In Piscataquis County, Monson is well-known as the home of many Swedish and Finn settlers of a century and more ago, largely as workers in the town’s slate quarries. I learned from recent newsletters of the Monson Historical Society that Swedish descendants from Piscataquis County and beyond raised $2,200 to erect a monument on an unmarked grave the Portland-Monson Slate Co. used to bury four immigrant men who died in the quarries between 1913 and 1925.
Engraved on the monument were the names of Hjalmar Sunden, Gust Maulquist, Emil Attonen and Gust Salo. The memorial was dedicated on July 19, when a ceremony also was held at a separate monument that had been erected by Monson townspeople in 1884. Four other immigrant miners had been buried there after that date, but their names were not added to the marker. Those names have since been engraved on that monument: Charles Burgman, Frans Gustafson, Oscar Donaldson and Andrew Hanson.
Both monuments are located in the lower cemetery on North Guilford Road in Monson. A trip to this cemetery would be a great opportunity to help youngsters understand the sacrifices these workers made.
My children don’t have Swedish ancestry that I know of, but my nephews and niece grew up in Parkman, with ancestry that includes Swedish forebears: Johnsons for two of them, Obergs for the other two.
I should mention the Monson Historical Society has a nice museum worth a visit on Main Street in Monson. It is reachable by stairs and has a stairmaster, but it does not have an elevator.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Keep in mind that research materials are available on the first floor in the Evangeline and Clifton Jackson Research Center at the museum building.
Census records transcribed
The 1940 Census may be the first opportunity to find your parents or grandparents — or even yourself — enumerated in U.S. Census records. Whether devoted genealogist or casual peruser of family history, you’ll be pleased to find the census available free online.
That presumes you have some level of comfort using a computer and that your eyesight permits you to view census records on the Web. If not, I would hope a friend or relative would be glad to look up your family and type up the information for you — in larger type, if need be.
Let’s applaud historical societies, libraries and other organizations that have transcribed — copied over — census records for their towns and surrounding areas.
Molly and Glen Poole have transcribed the 1940 Census for Monson, Elliotsville and Blanchard, with those records available at the Monson Historical Society. The records are indexed, as well.
Let’s say you wanted to look up the Kronholm families in the 1940 Census of Monson. There are several, among them the family of Edward W. Kronholm, 57, and wife Amy V., 58. Enumerated with them are children Edgar W., 34; Aubrey P., 32; Lila J., 28; and Colby F., 22, whose occupation was listed as “slate splitter.”
MHS also has Monson census records transcribed from 1850 to 1930, indexed, a tremendous asset for any organization that offers opportunities for historical and genealogical research. A few researchers may carry their computers with them, but most don’t. Then, too, older folks and others appreciate the chance to look at these records in print.
There is another consideration, as well. I have found a number of 1940 census records indexed incorrectly online, possibly because a large group of volunteers rushed through the indexing. Another factor may be that those doing the indexing couldn’t read the penmanship of some records, but a bigger problem was that they were not familiar with the names found in a particular town.
I found enumerator Evangeline Anderson’s penmanship generally readable in the 1940 Monson Census, and people named Kronholm also were properly indexed. But I would point out that the “K” in Kronholm looked very much like an “R” to me, so it could have happened that the family would have been indexed as “Rronholm” by someone not familiar with the Swedish and Finn names of the town.
The newsletters of the historical society are full of informative articles, and I’m sure they are of interest to people who live in other parts of Maine and other states, as well as those who live close enough to visit.
Dues are $8 for 2015 and $10 for 2016, or $125 for a life membership, sent to Monson Historical Society, C/O Glenn Poole, 167 Johnson Mill Road, Orrington, ME 04474. The mailing address at the museum is PO Box 308, Monson, ME 04464, but please use Glenn’s address for memberships. The Web address is monsonmaine.org.
For i nformation on researching family history in Maine, see Genealogy Resources under Family Ties at bangordailynews.com/browse/family-ties. Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402, or email familyti@bangordailynews.com.