Born 1880-10-26 in Kullen, Högsby.
Farmare.
Died 1960-09-.. in USA.
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CARL ARVID BERG (f. Gustafsson).
Born 1880-10-26 in Kullen, Högsby.
Died 1960-09-.. in USA.
Farmare.
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f
PER EMIL GUSTAFSSON.
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m
CHRISTINA MATHILDA CARLSDOTTER.
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Biography
Born 1880-10-26 in Kullen, Högsby.
Moved away USA 1902.
Farmare.
Died 1960-09-.. in USA.
Carl utvandrade till USA 1902 och gifte sig där med sin kusin Gertie Swanson. Här följer tre
levnadsbeskrivningar, två längre och en kortare, författade av
barnbarn till Carl.
REMEMBRANCES OF GRANDPA AND THE FARM
by Jodelle Joyce Leroy (born Wuertzer)
Even though I am the oldest of Carl Berg's grandchildren, I don't have many wonderful stories to tell. My recollections are more like little "snippets", rather then detailed accounts. Much of what I do have in my head is from hearing my mother, Grace, talk about life on the farm.
I had heard of Grandpa coming to the USA, and staying with a cousin, Julius Bergman, in Jamestown. So the story went, he changed his name to "Berg", a shortened form of "Bergman". He eventually moved on to Illinois, to stay with some other relatives, the Swanson family. It was there that he and Gertie fell in love and married. Her father was a very prosperous farmer, and she was used to living a life of comfort and luxury. I don't know the details, but there was some sort of falling out, and Carl decided to return to New York to try his hand at owning his own farm.
A major setback occurred in the early years in Kiantone, when the barn caught fire, supposedly caused by the kids playing with fireworks. It was a burden for the family to finance the building of a new barn.
Life was very hard for the Berg family, but when my mother talked about those years, she always made me feel that there was much love and caring mixed in with the hard work. The children all had jobs to do, and earned extra money whenever they could. I remember hearing stories about spending long days in the hot sun picking berries for a penny a quart. I also remember stories about the whole family sitting around reading every evening. My mother was always proud of her father, who had not had many years of formal education, but who loved to read, and who frequently surprised the family with a box of used books that he had purchased somewhere along the way. By the time the older children were in high school, Grandpa bought a car for his son Carl to use to transport them into Jamestown each day. One of the best uses for the car, they discovered, was to use it in the winter when they went bobsledding on the big hill near their home (Ojer Hill). They would sled down , and then all pile in the car and pull the sled back up to the top.
When I think back on my grandfather, I picture him on the farm, wearing his bib overalls, and no shirt, out working in the fields, which he loved. Carl was a very handsome man, and remained so for his entire life. Although he was not too tall (about 5'8"), he was strong and muscular. He had a full head of beautiful white hair. He loved people and loved to talk. For many years, he delivered eggs to customers in Jamestown on Saturday. After that he would go to the Public Market , where he wouId buy what he needed for the next week. Two items that were always on his shopping list were a bag of the peppermint pillow candies (which he always kept on the china cabinet to hand out to visitors especially grandchildren!) and a gallon jug of wine, which he would offer to visitors in very small glasses.
Grandpa truly loved his farm and working the land. Although he had a lot of farm machinery, I don't think he ever trusted it. It was a family joke that one day, early in spring when the ground was still wet, he went out to plow, got the first tractor stuck, went back, got another, and yet again the same story. When he had all three tractors stuck in the mud, he went back to the barn, hitched up a team of horses, and then finished his plowing!
Later in his life, he did not always make all decisions based on sound financial reasoning. One day we visited, having not been to see him for a while. He had a big pen filled with about fifty calves, most of which should have been sent to market long before. He explained to us that they were just too beautiful to get rid of. My first and few close encounters with cows came in Grandpa's barn, when he taught me the correct way to milk a cow by hand. I did used to love that warm barn, with the cows and the cats and kittens all around. In the summertime I was occasionally lucky enough to be allowed to ride on the tractor, usually with Uncle Roger driving. It must have been over a period of years, because my memories include the men pitching the hay up onto the wagon, then later, the men tossing the bales up onto the wagon. One of the best part of the haying process was the big meals served up to the helpers !
I recall many Sunday picnics at the farm. There was a big pine tree in the front yard, which had a swing hanging from it. That was fun for the assorted grandchildren who might be there. Often Grandpa would get out his Swedish accordian and provide some entertainment. That was true all throughout the years. He was happiest when he had family around him, and other friends.
MEMORIES OF MY GRANDFATHER, CARL ARVID BERG by Eleanor Pavick (Mother: Esther Viola Berg Nordine)
By the time I was born on 3/25/47, my family had moved from Jamestown, New York to Akron, Ohio. My three older sisters were born in Jamestown. Living out-of-state, we made trips to the "farm" and would usually go on a Saturday morning, and leave around noon on Sunday for the trip to Ohio. It was about a 5 hour trip from Ohio to New York at that time since there weren't any interstate highways and we would travel through all the very small towns.
We would leave very early on a Saturday morning (long before dawn) so that we could arrive at Grandpa's farm about 8 o'clock in the morning. Pulling into the driveway, we would be so excited, jumping from the car and running to the barn where Grandpa would be finishing the morning milking. My two aunts, Anna and Ruth, would also be in the barn finishing the morning chores. No matter what Grandpa was doing, he would stop and one by one of us, he would lift into his arms, swinging us around. He was so very strong! From the barn (when the work was done), we would walk to the farm house where my mother would be already in the kitchen making fresh coffee and putting out the fresh bakery she had brought with her from home. We would all sit down at the kitchen table (we children, too) and visit. Come afternoon, more work needed to be done, most probably in the fields, and Grandpa would take each one of us with him on the tractor. While driving the tractor, he would sing to us and tell us stories while we plowed the fields.
By that night, all of my aunts, uncles and children would come to the farm where we would undoubtedly end up around the piano singing. I remember my grandfather playing his accordion. He would be in the center of the "parlor" room with all of his family around him. Many get-togethers, during the break in the music, he would join all of his grandchildren outside for a game of "hide & go seek" or "kick-the-can." He would have been in his seventies at that time, and could run fast enough to catch even the bigger grandchildren. Once caught by him, he would swing us around and around very fast.
One of the special memories I have with Grandpa Berg, is sitting on his lap and drinking coffee out of his saucer. To this day, I enjoy coffee and often think of him.
Grandpa Berg was very stern in many ways and as a child, I remember, not wanting to make him angry. However, he was also very gentIe and many times he would get tears in his eyes when he was telling us stories, and especially when we said good-by after the weekend visit was over.
I remember that Grandpa Berg liked to dance. Many times, during our visits, Grandpa would take my mother, Esther, out dancing at the Vikings Club (Swedish membership) in Jamestown. My mother would get all dressed up, and Grandpa Berg would put on his Sunday suit and they would leave the farm laughing together.
We also spent a couple of weeks at Grandpa's farm in the summertime. It was always busy around haying time. One summer, I was maybe 8 or 9, they were filling the silo, and Grandpa told me to climb up there on the side of the silo and tell him how full it was. I must have been the only one around because I was scared to climb that high, but I did as he said and climbed to look over the side into the silo. Somehow, I slipped and cut my leg on the silo, and Grandpa had to climb up after all and carry me down to the ground. I still do not like being on very high structures.
Most of my memories of Grandpa center around the barn. Every year I would ask Grandpa to teach me how to milk, and every year, he would look at my hands and say "next year". Well, next year never seemed to come, because he never thought I was quite big enough. However, my uncles, Roger and Harold, taught me and let me milk when Grandpa wasn't around.
I was 13 years old when Grandpa Berg died. That summer, after returning from his only trip back to Sweden, he suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on the left side. My mother rushed from Ohio to New York to help take care of him. He still seemed so very strong to me. I remember sitting by his bed and he would hold my hand with his right hand. He would squeeze my hand so hard that I thought I would cry. I think he just wanted, in some way, to show that he was still very strong.
Memories by Melanie Sue Berg Ammons Daughter of Roger Sixten Berg
There isn't many stories to share being my parents separated
when I was very young. What I do remember are the number of
times we sat in the farms kitchen. Always having a bowl of
raisin soup and Aunt Anna always giving candy.
And the farm land was so beautiful. It is so sad to see it
today gone to brush.
Spouse(s) and children
Married
GERTIE (GERTRUDE) E. BERG (f. SWANSON).
Born 1885-06-24.
Died 1941-01-30.
Created 2022-11-04 using Disgen version 8.2d.