Small Town Jericho

Goodbye to memories that I saved
Goodbye to all the friends I made
Goodbye to all the home I'll ever know

I was looking up my husband's grandma on my genealogy database/website tonight. Still trying to find out more on where she came from. Who her parents were. Here's the little I know...

She was born in Finland, one of several children, probably the youngest. At some point, while she was still a young girl, her father went to America. He went to start a new life, save money, and send for his family. Only he never sent for them. It seems he abandoned his family--or so we are led to believe. Who knows? His wife died of consumption and the kids were farmed out to various people. One son went to a good family and was treated well. Grandma would never really tell me much about the family she stayed with other than to say it was "very bad."

When Grandma was about 18, she married a 54 year old man who was a friend of her father's. This man had immigrated to America but was back in Finland for a visit. He agreed to bring her to America as his wife and once there, grant her a divorce so she could go her own way.

And every road here looks the same
This ol' town won't ever change
And that's what I love the most
And it's the reason I must go

So her brought her to America, but once here, he didn't give her the divorce he promised. In doing my genealogy, I found out she applied for U.S. citizenship but then never pursued it. That was right about the time she must have found out she was pregnant. I suspect that's why she didn't pursue naturalization. It's one thing to be on your own, it's another to be a single parent in the 1920s. He also didn't let her out of the house much or let her learn English. Grandma said she pretty much taught herself English using a Finnish-English dictionary to decipher the captions under the pictures in the newspaper.

In my genealogy I also found an interesting string of events that happened in rather quick succession. About 9 years after her son was born, she finally filed for and was granted her divorce. She then married Grandpa, and she reapplied for citizenship. All in about 3 months time. Within the year, my father-in-law was born. I suspect she met Grandpa and had things pretty well lined up before she finally filed for divorce.

Grandma was a neat lady. I liked her a lot. My in-laws and husband lived with Grandma and Grandpa for a while when my husband was young, so he has fond memories of her. She was good to my girls. She passed some good holiday recipes on to me.

I look at my own girls, and I can't imagine any of them immigrating half way around the world at the age of 18 but I suppose if your parents are gone, and your circumstances aren't good, you're assuming it can only get better. And sometimes you do what you have to do. I just wish I could find out more about Grandma in my research. Sooner or later the links will show up. It would be really nice to be able to know more about her and her background.