Florence Marie Anderson was born on November 14, 1920 in Elizabeth, NJ. She was the second child and oldest daughter of Anna Louise Paloske and Clarence Anderson. Florence was very petite, 4’11”. She had a beautiful smile. Aunt Florence, “Flo” enjoyed hooking rugs and country dancing. She married Churchill “Buddy” Thompson who was also from Elizabeth. He was the son of Edith Leach...
Clarence Anderson (1894-1953)
The story of Clarence Anderson’s life is filled with holes, gaps, and questions. His parents were both dead before my mom and her brothers and sisters were old enough to ask or remember their stories. A vindictive in-law, Anne Finlan, disliked the Andersens intensely (why?) and destroyed boxes of papers and keepsakes when Karl Andersen died in 1930. Those papers–letters, documents, photos...
Frank Pavlosk
Frank Pavlosk, my great grandfather, was born on October 1, 1871. He immigrated from Marienwerder, West Prussia, in 1887 or thereabouts when he was in his late teens. Marienwerder is now the northern Polish city of Kwidzyn, located about 60 miles from the Baltic Sea. He left with his brothers and sisters, and they never went back. Their mother and father remained in Prussia. The family were...
Carl Anderson (1856-1930)
Reading over documents and written family stories, I have seen an evolution in the spelling of Carl Anderson’s name: Karl Andersen (Norway), Carl Andersen (1901) and Carl Anderson (1930). I don’t know why he changed the spelling of his name. My Uncle, Ernest Andersen, thought it may have been to “Americanize” it. In its wake, some of Karl’s grandchildren go by “Anderson” and others “Andersen...
The Family Farm Hurv to the Andersen Family in Froland, Norway
The Hurv farm was in Froland, a municipality about 10 miles north of Grimstad. It borders Grimstad and Arendal in Aust Agder county. In 1968, family members still lived on the farm. It is spelled Fróðaland (“Froo’s (farm) land”) in Old Norse. Grimstad is a coastal town in southern Norway. According to Odd Ronning Andersen, a cousin I corresponded with in 1968/1969, Norwegians used their farm...
Mom and Dad’s Burial
Three years ago this week, on June 14, 2018, we buried Mom and Dad in Rosedale Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey. Both my parents had originally been cremated, but my sister, Sharon, and I decided to bring them back home to New Jersey for burial. Mom and Dad both grew up, met, married, and started a family in Elizabeth, a town about five miles away. There is a special closure in coming...
Frank Burton Doherty, Jr.
Frank “Doc” Doherty was my father’s older brother. He was born on July 19, 1920 in Hammond, Indiana. I’m guessing the “Doc” nickname comes from the pronunciation of “Doherty” as “Docherty,” from the original Irish, “O’Dochartaigh.” Frank Doherty was a big bear of a man: handsome, charming, with a wonderful smile. He was, like my father, a “man’s man.” One story my father told me...
Edna Nason Doherty
Edna Nason was born in Hammond, Indiana on April 24, 1898. Her father, Fred R. Nason, was born on July 27, 1861 in Girard, Pennsylvania. Her mother was Florence Curtis, or Curtiss, born in 1864. Her grandfather was David Nason, born on November 26, 1820 in Otego, New York. His wife was Eunice Godfrey of Girard, Pennsylvania. Family names were important to my grandmother. Her oldest son...
Mary Paloske
Mary Paloske died or was interred on April 9, 1947. She was 43 (or 49) years old. Easter that year was celebrated on April 6. It was her last holiday. I believe that she died from a stroke, and that her death was unexpected. Her father, Frank Paloske (or Pavlosk) deeply grieved her passing, and spent extravagantly on her funeral. Mary Paloske was born on November 27, 1904. (The 1910 U.S...
Frank Burton Doherty
Frank Burton Doherty was born on March 5, 1886 in South Boardman, Kalkaska County, Michigan. He was the son of Albert Burton Doherty and Rosetta May Rossman. He was the grandson of Alexander Andre Doherty, the immigrant from Ireland who settled in northern Michigan in the 1840s. Frank Doherty grew up on a farm near Fife Lake, Michigan. He was the oldest child and son. His brothers...