A bright guest on this site has sent us a comment about the pictures from my grandmother’s album. He suggests that there is some resemblance between Marit Hansdtr. Sundquist (left) on the first picture:
and the much younger woman on this picture:
When he says so, we can agree with him, can’t we?
Maybe this is a much earlier picture of Marit’s family?
If we go to the Family Report p. 15 and 16 we see that Marit and John Sundquist had seven children. On the photo we find five. Perhaps two of them had left the family as grownups? Let us have a closer look at the list of children.
Maria Sundquist
Melia Sundquist
Ole Heitmann Sundquist b: 09 Jun 1869
Stina Marie Sundquist b: 01 Jan 1877
Hans Peder Sundquist b: 01 Sep 1879
Emilie Sundquist b: 30 May 1882
Carl Martin Sundquist b: 07 Jul 1887, d: 1950 Sacred Heart, MN
Let us assume that the boy in first row, who doest’t seem to enjoy the visit at the photographer, is Carl Martin at the age of five. Then the photo must be from 1892, and the other children would be 10, 13, 15 and 22 years old. That doesn’t seem to fit. The difference of age between the two eldest can’t be that much, and the other seem to be younger than assumed.
Maybe it’s another family – in spite of the resemblance between the two women?
We can’t give in so fast. Let us first try the reliability of the information in the Family Report. The Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses from May 1, 1885 tells us that John and Marit Sundquist lived in Sacred Heart, Minnesota. They had six children living at home.
From this list we discover a boy who is not in the Family Report, Lars J, 10 years old. We also see that Carl M is two months in May 1885, which tells us that he is born in 1885 and not 1887, as the Family Report says.
We now have another fundament for reconstructing the family on the above photo. Suppose that the photo is taken in 1890 and that the children on the photo are: Lars J (15), Stina M (13), Hans P (10), Emelia (8) and Carl M (5)? That seems to fit better. The order of age fits to the order of boys and girls, and we may conclude with great confidence that the picture is of the Sundquist family around 1890.
Then the people on the photo must be, from left to right: Hans P, Lars J, John Sundquist, Carl M, Emelia, Marit Hansdtr. Sundquist and Stina M.
The Family Report will be corrected according to the above information.
Thanks to our quickwitted guest.
Lillejord Descendent Reunion 
January 14, 2010 at 06:29
Hi, I’m a great, granddaughter of Marit (Lillejord) Sundquist. The picture with hats on of Marit, Stina Maria, and her child (Helen) is my mother (Helen Refsland). I just received an e-mail from Sharon (Refsland) Sietsema in Sacred Heart. She had trouble reaching me. I am interested in attending reunion. Have lots of pictures. My mother, Helen, was an only child. She married my father, Pete Paradee, and they had five of us, three are left, two died six years ago. I would like to correspond by e-mail. Please let me know if it is too late to register. I’m scrambling to make plans. Would love to hear from you.