Memoirs of Oscar F. Peterson
Part II
Odebolt, Iowa, 1952

Excerpts of this booklet are published to the Odebolt History Pages with permission
from Oscar's granddaughter, Barbara (Peterson) Michael of La Mirada, California.

CHAPTER V - MEETING A PREACHER

Tired but glad that I had the letter from home and that I now supported myself.  Thinking that I had relatives and once more was among Swedes and could go to Swedish churches.

One day a friend introduced me to the Rev. Bralin.  He understood and had heard that I had arrived and asked me if I had any church papers along with me.  I did have them, but they were in the room where I was working.  "Well," he said, "according to custom you shall come next Sunday and I shall accept those papers and after that you are a member of our church."  I told him that I would go to some other churches first and see how I would like them.  He then took my hand and looked into my eyes and said, "Have you read what it says in the Catechism?  Come again and have a longer talk with me."  So, I said that I would and one evening I went to his study and I had my church papers along.  He looked at them and laid them in his drawer and said, "They are very good, but you know you have to come before the church before you can be a member."  Well I told him that I was out in this world and did not know how long I had work, and that I had no money.  Well he began to speak like he had authority over me, but I can with good conscience say that he did not have.  Afterwards he and I never had much to do with each other.  I later went to another church where they encouraged each other to seek first the kingdom of God.

[GOING TO SCHOOL]
Now I got ambitious to learn the English language and when one does not understand it looks as if it were impossible.  I suppose it is the same when you look at the Swedish, you think it is wonderful how we can write Swedish.  English has been a great joy in my life; many times when I have read English books and Bibles, I have had so much blessings that I thank God because I learned English.  Now in this connection I shall speak a few words about my school days in this country.

I had decided not to work for two months one winter, but rather go to school.  I then had saved up a little money.  One day I went to town to buy a new suit which was necessary and also reading books.  I asked the school official if I could go.  He said, "All right if the school teacher will let you go," so I asked her and she said "If you have an opportunity you know you are welcome."  I remember how she came and sat by my desk, opened a book and helped me to read.  I tell you I had a struggle.  I worked hard in the school and it was very interesting.  I wanted to learn the English language and would not give up.  Very often when I saw the small children come forward and stand beside the teacher and read their lesson, I afterward had to do likewise, but not so good; I, poor fellow, was very much ashamed.  I might tell you also of a particular joke the teacher had on me.  Once she asked me "Oscar," she said, "now you tell us what man in this country wears the biggest hat."  I just said "The President."  "No, no" she said.  "Well I must give up," I said.  "Well Oscar," she said, "the man with the biggest head wears the biggest hat."  You can not blame them youngsters for having a laugh on me.  However, this was not an easy matter, for now I know more than ever before, that it is hard for a foreigner.

I afterwards got even with that school teacher with this joke.  "Now Miss Gavin," I said, "you can write anything in the school room.  I write just the same any place outside and I am glad that I went to school and it makes no difference to me what you write.  I am going to write just the same."  She called all the boys and girls together, shut the door and I was outdoors.  Then she wrote Agnes Gavin, then she said "Now let us see if he is able to do what he said."  She came out and found on a paper where I had written these words, "just the same."

We always had a fine time that two months.  I then was 20 years of age.  I could not afford to go to school any more, so worked for a family one season.  Then my brother started farming and I went in partnership with him.

[MARRIAGE & FAMILY]
At the age of 23 I married Selma Cilia Olson and will say that I was fortunate, as she was a most wonderful good wife and our home conditions were just like it ought to be.  We attended the meetings regularly as she was a member of a Mission Covenant Church.  I remember they had special meetings and one time I left the horses out in the pasture and I was not able to get them home that evening.  She then called me the naughty man.

We were blessed with three children.  We all really loved each other and lived happily together.  I rented an 80-acre farm 1 1/2 miles north of Kiron, Iowa.  There Myrtle and Darrold were born.  Later I rented my wife's father's farm.  My wife's brother worked for us for a number of years.  My wife's father and my wife's brother all of us lived together under one roof.  It shows how relations can live together, but at last there was a little disharmony and I bought 160 acres for a farm in Union County, South Dakota.  My wife's father got married again, his first wife had been dead a number of years.

[Oscar and his family farmed for a time in South Dakota near Big Springs, then moved to Long Beach, California due to his oldest daughter, Myrtle's, illness.  Although he bought some land north of Hawarden, Iowa, his family did not wish to return to Iowa, so he sold it and returned to California.  The narrative extols the virtues of life in California.  Oscar's wife died October 20, 1926, leaving him and his family bereft, but receiving wonderful support from their friends and church friends in California.]

CHAPTER IX - MY SECOND MARRIAGE

I sat looking back over my childhood days and my 24 years of married life, thinking of the changes in different ways, my sorrows and troubles.  Mother was not there, she had been taken away.  The home was not like it used to be.  Even the sunshine had lost its brightness, and nothing looked bright to me.  I again began to feel like a stranger.  You, my children, were out with your friends and in the society, but as soon as you came home you said "Daddy, we know there is serious trouble, we can see it in your face.  Best for you, daddy would be to leave for a visit back east to see your brother and sisters and all your relatives.  It will be a change for you."

You can now remember how I took your advice, that was about a year after the death of your mother.  It was at that time I got acquainted with my present wife.  I took my visit with Therman Helee.  He wanted to drive from California to his home in Nebraska and he thought that I wanted to go along for the ride, as I often told him when I was building his mother's apartment on Cherry Avenue in Long Beach.

We started on Monday morning and arrived in Nebraska Saturday noon.  Everything had gone smoothly the whole way.  I took the train to Kiron.  Everyone I met appeared glad to see me.  My relation and friends did everything they could think of to make it pleasant for me.

I went to see some of my relatives in Odebolt, and I had an errand at Mr. Gust Anderson's and stopped in.  This was shortly before dinner and to my big surprise his daughter and my former wife, your mother, had been life-long friends.  She told me that she knew me and had met me many times.  She got in a great hurry and got a good dinner on the table.  Her good father told me to write to them when I got back to California.  It was then the magnetic attraction or whatever you may call the attraction of love really began.  The next year I left the sunshine state and no two persons could have gotten together to form a happier home than has been ours.  This happiness of married life lies in the skill of both of us and there has been no disappointment on either side.

CHAPTER X - LIFE ON THE FARM

Nearly every farm house is by itself, so I will try and tell you how I found the best way to have joy in the little fenced up place we now call home.

First, we are very interested in our home.  Second, we love each other, a kind word from each other has helped us along wonderfully in our toilsome life.  We have always been trying not to be wronging each other.  In our hearts we are proud to set a good example before each other.  We have been wise, kind, gentle and very sympathetic.  We go to the same church and sing good songs together; and in many other ways we live for each other.  We have also invited good friends and neighbors to come to our house.  In this way we have gotten a happy home life.

We have gotten outside fellowship by meeting with people in the way of business, to talk to those that have sorrows, trials and tribulations, to give a telephone call to some that have been lonesome or live on a lonely place or have been sick.  I can not help but mention this to you, my dear children, for in this way, I and my wife have found a sweeter and happier life here in our farm home.

CHAPTER XII

.... I remember distinctly that a horse pulled the hack which brought me to the railroad station [when he was leaving Sweden] forty-eight years ago.  I am longing to see that country, not for the reason of spending superfluous cash for such I have none, but to see my brother, home, friends and the beautiful graveyard where my parents, one sister and a brother lie at rest.  If I be granted that privilege, maybe I can write and describe  more clearly and give satisfactory reply to many questions.  However, it is impossible to take that wonderful trip a long as the war lasts. ....

CHAPTER XIII

[Oscar received word from California that his son, Darrold, had died in a tragic accident at Long Beach in an oil field in October 1944.  He tells, in great detail, of his first airplane flight from Kansas City to California to attend the funeral and be with family. It is an interesting account of flying at that time.]

OUR TRIP TO SWEDEN IN 1948

[Oscar describes his flight over to Sweden with his wife to visit for three months.  It had been 51 years since he had left Sweden for the United States.  He kept a daily record of each day and so is able to fully describe his experiences in an interesting way.]

... Ralph Swanson's cousin, Arthur Swanson, gave us many delightful rides in and around Vidingsja. 

OUR TRIP TO SWEDEN IN JUNE, 1950

[This portion was written by Mrs. Oscar F. (Hilma) Peterson, and gives a wonderful description of Sweden from an American's viewpoint.]

 ... What a strange feeling!  We had left New York at noon the day before, and was at Oscar's old home in Sweden in the evening of the next day.  It seemed almost impossible to be true. ...

.... After some days' visit and sight seeing with my husband's brother, cousins, and relatives and friends and getting acquainted with eleven of his old schoolmates who were still living in that community, we visited the two schools and also the church he attended when young and lived in Sweden, where he belonged to then, also stopped at the small Depot, Farhult, where Oscar and his three sisters and his two brothers had left from, when leaving Sweden in their young days, to come to America.  It was still standing there, all painted up and in good shape, since fifty-three years ago when he boarded a train and left for America.  I snapped a picture of Oscar and his brother standing by the depot as a memory.

We went several times to Vastervik, the city where Oscar as a young boy used to haul fire wood and sell on the market place to the city people.  His father had no horses, but had a team of oxen and a wagon to drive with to town in those days.

... It was very interesting for me to see the places where he was born, spent his childhood days, and grew up to a young man.  He was home on the farm helping his father until he was eighteen years old, when he left Sweden to come to America.  He then came to Odebolt, the town we live in at present.

... also saw the birthplace of my father and mother, the churches they attended and belonged to when they grew up, and were confirmed, the places where they worked and were married and had their reception.  We were invited to that place for a dinner, a son and grandson still lived on this big farm now.  The grandson to the folks who my parents worked for, was the owner of the farm now.

...It was with deep feelings, in my mind, when I now saw these places and walked around where my dear parents had spent their earlier days in life, and worked hard.  Little did I know when my parents were living, that I would ever have an opportunity to see those places.

My parents were both back to Sweden for a visit, to see their relatives and places they had lived, and been at after having been in this country for over 15 years.  We also saw where some of my uncles and aunts had lived and also their resting places, where they were buried.  We were at the church and cemetery several times where my husband's parents and sister are resting.

Deep feelings went through soul and body to see their graves, and names on their tomb stones.

We visited at several of my cousins' homes.  They lived now where their parents had lived, when my parents were there years ago.  Some lived at Motala, some at Hoversby, some at Lyrestad, some at Linkoping and other places.   We were on the go every day from place to place to get over as much territory as possible and see all the folks we knew.

... While we were visiting with Oscar's brother, on their old home place, Oscar and I went fishing one day in Lake Vangnarn, close to their home. 

[Oscar writes]
To the readers of my book and in memory of the pleasant journeys to Sweden and other countries in the year 1948 and 1950.

... With pilots and crew we were fifty souls on board.  With night and the darkness comes the feeling of isolation which is intensified when looking out over the vast waters and up into the silent sky.

Nowhere else does one feel their littleness and dependence and we felt that overpowering sense of Him, who keeps us every hour.  But really and truly we were upward bound.  To some with a sinking heart and some with a great lump in their throat, heard it said, over the loud speaker, "We are now flying 19 thousand feet up" in the pure and bracing air.

... I recall a thousand memories to my mind, our home, my father and mother, sisters, and brothers.  I have not forgotten the church and school nor the fireside in my childhood home.  But can not remember any divorces.  Most people over there seem to be sober and love each other.  The women keep their houses clean, are good housekeepers.  They are not spendthrifts, they don't complain or nag.  They are at home and work.  They are not running all over the country with gossip or talk about their neighbors.  They do good to the whole community.  The parents keep their children interested in work and home rather than running all over the neighborhood.  I found the relationship between husband and wife to be the best in any country in all our travels.

Their grip was a little tighter.
Their smile a little brighter,
Their deeds a little whiter,
That's what I found in Sweden.

Their thoughts were a little cleaner
Their mind a little keener
There they would lend quicker than to borrow
There they did not worry for the morrow,
There they had not forgotten;
To give more than they had received or gotten
That's what I found in Sweden.

[There follows a letter written to the Odebolt Chronicle during WWII encouraging the troops, and a number of poems written by Oscar.]

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If you wish to read this booklet, a copy can be found at the Odebolt Public Library.  It is well worth the read, not only for the historical content, wonderful descriptions of Sweden and Swedish life, but also as view into the life of a charming Swedish man, his love for family, his deep religious nature, and his zest for life.

Transcribed by Barb Horak

Memoirs of Oscar F. Peterson, Part I

Also, read information about Oscar and his family at "Kiron Kountry", a web site by Glenn Gustafson
Oscar Ferdinand M. Peterson