Åland Family Stories

Åland Family Story

by Waldine Jeanene Ramlow

My mother, Ines Valdine Eriksson was born in Hammarland, Åland on August 31, 1909. She departed from Åland on the Gripsholm on August 10, 1929, just before her twentieth birthday. After landing in New York, she traveled to Wales, Wisconsin, where her farbror, Algot Andersson, lived with his wife Hilda and son Elmer. Her uncle helped her find lodging and employment with a Swedish family in Rockford, Illinois, through a Rockford family friend, Hilda Johnson. Ines was the live-in maid and nanny until her marriage to Berthel S. Nelson in November 1930. He was born in Illinois in 1900, of Swedish immigrants. Ines’ name was Americanized to Inez Waldine Nelson. My sister Inez Betty Lou was born in 1932 and I, Waldine Jeanene, was born in 1938.

My mother grew up on a farm; her older brother left Åland when he was sixteen, leaving the farm short of male help, so my mother did heavy labor usually performed by men. After her symptoms gave way to a doctor’s examination, it was determined that she had an enlarged heart. She was not to continue the demanding work on the farm. The doctor recommended emigrating to America where she already had relatives, and “where women have it good!”

The Hammarland properties of Åland relatives then, are still occupied by our many relatives. Of my mother’s six siblings, only she and an older brother, Ellis Eriksson, and a younger brother, Karl Helmer Andersson, left Åland for America, living here the rest of their lives. Neither visited Åland often, but my mother visited several times, once with three year-old Betty, for several months. Betty has visited Åland many times throughout the years, and I visited in 1956, 1963, 1968, 1989, 1998 and 2018, always staying with wonderful relatives.

I was eighteen when I first visited Åland, with my mother. We stayed with her sister Martha Hannes Eriksson and family for three months, on their farm. I was happy to find so many English-speaking people in Åland because of my limited knowledge of Swedish. I loved going with all the young people to dances; several of them were held outdoors. Relatives had big gatherings all summer in our honor. One family ran a lumber business, but most were farmers.

During that first visit in 1956, my aunt was still doing her laundry on a scrub board! As a thank-you for welcoming us, my mother bought her a washing machine. My moster Martha was amazed, as she stood by, declaring “Here I stand with my hands on my hips, while my clothes are being washed!” Her daughter Susanne Henriksson now has a vacation resort in Jomala. When my sister and I stayed with cousin Kerstin and Klas-Göran Janssen and family in 1989, everything was modernized. She even had a cell phone, plus a fax machine in her fabric studio. I did not have either back then!

Waldine, front row, first person on the left and mother Inez visiting Åland, 1956. Photos courtesy of Waldine Ramlow Inez, left, Waldine, and Betty at home in Rockford, Illinois, 1943.