“At Lake Osakis in June” is the caption written beneath this old photograph from my great-grandmother’s photo album. Lake Osakis is located less than twenty miles south of Bertha, Minnesota. This was a place where my ancestors would frequently go to spend their recreational time. They appear to be enjoying a traditional Swedish fika atop a grassy knoll near the lake shore.
Everyone in the photograph is a first or second-generation immigrant from Sweden. My great-grandmother Clara and her sister Hilda immigrated to America in 1883. The Svensson family left their ancestral home in Högstad, Östergötland, Sweden on July 6, 1883. Then departed Gothenburg on July 13, 1883 aboard a steamship and arrived about a week later in Boston. Their last name was anglicized to Swenson during the immigration process. After four years in Carver and one & a half years in Fergus Falls, they eventually settled in Bertha, Minnesota on October 9, 1888.
I’ve identified all ten family members in this photograph which I believe was taken in June of 1926. From left to right:
● Frans Westergren (great-granduncle)
● Hilda Swenson-Westergren (great-grandaunt)
● 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝗽𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 (grandfather)
● Rodney Westergren (1st cousin 2x removed)
● Dorothy Hokanson (grandaunt)
● Arthur Hokanson (granduncle)
● 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗛𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 (great-grandmother)
● Stanley Westergren (1st cousin 2x removed)
● Richard Westergren (1st cousin 2x removed)
● 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 (great-grandfather)
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥: 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘯 (1𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯 2𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥), 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢.
