Browse Items (1041 total)

Margaret digresses from the main story to tell of the time when Adelle, in her old age, had to move in with her daughter Betty.Adelleᅠhad only a small pension form Wheaton College, and when her sight began to fail it was clear that she could not…

Margaret tells stories about her mother's childhood. She went to a German school when she lived in Franksville. In Somers, she had a friend, a half Indian girl with a European father, who had been rejected by her tribe. That girl was Adelle's best…

Grandmother Mortenson was very active in the church. Margaret remembers her as a very warm person with little education. She died the summer of the Mortensons' trip to Stony Lake.

A.D. is remembered as very nervous, reserved, and cold. He would hide in his room to weep, trying very hard not to visit his health problems on the family. Margaret tells about his opposition for an opportunity she had to win a scholarship.

Margaret recalls the last summer of her dad's life. It was a happy summer because of an evangelistic tour he had with Mr. Park in Michigan. He died suddenly, while the rest of the family was in Stony Lake. He was burried in Somers, Winsconsin.

Margaret's father's funeral was held in Uncle Chris' house in Racine, Wisconsin. The burial was in Oakwood cemetery in Somers, Wisc., where several family members had been buried. Later in 1953 Margaret's mother Adelle had A.D.'s body moved to…

Margaret's birth certificate was registered in Kenosha County. When she went to Siam with Kenneth in 1927 she had to send for her birth certificate. It was then that she discovered that it read "Female Mortenson." Adelle had to go to the Wheaton…

Margaret was born in the house at 8412 Highway, Somers, WI, on Sept. 7, 1903. It was in a tiny room , perhaps ten feet by ten. She stayed there with her parents, Adelle and A.D. through the winter.

At the end of the winter the Mortensons found it difficult to continue to stay in Somers, especially for A.D. to be going back and forth in the cold weather, so before the fall they moved to Racine, Wisconsin, and they stayed at 1741 Villa St. In…

Margaret was born very early in the morning, and her parents were choosing names for their meaning. Her name, Margaret, means pearl. Dorothea means "a gift of God." Julia (which means "soft hair") was named after the girl's grandmother and her…

By February 1905 the Mortensons had moved to 1642 Washington Ave., Racine. Margaret and Kenneth visited the area and discovered that Washington Avenue was largely commercial. but 1642 was still there. That house is where Evangeline was born.

A.D. took a job in Chicago for additional income to support his family. He later found a house in Evanston and the family was able to move to the city. In 1969 Margaret and Kenneth visited the house and photographed it.

Margaret's earliest memory is of no significance but quite vivid. She recalls that at eighteen months old she was standing at a door looking in, with a window to her left, and before the window was a table with a red-check cloth on it. She was…

At age three Margaret had an ear infection and went through an operation safely. Grandfather Laurids learned about it and sent a note to greet the family. It was nicely written but not so comforting. Other letters from other relatives were warmer.

An incident with Mrs. Rosing that Margaret's mother never forgot. Shortly after Margaret and Evangeline recovered from their sickness Mrs. Rosing saw them coming down the street wih their mother. Thinking that they were contaminated, she hurried to…

Margaret's scarlet fever a second time, one year after the first one, and this time it was worse. She was treated just in time, but she became completely deaf in her right ear. Her hearing in the left ear, though, was so acute throughout her…

The Mortensons moved and took over a boarding house on Dempster St. That was when Margaret started kindergarten, and she remembers walking across a railroad track to school. Her sister Evangeline was adorable and everyone liked her, including the…

Within six months Margaret's family moved to Evanston and she continued Kindergarten there. There she had her first "disgrace" in school: she couldn't say the days of the week, unlike everybody else in her class

Margaret recalls a scene in which her father clearly showed his preference for Evangeline by giving her the pink apron that Margaret wanted. This childhood perception was confirmed as the kids grew up, but Margaret never felt jealous of her sister or…

Margaret tells how when Betty was born she supplanted Evangeline as favorite and remained mother's favorite most of her life. Betty didn't bother with the rules and mother would overlook it, which she didn't do with the other girls.

Margaret always loved desserts, so when she was convalescing her mother made her a batch of cream puffs. She was down to the last one when the doctor came in to see her, and mother suggested that she gave it to the doctor. "And to this day I can…

Margaret's grandmother died before she was born, but she has one memory of her grandfather Estberg. He came one day while she was playing with other kids and he stood behind her, a very tall man dressed in black. His image is mixed up with that of…

Margaret's grandfather died in June 1907, at the age of seventy-one. Adelle and the two girls attended the funeral. The total expense of internment was $ 144.25

Margaret's mother kept a lot of memorabilia. On a small program for children's day at church, which her mother kept Margaret found written the date of her baptism: June 12, 1904, a short time before her first birthday.

Margaret recalls her first kindergarten project, a turkey cut out of paper and colored, and a sailboat cut out and put on a piece of paper. She also gives the names of her school teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade, and remembers one who was…
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