| The Story Of Helfred Matson & Mary Garson |
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| I had no idea, but then, I also had no idea who these Frodahlen people were. I never met Clara Frodal, Hans Garson?s wife, and I only knew my Grandma Matson to be a Garson, not also a Frodahl. Marlys through her information and me through my information, learned that her husband, Robert Berg, is not only related on the Berg side of our family to Stanley Berg (who married my father?s sister Mariann) and my cousins there, but is also a descendant of Otilia Matson and Paul Holte, Otilia being Helfred Matson?s sister. I was fortunate just this last year, at a Maple Street reunion in Strum, to meet Robert?s mother, Delores, my new found 2nd cousins, Marlys and Rosie. As you will learn later in this story, two ancestors, sisters, are resonsible for this relationship by whom to chose for husbands. I have no recollection of the Paulsons. Ragna Matson married Nickolai Paulson and Ragna was the first and oldest child of Syver & Hellene Madsen and so their children must have been quite older than me. I am absolutely certain that my father knew them well. I probably met some of them in our trips to Osseo, only 9 miles away. And my brother?s sister, Carol Anderson says that some of this family lived not far from her parent?s farm on the the way from Strum to Osseo. Helfred - we will talk about him later when we talk about his life with Mary Garson. Unfortunately, David left us before he could make his mark on the community. So, let?s talk about Helfred?s youngest sister, Martha, the youngest child of Syver Madsen & Hellene Olsdtr. Martha did not marry and had no children. In spite of that, she made her mark on me and others. Martha Matson, Helfred?s Youngest Sister I remember Martha well, perhaps better than I remember her brother and my grandfather, Helfred, and my grandmother, Mary. She lived longer into my generation than the others. Whether my memory is vivid because of the fires she was known to create or whether for some other reason, such as the apples on her property, I don?t know. She lived long enough for me to experience her and I just remember Martha. She was the youngest of the children of Syver & Hellene, of course, and outlived my grandfather and her brother, Helfred who died in 1954. I remember Martha in church, I remember her at the grocery store, always Hulbergs, and at home on her farm where the apple trees made it an interesting place to visit. I always remember her as hunched over and never probably observed her in any other state. Martha loved to walk. I think that is what made a lasting impression on me. I don?t believe she every drove or owned a car. My how she could walk, and fast! Hunched over and all, she moved like a gazelle, she moved with a purpose. Martha never had a car and her property was two sections, about 2 miles straight south of Strum. She would walk to |