Brita (Bessie) ERICKSON

1877 - 1965  (87 years)

• Name	Brita (Bessie) ERICKSON
  Birth	12 Sep 1877	Rättvik, Dalarnas län, Sweden
  Gender	Female
  Baptism	31 Oct 1958	Grace Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota
  Confirmation	31 Oct 1958	Grace Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota
  MN Death Cert Checked	Y
  Minnesota Death Certificate	1965-MN-003210
  Occupation	Tailor
  Death	22 Feb 1965	Hopkins, Hennepin County, Minnesota
  	“Bess died at 3:30 this morning.”
  Burial	24 Feb 1965	Sunset Memorial Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
  Notes	Greg Loftness’s family tree on Ancestry calls her “Mårs Brita Bess Erickson,” born on or in Mårs in Rättvik. Greg Loftness also has Bess’s departure as 5 May 1884 from Vikarbyn. That date is based on the family’s entry in “Sweden, Emigrants Registered in Church Books.” She departed with both parents. Cora called Bess "the best person who walked in two shoes." Rattvik is located in Dalarna province on Lake Siljan in Sweden's central "lake district." Dalarna is considered the most Swedish of all of Sweden's 24 provinces. From it, Gustav Vasa recruited the army that freed the country from Danish domination in the 16th century. Bess was five years old when her family emigrated from Sweden in 1882 or 1883. The Ericksons were living at Franklin and Minnehaha when Bess met Al Carlson. Al and Bess were married at the end of March, 1895, in Nelson, Wisconsin, across the river from Wabasha, Minnesota. Bess and Al were in Wabasha when Maurice was born. Bess and Al ran a hardware store with Maurice near the corner of 38th and Chicago (SE corner, 2nd from the corner, Martin grocery store was on the corner). They were running the store when Maurice and Cora married. About that time Bess and Al moved to Minnetonka. (Maurice and Cora lived with them there for about a year-and-a-half between September of 1916 and May of 1917.) Then Bess and Al moved back into town to 40th and 11th Avenue. From there, in about 1920, they sold everything and moved to California. They stayed in California for less than a year. When they returned, they stayed with Maurice for three years (1921-1924, at 39th and Bloomington?) and then built the houses on Minnehaha Avenue. Bess lived in the Minnehaha house until November of 1960 when she moved to live with her grandson at 2239 East Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington. She spent her last few months of life in a nursing home in Hopkins where she died. In the 1930 census, Maurice's and Bess's houses are shown as worth $7500 each. Bess was renting out part of her house at $35/mo to Arthur and Violet Nash. He was a school teacher, she was a hairdresser. Bess is shown as having emigrated in 1883. In the 1940 census, Bess is shown as having no income. Her house is worth $3000. Living with her is Clara Lynch, lodger, a 48 year-old divorcee who worked as a housekeeper in a private home. Living in the other apartment at 4228 Minnehaha was Harold and Ann Cleven, both 30 years old. Their rent was $38 per month. Cora refers to Bess having a store at the time of the Armistice Day Blizzard in 1940. There is no indication of this in the city directories. Bess apparently avoided the inevitable divorce from Al as long as she could. Cora says that Bess bribed Al to stay with her. Bess spent quite some time in the hospital in the spring of 1943. A photo and article in the Tribune’s 24 Sep 1945 edition had Bess as the president of the Minneapolis Social Club. In the 1950 census, she lived in the upstairs apartment at 4228 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis. Living with her in that apartment was Erleida J Holmes (possibly Holmer), a 57 year-old widow born in Norway. Neither Bess nor her lodger were employed. Living in the downstairs apartment at that address was Cecil and Edna Markley. Cecil was clerk at a telegraph company. Bess’s neighbors to the north, at 4226 were the sisters Olga and Jean Westberg. Olga was the proprietor of a beauty parlor and Jean was her employee. Bess was a piano player and an artist and a "healer." She played the piano in a Swedish ladies' society and at some point played the piano at the Dania Hall on Cedar Avenue near Riverside. She rarely missed a Svenskarnas Dag at Minnehaha Park. She was at Minnehaha Park on June 17, 1956, at the time her son died. Bess may have been at Minnehaha Park on June 17, 1956, celebrating a “Svithiod Day” outing. This was apparently a mid-summer festival (“dancing, good food, entertainment”) held annually by the Independent Order of Svithiod of which Bess was a member of the Society’s #49 Harmony Lodge. Bess had been admitted as a member of Harmony Lodge on June 6, 1923. The Independent Order of Svithiod was founded in 1880 and had extensive membership, in the form of lodges, in the Twin Cities as well as the Chicago areas. In 1965, in an issue of its journal that included mention of Bessie Carlson’s death, the Order had a nursing home in Niles, Illinois, and published its journal out of Mount Morris, Illinois. The headquarters was at 205 West Wacker Drive in Chicago. Bess was also a member of what she and they referred to as the “Swedish Sisters.” This had to be different from the Harmony Lodge because the Svithiod Order was for men and women. Several of the “Swedish Sisters” indicated as such when the entered their names in the guest book for Bess’s funeral. Several members of the Harmony Lodge also indicated as such when they entered their names in the guest book. The Harmony Lodge also sent flowers for Bess’s funeral. Bess was in charge of various events held by the Swedish Sisters. The group had its “golden jubilee” in late September of 1936 at Eagles’ Hall, 117 4th Street SE. A thief stole the purses of four guests at Bess’s home on June 25, 1942. The heist also included a diaper bag with 16 changes of diapers. The thief entered through a bedroom window. The purses had next to zero money. The diaper bag had 10 soiled (of the 16) diapers. She was president of the Minneapolis Social Club, Inc. in 1945. Received her Social Security number in March of 1943. Applied for Social Security benefits in June of 1962. Bess moved to the Hopkins Nursing Home at 724 Washington Avenue S. in Hopkins at the end of September, 1964. Bess came to religion late in life and was baptized in her 80s at Grace Lutheran Church in Bloomington. Pastor Harold Hofstad, pastor of Grace, officiated at her funeral. (Werness Brothers, Minneapolis) Bess died at Hopkins Nursing Home where she had been for 5 months. She died of pneumonia, a complication of cervical cancer. Her grandson Donald H Carlson was the informant for her death certificate.   CARLSON, BESSIE   Minnesota Death Certificate ID# 1965-MN-003210    Date of Birth: 09/12/1877 Place of Birth: OUT OF STATE Mother Maiden Name: JOHNSON Date of Death: 02/22/1965 County of Death: HENNEPIN Bess’s funeral was at 1:00 PM at Werness Bros. chapel. Bess’s cemetery plot is Block 7A, Lot 73. Pallbearers were George R. Booth, Jr., George F. Booth, Durward Erickson, Leonard Reiland, Leonard Reiland, Jr., and Wallace Erickson.
  Person ID	I12	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	15 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Daniel ERICKSON,   b. 17 Aug 1854, Rättvik, Dalarnas län, Sweden d. 13 Feb 1910, St. Francis, Anoka County, Minnesota (Age 55 years)
  Mother	Brita (Betsy) JONSDOTTER (JOHNSON),   b. 25 Mar 1857, Rättvik, Dalarnas län, Sweden d. 31 May 1921, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota (Age 64 years)
  Marriage	28 Nov 1875	Rättvik, Dalarnas län, Sweden
  Family ID	F21	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Johan Alfred CARLSON,   b. 12 Mar 1872, Berghem, Kånna, Kronobergs län, Sweden d. 6 Jun 1952, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota (Age 80 years)
  Marriage	31 Mar 1895	Nelson, Buffalo County, Wisconsin
  	Wisconsin County Marriages on FS. As J.A. Carlson and Bessie Erickson. Parents S. Carlson, Emma Carlson, Daniel Erickson, Bessie Erickson.
  Divorce	Dec 1929	Hennepin County, Minnesota
  	as Bessie Carlson from Alfred Carlson, reported in the 18 Dec 1929 editon of the Star
  Children	1. Maurice Edward CARLSON,   b. 30 Aug 1895, Wabasha, Wabasha County, Minnesota d. 17 Jun 1956, Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota (Age 60 years)
  Family ID	F8	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2018

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Bess at Maurice's house Bess in front of Cora's and Maurice's house at 2255 East Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington. This is a Polaroid print, probably from the 1950s, and probably taken by Steve or Mayme Havier.
  		Bess at Haviers' This is a polaroid print, probably taken by Steve or Mayme at their house on the river road in St. Paul. Probably taken in the early 1960s.
  		Bess and Mayme with Mayme's daughters We know from the date stamped on the back of this print that it was processed by Brown Photo of Minneapolis on August 5, 1931. This picture was probably taken by Steve Havier of his family and Bess on a Sunday outing. Bess would be 53, Mayme 30, Marge 10, and Arlene 7.
  		Mamie Havier and Bess Carlson Probably from the early 1960s
  		Bess in the 1920s
  		Bess Carlson A hand-tinted and retouched version of a black-and-white photograph. Probably from the 1920s.
  		Bess and Harmony Lodge This is Harmony Lodge, a Swedish women's club. Bess is on the right in the front. An 8x10 carefully printed and mounted in a brown folder by Halmrast Studio, Minneapolis. The picture probably dates from the late 1920s.
  		Bess Erickson Carlson, Betsy Erickson, and Anna Bowe This is a postcard that Cora apparently never sent. It is addressed to Miss Rhoda Ekum at Route 4, Viroqua. The message is My Dear Cousin Rhoda. This is my baby and her grandmothers. Vivian says many thanks for her doll she has a great time with it and she will try to remember you with something so you have it coming if you want get it before we come next summer but you will get it. Please write to me as I haven't very much time for writing. from Cora. The occasion is the baptism of Cora's daughter in November of 1917.
  		Bess and family Bess with nearly all of her descendants on Christmas Eve, 1953. Taken by DHC.
  		Al and Bess Carlson May have been taken at the time they got married. If so, then Al is 23 and Bess is 18.
  		Al and Bess Carlson Probably taken in the first decade of the 20th century when Bess was in her late 20s and Al in his early 30s.
  		The Erickson children Taken in June of 1964 at Mayme's house in St. Paul. John is 64, Mayme is 63, Bill is 69, and Bess is 87.
  		Bessie Erickson Carlson