Our "Newly Found" Cousins from Iowa
On Sunday, July 25, 1999 Norma e-mailed me and said that she had sent both mom and a cousin named Sandy in Iowa a packet of information on our family. I had never heard of Sandy before, so it was really exciting to think that we had more relatives than we knew about. Norma also mentioned that Sandy may contact me by e-mail
Four days later, on the 29th, Sandy received the packet from Norma which contained our e-mail address, and she lost no time in sending me a message. I gave her both Mom's and our phone numbers, and before long she called.
Over the next several days we shot e-mails back and forth and Sandy called several times, and during that period her parents Lyle and Edith arrived for a visit. -- It was nice talking to them, too, and Edith remembered meeting Frank, Mom and I in California at another cousin's home in 1974 right after our baby girl Kristina passed away.
Sandy and her husband Paul are both interested in geneology, and are working on their family tree. To my surprise and delight, we have a lot of relatives that Sandy told us about!
Sandy and Paul live about six blocks from the Mississippi River in Clinton, Iowa, and have two sons, Eric and Marc who are 25 and 23 years old.
On Sunday, August 1st, Sandy, Paul, Lyle and Edith went to the Andover Luthern Church in Adover, Illinois where our ancestors Carl and Johanna Gustafson attended church. (Carl and Johanna were Edith's grandparents; Sandy's great-grandparents; and my great-great grandparents.)
The church was completed in 1869 at the cost of $40,000, and the diminsions are 12 feet wide by 80 feet long with seating for 1,000 people. When they went to make an addition to the church, it measured only 1/4 inch off from square which is really amazing.
Carl and Johanna helped build the church, as did many of the other immigrants who settled in that area. They stayed in private homes and some stayed in the basement of the Jenny Lind Chapel.
They was unable to get a look at the church record books, as some are only available during the week. Sandy is hoping to be able to go again this summer to check them out, as it would be fun to actually find the names listed.
Through Sandy we have also learned where some of our "lost" relatives are, and we hope to make contact with them soon. -- Thank you Norma, Sandy and Paul, as well as Edith and Lyle, for sharing our family history with us, and for helping us find our "roots".