Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum Interview of Joy
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Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum Interview of Joy Haglund Webber, Barbara Jane Webber Bly, and Katherine Webber Hawthorne March 15, 2014 Fir-Conway Lutheran Church Conway, Washington Interviewers: Gordon Strand Gordon Strand: [0:01] Today is March 15, 2014. We are at the Fir-Conway Lutheran Church in Conway, Washington conducting an interview for the Nordic American Voices oral history project of the Nordic Heritage Museum. My name is Gordon Strand, and I am joined here today by… And if you would identify yourself- your name, what year you were born, and where you were born, and how you relate to each other. Barbara Jane Webber Bly: [0:29] I’ll introduce us all. This is our mother, Joy Laverne Haglund Weber. She was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, in 1925. My name is Barbara Webber Bly, and I was born in Everett, Washington, in 1954. This is my sister Katherine Webber Hawthorne, and she was born in 1965. Okay. From Everett, Washington. Gordon: [1:04] Okay. Whenever you want to start… Could you talk about your family, and who was the immigrant in your family, and what do you know about why they came? Joy Haglund Webber: [1:14] Well, my dad went up to Canada and ran the camps up there. I don’t know why he did at that time. But then after he came down, he opened up the store at Avon, across the river right there. And he was there for quite a few years. Then after… Gordon: [1:42] What was his name? Joy: [1:44] [Laughter] E… Nordic American Voices Page 1 of 60 Barbara: [1:49] Emmanuel. Joy: [1:50] Emmanuel. Barbara: [1:50] Emmanuel Olaf Haglund. And he went by Manny. Gordon: [1:54] Manny Haglund. Joy: [1:55] His family was actually from Stanwood, up in that area. So, his mother, I think, and all the relatives up there. So… but anyway… Barbara: [2:11] Let’s see. We were looking yesterday- Kath and Mom and I… Grandpa Manny Haglund was born in Hudson, Wisconsin, right, Kath? That we looked up. And then his family emigrated from… came from Sweden to the United States. He was born in Wisconsin, and then they moved to Stanwood. Our grandpa was born in 1888. Our Grandpa Haglund. So, my mother’s father. Gordon: [2:46] 1888. Barbara: [2:48] 1888. Mm hmm. Katherine Webber Hawthorne: [2:50] And I remember… Was it Grandma Haglund? Yeah, Grandpa’s mother. She came… I thought she had a job in New York, and did some housekeeping. Joy: [3:02] Oh, right. Katherine: [3:03] Maybe to make money to come you know, out here. Do you remember anything about that? Joy: [3:09] Yeah. I do now that I hear it. Nordic American Voices Page 2 of 60 Katherine: [3:11] Yeah. And she worked really hard. Barbara: [3:15] Do you know what Grandpa’s father did? Do you remember what he did? Katherine: [3:21] He was a bricklayer. Barbara: [3:23] Was he a bricklayer? Katherine: [3:24] Yeah. Barbara: [3:25] So did… Katherine: [3:25] He worked on the prison in Bismarck. Gordon: [3:28] Oh. Barbara: [3:29] Wow. Katherine: [3:30] North Dakota. Yeah. Barbara: [3:31] So they were in North Dakota maybe then, for a period of time before they moved here. Katherine: [3:34] I just remembered that now. Gordon: [3:35] But you mentioned Wisconsin is where your father was born, correct? Barbara: [3:41] Yes. Gordon: [3:44] So, they must have been there, too. Barbara: [3:45] Uh huh. Probably all those stepping stones with the Scandinavian cultures as they Nordic American Voices Page 3 of 60 came out from Sweden. And then you said yesterday about Grandpa’s mother... What was it that you were talking about? What else about Grandpa’s mother? Or was it Grandma’s mother that we were talking about? Katherine: [4:10] In what respect? Barbara: [4:12] That one of them was up in Granite Falls for a period of time? Katherine: [4:18] Oh, that was… Yeah. Mom’s grandmother, Anna Olson. For some reason, the family took her in and cared for her. So maybe she was failing and they… for some reason, maybe they were related… Do you remember that? Joy: [4:38] I can’t remember what or who. Gordon: [4:41] When you were growing up, what did your father talk about- his family, and why they came? Did they ever talk about why they came from Sweden, or anything like that? Joy: [4:54] I don’t recall anything like that. I’m sorry. Gordon: [4:59] Did you know them- your grandparents? Joy: [5:01] Pardon me? Gordon: [5:01] Did you know your grandparents? Joy: [5:04] Any of them, did I know? I don’t think I knew any of them, did I? Barbara: [5:09] Yeah. Katherine: [5:11] Remember? Here’s the Haglund family. And the Sandbergs in Stanwood. And Uncle Joe, and Julius, and Grandpa, and Emma. Nordic American Voices Page 4 of 60 Joy: [5:22] Mm hmm. Katherine: [5:23] Do you remember anything? Barbara: [5:24] Yeah, so there’s my grandma. So the Haglund homestead is in Stanwood, and it’s still standing. The house that they lived in. And then our grandmother was Hildur Elizabeth Sandberg Haglund. So that was my mother’s mother. And she was born in Cedarhome, which is part of Stanwood. Gordon: [5:50] Right. Barbara: [5:51] And she was Swedish, also. And so then… let’s see. I know that my grandmother, around the turn of the century… Hildur was born in 1892. And then our grandfather, like I said, was born in 1888. So our grandfather, when he grew up, he was an accountant, and he was hired by… What was Henning’s first name? Joy: [6:26] Peter. Barbara: [6:26] Peter Henning. He lived in that house when you go up the hill from East Stanwood. A beautiful brick place. It’s been there forever. Katherine: [6:38] There’s a book written about him. Barbara: [6:41] Yeah. And he helped put the railroad in up in the Fraser River Valley. Katherine: [6:45] But I do remember Grandma and Grandpa both went to Edison school in Seattle. Barbara: [6:50] Did they? Yeah, I know Grandma did. Yeah. Katherine: [6:52] Yeah. And Grandpa did, too. Barbara: [6:56] And I remember Grandma telling me that she was in school when there was that Nordic American Voices Page 5 of 60 large earthquake down there in Seattle, and how frightening that was for her to be in school down there. Gordon: [7:10] What year would that have been approximately? Barbara: [7:13] I would guess it was probably… maybe in the early 1900s. 1910, 1912. Maybe around there. Gordon: [7:23] Okay. Barbara: [7:24] Also, Grandma had also her little best friend die from the… Katherine: [7:27] Oh, the Spanish Flu. Barbara: [7:27] The Spanish Flu. Yeah. Gordon: [7:32] So Hildur was a Sandberg. Barbara: [7:35] Yes. Gordon: [7:36] And they were from the Cedarhome area, correct? Barbara: [7:39] Yes. Gordon: [7:39] Okay. And what do we know about that family origin, then? Barbara: [7:45] Well, we know… Katherine: [7:48] Kirby did all that research. Barbara: [7:49] Yeah. Nordic American Voices Page 6 of 60 Katherine: [7:50] Do you remember anything about why they came here? Barbara: [7:56] I don’t remember why they actually came here. We have a cousin, Kirby Sandberg, who has done a lot of history- a lot of the history of our family- the Sandberg family. But we do have relatives that are living in Finland that are Swedish-Finns, of course, and are still there. But Grandma, when she was raised, they had the first car in the area here in Stanwood. Katherine: [8:28] That was Grandpa. Barbara: [8:30] Oh, Haglund? Katherine: [8:31] Haglund. But I do remember there was a story that I was told about the Sandbergs- Grandma Sandberg- that they had the farm, and where exactly is that? Because they gave part of the farm for the cemetery… Barbara: [8:45] In Stanwood. Gordon: [8:46] Oh, okay. Joy: [8:47] Yeah, that’s on the other side of the freeway. Barbara: [8:51] Yeah. It was considered East Stanwood. Joy: [8:54] Yeah. Up above. Barbara: [8:56] It’s off of 300 th , I believe. Off the freeway. Yeah. Katherine: [9:01] And the story went that her first husband died, and he was buried behind the barn in Stanwood. Gordon: [9:10] Your grandmother, you’re talking about. Nordic American Voices Page 7 of 60 Katherine: [9:11] Yeah. Our… Mom’s grandmother. Barbara: [9:13] So it would be our great-grandmother. Katherine: [9:14] Great-grandmother. Yeah. Gordon: [9:16] Okay. Katherine: [9:18] And somehow then, she met up with Frank. I never did hear how… Barbara: [9:23] Frank Sandberg. Katherine: [9:24] How they met. Do you remember hearing that? Barbara: [9:27] No. No. And mom just doesn’t remember that as much. Our great-grandmother, you said… What year was it that she was born? Caroline Sandberg was her name. She was the one whose first husband died. And like Kath said, part of the family has a cemetery, that they donated the land.