Strong Women

Week 10's prompt for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors is Strong Women.

I feel I have been surrounded by strong women my entire life.  My grandma, Iris, helped my grandfather open a market and continued to run it after he died.  My grandma, Phyllis, returned to the working world after losing my grandpa to be able to provide for my uncle who was only 16 at the time.  My mom has taught me love, family first, and work ethic.  My aunt, Char, raised her kids alone on her teacher's salary and has always been an inspiration of strength to me.  Many immigrated to the US, some with their parents, some without, looking for a better life.  My great aunt, Grace, helped to raise almost every single one of her younger brothers and sisters.  Many of my ancestors had many children and worked the farm.  Not an easy life. But one story of a strong woman in the family is that of my great grandmother, Caroline.

Caroline Charlotte Mickelson was born July, 1890 in Hanley Falls, Minnesota.  Her father, Lewis, was a farmer.  Her mother, Rakel (Ree) had immigrated to the US at the age 29 with her sisters.  She was the middle child of three.  He older brother, Melvin, was two years older and her sister, Josie, was four years younger.

Caroline, far left, and other women she worked with

By 1920, Caroline had left her family in Hanley Falls and moved to Minneapolis, where she was working as a telegrapher.

In February, 1924, Caroline married Ambrose Lewis.  Their son, Roger (my grandfather), was born in November of that same year.  The marriage did not last long.  By 1930 Caroline and Ambrose were divorced and she was raising Roger alone.  Ambrose was a soldier in WWI and rumor has it that he was gassed during the war, causing him to get angry and sometimes abusive.  He lived the rest of his life in and out of VA Hospitals.  If they knew then what we know now, I would guess he had some form of PTSD.  He was not really a part of my grandpa's life.

Caroline was a master seamstress.  She worked making dresses in a department store.  She owned her own home in Minneapolis and boarded out rooms.  I recently met a granddaughter of Josie's who told me she remembered she had a large home and a fancy car.  My dad does not remember a fancy car.  He remembers when he and my uncle Craig would spend the day at her house, she would walk them down the street to a hobby shop and let them pick out a model car that they spent their days working on.

Caroline passed away in April of 1959.  I never had the pleasure of knowing her. But I figure to have the strength to leave your husband and work in a time when that was not always common for women, she must have been a strong woman.  She raised a good man, who loved his wife and children and worked hard to provide for them, on her own.