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Amanda
Nelson was born on January 5, 1883 in southern Sweden. She was
one of ten children who worked on their small farm. After finishing
school and working in the fields for several years, Amanda decided
to move to America. In 1904, at the age of twenty, she and a
friend traveled to the United States. Amanda's sister paid for
her trip over, so Amanda worked for her on her farm near Portland,
Oregon to pay off the debt. Since the labor was so difficult
and Amanda did not like living with her sister and brother-in-law,
Amanda found a job as a housekeeper with a Jewish family in
Portland. She also traveled and worked in Florida, Colorado,
and New York. Through a friend, Amanda met her future husband.
He owned a farm in Mt. Vernon and after meeting Amanda, asked
her to be the cook on the farm; they married soon thereafter.
They had one son who died at birth and one daughter, Evelyn.
In 1920, Amanda, with her husband and daughter, returned to
Sweden to visit their families. They have practiced Swedish
traditions in their family around Christmas time, such as cooking
and decorating in the customary way. Amanda has been very active
in her Lutheran church, Savior's Lutheran, in Mt. Vernon. She
fondly remembers being confirmed in Sweden and since then has
loved to volunteer and take charge of church projects. Amanda
has become an avid painter and has sold and given away many.
Even though she worked so hard all her life, Amanda feels that
living in America was good for her and that she has been very
fortunate.
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The
partial interview transcription highlights important aspects
of the interview. Numbers on the left may be used as guides
to important subjects. Two numbers separated by a slash indicate
that the first number is for cassette and the second for CD.
004 BACKGROUND: My name is Amanda Nelson. [From 006 - 038 is
garbled.]
038 ...Tomesis? [her husband], a neighbor man who she knew from
the old country, Sweden. They had one girl who lives in Seattle
and a boy who died at birth. The daughter has two children;
one works at Swedish Hospital and another lives in CA. [Discussion
about granddaughter's trip to Europe.] Amanda has two great-grandchildren
who are 12 and 14 years old.
120 Amanda remembers only her paternal grandmother. There were
ten children in the family, and Amanda was the next to the youngest.
One of the children died at birth. Her folks had a little farm;
the kids had to go out and work as soon as possible. They had
plenty of healthy food, and she was never sick in 95 years with
anything worse than the flu.
150 SETTLING IN AND WORK: Amanda was 20 when she emigrated to
her sister's. "If you ever wanted to come over, you should never
go to your relatives". Her sister lived on a farm near Portland,
OR. They had about 25 cows and no milking machines. Amanda got
up at 5 am and worked until 9, 10 pm for 10 dollars a month.
When the brother-in-law took the cows to pasture, Amanda was
in charge of carrying the milk pails to the milkhouse and separating
the milk from the cream. The milk was put into a tank. "I never
got to go anyplace". One day she met a man on her way to the
milkhouse. Since she didn't understand English, he continued
on to the house. Amanda's sister told her at dinner that he
was a neighbor who thought Amanda's treatment was horrible,
and they [the neighbors] would take her away if the situation
didn't improve. After that, the brother-in-law carried the milk
pails.
210 Amanda had only 50 cents in her pocket when she arrived.
Her sister had sent her the money for the ticket, and she had
to work for them over a year before paying off the debt. The
following summer there was a huge cherry crop on the farm, and
they held a picnic. She talked with other Swedish people, and
one fellow--Mr. Johnson, a caretaker at the Portland Zoo--said
he would find her another job. He later sent for her with instructions
on how to travel the 14 miles from the farm to Portland. Amanda
took the cream boat and then walked to their house, spending
her first night there.
270 She had just had her 20th birthday, after emigrating in
1904 on Good Friday. She left Sweden because she had her sister
here and because so many Swedes emigrated. "I have never regretted
that I left. No, golly, I should say not. I was home in the
old country in 1920, and I never was so glad to come home again
to America. ...I love it here".
287 In Portland, she began housework with a Jewish family in
Portland. "They were the most wonderful people. Oh, boy. They
were good to me. And I had 20 dollars a month then!".
The sister in Portland was next to the oldest and had been here
for years. She married a boy from the neighborhood in Sweden
and didn't have to change her name either. Another sister lived
in Florida. When Amanda's husband died, Amanda visited this
sister. But it was just more work because the 80 year old sister
was laid up with a broken hip and leg.
347 From Florida, Amanda went to Denver, CO. [She tells a long
story about an orphan girl that she had helped and in return,
the girl befriended her.]
427 EMIGRATION: A couple from Coeur d'Alene came home to Sweden.
Another girl, 17, and Amanda, 20, decided to return to America
with them. She had finished the 8th grade, and had been out
working, tending cows and doing field work in Sweden. Women
always worked out in the fields in Sweden in those days and
no one thought about it. They lived in southern Sweden, close
to Skaane. She'd been working down there with the sugar beets
as a part of a crew. They carried their own food and cooked
for themselves.
471. On the boat she was somewhat sick, but was also up and
dancing. "You know, when you're young, anything goes". In America
at one train stop, they got off to have a cup of coffee. It
was only a 15 minute stop and the train started to leave without
them. The others and Amanda ran after it. She was wearing bedroom
slippers and couldn't run fast enough, so she kicked them off
and managed to catch the train. Then somebody told them in Swedish
about the 15 minute stops to take on and remove freight.
499 The boat was full of people. Amanda came second class with
a bedroom and food. The third class didn't have much of anything
and was a mixture of various people. The ticket cost about 100
dollars from Halmstad in Sweden to New York.
When she visited in 1920, she had to enter through Norway because
of a strike in Sweden. Going through customs, she "hid" certain
items by wearing a watch and ring and stuffing other things
in the back of her bloomers.
There was no problem with emigration customs in America, because
they had such few things in a suitcase. Tells a story about
a friend taking 9 liters of Swedish whiskey through customs.
580 She and her friend traveled by train with the couple until
they reached Coeur d'Alene. Amanda was not afraid to travel
alone. She had brought rye bread, cheese, and dried beef from
home. She had only the 50 cents with and wasn't asked about
money in New York.
605 "The hardest thing is you can't talk". But people were wonderful
and didn't make fun of her. She learned the language little
by little. The most different thing between America and Sweden
is the friendliness of Americans; you could make friends very
quickly. Tells a story about herself and a girlfriend in Sweden
and how they weren't allowed to sit in the kitchen of one family.
Swedish were more class conscious at that time.
654 MEETING HUSBAND AND MARRIAGE: Her husband stayed in Sweden
until he was 35. He courted a cousin whom his father didn't
like and he refused to give the son the farm as long as he went
with this girl. So, he emigrated. He was a bachelor in Mt. Vernon
and owned a 40 acre farm. After Amanda and he returned from
Sweden in 1920, they built a new home on the farm. In 1937,
they moved to town and built another new house. When she moved
to the Home, she sold that house.
676 She had met her husband through her friend with whom she
corresponded. This girl, his cousin, worked on his farm but
planned on marrying Amanda's brother who lived in Spokane. She
invited Amanda to visit her in Mt. Vernon which Amanda did.
The farmer asked Amanda to stay and be the cook since his cousin
was leaving. They had known each other in Sweden. They were
married later at home and spent a couple of days in Seattle
before returning to the farm.
699 Amanda worked hard on that farm also--milking cows. "There
were a lot of things. But you know, you don't think of anything
else. But it's your own and you feel all right and you're happy.
I got the most wonderful man that's ever could be, and I got
a daughter".
708 There were nine kids in Sweden. One brother died at the
Josephine Home [Stanwood]; one died in Mt. Vernon; one sister
in Florida; and one sister in Portland. Five kids emigrated
and the other four stayed in Sweden. All were over 80 when they
died.
716 Amanda, her husband, and another couple and two children
returned to Sweden in 1920 for a month. Her daughter was eight
years old and could speak Swedish very well.
Amanda believes the old people in Sweden have better benefits
than in America, especially medical care. The kids in America
used to send money home; the parents never owned a farm but
rented a part of an estate. They made a living on the farm but
had to pay rent also. Some of the kids moved to the city to
work, but Amanda preferred to work on farms. One Swedish brother
worked for the railroad.
SIDE II
038 SWEDISH TRADITIONS: She continued with Swedish foods like
sylta, risgryn, fruktsoppe and .... kaka?. "You feel it's Christmas
then. There were a lot of things that we tried to keep up with,
but the older you get, the less [more] you get away from it".
She cried at the first Christmas, because she thought about
the old country and the family. At Christmas time, her mother
made a special roll for each child with their initial on top;
that was the Christmas present. Amanda feels that she worked
hard and maybe, it was better. People simply don't work so hard,
but life isn't that good either.
Her church, Salem Lutheran Church in Mt. Vernon, will have its
65th anniversary, and she is the oldest member. Amanda is a
painter, and her last work of Jesus and Mary was given to the
church. She loves painting, but never started until she moved
to the Home. Here, at the age of 96, she bowls, paints, plays
bingo, and decorates the dining tables.
196 She has sent a picture to a granddaughter but hasn't kept
any herself. Some paintings, she has sold and others, given
away. She has a very steady hand and has always done good handwork.
In Sweden, she knit stockings and sweaters, and sewed clothing
by hand. At 6 pm, they had dinner and were free to do handwork--crochet
or knit for themselves. "You couldn't sit down and do that when
there were so many other things to be done on the farm". It
was not considered work because you couldn't make a living doing
that.
302 CHURCH: They worked so hard on the church; there was no
electricity or hot water. Eighteen members had to put the top
on. Some years later, they got a new schoolteacher. She came
to a church dinner "all dolled up". She announced she was the
head of the group and wanted to call a meeting to decide how
to serve the dinner. The other 4-5 women told her they had done
this job so many times, they didn't need a leader or a meeting.
347 Amanda was very active in the church; they had no money
to hire people or buy goods, so they did all the work themselves.
Among other things, she had to chop wood for the woodstove.
In Sweden, they tried to attend church every Sunday; her father
liked to go. But when they had to stay home, he read the Bible
outloud. "I never remember that my dad put a hand on any of
us--never. But, he looked--. ...Mama was pulling hair...golly,
with all them kids, you know".
398 Amanda had instructions every morning at school--a short
piece from the Bible. The church was quite distant. The pastor
was a bachelor at the time, and had an uncle sea captain who
lived with him. The year she attended confirmation class, she
stayed at the parsonage and did the cooking for them. "He was
so wonderful' they were so nice to me". The pastor gave her
black fabric and hired a dressmaker to sew her confirmation
dress; in addition she received her room and board.
435 REMINISCES: Mother didn't like her leaving. The couple came
to take her to the depot, and her mother stood on the lawn,
cried, and told Amanda, "Now, you are going to another world.
...But don't forget, never take anything from anybody that doesn't
belong to you". Her people were poor, but they were honest.
Tells a story about honesty and the doctor visiting her in the
Home. He'd stand at the door and inquire about her health, and
then charge her 10 dollars for a medical call. She was never
sick and finally got "put out" paying him money just to say
hello to her. She told him to stop coming to see her because
she wouldn't pay him anymore.
550 She wrote home all the time when she first came, and she
used to write to her husband's niece in Sweden. But, now there
is no communication with Swedish cousins. She thinks the Swedish
people have it just as nice as the Americans. Her father, 80
years old, was still living at a daughter's home in 1920. His
birthday was May 12, the same as her husband's. He didn't want
anything But they bought him a new suit which made him very
happy and proud. He lived until he was 87 and got good use of
that suit. Her sister was a widow living in town. The father
received a small pension so he was no financial burden to the
sister.
628 Amanda never considered living with her daughter, Evelyn.
People live such different lives nowdays. She didn't want to
interfere with their life style. Besides, she had enough money
to pay her own way at the Home.
658 She never belonged to anything but the church. It was very
important to her; she never let her husband work on Sunday.
He discovered he could get just as much work done in six days,
and was grateful for a free Sunday.
672 Amanda is not sure it's so great for women to work outside
the home. There is no one at home for the kids. Her daughter
wanted to work after the children went to school. Her husband
wouldn't let her because he felt someone should be home when
the kids came home from school, and she would be too tired if
she worked outside. The granddaughter works at Swedish Hospital
and likes it; she wants to work outside.
700 When Amanda first arrived, the language was difficult. She
was glad to get away from the farm in order to learn English.
After the Jewish family, she worked for another family at the
seaside. Tells a story about going out on a date and arriving
home later than 10 pm. Amanda thought that lady was mean. Following
that job, she worked for another family until she left for New
York state where the Florida sister lived. The NY family had
just one boy and was a wonderful family. They were moving to
Washington, D.C., and Amanda didn't want to go. She returned
to WA when her brother was to be married.
768 [768-780 garbled.]
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