| The Story Of Helfred Matson & Mary Garson |
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| As we said at the beginning of this story, the Matson-Garson Story, the joining and sharing of these two families, appropriately began with the wedding of Helfred Syver Madsen and Maria Martha Garson on May 30, 1908, at St. Paul?s Lutheran Church in Strum, Wisconsin, USA. The original church held its first service on May 18, 1877 and underwent a major remodeling. This rebuilt wood, white painted structure, was all of six years old. We must believe that this was a joyous event, probably shared by family and non-family congregation members. Nils Garson and Clara Frodahl gave their daughter, Maria (Mary) to Helfred Madsen, first son of Syver Johannes Madsen and Helene Olsdtr. Maria was the second daughter of Nils & Clara, their first daughter, first-born child, died in infancy. We can assume that many family and congregation members attended this wonderful happening. We can imagine who might have attended by looking at who lived in this area and were descendants of older ancestors. There were many. It was probably as common to attend weddings of any member of the congregation as it was to attend funerals and so others may have also been intendance. Both weddings and funerals are very important religious events in Norwegian parish history and that tradition no doubt continued. We can believe that food and beverage might have been provided by the Ladies Aid, itself organized well before this time. This was probably not an extravagant affair. May 30 was a special day of the year. Mary?s parents, Nils Nordbraaten Garson and Clara Julianne Hansdatter Frodahl, also were married on this day, twenty-five years earlier, 1883. And, of course, this day would some years later become a national holiday in the United States of America, Memorial Day. |
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| The END of Story For Now |