Family Reunions -- Ostrom Style (ca. 1925-1935)

Ed's Day Wednesday

Dear FOLKS,

Another Wednesday has arrived and it is time to once again look into the stories and family history that was left for us by my late cousin, Ed Ostrom. Today we will continue with the life of Anna Tomine Brekke Ostrom. Anna was Ed's paternal grandmother and No. 5 on the ahnentafel list of his ancestors.

In a previous post we learned how family connections and gatherings were an important part of Anna's make-up.  She seemed to be a natural at organizing family events. These were usually potluck affairs, after all having a meal together was part of the fun. These were frequently held on a Sunday nearest a holiday. Once telephone service was made available it became so much easier to spread the word about these events, until then it would mean planning ahead by telling folks early, sending a note to those she hadn't seen and relying on Oscar's and their children's help to spread the word while about the farm, school and town.

Then too, fortunately for us, Anna's younger sister Ida Brekke Peterson was an avid photographer. I don't know what brand of camera she used, but she kept it near at hand and frequently took a picture for us to now enjoy. Keeping in mind that she also made sure to have these photos developed. Today we take for granted having an immediate digital to view on our screens where we can print these right at home. Photographs weren't near that accessible in the early days of home photography. You had to purchase the roll film, take all the photos on the roll and then take the roll to the store where you waited a week for it to be sent out to be developed using chemicals in a darkroom where the images appear on special paper that we are now seeing. If more copies are needed you take the negatives back into the store and wait another week for an additional quantity to be printed. Oh yes, each developing event cost you more money. So did I say we are lucky that Anna and Ida loved photographs?

I hope the following photos appear large enough for you to see the details on the many faces they contain.

Date: July 15, 1928

Location: east side Nelson Carlson Lake, NW of Douglas, North Dakota

Occasion: Ostrom Family Picnic/Reunion celebrating Anna M. (Ostrom) Haner's July 16th birthday

Photographer: Ida Brekke Peterson

Photo size: unknown

Identifications by: Tom Ostrom, ca 2002, and a collection of "cousins."

Those photograph holds the following folks:
1. Male with hat__________________19. Anna (Brekke) Ostrom b. 1890
2. Oscar Haner b 1900_____________20. Alfred Johnson b. 1893
3. Olena (Ostrom) Ehlers b. 1882__21. (baby) Gordon Johnson
3.1. Oscar Kirk Ehlers holding____22. girl with bell shaped hat
     newborn Amaryllis Ehlers_____23. Arvid Ostrom b. 1914
4. Clifford Ostrom b. 1908________24. girl with black hat
5. Earl Marvin Ehlers b. 1912_____25. Ione(Peterson)Schooler b.1920
6. Raymond Roberts b. 1910 _______26. Man with tie
7. Olena (Haner) Johnson b. 1903__27. Boy
8. Clarence Haner b. 1919_________28. Lloyd Johnson b. 1923
9. Harold Haner b. 1912 __________29. Boy with finger in mouth
10. Jake Swenson (neighbor) ______29.1 Boy covering his face w/hand 
11. Anna M.(Ostrom) Haner b. 1877_30. Mable (Ostrom) Heer b. 1920
12. Theodore Ostrom ??____________31. Boy
13. Tom Ostrom b. 1911____________32. girl in leggings
14. woman?________________________33. boy smiling
15. Oscar Ostrom b. 1884__________34. Gloria Johnson b. 1925
16. (baby) Clinton Ostrom ________35. Orrin Ostrom b. 1922
17. Tolina (Paulson) Ostrom b.1846
18. Male with hat

The following four-generation photograph was the key in identifying when the previous picnic photo was taken. We know that is a photo taken shortly after baby Amaryllis Ehlers was born and her birthday records show 11 June 1928. The baby's mother, Otellia (Hillesland) Ehlers wrote: "At five weeks Amaryllis was a member of the family reunion held at the Nelson-Carlson Lake, the occasion being Mrs. W.W. Haner's [Anna Ostrom Haner] birthday. A snapshot was taken of great-grandma Ostrom, Grandma Ehlers and her daddy (Oscar) and herself." Notice that Toline and Olina are wearing the same clothes in the large picnic photograph, leading me to know that both photos were taken on the same day.

IMAGE: a four-generation photograph taken

after the birth of Amaryllis Ehlers. Left to

right Tolina Ostrom (b 1846), Oscar Kirk Ehlers

(b. 1905), baby Amaryllis Ehlers (b 11 Jun 1928)

and Olena (Ostrom) Ehlers (b. 1882).

The following photograph is of another family gathering. Whenever Oscar's mother, Toline (Paulson) Ostrom would arrive from Elbow Lake, Minnesota for a visit, it was a good time for a family reunion. Anna would do the planning and put out the word that a potluck was planned.

Date: 1930

Location: West side of Oscar Ostrom’s homestead house, 4 miles east of Douglas, ND.

Occasion: Tolina (Paulson) Ostrom’s 84th birthday (Mar 13th) & Ostrom family reunion

Photographer: unknown Photo size: 4.2 x 2 inches

Identifications: by Tom Ostrom in July 2002 and a collections of "cousins."

The individuals in this photo:

1.  Arnold Ehlers   b. 1915	23.  Arvid Ostrom   b. 1914
2.  Oscar Ostrom   b. 1884	24.  Fred "Barney" Roberts   b. 1880
3.  ?	25.  Kjetil Lunde  (neighbor)
4.  ?	26.  Bertil Lunde  (neighbor)
5.  Ida (Brekke) Peterson   b. 1894	27.  Mabel Ione (Ostrom) Heer   b. 1920
6.  ?	28.  Anna (Brekke) Ostrom   b. 1890
7.  Olina (Ostrom) Ehlers   b. 1882	29.  Clinton Ostrom   b. 1928
8.  Theodore Ostrom   b. 1880	30.  Ione (Peterson) Schooler   b. 1920
9.   ?	31.  ?
10. ?	32.  Orrin Ostrom   b. 1922
11.  Gust Buness (neighbor)	33.  Tolina G. (Paulson) Ostrom   b. 1846
12.  ?	34.  ?
13.  Louise (Peterson) Ostrom   b. 1880 (wife of #8)	35.  ?
14.  Ernest Todd  (neighbor)	36.  ?
15.  ?	37.  Anna Malene (Ostrom) Haner   b. 1877
16.  Harvey Roberts   b. 1911	38.  ?
17.   ?	39.  ?
18.   ?	40.  Kenneth Peterson   b. 1917
19.  Irene Buness (neighbor who moved to Sacramento, CA)	41.  ?
20.  ?	42. Alice (Emerson) Ostrom   b. 1910 (wife of #43)
21.  ?	43. Tom Ostrom   b. 1911
22.  ?

As you can see from the photos, some times the reunions were held at the nearby Nelson-Carlson Lake or at the Ostrom home, I suggest that it depended on the forecasted weather and the type of gathering that was planned. These photographs show that we have one from each location to share. It is not known if these reunions continued after the 1938 relocation by Oscar and Anna to Oregon. It is also not known what other locations the reunions may have been held at.

It is sad that there are so many unknown faces found on our lists. I am hoping that this blog's exposure can help with that. It you have knowledge of any that are unnamed or if you see a mistake, please leave a "Comment" or send me an email at the address shown at the bottom of this page. Your input is welcome. Let me know if you need an unlabeled copy.

Note to self: Learn if it is possible to have more than one "table" within a single blog post, I'll research that and see what I can learn. But for now, The single table worked nicely.

Dear FOLKS, thank you once again for stopping by to see more of Ed's family information he gathered for us.

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Please comment regarding this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then use the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Or contact me by email at dsteff4246[at]gmail[dot]com. I hope you have a good week.

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