My Parents' Christmas Season Wedding (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 23 theme: "Wedding Bells")

Some of us seem to buck the June wedding trend in my family. My own two marriages were in the Christmas season; my maternal grandparents were married in December and my paternal grandparents in January. One son married over the Christmas season. My brother and sister-in-law headed to Vegas to get married just before Christmas one year. And my parents Kenneth Lorne Bardahl and Elinor Georgina Anderson were married 27 December 1947. We all seem to prefer our nuptials during the cold dark days of winter.

Ken and Elinor wedding photo

My parents met when my mother went to teach at Jorgenson School in the Leinan district of Saskatchewan, Canada in September 1945. This was about 90 km. from the Lancer area farm where she had grown up. Her teacher training had been obtained at the Normal School in Moose Jaw. 

Dad was farming at the time and no doubt soon noticed the attractive new brunette in the community. He had the job of delivering coal for heating the school and it was joked that, after Mum's tenure, the stockpile of coal left at the school lasted for years! Both of my parents loved to dance and no doubt made a handsome couple on the dance floor from the earliest days of their courtship.  

Elinor Anderson as a young teacher - photo courtesy Reynard Anderson family (no relation)

Ken didn't have a car to take Elinor on dates but he was able to borrow one from neighbour Carl Hjermanrud . It meant walking the mile or two to pick up the car and the same mile or two return walk at the end of the evening but Dad was so appreciative of this generosity. My parents became engaged in the summer of 1947; both were 21 years old. This is from my mother's "wedding book": 

Engaged 16 August 1947 - this and all newspaper clippings would be from The Swift Current Sun

Members of the community made a collection to purchase them a set of silverplate cutlery. This was always saved for "good" and was polished from time to time as required. The chest formed a repository for other small treasures such as the beaded identification baby bracelets that their 4 children wore home from the hospital. 

The wedding occurred on Saturday 27 December at First United Church in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

My mother, never being one for frills and flounces, chose a sensible gray suit for her wedding attire. This was fairly common during and after the Second World War. Yellow roses and a locket from the groom were her accessories.  Her attendants were sisters Kathryn and Eunice. Dad's best man was his friend Marlyn Lovestone. 

The reception was a small one at the home of the bride's parents at 133 Sidney Street West, Swift Current, with sister Helen Anderson, Helen's friend Pat Whelan and the groom's niece Louise Barton acting as servitors. Helen recalls carrying a tray of buns and having one fall off, landing perfectly into the coffee cup of Louise's father Ray Barton. 

Ken and Elinor leaving on their Honeymoon

But the celebrations could not be complete without a wedding dance to follow.

Ken was the farmer and Elinor participated fully with him in farm life during their marriage.

Elinor and Ken holding hands across a wide swath of grain

Their family of 4 children has continued to expand over the years to include many descendants who can be thankful that this couple met and had their Christmas season wedding. 

Ken and Elinor 25th Anniversary 1972

As with most marriages, that of my parents was not without it's challenges. Still, they remained married for life; Dad died in May 1997 just a few months shy of what would have been their 50th wedding anniversary.

2000 Reunion at Waterton Lakes National Park (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025, Week 22 theme: "Reunion")

Attendees - Getting Everyone Posed was a Challenge!

It will be a quarter century in July since the Wescott-Edwards-Anderson Reunion at Waterton Lakes National Park marked the Millenium. In May of that year, we sent out an update about the reunion; it had been in the planning stages for some time. The following newsletter (with surnames and contact details redacted) outlined our plans. By that time, some 65 family members from various parts of Canada and the U.S.A. had indicated plans to attend. 

The Planning:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Newsletter May 2000 Update

Wescott-Edwards-Anderson Family Reunion

July 14-17, 2000.  Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

Plans for our 2000 reunion are well underway. We have enclosed a list of all those who have thus far indicated that they plan to attend.  The units at Crandell Lodge in Waterton Park have now all been spoken for.  Some people are camping in or outside the park, others staying in Cardston, Alberta, at either the Flamingo Motel or Trails’ End Motel.

Al and Marilyn have prepared a “Time Capsule”, to be opened at some future date (perhaps the next Family Reunion or one 10 or more years down the line?).  If you have an item that you would like included, please bring it along to the reunion.  Ideas you might consider: photographs, stories, schoolwork or artwork of a child, a favourite but outgrown small toy, a current magazine or newspaper (or article), packaging or advertising from something that’s “hot” in today’s market, coins or medallions, a letter to future family members describing something from your past or your predictions or hopes for the future – you get the idea.

Sue has volunteered to organize some activities for the young children in attendance. 

Suzanne has proposed a project dealing with family idiosyncrasies that promises to be a lot of fun and will no doubt generate a lot of good-natured discussion.

Helen has “volunteered” to sing an appropriate song for the family reunion.  (Those of you who have heard it previously will no doubt look forward to hearing about a family that is (fortunately) very unlike our own!)  Joanne will speak briefly about the history book that she and Bob have co-authored and that will be available for purchase at the reunion.  Elinor has suggested a “singalong” of old favourite songs and is trying to find songsheets.  She also plans to present the courtship story of our ancestors John Alden and Priscilla Mullins as told by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  We could also, however, still use more volunteers to speak or provide entertainment at our Saturday gathering.  Don’t be bashful!

Do you have any items of clothing that could be worn or displayed (e.g., colonial bonnet, military uniform, Norwegian or other traditional costume)?  We encourage anyone with the inkling to dress in period or other costume for Saturday’s dinner to please do so!  Rumour has it that at least one of our Pilgrim ancestors is planning to make an appearance.   (Any period will do – colonial North America or anytime before or after since we certainly had family members living through all periods of history.)  Bring along any medals or badges, documents, photographs, old quilts, anything that may be of historical interest to the group.

We might point out that if you enjoy world-class rodeo (or the excitement of a large midway with rides, displays, and all the usual hoopla assorted with a fair), you may want to attend the Calgary Stampede (July 7 to 16) before joining our reunion.  Everett Edwards competed there about 1920 as a saddle bronc rider.

 If you have not yet made plans to attend our reunion, we invite you to do so.  Please contact either: Bob (contact info); or Joanne (contact info)

 Have a safe and pleasant journey to Waterton.  It will be a memorable gathering.

      ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reunion Time:

It certainly was a memorable gathering providing both group activities and quiet times for reflection or visiting. 

Gathering at the hotel

Sue G. had contacted CBC Radio's Bill Richardson and a couple of us had our letters read on-air during our drive to Waterton. Sue's was about their son (who has hemophilia) learning to skate; it was later published in Richardson's book Dear Sad Goat: A Roundup of Truly Canadian Tales and Letters. 

Karen enjoying a scenic walk (this was much calmer than our mad-dash trip to Calgary to deliver her to the airport barely on time to catch her flight home at the end of the reunion!)

Sue J. recalls how Graham was locked out of his room one night, creating quite a stir. Joanne is quite certain that Graham strapped his espresso machine into a seatbelt for the drive from Calgary to Waterton so as to have freshly made lattes over the weekend but no one has been able to confirm that. 

Elinor (in black and white dress) encouraged family to dress in costume; to that end she made several of  the outfits; some of us were more cooperative than others in her endeavour.

Helen provided her always-popular rendition of Tom Lehrer's "The Irish Ballad" about a maiden who did her whole family in - fortunately not part of our family! Michael sang "Barrett's Privateers". After later discovering a privateer in our family background, I have tried unsuccessfully (so far) to have him sing a revised version. 

Elinor reading Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish" to the group after supper in Cardston

We enjoyed going for a boat cruise to the American side of the Lake in Glacier National Park. This service is still available in 2025 with two choices: the Canadian side only up to the international border running through the lake or the full cruise with a 30 minute stop on the American side (no passport required unless planning a longer stay).

Enjoying the cruise - iconic Prince of Wales Hotel in background

Scenic Cruise from Canada to the USA in the world's first International Peace Park

Aftermath: 

The time capsule prepared by Al and Marilyn was filled and sent home with the youngest family member in attendance. It has since reappeared in revised format at subsequent reunions but has been culled to contain a manageable number of "treasures"  for the next reunion.

For our most recent reunion, Peter and Colleen made "name tags" for each attendee. These generated much discussion and enabled everyone to know exactly how they belong to the family!

My "name tag" from our most recent reunion!

End Note: 

A fitting note to end our 2000 reunion at Waterton Lakes was news of the birth in British Columbia of our newest family member. 

Newest family member born July 2000

This Genealogist's Dream: Chester Fritz Library (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 19 Theme: "At the Library")

Accessing Norwegian bygdebøker (farm books) had been high on my wish list for many years. Farm books were compiled by respected historians over a century ago, using numerous sources, including kirkebøker (church parish registers), census, probate, tax, land and court records. Local residents were also interviewed at the time of the compilations. The result is a series of books (in the Norwegian dialect of each community) providing valuable information about the people living on farms in the various communities throughout Norway.

University of North Dakota
17 August 2017 photo by author

These treasured books are not easily obtained or accessed. Interlibrary loan is not an option. Although there are digitization projects that will make access easier in future, for my purposes in the early 2000's, a visit a brick and mortar library was required. The American libraries that include bygdebøker in their collections are few in number and are located in communities that had a sizeable settlement by Norwegian immigrants. It always appeared that the best bet for me was the Chester Fritz Library (Arne Brekke Collection) at the University of North Dakota.

Arne Brekke Collection in the Chester Fritz Library
photo 17 August 2017 by author

A road trip to observe the total solar eclipse in Grand Island, Nebraska in August of 2017 provided the perfect opportunity for a detour to Grand Forks, N.D. 

After determining my preferred date for a visit, I called the Library's archivist to discuss access. I didn't want to show up and discover that the library was closed or inaccessible to me for any reason. He was very helpful, assuring me that although he himself would be away, the library would indeed be open for business. I described what I had done to prepare for the visit and he confirmed my plan and advised me of opening hours and parking.

As for my preparation, I knew that I would need to know county, parish and farm names for any ancestors I wished to research in the farm books. That would be relatively easy if you just had one or two farms to investigate. With Norwegian ancestors on both my father's 100% Norwegian background and my mother's 38% Norwegian background,  I had dozens that I knew of from four counties (Buskerud, Nordland, Oppland, Telemark). But I had just one day allocated for research! (There are limits to how patient a husband might be left to explore Grand Forks on his own!)

Preparation for the visit included: 

• reviewing the bygdebøker information available on the Family Search research wiki
• printing reports from my database for the families to be researched for each Norwegian county, including parish and farm names as well as names and dates for relevant individuals 
• reviewing the information available on the Chester Fritz Library site and printing off the lists of relevant authors/titles/call numbers to enable efficient access
• purchase of a good USB memory stick for storing the documents scanned at the library

My husband dropped me off at 8:00 A.M. on 17 August 2017. A very helpful librarian gave me a quick orientation to the books and the scanner and I was off to the races! I was so fortunate that I was the only patron there all day and had lots of table space and immediate access to the high-quality scanner. I stopped for a quick lunch in the cafeteria to keep me energized. In truth, my success was feeding on itself to build momentum as the day went on.

Accessing the Farm Books photo by author 17 August 2017

When my husband picked me up at the end of the day, I felt very satisfied that I had found and saved everything I had hoped to find that day. He captured this picture of me getting into the car which speaks for itself about the kind of day I had had!

Photo of author after a day at the Chester Fritz Library
by Graham Barnard

Civil War Volunteer George W. Payton, Sr. (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 21 Theme: "Military")

(George relates to my family through his marriage to my great great grandmother Barbara Hoover Edwards, making him stepfather to her 4 children including my great grandfather Charles Edwards.)

George W. Payton, Sr. Civil War Pension File

George W. Payton, Sr. was born in Ohio in about 1821; his first marriage was to Melvina Dunnahue in 1840 in Morgan, Indiana. The couple had several children, most born in Keokuk County, Iowa. 

On 18 August 1873 widower George married my widowed 2nd great grandmother Barbara at What Cheer, Keokuk Co., Kansas. Strangely, the marriage certificate gives Barbara's name as "Margaret A. Edwards" with a given age of 36 and I doubted it to be the correct record when I found it on microfilm in 2009. Later I learned that this was the right person and the record had been accepted for all purposes over the years as being the same person as Barbara.

My Research Log from 2009 when I located their marriage certificate on microfilm

From George's Civil War Pension File

When the Civil War broke out, George was in his early 40's (and still in his first marriage to Melvina). On 9 August 1862, he enrolled for military service as a Private with Company B of the 33rd Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was honorably discharged at New Orleans, Louisiana on 17 July 1865. During the War, the Regiment suffered the loss of 284 men, with 216 of them dying of disease.

During the 5 year period of the Civil War, nearly 19,000 Union troops were reported with smallpox. There had been a vaccine available for this and the troops were expected to be vaccinated before serving, but complacency and hurry led to many reporting for duty unprotected,

George did not escape disease himself. Near the beginning of those three years of military service, he contracted smallpox. According to documents in his Civil War Pension file, he contracted it at St. Louis, Missouri in October/November  1862. It settled in his eyes; twenty years later while seeking an invalid pension, he said he had never recovered from that and was still disabled.

He said he had been treated in hospital on an island 5 miles below St. Louis called "Bluddy Island" or "Smallpox Island" from October 1862 until about 1 January 1863. He was admitted to hospital just as his Regiment was ordered to Columbus, Kentucky. (Date given on the National Park Service website for the 33rd Regiment leaving for Kentucky was 4 November 1862. Also, the point was made by the Surgeon General's Office that the relevant hospital called "Pest Hospital" was located on Duncan's Island rather than Bluddy/Bloody Island.) Upon his release from hospital he joined his unit at Helena, Arkansas.

Aside from time in hospital, he was present with his unit. It seems that his eye problems had resulted in his assignment to light duty at headquarters. He acted as an orderly for General Rice until Rice's death and as an ambulance driver. Some of the Regiment's files are missing, making his record incomplete. 

From his medical reports, we learn that George was 5 ft. 11 1/2 inches tall, sandy hair, gray eyes and weighed about 200 pounds. We also learn hat he was illiterate. Dr. Hatton, the examining physician, found him to have chronic conjunctivitis and inflamed lids interfering with his eyesight.

His Civil War file is about an inch thick, full of Affidavits by various doctors and others who knew him after the War. Many of the people who would have had more personal or medical knowledge about him at the time of his illness and service were dead by the time he was making his application for a pension. 

One of the Affidavits was sworn by George and Kate Leffler on 22 February 1887. George's mother was Barbara Payton's sister (and therefore related to George Payton by marriage) but this relationship was never mentioned. Kate swore that she had known George for 22 years as she had been living with George's wife when he returned from the War in 1865, sick and almost totally blind.  She said that his face and hands bore the marks of smallpox. She went on to say that she had waited on him until some time after his wife died when she married and lived as a near neighbor in Sigourney, Iowa and in Kansas. She said that, in Iowa, he had to secure the services of someone to lead him from place to place as he was unable to see. Both Lefflers said that George was unable to do any work at all and was sick and confined to bed for weeks at a time. 

Another Affidavit was sworn by Christian Hoover who had become Payton's father-in-law by the time of the Affidavit. Again, no mention is made of  their relationship. Hoover had been an eclectic physician for 30 years and said he had known Payton since 1866 or 1867 when he had treated his eyes. He indicated that Payton had been unable to perform more than 25-50% of the work of an able-bodied man. "I did the best I could for him but had no faith in my ability to fully restore his sight permanently on account of its being an aggrieved case."

Payton was granted a pension of $8 per month, later increased to $10. His request for further increase on the basis of heart disease was rejected as being unrelated to the smallpox contracted during his service.

Life after the War

Based on the Affidavits filed in support of his pension applications, one might think that George was quite incapacitated. Yet, his life after the war reveals him to be a robust active man who apparently enjoyed life immensely. 

He returned home to his family in 1865. Based on the 1870 census in which his wife is listed as Lydia, age 43, he may have married a second time by then as his first wife was Melvina who would have been 48. Perhaps these are just discrepancies in the census. In any event, he fathered 3 more sons after his return. 

In 1873 he married Barbara. With Barbara well into her 40s, they didn't have any children together but certainly led active lives in the community. The 1880 US Census finds them in Howard, Elk, Kansas where George is working as a butcher. The local newspapers give a much fuller description of their lives there. Although George is listed as the business owner, quite probably Barbara was doing much of the work.

The Howard Courant 3 May 1876 from Newspapers.com

The Howard Courant 20 December 1877

The Howard Courant 13 February 1879

Another hotel! The Howard Courant  28 April 1881

Clearly, George was not doing all this himself. Finally, Barbara was acknowledged; after this she was usually the one listed as proprietor in her own right when new businesses are opened. 

 

George played his part too!

The Howard Courant 23 Feb 1882

Apparently he was still considered a formidable opponent: 

Tough Great-Grandpa!

His life in the military was not forgotten. Payton had been General Rice's orderly for much of the Civil War and was visited by Rice's son in 1883.

The Citizen 26 September 1883

Barbara's children Charles, Minnie and Grace Edwards often adopted the Payton surname while living in Howard. The following article indicates that Minnie had made a trip with her step-father. It also indicates George's penchant to be a word-coiner!

Incuperated?

I wish we had more examples of words George had coined! He sounds a rather delightful man. It would have been nice to have pictures of him to share, but none have been located.

It seems he and wife Barbara had parted company by the time of her death in 1890. George himself died a few years later.

George Payton died 27 November 1893. His headstone was supplied by the US Government and references his Regiment from his part in the  Civil War.

George Payton's gravestone in Burlingame, KS Cemetery photo courtesy Jean Pinick on Findagrave.com

Some Resources:

• George W. Payton (Pvt., Co. B, 33th Ia. Vol. Inf., Civil War), pension no. S.C, . 368.111, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications …, 1861 – 1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. The National Archives Soldier’s Certificate No. 368.111 Veteran: George Payton Sr. Rank: Pvt. Service: Co. B. 33rd Ia. Vol. Inf. Can No. 7727, Bundle No. 33
• National Museum of Civil War Medicine website loc at https://www.civilwarmed.org/surgeons-call/small_pox/
• Newspapers.com website for all articles from The Citizen,  the Howard Courant of Howard, Kansas; the Osage County Chronicle of Burlingame, Kansas.
• Union Iowa Volunteers: 33rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry from the National Park Service website located at https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UIA0033RI