In the dawn of the 20th century, Anna and Charles Shallman of Dorris, Minnesota brought a little girl, Sophia, into the world. She made her entrance just days after the first Nobel Prize ceremony was held in Sweden and within months of the birth of Greats such as Enrico Fermi, Marlene Dietrich, Louis Armstrong and Clark Gable. The temperature on that December day  in their little township, also known as Farm Island, was probably below 20 ℉ and somehow, it seems to me, a chip of that cold worked its way into little Sophie’s heart. I’ve never liked the woman I knew as Grandma Gillespie but the picture here of her hugging my oldest brother has often made me wonder just what made her into the mean old woman that was the source of so much misery to my family.

The “Good Ol’ Days”

Since at least the early 1700s, many people have referred to the good ol’ days.” According to my Dad and from all I’ve found, there was little “good” in rural America in the old days. From what little I was able to coax from my Mom and online resources, Sophie was married to a man named Charles when she was 18 years-old. Within two years she had the first of four sons and two years after that, another son came along. When her little boys were only two and four years old, their father died. I don’t know how and I’m not sure where, but possibly in North Dakota. 

Twenty-five years old, with two little growing boys, living near Crosby, Minnesota. It would have been difficult for her to find work as many employers did not want a woman with small children. Her only viable option was to find a new husband, one willing to take on her two boys. My grandpa, Alfred (Al) Peterson was that man. 

A Hard Man

Al was a decade her senior, but that was not unusual, her first husband, Charles, had been nearly the same age. Al had a farm and had built a sturdy farmhouse (that stands to this day) and needed a wife to cook, clean and have children to work the farm with him. From what I’ve gathered, it was a marriage of necessity on her part and convenience on his. I would love to know if there was any affection between them, but I doubt I’ll ever know. My Mom told me very little about her Dad beyond “Daddy was a hard man.” What exactly does that mean? Was he abusive to Sophie? What was her life like a century ago?

I want to understand my Grandma better. Was she a mean, nasty person as I’ve always believed? Or did she have some shred of humanity left that she just didn’t reveal to many? Come along with me in my next blog (maybe two) as I explore and find what I can about Sophie (Shallman) Peterson.

If you like what you’re reading, smoosh that share button and sign up here to receive notifications of new posts.