Randall Family in Minnesota

This photograph was sent to me by my distant cousin, Jerry Sanner of Hawaii. It belonged to the Randall family in Minnesota. Estella Lucinda Randall is my maternal great grandmother. Any help in identifying these people would be greatly appreciated.

December 27th

December 27, 2009- Happy Birthday to my son, Michael Saul, born December 27, 1972.

Also on this Date:

December 27, 1636-  Elizabeth Baset born in Wales. (Elizabeth is Michael's 9th great grandmother.)

December 27, 1762- Valentine Miller is born to Christian and Mary Miller in Neersville, Loudoun County, Virginia. (Valentine Miller is Michael's 5th great grandfather.)

December 27, 1785- Elizabeth Knott is born to John Basil Knott and Mary Drury Knott in Maryland. (Elizabeth Knott is Michael's 4th great grandmother.)

December 27, 1858- Sebastian Worland dies in Liberty Township, Shelby County, Indiana. (Sebastian Worland is the 3rd great grandfather of Michael Saul.)

Is this my Great Grandmother?

I recently recieved this picture from a distant cousin, Jerry Sanner. He believes that it was taken in 1909, and that the central seated figure may be my great grandmother, Estella Lucinda Randall.

He has tentatively identified the individuals as (L-R):

• Chris Johnston b. 1897 age 12, This would be the younger brother of my grandmother, Rosella Johnston, and the son of Estella and her first husband, Aaron C. Johnston.
• Reuben Hower b. 1858 age 50/52 (he d. in 1919), this would be Estella's second husband.
• Estella (Randall) [Johnson] Hower b. 1866 age 42 (she died in 1916), my great grandmother.
• Clarabelle (Johnston) Byzewski b. 1886 age 22, my grandmother's older sister.
• Margaret Hower b. 1906 age 2.5, my grandmother's young half-sister.
• Joseph Byzewski, husband to Clarabelle.

Rosella would not appear as she had married Alfred Leslie Worland in 1908.
Any help verifying this photo would be greatly appreciated. The family lived in Minnesota.

Old Photos

I recently received some photos from a cousin that knew me as a child in Washington. The first photo is a picture of me at about seven years old.

I remember having this picture at one time. It brings back fond memories of my early childhood on Whidbey Island.

The second picture is of Cecil Worland, son of Rosella and Alfred Leslie Worland. He was my uncle and kindly cared for me as my father when I was a small child.

Clinton, Iowa

1893

My maternal grandmother, Rosella Johnston, was born on Dec. 8, 1893 in Hibbing, Minnesota.
Her parents were Aaron C. (Acy) Johnston (Johnson) and Estella Lucinda Randall Johnson who had migrated west from Allamakee County, Iowa.
She wed Alfred Leslie Worland in Park Rapids, Minnesota on May 19, 1908.
They soon continued west to Idaho, onward to Oregon, finally settling on Whidbey Island in the 1940s.

Biscuits

I have always loved biscuits, and I believe it may be a genetic trait. My present method is simple:
3 cups Bisquik
1 cup milk
Mix until soft dough forms. Knead eight turns. Roll out about 3/4" think, cut with a biscuit cutter and bake ten minutes at 450 degrees.

My great grandmother Estella Lucinda Randall (Johnson) probably had to put a bit more work into it. I ran into a description in an old book recounting memories of pioneer women from Iowa about 1890:
Flour was always kept in a large tin with a tight-fitting lid, large enough to accomodate the mixing pan. Biscuits were usually made in a blue or gray granite washpan, never used for anything but making biscuits.
Put 3 pints flour in mixing pan. Make a "well" in the center. Add 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and mix well.
Mix in a scoop of lard about the size of a pullet's egg.
Make another "well" and add 1 cup sweet milk. Mix well until soft dough is formed.
Roll enough dough in your hand for a biscuit. Pat flat, and bake in a quick oven or on a greased pan until firm and brown. May also be fried in hot grease.
If baking powder is unavailable, mix 1 teaspoon baking soda with 1 pint sour milk for the liquid and leavening.

June 1916, Minnesota

On June 3, 1916, my great-grandmother Estella Lucinda Randall (Hower) passed away in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
She died at her home in Park Rapids on a Sunday, the cause of death being heart failure. She had been about the home as usual all day until evening, eating as usual and not complaining of feeling sick. Shortly after the supper hour she was taken suddenly ill and died within an hour. She was 49 years of age.
My great-grandfather, A. C. Johnson, had died in 1900, and Estella had married William Reuben Hower. He was left to care for their ten year-old daughter, Margaret M. Hower.
She was also survived by three children from her earlier marriage to Aaron. C. Johnson. A son, Crist Philip, and two daughters, Clarabelle and my grandmother, Rosella.
The funeral was held at the Baptist church in Park Rapids on Tuesday afternoon, Rev. H.
R. McKee preaching the sermon, and interment was made at Greenwood cemetery.

Rosella B. Johnston

Boats on the waterfront at Fairhaven. Photograph Collection, Postcard 1911



My grandmother, Rosella B. Johnston, was born December 8, 1893, in Minnesota. She grew up in Fairhaven Township, Minnesota. Her mother was Estella Lucinda Johson, (nee: Randall).

Her father, Aaron C. "Acy" Johnson was a farmer from Iowa. Acy had migrated from Allaamakee Co, Iowa, to Clearwater, Minnesota some time around 1880, with his two brothers, Charles H. and Frank.
Acy died on Aug. 20, 1900 at 3:30 in the morning. He had been kicked in the face by a horse on August 15, leaving him in bad shape.
Pneumonia set in shortly after the accident, which led to his death. He was 42 years of age.

On May 19, 1908, Rosella married Alfred Leslie Worland in Park Rapids, Minnesota.

The Journey Begins

I was given a picture. My maternal grandparents- Alfred Leslie Worland and his wife, Rosella.

A cousin I have never met sent me some information. I was given a book, One Man's Family The History and Genealogy of the Worland Family in America 1662-1962.

I learned that Alfred Leslie Worland was born on March 20, 1877 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Federal Census lists him as living with his family in Excelsior, Hennepin County, Minnesota in 1880. He was two years old.

The 1900 Census places the family in Stearns, Minnesota.

On May 19, 1908, he married Rosella Johnston, who had been born on December 8, 1893 in Hibbing, Minnesota. At the time of her marriage, Rosella was just fourteen years of age.

The 1910 Census shows the family living in Hubbard, Minnesota.

Draft records show that Alfred registered for the World War I draft, 1917-1918, in Hubbard, Minnesota.

In 1925, they migrated west to Idaho, and later on to Medford, and Grant's Pass, Oregon. The Federal Census lists the family as residing in Lane, Oregon in 1930.

In the 1940s, they settled on Whidbey Island, in Washington's Puget Sound. They lived the rest of their lives there. Alfred died November 25, 1948 in Langley, Washington. Rosella passed away on September 18, 1979 in Seattle, Washington.

They had ten children.

Ma

The person I most remember is my grandmother. (We called her "Ma.") My grandfather passed before I was born.

I visited family gravesites on my trip to Whidbey Island, and thought of all those who went before me. The ones I barely remembered or never knew.

Most of my life, I had no family or no past. Now, I need to know. And so, this journey began. I decided to trace my ancestry.

In the interest of privacy, this blog will not deal with the living, only those that have gone before.

I know nothing of my father or his line, I do not even know his name.

So, I began with my maternal grandparents - Alfred and Rosella Worland.

Finding the Past

I began my journey in the Pacific Northwest, Washington's Puget Sound. It was a happy childhood, playing in the forests and on the beaches of Whidbey Island with my cousins.
Unfortunately, this was all to change. When I was seven, a chain of sad circumstances led to my removal from the island and the family that I knew. I would have no contact for fifty years.
I recently returned to Whidbey Island, visiting places of remembrance, and the graves of those I lost so long ago.
I found the wild rhododendrons.