The Name on the Stone

Just about a year ago we visited Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn/Queens in the hope of learning more about the family of Alfred and Lottie Westerlund. We know they had two children that grew to become adults: Arthur (later Fredrick Johnson) and Wilma. But apparently there were a few other kids as well. I have a birth certificate for Eric born in 1897, and the federal census of 1900 lists two others (and doesn't include Eric): Harry and May. In New York I was hoping to find some data for these children that would help me to track down their births and deaths.

Alas, no luck on that score. As you can read in more detail in my earlier post, Westerlunds in NYC, the plot where Alfred and Lottie are buried has no headstones or dates to help. But there was the one marker with two surnames: Westerlund and Östergren. I was left with the mystery, who are or were the Östergrens?

So this post is to update you on what I've been able to discover about the mystery family. I must admit that I don't have all the answers yet, but what I have been able to find adds a bit of color to an otherwise dry story of names and dates. It begins with a simple question, so simple that it took me more than six months to think to ask it. I wonder what the cemetery records can tell me about the people buried in Grave #16642 along with the Westerlunds? I turns out that they do know the answer to that question: there's only one other person there: Gustava Ostengren [sic].

The New York Death Index 1862–1948 has a record for the passing of a Gustava M. Ostengren (that same misspelling!) on 27 Dec 1903, age 72. This was a good 20 years before the deaths of Alfred and Lottie. The record put her date of birth as 1831 plus or minus. This is only an index record, so it contains none of the information that would be recorded on a death certificate. A 1903 death means that the latest census in which I might find a record of Gustava would be the national census in 1900. The search of those records came up entirely empty. I did eventually find a possible record, though, “Wilhelmina Ostergreno.” This woman was recorded as the mother-in-law, living in the household of John and Anna Johnson at 33 Cornelia Street in Brooklyn. John and Anna had three children: Elin, Gorden, and Maple. Wilhelmina immigrated to the U.S. In 1895 and spoke only Swedish.

But is this the right person? Although the age, Swedish origin, and surname are correct (once you verify by looking at the actual record), the first names don't match. I quickly concluded that this was the person I was looking for because the names of her daughter and grandchildren rang a bell. You see, in looking for records of Westerlunds in the local Brooklyn newspapers I'd come across an article published in The Daily Standard in 1911, a short notice of a party that had been held. You can see the article in the image, but here's a quick transcription, with important names highlighted:

A pretty wedding anniversary was celebrated recently at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Westerlund, on Fulton street, when a reception was given to their East New York friends. The Rev. Mr. Borgendald, who officiated at the wedding of the couple, was among the guests. Others present were: Gordon Johnson, Arthur Westerlund, Mrs. A. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. S. Goldberg, Mr. and Mrs. H. Thorne, G. Thorne, Richard Bender, Mr. and Mrs. F. Quillan, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. J. Harrar, Mr. and Mrs. J. Anderson, Miss Wilma Westerlund, Miss Emily Harrar, Mr. and Mrs. P. Werner, Mr. and Mrs. J. Duffy, Mrs. Rundstrom, Miss Wilma Folk, Miss Thekla Field, Miss Marie Donaldson, Miss Juliette Karr, Miss E. Karr, Miss Ella Johnson, Miss Lisa Petterson, Miss Mabel Johnson, Miss May Harrar, Miss Ella Quillan and Miss Mildred Thornex.

There you see the names of my grandfather (Arthur Westerlund), his sister (Wilma), and their maternal grandmother, Mrs. (Charlotte) Rundstrom. We also see the names of four of the people listed in that census record: Mrs. A. (Anna) Johnson, Gordon, Ella, and Mabel. (I've learned that you have to be flexible with spellings!) I took this as evidence that the Johnsons and the Westerlunds were travelling in the same circles and corroborated my interpretation that Wilhelmina from the census could be the same person as Gustava.

Let's take a slight detour here from my original purpose of trying to figure out who the Östergrens were. Several of the people attending the anniversary party were familiar to me, but who in the world were Mr. and Mrs. J. Westerlund? One possibility was that they were another branch of the family that had emigrated. However, in none of my records have I found a J. Westerlund who fit the profile - no Jan, Johan, Jonas, etc.. Census records in New York have a few John Westerlunds in the general area, but none living at or anywhere near Fulton Street in Brooklyn. There's always the possibility of coincidence, that these Westerlunds had no relationship to my farfars far (paternal grandfather's father).

Well, I think I've resolved this, and it reminded me of one of the clues that helped Sherlock Holmes solve the case of a stolen racehorse and the death of the trainer in the story Silver Blaze: the case of the dog that didn't bark. At the anniversary party we have the son and daughter of Alfred Westerlund; we have his mother-in-law, Mrs. Rundstrom. The Johnsons are, I think, clearly friends of the family (if not more). Finally, we have the name of the anniversary couple themselves, Mr. and Mrs. J. Westerlund. So what's missing? Why didn't the dog bark? The rest of the family of Alfred and Lottie were at the party; why weren't they? I think it's because the newspaper made one further error in reporting or writing the story. The couple being honored was not Mr. and Mrs. J. Westerlund, but Mr. and Mrs. G. Westerlund (Alfred's first name was Gustav). A quick check revealed that in 1911 they'd been married for 25 years: a nice number to have a “pretty wedding anniversary.”

Back to the basic question: were the Östergrens and Johnsons merely friends of the Westerlunds, or is there some family relationship hiding there. That question remains open. I've followed the Östergrens back to Sweden. As the census record of 1900 indicates, Gustava-Wilhelmina Östergren came to the U.S. In 1895. The Emigrant Database shows that she embarked, alone, from Göteborg on May 3, 1895 bound for New York. Her full name was Gustafva Magdalena Wilhelmina Saltgren. On 22 Nov 1863 she married Anders Fredrick Östergren, who was an artilleryman. He died in 1870 of a lung inflammation. Together Anders and Gustava had only one child who survived to adulthood, Anna Wilhelmina. Anna left for the U.S. On 10 Sep 1889, again from Göteborg. This, by the way, is one of the major ports of departure from Sweden, located on the west coast with direct access to the North Sea. In English it goes by the name of Gothenburg (although the Swedish pronunciation is nothing like that!).

Anna married John Alfred (or Albert?) Johnson on 20 Aug 1892. John Johnson was also Swedish. The censuses of 1900 and 1910 say that he arrived in the U.S. in 1875 at the age of 18. There's no record of an emigrant with that specific name and about that age arriving in 1874 or 1875; in 1876 a young man from the county of Östergötland named John A. Johnsson did arrive. This might be him, and I'll be pursuing that possibility, but with the name of John Johnson – and its several Swedish variants – I'm not too confident that I'll be able to positively identify him. One interesting note about their marriage: I've posted a copy of it below. Note who the witnesses are: Alfred and Lottie Westerlund! Convincing evidence that I've got the right Östergrens, now Johnsons.

At this point I've found no evidence that the Östergrens and the Westerlunds are connected in anyway back in Sweden. I haven't been able to confidently find or follow John Johnson's lineage either. Perhaps if we go forward in time there will turn up a link between the families.

John Johnson's occupation on his marriage license was listed as sailmaker. This job was probably on its way out even in the 1890s; more commonly he's listed as an awningmaker. He worked for John Boyle & Co., tent and awning makers in Manhattan, for 38 years. His obituary in 1919 confirms that he was born in Sweden, but does not provide the city, parish or county he came from. The three children listed in the 1900 census – Elin, Gordon, and Mabel – were all for whom I've found any records.

Gordon William Johnson was born on 29 Aug 1895 in New York, presumably Brooklyn. In 1914 he graduated from Public School 85, now in Astoria, Queens. He enlisted in the Army in 1917. There was a short notice published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 9 Dec 1917, marking a farewell party held for him by his friends:

Dec 1 a farewell party was given in honor of Gordon W. Johnson at his residence, 730 Halsey street, by his numerous friends.

Mr. Johnson is leaving for Camp Joseph Johnston, Jacksonville, Fla., to serve in the Quartermaster's Department. He is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Johnson, a resident of Brooklyn all his life.

A pleasant evening passed in interesting and amusing games and dancing.

Three tableaus were presented by Frederick Meyer, assisted by Bert Thompson, with Gordon Johnson acting as announcer.

Several operatic selections were also rendered by Mr. Meyer, a Brooklyn tenor, assisted by William Templeton, pianist.

Supper was served at midnight, the decorations being the colors of the Allies.

Among the guests were: Miss Mabel Johnson, Miss Irene Hoblin, Miss Julia McCormick, Miss Marie Shuldiner, Miss Marjorie Brown, Miss Edna Pullman and Miss Etta Kaiser, Bert Thompson, Gus Elstrom, Harry Kharrs, William Templeton, Harold Ward, Willworth Delaney and Frederick Meyer.

Many gifts were received by Mr. Johnson for use when “Somewhere in France.”

Athough this was a gay sendoff, the aftermath was tragic. Pfc Gordon shipped down to Jacksonville for training on 11 Jan 1918, and from there he went to overseas on 6 Jun 1918. In France he died of pneumonia on 9 Oct 1918.

Back to the other children of John and Anna Johnson, the two daughters Mabel and Ellen. I haven't been able to round out my story of Mabel. She married Harry Howard Hulse in 1926 when she was 27 years old. Harry had been a sailor in WWI and worked for International Printing Ink Co. in Brooklyn during the World War II years. As far as I know they had no children, but that may not be the full story. For some reason I haven't found Mabel in the 1940 census, even though I Harry is listed, married, living with his parents. In 1942 he and Mabel are living at the same address, so it seems that they hadn't split up. Perhaps she was out shopping when the census taker came around.

Ellen married Harry C. Keiner on 17 Oct 1915. They had three children, Harry Jr., Dorothy and Margery. I was able to get in contact with Ellen's grandson, and asked him if he had any knowledge of where John Johnson had come from in Sweden. Unfortunately, he didn't know, but he did say that he would consult the family Bible. It's the Keiner family Bible, though, so I don't have really high hopes that it will have information on Harry Keiner's father-in-law.

There are still lots of avenues of exploration open for the Östergren/Johnson clan. Nothing at this point, though, suggests that the relationship between them and the Westerlunds was anything other than that of friends. The two families emigrated from different parts of Sweden and came to live near one another and attend the same church in Brooklyn. The fate of Gordon is a sad one, but that was really a drop in the bucket in the context of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and the carnage of World War I. The newspaper accounts, both of his farewell party and the reports of his passing, go a little way toward bringing that time in our history back to life.