare that we get a letter from Sweden.

 We are as usual here, we enjoy good health and are otherwise well, so we have no need to complain. We have also had a very fine winter, with little snow so one can go out with the car every day, and it was not too terribly cold.  The unfortunate thing is we have not had any real spring weather, so no Spring work has begun. We had an exceptionally good harvest last summer. However, the prices are low so the profit will be little or none. So the wheat flour you buy should not be so expensive now?

We had a nice visit from Olof Skanse, his wife and youngest daughter last summer, when they were our guests for two weeks. Yes, they were incomparable days. As you know they live in Minneapolis, a long way from here. I think I have mentioned before that we visited them several years ago.

Our youngest boys Wilfred and Stanley are now in highschool, but it is no farther away than Ferintosh, so we drive them in Monday mornings and bring them home Friday afternoons, since there is no school on Saturdays…. (missing page)

Ferintosh Alta, Canada, February 10, 1927

Karin Persson
Söderhögen, Byngelhögen, Rätan

Dear sister!
It is long since we heard from each other so I will break the silence and put down some lines, so at least you will know we are in the land of the living. But now for myself I have begun to feel old age, and especially in this past year I have been suffering a lot from rheumatic pain, and I cannot walk and must use crutches to even cross the floor. In the summer I went to the famous  (Banff) Hot Springs in the high mountains and I was improved for a time. But it is hard to do anything that lasts for long for old men; in the Fall I became worse again, and in the new year I went to the hospital and there I had hot baths and electric treatments. But an old person is still old and will continue to be old and old age’s pains are hard to be free of. But Gölin is healthy and helpful and quick on her feet.

My arms and hands are good so I can get myself dressed without difficulty and I can write. But when a man is not full of energy it is hard to have an interest in writing.

We just heard over the radio from Stockholm of a stately meeting for the Crown prince couple who just came home from their trip around the world. You understand that we don’t hear directly from Stockholm, it comes by a telegram over the Atlantic, to other stations who broadcast it so we can hear (the news)  loud and clear.  So if you don’t have a radio it is surprising that we who live so far away  in the world can hear the news all the way from Sweden, faster than you. The news we hear from Sweden and other countries is naturally in the English language,  which we, in short,  learned  like our ”Jämtlanskan” (we never knew Swedish) I learned Jämtlanskan instead of that. A scholarly person will know that if you let him see this letter. It is only gibberish, it is nothing else.

Our cousin Brita Olson down in Nebraska is alive. I got a Christmas card from her and she has been very crippled with rheumatism for many years. Gölin’s sister Karin down in Dakota has been an widow for about a year (Cora Watne).  Märta (Larsdotter, widow of Jens Persson, Gölin’s uncle) is living as is Mrs Margreta Persson (wife of her uncle Peter Persson, Jonas Skanse’s brothers) They are all well as far as we know. We had a good year here last year, we had a good wheat crop and other farm products. And now we have a very decent winter. The was  good sledding for a few weeks before Christmas, but not so much snow that one couldn’t get out with their cars on most roads. There is not even one week this winter that our car has not gone on one or two trips to Ferintosh. Only our youngest son is in high school there now, and so we drive him in Monday mornings and bring him home Friday afternoons, since in this country there is no school on Saturdays but a whole day (of school) on Wednesdays.

Yes, we wish to know how things are in the old country. Are you free of ailments and a runny nose? The runny nose (cold) here is quite a nuisance and hangs on in this part of the world.

       Our living days will soon be past, we behold the pure evening star
      We choose to honour God, for years and days which flit by
      From Him we seek help, as our day turns to dusk
      A man knows who he was, and so he shall be
      So this time is passing, like light clouds floating by

Ferintosh, Alta
July 31, 1927

Dear sister,
Heartfelt thanks for your interesting letter of the 12^th of the third month. Yes, it was really nice to hear from you and about your family, and other happenings from where you live….

Now I will first tell you that I am much better with concern to rheumatism. I can now get around without crutches and cane. I walk, as you can imagine, somewhat crooked and bent, but not too bad. I am not fat like you but somewhat more lush(?) than in younger years…..We see that (daughter) Ida is now on their farm in Vitvattnet where Gölin was born. 

And then you talk about the fact that there are cars almost everywhere. Yes, there is almost nothing else on the roads, horses are so used to cars that they do not  shy when a car races past or meets them. The only thing that scares them or fools them is if they find another horse on the road. I wonder if I mentioned in a previous letter that we had got a new Ford. Well, we thought that the new was almost inferior to the old one in power so Arthur decided to bring it to Camrose and exchange it for a new Chevrolet.  This year’s model, 4 doors so we now ride nice and comfortable in glass cabinets like many others…. Last Friday we went to the exhibition in Edmonton and it took us only 3 hours to drive there (about 120 km). It is about the same distance from Hogdal to Östersund. and I further mention that since we got this car on June 25 and until now, it has gone close to 900 English miles; that is almost as long as the entire length of Sweden.  I think it sounds incredible but it’s the car’s own reckoning and it registers correctly. But it is so much fun riding nowadays that when you go anwhere outside the door you take it. You use it to go to church, even if  (the church) is so close you could almost throw a stone at it. I know people here who live no further than Nyåkersgården to the church in Överhogdal who drive (that distance).

There are very few who do not have a car of any kind. When we arrived here 27 years ago, there was one car in the whole of Alberta. Now 70,000 are registered. Edmonton was a small market town and now it has large businesses and stores and a population of 67,000.  When the first cars started to pass by, we could never imagine that in our old age we would get to ride so nicely. But it costs to keep the status and I’m not a rich old man by far, but I’m glad we have a home and have almost largely what we need and the harvest looks promising but slightly late and still green.

I was advised in a letter to get myself a recliner. Will say I had one and this rocking chair and arm chair, kitchen chairs and dining room chairs so in that way there is no shortage. We have 4 rooms  downstairs nicely decorated with painted floors and woven mats in two of them, so it’s not so hard for Gölin to clean.  Outside we have the necessary farm machinery. We do not need to pump water. We (have and) use gas, gas to pull the grindstone even though we do not grind  much. We have the (standing) machine (thresher?) and binder for example.  When we feel like going on the lake, we even use gas to drive our boat. For myself, I have not been on the lake more than once this summer. I lay in my hammock in the tree and look up towards the heavens instead of down into the deeps.

 In haste, your brother Per

September 2, 1929

Dear sister Karin and family,
Greetings and well wishes.
Thank you so much for your lovely letter from the 3rd of June. I ought to answer letters punctually, and now it has been three months without me doing so. We live on as usual with a little wavering for my part. I can for my sake say that things are a bit better than worse. But it’s not something to brag about. I feel in my limbs that I am an old, tottering man who might fall any day before the grim reaper.  And I would rather end my days now, than become so old and frail, that I could not sort myself out.

On 22 July our son Clarence married a lovely farm girl from Highland Park, and they went on their honeymoon out to the mountains. And so Gölin began to think that when they return home why shouldn’t we go to the famous Banff where all the tourists  go to, the famous paradise. She had never been there. I went there two years ago to take the hot springs. But I did not see anything else as I could not get around. I must of course use cane and crutches. Now I can go a little without their help.

So the long and the short of it, after they returned from their honeymoon, we went, with Stanley as our driver. And he is not a bad driver I can say. We sometimes got up to 60 miles an hour. We went to Banff in the high west for 6 days. And pretty much every day we went for short or longer trips, car trips, to the remarkable Rocky Mountains and saw the most famous scenery. We tried our luck with fishing but the trout did not like our bait. I got a pair of wretched ones and Stanley caught one fish. This is the only sport one does here. The whole of this wonderful place is in a Canadian National park and no one can hunt or shoot here. The animals are free here and almost go on the road. Here you can see glimpses of mountain goats and sheep, buffalo, bear, deer and moose from the sides of the road. But there are not many winged creatures. (missing page)

                       Stugan vid Sjöstranden (cabin on the lakeshore)                                                                Feb 14, 1930

Dear sister Karin!
      You are beginning to wonder if we are in the grave
        or in any way we’ve perished, since you have not heard from us
           But though we are old now and gray, we can still go and stay (stand)
             And drive round a bit perhaps, and greet those we know

I can still write a letter and not sit and grumble that I am now too old for this as well as for anything else. Thank you so much for the letter which we recieved for Christmas and a big thank you for the Christmas newspaper we also welcomed, (which arrived) in good shape. And you can well understand that we put value on it. There is no surplus here of Swedish literature. In English there is any amount without beginning or end. Yet  over the years we have learned to understand something even of this country’s language.

We saw in the letter that you had fine weather when you wrote it on the 3rd  of December. And till that time we also had very fine weather here in Alberta.  But from that time until Christmas it became very cold, but at Christmas it turned to nicer weather, which lasted until the New Year, when it began to get cold in earnest. However, we were able to travel by car until January 15, but since that time our  car has been resting and no other cars have been able to travel on the road outside. Not that there is so much snow but the wind has made it miserable. The whole of January was cold and snowy but Feb began very differently. Most of the time it  has been quite decent even though we had one or two days that we probably preferred to stay inside. I read in a newspaper that on the 19th Dec. a severe snowstorm ( I forget the exact date) hit West Jämtland, around Åre and Storlien. I wonder if you had any of that in Högarna?

Aha, so you had a little car tour to Rätansbyn last summer. Do you think you will also take a train trip now and then, now that you have the railway so near in your area?  You may have done that also although you have not said anything about it. One cannot talk about everything between heaven and earth, as only an aviator can, if even he can do that!

I must have been unclear in my earlier letter so you thought that we did the trip together with the newlyweds (to Banff). No, they did their honeymoon just the two of them and when they came home, we did our trip. Now this winter it is only Gölin, me and Stanley here at home, as Clarence’s father in law wants to have them take care of his farm. Mr Backström himself has two grown up sons, but neither of them are home, and he is beginning to tire with keeping up with everything on the farm. He also wants to take a trip to Sweden in the summer.

I perhaps ought to tell you that at Christmas most of us met for a family party on Christmas eve and we ate Swedish food together; Christmas porridge and lutefisk and we were also up early in the morning to go to church, and it was such lovely weather and holiday in any case. We were in the Highland Park church Christmas morning. Later in the evening we went to the Malmo church (our church). Their was a children’s party, I should have said for both young and old, and the church was packed with both young and old. But the children sat in the first row of benches. The children did a good job with their speeches, songs and piano music. They were given small presents and goodies, and all of us were given apples. Since then I have not been in church until the last Sunday, the 9th. There were many people there even then, there might have been room for a few dozen more. But the roomy church stable was full of horses and there were no cars out.

Today is Valentines day and here in this country there is a lot of fun associated with the same, especially among the youth who send anonymous funny messages to one another, pictures of various things. Stanley has already got some and there could be more coming in the mail today. Now I have jumped around so much that you will be altogether puzzled by your old brother so it is best that I stop for this time. You are in any case heartily remembered by your sibling.
Per and Gölin

Stugan vid Sjöstranden 1 Dec 1930
Dear sister Karin and family,
Mercy and peace, greetings and wishes for all to be well!
And Merry Christmas and a Good New year at the same time!

So I want to thank you for your letter from 24 July, which I can’t remember if  I answered it. It is always so interesting to hear from you, and those far away in Högarna!

And we here in this world live on as usual. Gölin is very healthy and quick on her legs like the girl you remember, however her eyes bother her. For a long time she has had poor vision in one eye, but now this Fall her other eye began to weaken so she saw an eye doctor in Edmonton, but he could not do anything for her except give her a new lens in the old glasses.

We have not been on any long trips the past summer; Edmonton was the farthest we went. And we were curious to go there in September to see an exhibition of airplanes, so we went there then. There were around 50 air machines of all types and I can say that man can outfly birds in the air as no bird can do a roll or fly on its back or other things that for birds are impossible. What we feared before we got there was the congestion that could be possible at the airport, because it’s always a mess of cars and trams on the roads in Edmonton. There were 5000 cars and 35,000 people on the field.

We had bought other things while in the city  which could be seen through the window (so we didn’t want to leave the car) and there was a long row of  cars  waiting to get in.  The helper at the entry showed us where we could park and stay with our car but we couldn’t see well from inside the car,  so Gölin and I climbed up onto the roof of the car and there we sat and watched all that happened. Think how childish they are, you think,  yes we have to recognize that we are a little childish and want to be like that a little more. We came home with no misadventure and did not regret the trip.

Last Friday we were invited to go to Wetaskiwin for a gold and a silver wedding party happening at the same time. we went, not out of childishness, but as a gesture of honor to the bride and groom, whom we have known since we came here to this country. Yesterday we drove to Highland park which is closer, to the Backstråms farm. Clarence and Edna live there now. They have a little daughter 8 weeks old. Now Gölin is also farmor. She has been for many years mormor and we now have  a half score (ten) grandchildren. Ella our youngest living daughter was married last summer and they live in Camrose where she works at the Central telephone office, where she has worked for many years. Of our four sons only Clarence is married.

Because of a bad drought the harvest was poor last summer, some got almost nothing, I got about a half crop of 1600 bushels of wheat and a few hundred bushels of oats. And to top it all, grain is worth almost nothing. Potatoes and other root crops were good however.

 The last two days of November were wintery here but today it looks like the snow is finished and there is almost enough snow for good sledding. It’s probably OK for gas wagons as well.  And now when the holiday season is over, and it lasts until the twentieth day of it, when Christmas celebrations end! Then may you get out your typewriter and let us know the long and the short of it, as the Norwegians say. It has been a long long time since we have heard anything from Hogdal. Many of our friends from our youth are resting under the turf, yes possibly most of them?

But what can I say to add to this, I can not write what I want to
                           As I also can’t do what I want to. But I am not so clever,
                           My thinking is finished, I am forgetful beyond measure
                           and it is best I finish and not sit here and mope.
                           And after all, the letter must be sent, or it will come too late for Christmas

To wish you warm, New Years greetings, 
from your sibling, brother Per and Gölin

Stugan vid Sjöstranden                                                 18 May 1931

Dear sister, Greetings and well wishes!Yes, it was fun to see a little picture of you, but we probably wouldn’t have realized that it was Gumjans Kari that we saw in the picture in front of us, if there hadn’t been a letter showing where it came from. But we have to say that you seem to be doing well against the gnawing teeth of time, yes you are thick and round as a turnip, with hardly a visible wrinkle.

And thanks so much for both the photograph and the letter and thanks to the typist, he does well despite  it being an old typewriter. (someone helped Karin with her letters)

And now I should tell you a little about me, about wind and weather, which are the usual subjects. We are living, as they say, as usual, but I think I look 3 or 4 years older than you, instead of being that much younger. But Gölin is bright and able to walk well. She keeps up with her chores so to speak, both in and out. She has about 50 chickens that she cares for outside, and intends to keep 50 as long as she can.

Last winter was unusually fine, however the last few days of October we thought it (winter) would be a long one, as it snowed a large amount. However it soon disappeared and since then we have had for the most part weather so fine that the hens were able to be outside every day through the whole winter, with the exception of 27 January, so you can see it was a fine winter.

The Spring month of March had changeable weather, not so much snow but rain for the thirsty earth. We began to sow wheat the 15 April, the day before the day your letter was written.  The garden is not finished being planted yet, however the potatoes and some of the garden stuff is planted, but more needs to be planted. Yesterday we had an almost hurricane-like storm which  caused a lot of damage to some of the fields, and this morning there was a little snow on the hills and so it’s been snowing and raining a little bit all the time now until dinner and I’m hoping it continues so the roots get a good soaking.

Our cousin Brita Ohlson in Nebraska died about a year ago. The Skanse brothers in Minneapolis are alive and well as is Karin in Cooperstown. Professor Peter Person from Chicago came here for awhile in July, his parents still live in Dakota.  Kersta Dahlbom and Marta Jönsperson also live there.

                                 I don’t know what else to write about, so it is best I end here.
                                Now shall i wash my fingers, and then go to the table to eat.
                                      And after I eat the roast, soon after will come the post.
                                                                Live well and write soon, brotherly love, Per

Stugan vid sjöstranden
8 March 1932

Dear sister!

Thank you so much for your very welcome letter of the 28th. Very happy to hear from you over there living in the old place that you are well and that you had a little trip last summer, yes that would be nice and a lot of fun for you, that we understand. I was not out much last summer, only around Wetaskiwin, Camrose, Meeting Creek and to Ferintosh many times. But Gölin went to Calgary for a week.

Now I am remembering that today is my birthday. You could have forgetten the date I came into the world 71 years ago. Just as I have may have forgotten what date is your birthday. If I remember correctly is 1 September is it not? ( 1 October!) From your letter we read that you had a fine winter, and we also have but now is has become truly cold for a week and the hens have been happy to stay inside until today. They have come out to sunbathe a little, and we think it will become milder once again. And the sun now has more time each day to shine. We have an advantage over you now, but later in May you have longer sunny days than us, but not so hot. 

It would have been nice on a beautiful summer day, to go see the home town and see the great changes that 50 years have had on the people, customs and practices. (I am guessing this is where Karin went on her outing, back to Överhogdal) Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn are the same and also the mountains and high places. (högar). But since roads and communication have improved, people (are less isolated) come closer to one another so there is less difference between north and south in modern times….

Now I will write about the Indians on the reservation, something happened a few weeks ago that has never happened to us before, One very dark evening two Indian women and a child came, they asked to come in and stay overnight and in the late cold night we could not deny them this so they came in, although we were not really wanting to.  These people have civilization all around them on their Reservations.  And free schooling in English but they can hardly say any English words without mumbling something to themselves.  Gölin made food and invited them to eat. They came with two horses so we put them in the stable and fed them. Gölin made them beds to sleep in and breakfast in the morning and we saddled up their horses for them.  So there was nothing for them to do but get up and go away, but they couldn’t even say thank you or goodbye. No, these people are not so civilized, they are outlandish and not of the times yet. Lapps are a small fair people compared to the Indians and the Indians have every chance to be taught and brought up like whites and they get their honest support from the government. (not a very politically correct letter, but he mirrors the times he lived in for sure)

Gölin and I get by quite well with the English language, but we probably speak mainly Swedish with each other. We read a lot of English, however- We have a large daily newspaper and two weekly newspapers and three Swedish weekly papers. But our children hardly ever speak Swedish. And it is not too surprising as they have not had any teaching in it. They have had good schooling in English. They can talk and understand Swedish if necessary to someone who does not understand English. But to us, father and mother they only speak English. We speak Swedish to them most often  and they answer in English.  Or they speak English to us and we answer in Swedish. It could be strange for you to listen to.

I have now written these lines to let you see that I can still hold a pen and write. But my pen cannot write as nicely as your scribe does. However he’s a teacher, I’m just a farmers tuber. A root man! Write soon again and frequently!  I would love to get a whole pile from Rätan, Östersund, Storsjön,  and Näcken, that plays on the blue waves.

  Wishing you well,
signed by your sibling Per, and Gölin

Ferintosh, Nov 29, 1932

Dear unforgotten sister!
It would be nice if we could send a Christmas greeting to you now, as Christmas (becomes twenty days of busyness) and early enough to reach you in far off Söderhogen, So anyhow we want to say Merry Christmas and wish you and your family happy New Year. We can also say that we are still living and pushing forward in our old age and hope it is well with you?

And  we want to tell you about our golden wedding anniversary. You may remember our wedding that took place the 26 November fifty years ago, so you should have been with us last Saturday! We had a very nice party at our home. We had no other guests but our children and grandchildren, but together we are more than twenty. We also had mild weather so it was pleasant in all ways. So the next day were were invited to Julia’s home, but here we came to have a big surprise! We had just come there to find a long row of automobiles driving there. We realized then that it was for us they came. It was  good that the whole Malmo congregation were going to come to our house but they heard that we would be at Albert and Julia’s house. A long row of cars came as well from Highland park itself so it is good Albert and Julia have such a big house to have room for up to 150 people.  And it was very festive. Gölin and I were brought to a pair of stools in the party room  and then there was an overflowing of singing and well wishes. Then we went to eat and have coffee and go around a large table. We sat at the head and helped ourselves to many cakes, cookies and wedding cake of all possible types, so it was good for all.  I should mention that after well wishes there were lovely presents. Then after that there was handshaking and good luck wishes through the night, so the time came quickly when we must part.

Now we are three (living) at home. Arthur is now home and doing farming and work. I cannot walk much, but Gölin does well. We had a good crop this year, but the low prices mean it doesn’t add up, when you’ve paid for the threshing machine and the binding net and other inevitable taxes, there’s not so much left as a handkerchief to wipe your nose with. We are planning to hold out for a few more years because in these times it is not good to sell out, and because we do not want to completely give away housewares, machines and things that we have. We had wintry cold for a while and snow so it was good for sledding as well, but now it seems to be over, cars and trucks have been going all the time. How are things with you? It has been long since we’ve heard anything from you, so write soon to us.

Per and Gölin

Ferintosh, Alberta      27 September 1933

Dear sister in law Karin,
I have the sad responsibility to let you know that my beloved husband and your brother has completed his time on earth and gone to his eternal rest. He has been for many years tormented by rheumatism, and at times in pain, and when he stayed quiet for awhile, it passed and he felt well again.  But on the 12th he became sick, and still was so on the 13th, and I said to him that I have never seen you so sick, we have to call the doctor. So this we did and after he examined him he said it was lung inflammation and that he needed good nursing so we hired a nurse who cared for him and the Doctor was here every day. The doctor gave us little hope from the beginning as he was old and not so strong against this illness. So he was sick Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (and) he was pretty good all the time although he seemed to want to sleep. Saturday night he got worse and breathed so heavily and lay almost comatose until midnight, when he quietly stopped breathing. Almost all of the children were home when he died and the burial was held on Tuesday the 19th and they were all home until after the burial.

Yes he left a big void behind him and it felt so difficult to start with, but God has given me grace to carry on, and I know that it is God who is Lord of life and death who has now intervened and I do not want to blame what he does but am grateful that we have been able to live together now over 50 years. There are probably not so many who get to say that. I want to also thank you for your letters that have probably not been answered . I will stop (writing) for this time and may we put our trust in God, who has been our helper during the years that have passed and has promised not to abandon us.

Written by your sister-in-law Gölin Ringwall
Let us hear from you sometime again

Feb 1935                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ferintosh Alberta Canada

Dear sister in law Karin,

Many thanks for your letter which I received Christmas weekend, I was so glad to hear from you and to hear that you are so healthy. Yes, it is a large mercy from God to have health and I can not be more thankful for my health and being able to do my chores. We have three in the family now, 2 boys are home, and sometimes only one is home. It seems very empty since pappa (Per) died, but it was for the best for him as he was poor in health the last year and had many torments, and he said that he wished he didn’t need to live longer and be helpless and he had his wish granted in this case.

I see in your letter that you had fine weather before Christmas, and did we also. But the 3 days before Christmas this changed and became cold and truly it was. So it was cold almost all of January but now it is fine again and the snow has begun to melt and we have only soft snow and we have not had bad storms. So all is well, for now I will end this letter for this time,

                                                                                              signed by your sister in law Gölin Ringwall 

ps greetings from the letter writer DG.

(Gölin was probably unable to write the letter herself due to her poor vision)

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