Today's transcription project is a newspaper article I found in 2004. It tells of the death and announces the funeral service for Alfred Marem Johnson, my paternal grandfather. I can remember the day I found this short article. I had found that the archived microfilm for the particular newspaper I needed was at a small branch of King County Public Library system. To locate where King County is, the city of Seattle, Washington is the county seat and was not too far out of my way when coming home from work. I gathered up the address and directions to this library and left work early that day. Hoping to have success with the lookup before the branch closed for the day.
It was my lucky day! Yureka! I wish it could have been a little longer and would have told of the disposition of his ashes. The family story is that his ashes remained on a shelf at the funeral home. Many years later I tried to locate them, but by this time the Chittenden Funeral Home in Kent, Washington had been out of business for many years. The local Kent Hillcrest Memorial Park's historian didn't know where any unclaimed remains were placed. The practice at this time was to place ash remains together. This will likely remain an unanswered mystery. I maintain hope that someday I can find out more about Alfred's ashes. Here is what the obituary included.
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| IMAGE: Microfilm of Alfred Johnson's obituary printed 04 June 1931, in the Kent Advertiser-Journal.[1] |
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Alfred M. Johnson
Alfred M. Johnson, a veteran of the world war, who resided at 9418 4th Ave. S.W. Seattle, died on May 29th. at the Swedish Hospital. He was born December 2, 1893, at Lake Preston, South Dakota.
He is survived by his widow Olena, a daughter, Gloria, and a father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. William Johnson, who live on the Benson Road.
Rev. George Abbott conducted the funeral services which were held at 2:00 o’clock on Sunday from the Chittenden Funeral Home followed by cremation.
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1.) "Alfred M. Johnson," obituary, The Kent (Washington) Advertiser-Journal, Thursday, June 4, 1931.
I found this obituary on microfilm at the Renton Highlands Library, a branch of the King County Library System, 2902 NE 12th St, Renton, WA 98056. Phone (425) 277-1831. I also know that a complete set of Kent, Washington newspapers on microfilm is now located that the main branch of the Kent Library, located in downtown Kent.
It is curious that Alfred's obituary did not mention that, in addition to a daughter, he had three sons who also survived him. This short article should have included Lloyd, Gordon and William "Billy." Obituaries so frequently contain errors. A person really needs to keep that in mind as these are read. But then too they often contain crumbs to find out more about the person.
Today, the Swedish Hosptial (aka Medical Center) is a not-for-profit hospital serving Seattle, the surrounding area and more. This hospital began accepting patients in 1910. Alfred's last residence was in a neighborhood west and a bit south of Seattle. It is known as White Center. In 1931, it would have been a long ride to go from White Center to the hospital, a distance of seven wiles within a large city. Alfred's wife, Olena had never learned to drive and with four children between the ages of eight and two, a person wonders how Olena coped with his last illness we have learned was spinal meningitis. Did other family members help her or did she manage with taxis or the bus line? The answer is likely, "Yes." I should have asked her, but the question never came to mind. To see a copy of Alfred's death certificate click here.
Amanuensis Monday is a weekly blog theme that was started by John Newmark, the author of TransylvanianDutch blog. John defines Amanuensis as "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I also appreciate the good work and format examples of San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver of the blog Genea-musings. Thanks, guys.
I am reminded that transcribing helps me to learn what a document contains. I have learned over time that I have a tendency to "skim" over an item; a bad trait for a researcher who needs to learn even the smallest details documented records contain. Transcribing helps me to slow down; to capture all aspects of the document or record in hand. It also gives me a better opportunity to share the document with you.
Thank you so much for stopping in to read this post. It is a treat for me that you did. I hope your week is off to a good start and that you are having a good day too.
The URL for this post is:
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Thank you so much for stopping in to read this post. It is a treat for me that you did. I hope your week is off to a good start and that you are having a good day too.
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