25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

Berlusconi ahead in key Italy Senate race: projections

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Projections from an early vote count in Italy's election on Monday showed Silvio Berlusconi's center right slightly ahead in the Senate, a result that could cause deep government instability if confirmed.

The projections on RAI, Sky, Mediaset and LA 7 television stations were the reverse of earlier predictions from telephone polls that showed the center left taking a strong lead in both houses of parliament.

The change in predictions had an immediate impact on markets which rose earlier on hopes of a stable and strong centre-left led government.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/25/us-italy-vote-idUSBRE91M0EB20130225

Israel fears new Palestinian uprising could erupt

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Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner whose death in an Israeli jail has raised fears in Israel of a new uprising.

Arafat Jaradat's death on Saturday and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates have raised tension in the occupied territory after repeated clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers in recent days.

Israeli troops, on high alert, took up positions outside Jaradat's home village of Se'eer, in likely earshot of the bursts of automatic fire from the half-dozen masked Palestinians in full battle dress.

"We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, our martyr!" mourners chanted.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/25/us-palestinians-israel-idUSBRE91O0K420130225

How many convicted paedophiles have police lost track of in your area? Map shows where 137 have gone missing

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Police have lost track of almost 140 paedophiles, sparking fears many may have left the country, it has been revealed.

Government figures show a total of 137 child sex offenders have disappeared after signing the sex offenders' register, which requires them to inform police of their whereabouts or any changes to their details.

The shock figures show the Metropolitan Police has lost by far the most paedophiles, with 40 on the run from the authorities in London.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284129/Revealed-The-map-Britain-shows-convicted-paedophiles-run-area-police-lost-track-them.html

Obama selling meetings with himself at White House for $500,000 each

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MSNBC’s Chuck Todd criticized Monday the new fundraising efforts of President Obama’s dark money group, Organizing for Action, calling a scheme for high donors to meet regularly with Obama “the definition of selling access.”

Todd was describing the quarterly meetings that will be enjoyed by OFA’s $500,000 donors, the New York Times reported over the weekend:

But those contributions will also translate into access, according to donors courted by the president’s aides. Next month, Organizing for Action will hold a “founders summit” at a hotel near the White House, where donors paying $50,000 each will mingle with Mr. Obama’s former campaign manager, Jim Messina, and Mr. Carson, who previously led the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Giving or raising $500,000 or more puts donors on a national advisory board for Mr. Obama’s group and the privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president, along with other meetings at the White House. Moreover, the new cash demands on Mr. Obama’s top donors and bundlers come as many of them are angling for appointments to administration jobs or ambassadorships.

http://freebeacon.com/chuck-todd-on-ofa-fundraising-this-just-looks-bad/

NRA uses Justice memo to accuse Obama admin of wanting to confiscate guns

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His plan also includes tougher federal laws against gun trafficking and straw purchases, which occur when a person legally buys a firearm but sells it to a criminal or someone else barred from owning a weapon.

Interest in the gun issue has intensified since the December shootings in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 first-graders and six staffers at an elementary school. The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee plans to write legislation addressing some of Obama’s proposals in the next week or two.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/23/nra-uses-justice-memo-accuse-obama-admin-wanting-c/?page=2#ixzz2LwaToDAf

24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

Nature Study: Birds

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Birds are a delight in our home, and sighting a new bird is a particular thrill.

Last February I had the thrill to see for the first time, in the crab apple tree outside my kitchen window, a cedar waxwing. Sadly it took me a good ten minutes to realize that I was not looking at a female cardinal, and the six "female cardinal"s were long gone before I managed to find a source that helped me understand that I had been seeing a cedar waxwing. And no photographs taken.So bear with me here for a few minutes. All winter this year I have been missing our seasonal birds. Now I still think of it as winter, but on February 2 Pauxatauney Phil said that spring will come early this year. Imagine my delight, yesterday, when I found my yard and tree swarming with robins and starlings!  I can see from my photos that I didn't photograph the swarms, preferring to photograph individual birds.             

I can even forgive them the mess they were making of my van! 
    
One handsome bird even came to pose right in front of me!
      
    
But imagine my joy when I detected that there was an additional bird among the swarms: my annual visit from the cedar waxwings!
   
   
I'm not sure how many there were, but this year I was able to get some very satisfying photographs, although not many. 
Now, unfortunately my son didn't get to see Mr. Cedar Waxwing. It was lunch break and he was playing Mine Craft. By the time he came to see, all the birds had "flown the coop".
Thanks for reading!
















TOS Homeschool Crew

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If you have been reading my blog a while, you probably know that I review products (chiefly) for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Schoolhouse Review Crew.  I mention it here because the new review year is about to get underway. I do not get to review all the products that are reviewed by the crew partly because I can only review products that are appropriate for my 7th Grade son's age, and partly because there are only so many hours in the day and I cannot possibly review everything!

That said, I wanted to let you know about reviews that will soon be available for you to see on the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog:

Apologia Elementary-level Sciences (beginning today, 2/8/13);

Flowering Baby (2/13);

Classical Academic Press: Song School Spanish and God's Geat Covenant Old Testament (2/15);

Handwriting Without Tears (2/18);

 A+ Tutorsoft (2/20);

College Common Sense (2/25);

Abraham's Journey (2/27);

Lone Star Learning (3/1);


Artistic Pursuits (3/6);

EGM Educational Systems (3/8);

TouchMath (3/11);

Essentials in Writing (3/13);

Classical Academic Press: Poetry/Logic (3/18);

Adventus (3/20)

The ones highlighted in blue are ones I will be reviewing. I'm SO excited to get all these neat products to tell you about, so I hope you'll watch for my reviews. If you want to see a review of a product I'm not reviewing, don't forget to visit the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog.




















Building Blocks for Learning - GIVEAWAY

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Do you have a child with a learning disability?  Today I am going to tell you the story of a child with a learning disability.From a very early age, I could tell that Peanut was not quite walking on the same track that Tinkerbell had walked. Initially I just watched, knowing that each child develops at their own rate. Tinkerbell rolled, crawled, and scooted to get where she wanted to go until she was 15 months old. Peanut was rolling over at two weeks of age, and from day 1, physically was trying to keep up with her sister.When Tinkerbell started homeschooling Kindergarten, Peanut wanted to “do school”. She would take a piece of paper and a pen and scribble, scribble, scribble. We even have a Make-a-Plate that she made at that age (that she is dreadfully embarrassed by!).When it was time for Peanut to start Kindergarten, we struggled. She constantly reversed her “d” and “b”, and didn’t know (or see the difference) between “b” and “p”. We worked awhile, laid off awhile, worked awhile, etc.  By the time we were working on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, I was fairly certain we were in serious trouble. One day she would know 2X3, the next day she wouldn’t. But what could a home schooling family (in 1995) do? By the time she was 14, she was convinced she was just “stupid”, and was biding her time until she could legally drop out of school, and figured she could find a job somewhere until she could get married and just get along without any more education.But then God provided us a window into a program for treating her LD, and a way to get her into that program. That student who had plans to drop out of high school acquired hope, and a belief that she could not only graduate high school but that she could go to college. That same Peanut graduated from college last May with a 3.85 GPA. Wow!I have recently been approached by a company who has created a program like the one my daughter went through. They offer a comparable program that offers a 12-month program like the one my daughter went through, administered by the parent at home, for a monthly fee of $67. This program is worth this amount. What's more, if you sign up below, you might be selected to WIN this one year program to use with your own child! Keep reading!...
Home

Learning Link Technologies

Guest Post

Dealing with a Learning Problem? You May Need a NewApproach.
The definition of insanityis doing the same thing over and over again and expecting differentresults.   Einstein coined this phrase,and it holds true now more than ever, especially when referring to academicsuccess and how we help those students who are struggling to learn.
Traditional approaches tosolving learning problems will take a student who has been in a classroom allday, a fatigued learner, who is not able to learn with methods being taught,and try to teach that student more of what didn’t work all day.  This is insane!  For progress to be made, the student needs tobe taught in a different way.
Piling on more academicswhen dealing with a student who is not performing well academically can be arecipe for disaster.
The solution is neuro-sensoryeducational therapy (NSET). NSET takes students back to the very basic level of learning – grossmotor skills. Skills that may not have been formed in development. The NSETprogram is now available as a program you can do at home with your child. Thesystem is very easy to follow and highly effective at correcting learningproblems. You can find the complete system at http://www.learning-aids.com
Babies are not born hardwired for every task.  They wire theirbrains as they develop. Tasks that cross the vertical midline (crawling) arewhat helps them develop. Developing  grossmotor skills is the first and most necessary step that needs to take place tobuild a proper learning foundation for students. This is what may have beenmissed and without it learning success is nearly impossible.
NSET first develops grossmotor skills and once those skills are in place, NSET moves the student intothe visual level.  75-90 percent of whatwe take in is visual, so this is a very important step in the learningsuccess.  NSET works students on visualprocessing skills as well as eye tracking, visual closure, visualdiscrimination, visual memory, and visual motor integration.  These skills are vitally important forstudents to be able to read, write, spell, and perform basic mathematicaloperations.  Yet, students are rarelytaught these skills with traditional approaches.  Instead, they are fed another dose ofacademics.
NSET breaks the academicsdown into smaller pieces and slowly build up the learning foundation.
Next, NSET takes thestudent into an auditory level.  So manystudents struggle to hear correctly or fail to filter out extraneous information.  It is extremely important for a student to beable to hear sounds correctly to read, write, and spell.   Students work on auditory discrimination,auditory closure, auditory memory, auditory processing, and basic following ofdirections to prepare students academically as well as to sit in a classroomand listen and correctly process a teacher’s lecture.
As an added bonus,focusing skills will come into play naturally once the student’s visual andauditory skills are in place. Many students are misdiagnosed as having ADD,when in fact they are struggling to focus because of distractions in theirenvironment or weak learning systems.  Itis hard to focus if you can’t tune out background noises or if the letters onyour pages are wiggling and not holding still.
While working with thestudent’s sensory learning systems, it’s important to also incorporate brainretraining activities that help the student strengthen the communicationbetween the left and right hemispheres of the brain as well as build new neuralpathways in the brain.  This is aspecific, step by step process where basic skills such as eye tracking arestrengthened and slowly multi-step thinking and processing skills are attained.
Although this approach isnot traditional in the sense that it is not a dose of more academics, thismethod of helping students overcome learning differences has been usedsuccessfully for almost 15 years. Students who have failed to learn with other approaches find success,usually within 12 to 18 months with consistent application.  And, there is nothing better than watching astudent go from failure to success, both academically and in life.
Whether you are concernedabout a minor learningdifference or you are dealing with something more serious such asneeding Treatmentfor dysgraphia (trouble with writing),  DyscalculiaTreatment (Like dyslexia for math), or dyslexiatreatment NSET might be just what you are looking for. You can findlots more information at http://www.learning-aids.com/

Learning Links Technologies approached me and offered me the opportunity to have this program for one year to use with my son, to review for you, my readers. However, while my son might be able to benefit from this program, I am not convinced that he has a learning disability. When my daughter, with the learning disability, learned that there was hope, it gave her the impetus she would need to stick with a difficult therapy to get past her issues and learn how to learn. A parent and the student need to be convinced there is a need, and need to be committed to the cure, and my son and I would have been.

I am being given the opportunity to give one of you a one year program worth $600!  I am convinced, though, of the value of this program! And I so, so wanted to be able to offer one of my readers an opportunity to win this program for free for a year. So the company was able to provide me with the guest post above, and I am able to now a one year program, valued at $600! This contest will run from today until 3/1, and the winner will be notified 3/2 and announced shortly thereafter.
I tried to use a special widget to receive entries, but I seem to have messed it up, so I have removed it. I'm sorry if you were inconvenienced. Here's how I'll do it:

  • Comment below that you want it, and you will receive one entry;
  • Comment below after you Tweet about my giveaway with my link embedded, and you will get an entry;
  • Comment below after you post about it on Facebook and you can get an entry.
I hope it goes to someone who really wants it, who will be able to take the time to use it well. Please do follow the links to read up about it, okay?

Blessings.

Wednesday's Words

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Today we began work on a new poetry unit. The materials we are working on cam from Classical Academic Press. We are working on Chapter 1 right now, and I wanted to share with you a poem, covered in Chapter 1, by Robert Lewis Stevenson.

Now my son was barely tracking with me through all of Chapter 1 leading up to this one, but I prefaced the poem with, "Now I am going to read a poem by the author of Treasure Island..." (which we just recently finished reading).

"WHAT!!???!!!" my son exclaimed.

"Robert Lewis Stevenson," I replied. (It is clear that he doesn't remember that poetry we covered in 1st Grade by Stevenson.) I said, "He was also a very prolific poet."

So my son was finally engaged, and we both enjoyed this poem.

The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the aire so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
 
I then found the teacher's pages in the book for that chapter. ::sigh:: I'm a little slow on the uptake. Struggling though questions of, "What imagery do you see," as if I were the student, feeling like, "I think that's what it's asking for... Is it?"

I'll do better on Chapter 2 I think...

Efraim's Son

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You are about to embark upon a very long family history, so if you are not interested, abandon ship now!

Many years ago my Gram Holien told me a family story of how her maiden name came to be. You see, her family was originally from Finland. There was a story behind our family name that would make your head spin. Well, it involved the entire family, so I guess this isn't just about Efraim's son... but here goes...
  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family records begin in Finland in 1788 when Johan Michaelis Palavalehto was born. He grew up and married Catharina Matthia "Carin" Pulckinen, They had one son together and named him Johan. Johan, Jr. was born in 1808, still in Norway.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johan, Jr. grew up and married Britta Henricksdatter. Together they had several children: Mathias (born 1821); Lisa (born 1823); and Abram (born 1825). Then Efraim was the next child, but the records seem to indicate that Britta may have died and Johan may have remarried. Efraim was born in 1830 (B 1830, died 1901), and then Maria (1833) and Caisa (1834).
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Efraim grew up and married Brita Kaisa Simonsson. They began their family. Margretta was born 1/8/1856 (died 1/3/1920). Then was born our relative, John Efraimson (November 1858, 100 years before me!)(Died 3/16/1938) (photo below):


Then came Mary (1860)(married name Hanson); Kate (1865)(married name Holappa) and Efraim (1870). Here is where the story really starts hopping!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
The family decided to move to America.  

My gram had told me a history of how their name got changed. I need to find my notes. The "History" below tells a different story, but this is they way I remember my Gram telling the story.

Apparently, when the family arrived at the port of entry in 1888 (probably Ellis Island), the record-keepers had a great deal of difficulty with the name Palavalehto.


Poppa Efraim and his wife Britta were asked, "What's your last name?" With his thick Finnish accent Efraim said "Palavalehto." The man said, "No one can pronounce that! What was your father's name?" So Efraim said, "Johan". Now, "Johan" is the Finnish equivalent of "John", so their name became Efraim and Britta Johnson. 

Then, as his children approached the agent, each to check in, it got really colorful. Probably the youngest son came first, under Efraim and Britta's wing. The agent said, "What is this child's name?" And Efraim said, "Efraim." So the agent deemed little Efraim "Efraim Johnson" as well. 

Then the other offspring were next, and they were all adults. So one by one they each went through: Margretta, Katie, John, and Mary, and they were each christened with the name "Efraimson", as in "Efraim's son". So that is the line we are descended from (John Efraimson). Later the women married. Margretta married "Matti Paso," and became "Gretta Paso" (possibly "Passo"); Katie became "Mrs. Henry Hollapa"; and Mary became "Mrs. Hans Hanson". (I love that last one - Hans Hanson is like our John Johnson -- at least that's what John's name would have been if he hadn't taken "Efraimson" as his last name...)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this amazing news clip that was originally published as part of the Hamlin County, South Dakota History:



Efraim and Brita were buried side by side. I thought their headstone unique -- it maintained their heritage while showing their "taken" name in their new land. The spelling of Palvalehto is different from what earlier records show.


 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 So Efraim and Brita's children were:
Margretta Palvalehto (1858-1920) who married Matti Paso (1857-1908);
John Efraimson (1858-1938 - my great-great-grandfather) who married Liisa Kaisa Alavesi (1857-1935)(They were married in 1878 when she was 21 - more history below);
Mary Palvalehto (1860 - ?) who married Hans Hansen in 1885;
Kate Palvalehto (1865 - ?) who married Henry Hollapa (about 1885?); and
Efraim Johnsen (1870 - ?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Efraimson married Liisa Kaisa Alavesi in 1878, when they were still in FInland. The immigrated to America in 1888, and traveled to South Dakota to settle.  Their children were:
Brita Maria Efraimson (1879-1902, born in Finland);
Alfred Efraimson (my great-grandfather)(1880-1971 - born in Finland), who married Emma Savilahti (1881-1945)  on 13 November 1904 (more below);
John J. Efraimson (1882-1863 - born in Finland); 
Andrew Efraimson (1884-1959 - born in Finland);
Hilda J. Efraimson (1886-1930 - born in Finland);
Emelia Kaisa Efraimson (1887 - 1958 - born in Finland);
Hilma Alina  Efraimson (1890 - 1967 - born in America);
Arvid A. Efraimson (1891 - 1892, a twin, died between birth and age 2);
Carl Hjalmer Efraimson (1891 - 1982), who married Jennie Koistinen (1889-1986) on 5/2/1922;
Hendrick W. Efraimson (1894-?);
Sophia W. Efraimson (1896-1966);
Esther A. Efraimson (1899-1979); and
Edward R. Efraimson (1903-1904 - died an infant).

 Below are two photographs of John Efraimson and family. John Efraimson is the oldest man, with the white beard. Unfortunately I do now know who is who among the other folks. I expect he is holding Esther, and Sophia is in the dress on the left. To John's right is probably Hendrick; the next youngest in front is probably Carl. Beyond that, the two men in back and the woman on the right, I can't even guess.


In this photo, on the left is John. I am only guessing, even on the first photo, because his youngest children were the same age as his oldest grandchildren!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John and Liisa Efraimson's 2nd oldest child was my great-grandfather, Alfred Efraimson. Alfred (1880-1971) was born in Finland, as was his wife, Emma S. Savilahti (1881-1945). They were married 13 November 1904 in Finland!, and my grandmother was born 13 October 1905! They must have gotten on the ship to America pretty quickly, because my Gram was born in Minnesota! Now here is some confusion -- the records show John's parents came to America in 1888 when he was 7, so he would have come with them right? I really can't be sure, because in 1905, when he married, documentation indicates he and Liisa were in Finland when the were wed. Hmmmm. Went back for childhood sweetheart? Stayed there with relatives all that time? I have no idea.

But let me stick to the format. 

Their children were:
Esther Eina Efraimson (1905-2003 - her name was actually Eina Esther, but none of the records have it that way and if you search that way you will not find her....) who married Theodore (Ted) Norman Holien (1905-1942).
Jennie Maria Efraimson (1907-2003), who never married (photo below)
 
Eino Efraimson (1908-1988) who married Martha Juntunen (1914-1998);
Emma E. Efraimson (1910-2002), who married Ivan L. O'Brien (1908-1985);
Josephine (Jo) R. Efraimson (1911-2004), who married Vern Leroy Larson (1911-2003);
Hilda H. Efraimson (1914-1997), who married Roydon Cyril Gregor (1911-1961);
William A. Efraimson (1917-1975);
Viola A. Efraimson (1919-2003);
Carl Efraimson (1920-2008);
Rudolph (Rudy) Efraimson (1923 - ...2005?);
and Rupert Efraimson (1925 - present, still living!)

When the siblings were younger they used to have an annual family reunion at the farm every year. In 1960 my mom went, and took me. This is me at age 1-1/2 sitting with my great-grandfather Alfred Efraimson:
I don't think that cute doll belonged to me; I think they were just letting me play with it while I was visiting there. I have no memory of that trip. I can't imagine what it would have been like driving from MD to ND in 1960 -- the Eisenhower interstate network was not entirely build yet. (He was President when I was born.)

I need to find my Gram's "Letter to my Family". She had another brother who is not turning up on Ancestry.com -- must have been born about 1913. In her story she told that her brother had a ruptured appendix and was hospitalized far from home, maybe transported from North Dakota to Minnesota... because of peritonitis. Gram had given up her job and moved to that city to stay with him while he was in the hospital, but he died. I think he was 7 and she was 16 or 17.

 In this photo, in which the ten surviving adult "children" of that Efraimson generation are shown. Here is my best effort and putting the right names to the right faces. Front row, left to right: Rudy, Bill, Rupert; 2nd row, left to right, Emma, Jo, Vi, Gram Esther, Jenny and Hilda, with Eino in back.

Another Family History Blurb:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Esther Eina Efraimson (10/13/1905-4/6/2004) married Theodore Norman Holien (1/6/1905-11/6/1942), who was an alcoholic. Esther had to insist that he not live with them, and at some point I believe he was either killed in a bar-room brawl, or found dead in a ditch or something.
Esther and Ted had four children:
Wayne Holien (1928 - present), who married Mary Ann Walton (1934-present);
Carole Holien (1930-2008) who married Robert Hall (1928-2007) (they had four boys, three of which are in the photo below;
Ida Mae Holien (1933-2007) who married Herbert William Hall (1925-2006)(Robert Hall's brother);


and Larry T. Holien (Theodore?) (1937-present) who married Darlene M. Hanson (1937-present).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ida Mae and Herbert William Hall had three children, who are all still living, so for privacy reasons I won't post any further information. But the 3rd of their children together was moi!

They divorced, and Ida Mae remarried to Emmert King Walker (9/6/1925 - 10/23/2006); together they had one child.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, in summary, Johan had Johan (Johanson); Johan, Jr. had Efraim (Johanson); Efraim had a son named John (Efraimson); John had a son named Efraim Johnson and John Efraimson.... ya still with me? I just couldn't resist. What a mixed up name story!

So that is my very long story of Efraim's son, a.k.a. the Efraimson family line, from as far back as I know it (1788) to the present day. Thanks for reading! ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Think Back Thursday is a photo meme that encourages sharing something from the past.  It is hosted by Debbie's Digest.  
 http://zaazu.com
In February2/14, 2/21. 2/28  a series on Playing with PhotosWhat program do you use to fiddle with your photos?Let us know and show some of the things the program does.If you don't want to join in on this one... it will be a series for all of February...you can choose your own topics and post what you would like. 
You can find out more about it, and how you can participate, by clicking the link or the button below. 

23 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi

Efraim's Son

To contact us Click HERE
You are about to embark upon a very long family history, so if you are not interested, abandon ship now!

Many years ago my Gram Holien told me a family story of how her maiden name came to be. You see, her family was originally from Finland. There was a story behind our family name that would make your head spin. Well, it involved the entire family, so I guess this isn't just about Efraim's son... but here goes...
  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family records begin in Finland in 1788 when Johan Michaelis Palavalehto was born. He grew up and married Catharina Matthia "Carin" Pulckinen, They had one son together and named him Johan. Johan, Jr. was born in 1808, still in Norway.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johan, Jr. grew up and married Britta Henricksdatter. Together they had several children: Mathias (born 1821); Lisa (born 1823); and Abram (born 1825). Then Efraim was the next child, but the records seem to indicate that Britta may have died and Johan may have remarried. Efraim was born in 1830 (B 1830, died 1901), and then Maria (1833) and Caisa (1834).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Efraim grew up and married Brita Kaisa Simonsson. They began their family. Margretta was born 1/8/1856 (died 1/3/1920). Then was born our relative, John Efraimson (November 1858, 100 years before me!)(Died 3/16/1938) (photo below):


Then came Mary (1860)(married name Hanson); Kate (1865)(married name Holappa) and Efraim (1870). Here is where the story really starts hopping!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
The family decided to move to America.  

My gram had told me a history of how their name got changed. I need to find my notes. The "History" below tells a different story, but this is they way I remember my Gram telling the story.

Apparently, when the family arrived at the port of entry in 1888 (probably Ellis Island), the record-keepers had a great deal of difficulty with the name Palavalehto.


Poppa Efraim and his wife Britta were asked, "What's your last name?" With his thick Finnish accent Efraim said "Palavalehto." The man said, "No one can pronounce that! What was your father's name?" So Efraim said, "Johan". Now, "Johan" is the Finnish equivalent of "John", so their name became Efraim and Britta Johnson. 

Then, as his children approached the agent, each to check in, it got really colorful. Probably the youngest son came first, under Efraim and Britta's wing. The agent said, "What is this child's name?" And Efraim said, "Efraim." So the agent deemed little Efraim "Efraim Johnson" as well. 

Then the other offspring were next, and they were all adults. So one by one they each went through: Margretta, Katie, John, and Mary, and they were each christened with the name "Efraimson", as in "Efraim's son". So that is the line we are descended from (John Efraimson). Later the women married. Margretta married "Matti Paso," and became "Gretta Paso" (possibly "Passo"); Katie became "Mrs. Henry Hollapa"; and Mary became "Mrs. Hans Hanson". (I love that last one - Hans Hanson is like our John Johnson -- at least that's what John's name would have been if he hadn't taken "Efraimson" as his last name...)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this amazing news clip that was originally published as part of the Hamlin County, South Dakota History:



Efraim and Brita were buried side by side. I thought their headstone unique -- it maintained their heritage while showing their "taken" name in their new land. The spelling of Palvalehto is different from what earlier records show.


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 So Efraim and Brita's children were:
Margretta Palvalehto (1858-1920) who married Matti Paso (1857-1908);
John Efraimson (1858-1938 - my great-great-grandfather) who married Liisa Kaisa Alavesi (1857-1935)(They were married in 1878 when she was 21 - more history below);
Mary Palvalehto (1860 - ?) who married Hans Hansen in 1885;
Kate Palvalehto (1865 - ?) who married Henry Hollapa (about 1885?); and
Efraim Johnsen (1870 - ?)
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John Efraimson married Liisa Kaisa Alavesi in 1878, when they were still in FInland. The immigrated to America in 1888, and traveled to South Dakota to settle.  Their children were:
Brita Maria Efraimson (1879-1902, born in Finland);
Alfred Efraimson (my great-grandfather)(1880-1971 - born in Finland), who married Emma Savilahti (1881-1945)  on 13 November 1904 (more below);
John J. Efraimson (1882-1863 - born in Finland); 
Andrew Efraimson (1884-1959 - born in Finland);
Hilda J. Efraimson (1886-1930 - born in Finland);
Emelia Kaisa Efraimson (1887 - 1958 - born in Finland);
Hilma Alina  Efraimson (1890 - 1967 - born in America);
Arvid A. Efraimson (1891 - 1892, a twin, died between birth and age 2);
Carl Hjalmer Efraimson (1891 - 1982), who married Jennie Koistinen (1889-1986) on 5/2/1922;
Hendrick W. Efraimson (1894-?);
Sophia W. Efraimson (1896-1966);
Esther A. Efraimson (1899-1979); and
Edward R. Efraimson (1903-1904 - died an infant).

 Below are two photographs of John Efraimson and family. John Efraimson is the oldest man, with the white beard. Unfortunately I do now know who is who among the other folks. I expect he is holding Esther, and Sophia is in the dress on the left. To John's right is probably Hendrick; the next youngest in front is probably Carl. Beyond that, the two men in back and the woman on the right, I can't even guess.


In this photo, on the left is John. I am only guessing, even on the first photo, because his youngest children were the same age as his oldest grandchildren!
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John and Liisa Efraimson's 2nd oldest child was my great-grandfather, Alfred Efraimson. Alfred (1880-1971) was born in Finland, as was his wife, Emma S. Savilahti (1881-1945). They were married 13 November 1904 in Finland!, and my grandmother was born 13 October 1905! They must have gotten on the ship to America pretty quickly, because my Gram was born in Minnesota! Now here is some confusion -- the records show John's parents came to America in 1888 when he was 7, so he would have come with them right? I really can't be sure, because in 1905, when he married, documentation indicates he and Liisa were in Finland when the were wed. Hmmmm. Went back for childhood sweetheart? Stayed there with relatives all that time? I have no idea.

But let me stick to the format. 

Their children were:
Esther Eina Efraimson (1905-2003 - her name was actually Eina Esther, but none of the records have it that way and if you search that way you will not find her....) who married Theodore (Ted) Norman Holien (1905-1942).
Jennie Maria Efraimson (1907-2003), who never married (photo below)
 
Eino Efraimson (1908-1988) who married Martha Juntunen (1914-1998);
Emma E. Efraimson (1910-2002), who married Ivan L. O'Brien (1908-1985);
Josephine (Jo) R. Efraimson (1911-2004), who married Vern Leroy Larson (1911-2003);
Hilda H. Efraimson (1914-1997), who married Roydon Cyril Gregor (1911-1961);
William A. Efraimson (1917-1975);
Viola A. Efraimson (1919-2003);
Carl Efraimson (1920-2008);
Rudolph (Rudy) Efraimson (1923 - ...2005?);
and Rupert Efraimson (1925 - present, still living!)

When the siblings were younger they used to have an annual family reunion at the farm every year. In 1960 my mom went, and took me. This is me at age 1-1/2 sitting with my great-grandfather Alfred Efraimson:
I don't think that cute doll belonged to me; I think they were just letting me play with it while I was visiting there. I have no memory of that trip. I can't imagine what it would have been like driving from MD to ND in 1960 -- the Eisenhower interstate network was not entirely build yet. (He was President when I was born.)

I need to find my Gram's "Letter to my Family". She had another brother who is not turning up on Ancestry.com -- must have been born about 1913. In her story she told that her brother had a ruptured appendix and was hospitalized far from home, maybe transported from North Dakota to Minnesota... because of peritonitis. Gram had given up her job and moved to that city to stay with him while he was in the hospital, but he died. I think he was 7 and she was 16 or 17.

 In this photo, in which the ten surviving adult "children" of that Efraimson generation are shown. Here is my best effort and putting the right names to the right faces. Front row, left to right: Rudy, Bill, Rupert; 2nd row, left to right, Emma, Jo, Vi, Gram Esther, Jenny and Hilda, with Eino in back.

Another Family History Blurb:

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Esther Eina Efraimson (10/13/1905-4/6/2004) married Theodore Norman Holien (1/6/1905-11/6/1942), who was an alcoholic. Esther had to insist that he not live with them, and at some point I believe he was either killed in a bar-room brawl, or found dead in a ditch or something.
Esther and Ted had four children:
Wayne Holien (1928 - present), who married Mary Ann Walton (1934-present);
Carole Holien (1930-2008) who married Robert Hall (1928-2007) (they had four boys, three of which are in the photo below;
Ida Mae Holien (1933-2007) who married Herbert William Hall (1925-2006)(Robert Hall's brother);


and Larry T. Holien (Theodore?) (1937-present) who married Darlene M. Hanson (1937-present).

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Ida Mae and Herbert William Hall had three children, who are all still living, so for privacy reasons I won't post any further information. But the 3rd of their children together was moi!

They divorced, and Ida Mae remarried to Emmert King Walker (9/6/1925 - 10/23/2006); together they had one child.
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So, in summary, Johan had Johan (Johanson); Johan, Jr. had Efraim (Johanson); Efraim had a son named John (Efraimson); John had a son named Efraim Johnson and John Efraimson.... ya still with me? I just couldn't resist. What a mixed up name story!

So that is my very long story of Efraim's son, a.k.a. the Efraimson family line, from as far back as I know it (1788) to the present day. Thanks for reading! ;)
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