Ellen Elaine Soderstrom Naslund

My Grandma Naslund was born on August 13, 1902 in Mora, Minnesota. She lived with her parents Carl Oscar Soderstrom and Anna Maria Samuelson. She was the oldest of 14 children (fourteen!!!). She attended school and finished the 8th grade. Then she went to work in a restaurant and made $2.50/week. When she began dating Richard he told her she should quit working in the restaurant because of the type of people that went there. After that she worked as a housekeeper.

That is all the real information I have about Ellen. She passed away when my mom was five (March 4, 1931). I grew up believing that my grandma had died from pneumonia...which is probably true to a certain extent. The story my mom told me was that she had been ill and she went outside to hang the wet clothes on the clothesline, after that she had pneumonia and died.

It wasn't until I was 18 that I learned the truth, and not from my mom, but my cousin, Dianne.

My Aunt Madge was in the hospital and things weren't going well (she died several weeks later). So, my mom asked me to fly to Minnesota with her, which I did. While we were there and were in the car with Dianne she asked me if I knew the story. I thought I did, but she proved me wrong. (and I don't think my mom was very happy that she did)

The story is that they lived in a very small house, sounds like it was about 800 sq ft, and they had 4 children all close in age... Madge, Chuck, Mom and Bev. Apparently, Grandma found out that she was pregnant again. There was no room in their little home for another child. During those days people were going door to door and offering abortions... in your home. Someone offered her that and she took them up on it. Needless to say, it didn't go well, so, I'm unsure if she hemorrhaged or what happened, but I am pretty sure pneumonia set in somewhere during that time.

This is such a sad story to me. Four children lost their mother at a very young age, and had great hardships because of it. From what my mom said about her memories of her mother she was very kind and loving. Grandpa was unable to take care of all of them so they were split up between family members. Some of them had a loving relationship with those that took them in, others were not as fortunate. My mom stayed with her dad and my grandma great, Anna Hockenson Naslund.

My mother's siblings were wonderful people. I am blessed that they were a part of my life. They were all kind and loving, and had great love and devotion for each other... I am pretty certain that they received those traits from their parents, and I am grateful for that.

If you have more info regarding any of this please email me! Thank you!