My two grandmothers were polar
opposites. My grandmother Hansen—Imelda—was tall, thin, prim, and very proper.
My other grandmother—Kristine—was blunt, well-built, more endearing than fussy
and spoke broken English.
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| Imelda Christiana Miller |
Both had hard lives—widowed in
their 40s and having to support themselves for many years.
Imelda had been the oldest daughter
of a prestigious family in Southern Utah. Her father was postmaster and
Superintendent of the Schools. They were well-to-do and she grew up with many
material advantages. They weren’t wealthy—no one was in pioneer days in
Utah—but she had many advantages.
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| Kristine Amalia Mortensen |
Kristine, on the other hand, was born
in Denmark, the seventh of eight children. When her youngest
brother was born a
year after her, both her brother and her mother died. Kristine eventually was
taken in by her future husband’s mother Oline Larsen. Oline and her second
husband, Jørgen Hannibal, raised Kristine. It was interesting that Kristine’s
family in Denmark was not as dirt-poor as many of the pioneers, and her foster
mother’s home was nice, and expensive portraits were made of the family
members.
In Kristine’s life, the family was
always important and photo portraits were shared with family on both
sides of the Atlantic. They reflected a close-knit family that did not allow
distance to truly separate themselves from each other.
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| Kristine's grape arbor |
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| Kristine's chair |
Whenever I think of Kristine, I
think of a shadowed grape arbor, black currents, an Adirondack chair and many
flowers.
Imelda also loved flowers and had
peonies, roses, coral bells, and
many other “showy” flowers.
Both of my grandmothers loved to
sew and crochet and were very domestic. Both loved to garden.
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| Float from Imelda's giftshop in parade |
Both were entrepreneurial. After
Imelda’s husband died, Imelda opened a gift shop, where she sold jewelry,
gifts, candy, and souvenirs.
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| Kristine's "Dream Book" |
Kristine at one time self-published
a book, “Hannibal Dream Book” by K. A. Hannibal. Hannibal was her foster
mother’s 2nd husband’s name, and I think she used it because she
didn’t want to use her own name.
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| Shakers |
When I think of Imelda, I look at
some of the fine things she left me--a silver-plate salt and pepper shaker her children gave her, a shell-doll that she must have sold in her gift shop. I also have a carnival glass tea set given to me by Imelda’s younger
sisters. They had collected all these nice treasures for their hope chests and
when they were old and unmarried, they gave away them away to their family
members getting married, of which I was a one. Every time I look at the tea
set, I think of the hopes and dreams that they put it aside with, and which
they then gave to me as a wedding gift.
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| Carnival glass tea set given me by Imelda's sisters |
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| Doily from Kristine |
Kristine’s health was never very
good, but she crocheted many things to sell during her life. She made me a
delicate white crocheted dress that I wore as a toddler, many hotplates, table
runners, crochet heart-shaped pillows and many other things.
All these items represent Imelda’s love
of fine things, of linen tablecloths and cloth napkins and fine china. Not at
all what you’d expect in a pioneer home in small-town Monroe, Utah.
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| Candlesticks of Kristine's |
The items I have from Kristine are
hand-crochet doilies, a Danish-style blue cross-stitch small tablecloth, and a
simple bowl and candle holder. I know that Kristine made me several white
crocheted dresses that I and my sisters wore as girls. I also remember a heart-shaped a satin pillow covered in crochet that was always in her room.
Kristine’s things were well-crafted
but utilitarian items, and nothing of great value.
For years while Kristine was
bed-bound, she crocheted items to sell in her small town of Corinne.
One of Kristine’s greatest
treasures were several scrapbooks of poems, stories, and quotes pasted onto paper.
In the front of the book, all the
articles are in English, which Kristine was very proficient in, but in
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Although Kristine spoke with a
heavy Danish accent, she loved poetry and literature and wanted to review her
favorites often. I can see her reading them to her children to encourage and
uplift them. She wasn’t well-educated, but she was very well-read and knowledgeable.
In the early years, Kristine’s
Danish family sent a fancy doll to Kristine’s family, which was very dear to
them. It was something that apparently, they couldn’t afford for themselves.
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| Imelda's sewing machine |
Imelda had been a seamstress and
dressmaker long before she married, and she prided herself on her fine
workmanship. In the early years of their marriage, Imelda’s husband, Willy,
sold a horse to purchase a Singer treadle sewing machine. Imelda taught me to
sew, a favorite hobby of mine, so her treasured sewing machine in a wooden
cabinet is a special remembrance of her.
Kristine’s love of family was shown
during World War II, after her husband’s death, when they were so poor.
Nevertheless, they always tried to send food and clothes to her family left
behind in Denmark where conditions were often so much worse, especially after
the war.
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| Genealogy sheet |
It is interesting that both of my
grandparents loved genealogy and family history. Imelda spent years researching
names of family members, both her Miller line and her husband’s Hansen line,
and in taking them to the temple. In her later years when she lived with Aunt
Wilma, Imelda would go into Salt Lake City to the Family History Library where
she would search microfilm to record individuals in family group sheets. Her
carefully recorded notes list where she found each piece of information. She
was very proud of her membership in the Genealogical Society of Utah.
Kristine and her family often sent
money to Denmark to research information on the family and put together the
names for the temple work, but the family history records that I have are in
Kristine’s husband’s name and handwriting.
It is interesting that Imelda and
Kristine were only two years apart in age—Imelda was born in 1885 and Kristine
in 1887.
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| Imelda in her sixties |
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| Kristine in her sixties |
Imelda died of heart problems and a
stroke in 1960, at the age of 75 years old, while Kristine died in 1952 at the
age of 65 years old, of heart problems and cancer.
Two ladies so alike, and yet so
different!
