| The Story Of Helfred Matson & Mary Garson |
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| Nils Garson & Clara Frodahl, Mary?s Parents Mary (Maria) Garson was born to Nils Garson & Clara Julianne Hansdatter Frodahlen on May 2, 1884, in Strum, Wisconsin, USA. Nils was the son of Christian Evensen Nordbraaten & Maria Nordbraaten; and Clara was the daughter of Hans Pedersen Frodahl & Marie Iversdatter Brendsaterstuen. Clara Frodahl, of course, is Mary Garson?s mother, my great grandmother. She married Nils (Nels) Garson in Strum, but we believe they knew each other well in Norway. Although they lived in two different counties, only a hill or two separated the Garsjoen and Frodalen families in Norway. We should not be surprised that Clara arrived in America with infant in tow, after Nils had been here for a few months. The story goes that she went up to Nils on coming to Strum and said, ?this is yours?. And so they were married in Strum, Wisconsin. Because their first born died as an infant and before their next born, Mary, the children of Nils and Clara knew little or nothing about their oldest sister until later in life. We have a number of pictures with Nils Garson and Clara Frodalen. Nils died early in life in 1926 at age 43 before any of the grandchildren of Helfred Matson & Mary Garson knew him. Clara after being born June 26, 1858 lived until January 12, 1941 and nearly to age 83, and long enough for the older cousins, but not me, to maybe remember her. In any case, the older cousins are found in pictures with great grandmother Clara Garson. Clara was very close to her sister, Martha Frodahl. As we looked through pictures and talked about the family, my aunt Mariann Berg described how Clara and Martha were inseparable and frequently together at family and other events. It shows in the pictures. Clara?s sister, Martha, married Christian Finstad-Berg, who later dropped the -Berg part. This Berg family is not related to our family?s Stanley Berg. This branching out of the Frodahls into the Finstads produced additional branches into other familiar Strum area names: Swendby, Enger, Williams, Benson, Nelson and more than we may ever have imagined. |