Merle Hayward Wessman (1909-1945)

When a child is born, the hospital pricks its heel and soaks the blood into a Guthrie card. The hospital tests the blood for a variety of rare conditions including cystic fibrosis, congenital hypothyroidism, and phenylketonuria.

With modern medical technology, if a child has an early diagnosis, many diseases can be treated and the child can live a normal life, but in the days before the heel prick test, something about the child's development or feeding might not have seemed quite right, but parents could only watch helplessly as their child started to fall behind developmentally, mentally, and physically.

Merle Hayward Wessman was born September 27, 1909. Her proud new parents named her after her mother's beloved sister Leah Merle Hayward, who had died four years earlier.

Merle's widowed grandmother Amanda Wessman was a Swedish immigrant and temple worker. Merle was her fourteenth grandchild. Merle's other grandparents, Henry Hayward and Elizabeth Pugsley Hayward were respectively a contractor and politician, and Merle was their first grandchild.

Soon their darling little Merle developed the symptoms of what was then called "cretinism," perhaps a diagnosis now known as CH, or congenital hypothyroidism, perhaps another rare genetic disorder like Hurler-Scheie syndrome or Morquio syndrome. If it was CH, she would have slept a lot, eaten poorly, and had poor muscle tone and a low body temperature. Her belly would have distended and within a few years she would have failed standard developmental tests.

Merle with her uncle John Hayward.

Whatever the genetic or metabolic disorder, it does not seem to have shown up again in the family, and due to the size of the extended family, there's no reason to believe it will.

Not long ago, Merle was mentioned on Facebook, and in response, her younger sister Norinne sent a lovely hand-written letter filled with tender memories of her sister's life, with permission to excerpt it and include it here.

From Norinne:

My first recollection of Merle was when I was very young. She would sit in a rocker holding me, rocking and singing, “Go to sleep, my Renie, Renie girl,” (to the tune of an old song). The first line in the song is “Smile the while you kiss me sad adieu,” the title of the song is “‘Til we meet again,” —at least I think that’s the title. I still remember the melody, and she did quite well with it. This resulted in my family and friends (many years later) calling me “Rene,” which they still all do. 

You are right—she didn’t smile much (never in pictures), but when she did it was a sight to behold. She’d sit at the piano and play no recognizable tune, always in kind of a waltz tempo. For hours on end she would sit by the radio and play cards. I don’t recall if she ever played with other people. She loved to wash dishes, if you can believe that—14 plus place setting, 3 meals a day. She would cry if for some reason someone else did the dishes.

Merle, Grandpa Henry Hayward, unknown boy.

We moved to Salt Lake when I was about 9 years old. Mom, Keith, Boyd, Marilyn and I camped out in South Fork Canyon. I don’t recall Merle being with us, and I think she may have stayed with Grandma Hayward—she did that occasionally, and Grandma loved her. I think the others all needed to help. We also had 5 orphan kitties with us, whose mother had been poisoned by a horrible man, who would give cats and dogs poisoned chicken.

Front: John, Jean, Phil, Betty, Bobby (cousin Robert Edwards, son of L.R.J and Elizabeth Hayward Edwards). Middle: Merle, Harry, Paul, Dick, Ernest (baby). Back: Jean, Grandpa Henry Hayward, Henry, Grandma Elizabeth Pugsley Hayward.

What is sad is, I don’t recall Merle ever going to church with us, and never to our Pugsley family reunions at Lagoon. She was kept home most of the time; Grandma would take her for a few days quite often. Isn’t it awful that people with her issues were sort of hidden away. It is so different now—they are taken in groups on outings, etc. I’m ashamed when I think back on the way they were treated.

Jean with all fourteen children.

I must have been high school age or older when a terrible thing happened. John and Merle were home alone. At that time he was working for Mtn. Fuel Supply. John was bathing and heard some commotion. He wrapped himself in a towel and opened the door to see Merle running, screaming toward the kitchen, and she was in flames. He wrapped the towel around her, put out the flames, and called the doctor. Merle was in the habit of standing with her back toward the fireplace (no screen). The down draft pulled the back of her dress into the fire.

The doctor popped big blisters all over her body and dressed them with some kind of ointment. Her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were singed. The doctor came every day for a long time to dress the burns. It was horrible! She could have died, and the house could have burned down!

When Grandma Hayward died 26 Jan 1942, Merle was very sad—she and Grandma loved each other so much.

Wessman family gathering, 1943-1945.
From left: Merle, unknown,  (behind: Beverly and John), Liz and Harry dancing.

When Merle was 36 years old, she was very ill with Bronchial Pneumonia and was in LDS Hospital. I understand that illness was common in people with Merle’s condition. Mom spent most of the time there. Merle thought Grandma was there. She also kept staring at a corner of the room and told Mom the kids were playing there.

Merle died on 7 April 1945.

John was in the army, and was on his way home... I keep thinking the funeral was at Larkin Mortuary, but I’m not sure. She was buried by Daddy in Salt Lake City Cemetery. 

See her entry at FindAGrave: Merle Hayward Wessman.

It was a good time for John to be home. Mom (and all the rest of us) depended on him in more ways than one. He was almost a father figure in the family.

A story added by Ernie's wife, Elaine, as related by Norinne:

I had talked with Elaine yesterday and was telling her what information I remembered about Merle to you. She didn’t know Merle as she and Ernie were not together at that time. She called me this morning to tell me something Ernie had told her years ago. He said that my sister Jean and Dick’s wife, Margaret, were staying with Merle at the hospital. They were looking out the hospital window; heard something and turned around. Merle sat up in her bed, held out her hand and said, “Help me, Daddy!” fell over and died. I had never heard this before. Ernie would not have told her that if it hadn’t happened.

Thanks to Emily for providing most of the pictures. My picture of Merle's gravestone is from a trip to Utah in 2010.

Keith Wessman (1925-2014)

Keith Hayward Wessman was the last living of the ten sons of Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman and Jean Hayward Wessman. [1] He died in Henderson, Nevada, this week at the age of 89.

After Jean's funeral, 1959.
Front, left to right: John, Keith, Liz, Boyd, Gam.
Back: Ernie, Harry, Jean, Phil, Norinne, Paul.

Here are a few anecdotes about his early life taken from several family histories.

Keith was a premature baby and did not do well at first. Henry said to put him out in the dirt and sunlight. He got quite brown. For many years, he was called "Brownie."

[One day] Jean was scrubbing the kitchen floor in her bare feet. Keith was in the bathroom (just off of the kitchen) taking a bath. He was about seven or eight years old. She said that she just got done and needed to wash her feet so she could get her socks and shoes on. She came and sat on the edge of the tub and put her feet in the water. She slipped right into the water. It ended up that she popped Keith up in the air and he ended sitting on top of her. It was a big surprise but they laughed about it for many, many years. 

Keith's first memories of his parents are of taking two cars loads full of family and friends and going up to the canyons to camp, eat, swim and play ball. On Saturdays, Jean made bread. She would also cook beans all day. After coming home from the canyons, the family would sit and eat biscuits and beans. Keith learned to love biscuits and beans from this experience....

Henry expected certain things out of his children. One time, Keith tried to run away from church and he almost got home. The next thing that he knew, he heard the old Dodge tearing up the road. Henry never went over 45 miles per hour.... He came screeching up the road and spotted Keith. He got Keith right back in the car and took him back to church. Keith does not know how he found out he was gone.

Another time, Keith was attempting to cut school (the first time). Henry ran him down and took him right back. Keith did not try to cut school again until he was a senior.

Keith with his niece Ann.

After his father died, Keith (even though he was six) felt as if he had to grow up. He wanted to do things that would bring his mother comfort. He did not want to give her anything to worry about. He knew that she was counting on him to do what he should.

The [Wessman] children were ... musically inclined.... Around 1930-31, John got an accordion for Christmas. Dick played quite well also on the guitar, ukulele and mandolin. They played quite a bit together. Keith took up the accordion and the girls took piano lessons. They were good at it. [Jean] tried to teach Keith the piano, but he never took to it.

Keith and Lilly Wessman and family, 1961.

Jean fought tooth and nail about Keith going into the service during World War II. Finally, she said that he was going to be 18 on his next birthday and there was nothing she could do to stop him. She signed for him to go a month before he turned 18. She was a good letter writer to all her sons in the service even though others may or may not have been. Ernie and Keith frequently sent letters home to their mother. Getting mail to Keith was tricky because he was on the ship.

Seven Wessman sons in the service, World War II.

From the Salt Lake Tribune, November 11, 1944: Seven uniformed sons of Mrs. Jean H. Wessman of 184 E St., have won for her a good citizenship medal, the fourth such destinction [sic] to be given a Utah mother during this war.... 

The Wessman servicemen are as follows: Cpl. [Corporal] Richard H. Wessman, 32, stationed with a repair squadron in Italy; Cpl. Philip H. Wessman, 24, who served for two and one half years in the Pacific Theater, now stationed with an infantry outfit in England; G.M. 3-c [Gunner's Mate 3rd Class] Keith Wessman, 19, somewhere in the South Pacific; Sgt. [Sergeant] Ernest H. Wessman, 23, now stationed with the field artillery at Camp Shelby, Miss., also served two and one half years in the Pacific Theater; S-Sgt. [Staff Sergeant] Paul H. Wessman, 30, stationed at an army general hospital in England; Pvt.  [Private] John H. Wessman, Camp Fannin, Texas, and Amm 2-c [Aviation Machinist's Mate? (US Navy) 2nd Class] Gammon Wessman, 21, reciptient of the Presidential Citation for serving in the battle of Attu and Kiska. 

Note.
[1] Henry and Jean Wessman had fifteen children: Merle (1909-1945), Henry (1911-1972), Richard (1912-1997), a stillborn son (1913), Paul (1914-1985), Jean (1916-2004), John (1917-2004), Elizabeth (1918-1999), Philip (1920-1989), Ernest (1921-2010), Gammon (1923-2004), Keith (1925-2014), Norinne (1926), Boyd (1928-1985), and Marilyn (1930-2010). Henry died in 1932 when Marilyn was one year old.

Henry and Jean Wessman's Stillborn Son

The family records have never had a birth or death date for Henry and Jean Hayward Wessman's stillborn son, but I just chanced on a burial record for him, and have updated his information in Family Tree (the replacement for NewFamilySearch). His birth, death, and burial date is September 23, 1913.

Here is his death certificate. It was filed under "Wissman."

Here is the page showing his entry in the Utah Death Register.

The baby is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery in plot J-12-12-W-2 (or J-12-12-2-W). Is this by the graves of Henry and Jean Wessman?

It was a little emotional for me to suddenly come upon this record due to a similar loss in the Wessman family this past week; our thoughts and prayers are with our cousin and his wife and children.

More Information on Jean Wessman's Loss of United States Citzenship

Long ago I told the story of Jean Wessman's citizenship. ("The Curious Story of Jean Wessman's Citizenship.") When Jean Hayward married a Swedish national, Henry Wessman, she lost her citizenship under the laws of the United States at the time. 

I don't know what the Swedish naturalization laws were. Did she become a Swedish citizen when she married Henry? Was she a woman without a country?

I was recently contacted by someone writing an extensive article about natural-born and native-born citizens, interested in using the example of Jean Wessman to illustrate some of the quirks of immigration and naturalization law. During the ensuing discussion, I decided to follow up on the hint left by a reader on the "Curious Story" post (thanks, kuzzuns!) on how to locate the immigration records in the National Archives. I am in the process of ordering information for Henry and Jean Wessman, if any exists. Did Henry ever become a citizen? Did Jean go through the legal process to restore her citizenship?

Henry R. E. Wessman Obituary

As found in the Ogden Standard Examiner, March 16, 1932. Not all of the information is correct.

Death Calls Ogden Printer

___

Henry R. Wessman Leaves Widow and Fourteen Children

___

Henry Richard Wessman, aged 47, 3604 Jefferson avenue, died in a local hospital at ten-forty-five o'clock Tuesday evening after an illness of one week. He was born in Sweden on February 7, 1885, a son of John and Amanda Hall Wessman. He came to America with his parents in 1893 and had lived in Salt Lake City and Logan before coming to Ogden eight years ago. He was a member of the L. D. S. church. At time of death, Mr. Wessman was a linotype operator in the composing room of the Odgen Standard-Examiner. He was affiliated with the International Typographical Union.

Surviving are the widow, Jean Hayward Wessman, and fourteen sons and daughters: Merle, Henry, Richard, Paul, Jean, John, Elizabeth, Philip, Ernest, Gammon, Keith, Norinne, Boyd and Marilyn; and one grandchild. The following brothers and sisters also survive: Mrs. Bonnie [Fannie] Johnson, Oakland; Mrs. Bertha Oleson, Salt Lake City; Herbert Wessman, Odgen; Joseph S. Wessman, Salt Lake City.

Larkin and Sons have charge of funeral arrangements.

Jean Hayward Visits New York

This is Jean Hayward on her way to Europe. The woman to her left is probably Helen Kimball Tilton, who accompanied her niece Rita Jackman and Jean to Europe. 

Here is a picture of the three of them.

(L to R) Hazel Jean Hayward, Helen Kimball Tilton, and Rita Jackman.

Thanks, as always, to Emily and Norinne for the pictures.

Wessman Photos

During a recent visit to Salt Lake City, I would have liked to stop at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park and see Amanda Wessman's grave, but did not have enough time. Her husband is buried in Kamas, Utah, where he died, and the location of his burial is now unknown. Their children are buried around the country. I was able to visit the graves of some of their family members in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

 

I also had the opportunity to visit with my cousin Emily, who has been scanning Wessman family records and photos to make a comprehensive collection. Included in the collection were some new pictures of Amanda Wessman.

Amanda Hall Wessman in Sweden, before she emigrated to the United States. 

Amanda in her later years.

Coming next... Amanda's son Joseph Harold Moroni Wessman ("Joe" in the Swedish photo caption)

The Curious Story of Jean Wessman's Citizenship

Jean Wessman was born in Salt Lake City, so why was she listed as an alien in the 1920 census?

This is the 1920 U.S. Census entry for the Wessman family: Henry, Jean, Merle, Harry, Richard, Paul, Jean, John, and Elizabeth.

The entries after their names are:

• Relation to head of the family
• Home owned or rented
• If owned, free or mortgaged
• Sex
• Color or race
• Age at last birthday
• Single, married, widowed, or divorced
• Year of immigration to the United States
• Naturalized or alien
• If naturalized, year of naturalization

Naturalize —

admit (a foreigner) to the citizenship of a country 

(Oxford American Dictionaries)

Henry's record shows that he was the head of the household, owned his home, had a mortgage, was male, white, 34, married, that he came to the United States in 1895 (probably incorrect). The last field is the most curious.

Henry's entry says "Pa." What does this mean?

The instructions for 1920 census takers are available online, and the document notes the  following instructions for filling in this box:

129. For a foreign-born male 21 years of age and over, or a foreign-born unmarried female of that age, write—
"Na" (for naturalized), if he, or she, has become a full citizen, either by taking out second or final papers of naturalization or, while he or she was under the age of 21 years, through the naturalization of either of the parents.
"Pa" (for papers), if he, or she, has declared intention to become an American citizen and has taken out "first papers."
"Al" (for alien), if he, or she, has taken no step toward becoming an American citizen. ("1920 Census: Instructions to Enumerators," IPUMS-USA, Minnesota Population Center, http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/inst1920.shtml.)

So, according to this census record, Henry had declared his intent to become a citizen. Then, looking at the citizenship status field below his, Jean is listed as "Al," or alien. Why would Jean, who was born in Salt Lake City in 1887 show up in the census as a non-citizen of the United States? A reporting error? A recording error?

Here is the census instruction:

130. A married woman is to be reported with the same citizenship as her husband.

It seems that the census taker was following instructions when she recorded that Jean was an alien.

Were the census instructions accurate and legal?

The answer is complicated. Here is a long article on the topic of women and naturalization (Part 1 - Part 2). I will summarize a few key points.


With the exception of a few states including Utah, women did not have the right to vote before  the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920. Unless a woman was single or widowed, she had few reasons to seek citizenship. In 1855, an act of Congress provided that "[a]ny woman who is now or may hereafter be married to a citizen of the United States, and who might herself be lawfully naturalized, shall be deemed a citizen." A woman's citizenship came automatically with her husband's citizenship.

For decades after 1855, courts found time after time that an alien wife of an alien husband could not establish citizenship for herself. But an alien woman who married a U.S. citizen automatically became a citizen, as did her minor children.

Just as alien women gained U.S. citizenship by marriage, U.S.-born women often gained foreign nationality (and thereby lost their U.S. citizenship) by marriage to a foreigner. As the law increasingly linked women's citizenship to that of their husbands, the courts frequently found that U.S. citizen women expatriated themselves by marriage to an alien. (Marian L. Smith, "Any Woman Who is Now or May Hereafter Be Married...", Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, archives.gov.)

In 1906, Congress passed a naturalization act to standardize the process of immigration and naturalization. Congress required that all courts had to use standard forms including a declaration of intention, a petition for naturalization, and a certificate of naturalization. [1]

Not quite a year later, in 1907, Congress passed an act that stated that all women acquired their husband's nationality upon marriage.

This changed nothing for immigrant women, but U.S.-born citizen women could now lose their citizenship by any marriage to any alien. Most of these women subsequently regained their U.S. citizenship when their husbands naturalized. However, those who married Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, or other men racially ineligible to naturalize forfeited their U.S. citizenship. Similarly, many former U.S. citizen women found themselves married to men who were ineligible to citizenship for some other reason or who simply refused to naturalize. Because the courts held that a husband's nationality would always determine that of the wife, a married woman could not legally file for naturalization. (Women and Naturalization.)

When women were granted suffrage in 1920, a problem arose:

Given that women who derived citizenship through a husband's naturalization would now be able to vote, some judges refused to naturalize men whose wives did not meet eligibility requirements, including the ability to speak English. The additional examination of each applicant's wife delayed already crowded court dockets, and some men who were denied citizenship began to complain that it was unfair to let their wives' nationality interfere with their own.  (Women and Naturalization.)

In 1922, Congress passed the Cable (Married Women's Independent Nationality) Act. This act stated:

That the right of any woman to become a naturalized citizen of the United States shall not be denied or abridged because of her sex or because she is a married woman....
That a woman citizen of the United States shall not cease to be a citizen of the United States by reason of her marriage after the passage of this Act, unless she makes a formal renunciation of her citizenship before a court having jurisdiction over naturalization of aliens....
That a woman who, before the passage of this Act, has lost her United States citizenship by reason of her marriage to an alien eligible for citizenship, may be naturalized as provided by section 2 of this Act... [2]

How did this affect Jean in practical terms? Was she able to vote in national elections between 1920 and 1922? Was she able to get a passport? Did she know when she got married that according to the 1907 law she would lose her citizenship upon marriage? [3]

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman and Hazel Jean Hayward were married on November 25, 1908, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

So, the census was right. Under then-current American law, Jean lost her U.S. citizenship when she married Henry Wessman, a Swedish citizen.


Several acts followed in subsequent decades which attempted to correct the problem. In 1936 an act allowed women whose marriages had ended in death or divorce, which would include Jean since Henry died in 1932, to regain citizenship by filing an application at court and taking an oath of allegiance. Women who married a non-citizen between 1907 and 1922 and were still married had to go through the complete naturalization process.

In 1940 Congress extended the application and oath of allegiance process to all women who had lost their citizenship between 1907 and 1922. [4]


A final question remains. Was the law removing citizenship from these women constitutional? Before and after the Civil War, certain questions arose regarding citizenship, and in 1868 the United States ratified the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which begins:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The Amendment states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States... are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Despite this Amendment, Congress does have the power to make certain adjustments to or restrictions on citizenship. Although there is a chance that a provision like this might have been seen as constitutional by the Supreme Court at the time, there is little chance that such a law would be found constitutional now.

__________________
[1] If Henry had declared his intention to become a citizen, he would have filled in extensive data including details on his entry into the country. Are these records available anywhere? In a Utah court? Duplicate papers were to be sent to Washington D.C. Are these papers available somewhere? They are not available through ancestry.com.

[2] The Cable Act also provided, "That any woman citizen who marries an alien ineligible to citizenship shall cease to be a citizen of the United States." This was evidently an effort to prevent American women from marrying Asian men, who were not eligible to become citizens. This unfortunate provision was not repealed until the 1930s.

[3] I cannot find any such records for Jean Wessman. Before she married, she spent a year in Europe and Germany. Here is her passport application, "Form For Native Citizen."

[4] Here is a document on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website about the reacquisition of citizenship lost by marriage.

[5] This has been a particularly long and technical post. Anyone who has read all the way through to the conclusion and footnotes deserves a prize. Email me at the address on the sidebar, and explain your relationship to the Wessmans (if any) and I'll send you a pdf certificate granting you a distinguished award of some sort. :)

Henry Wessman and His Citizenship

A couple of days ago  I happened to glance at Henry Wessman's World War I Draft Registry Card (September 1918) and saw that he was listed as a "Alien—Declarant" with citizenship listed as "Sweden."

When did Henry come to the United States? Did he ever become a citizen?

After looking at many records, the answers to these two questions are "We don't know," and "Probably not."

Family Records

Here is what Henry's wife Jean said about her husband's immigration.

His mother Amanda Hall had become a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so other members of the family were also baptized into that church. The two older sisters Fanny and Bertha came to the United States when they were about 15 years of age with other members of the church as converts and went to work as maids in homes of church members when they reached Salt Lake City. When Henry was eight years of age [1893] he and his brother, [John] Herbert, came to Utah with other converts to the church. His sisters took care of him and Herbert until the mother arrived later [1893].

As they were all anxious about the husband and father who was in Sweden it was necessary for them to work to earn money to help him earn passage money. Life was hard for them as their younger brother Joseph was only five years of age when he came with his mother. Later the father came over...

Was Jean's account accurate? Let's look at the immigration records.


Immigration Records

Here is Amanda Wessman's Ellis Island immigration record. It shows Amanda and her son Joseph arriving in New York in 1893 on the ship Alaska.

Here is Johan Wessman's Ellis Island immigration record. He is listed on the next-to-the-last line as Johan Westman. He arrived in New York in 1896 on the ship Circassia.

I have not been able to find the immigration records for Fanny, Bertha, Henry, or Herbert under any possible combination of names. They do not show up in the Ellis Island records, on Ancestry, or in the Mormon Migration database.

Draft Registration

As shown above, Henry registered for the draft in 1918. He was listed as an alien with citizenship in Sweden.


Citizenship Records

I cannot find any naturalization (citizenship) records for Henry.

Census Records

1900

Lines 60-63 show Amanda, John Herbert, Henry, and Joseph Wessman. Johan had died in two years earlier.

Here's a close-up of the immigration information. The three columns show the year of immigration to the United States, number of years in the United States, and naturalization status. The census shows that John Herbert immigrated in 1890 and had been in the United States for ten years. It shows that the other three came in 1893 and had been in the United States for 6-1/2 7 years.

Fanny's census record shows that she had been in the United States since 1873, the year of her birth. This is not correct. Bertha's census record shows that she had been in the United States since 1891.

1910

No immigration or citizenship information is recorded in Henry or Amanda or Joseph's citizenship entries. Fanny's entry shows that she came in 1888 and was naturalized. Bertha's entry shows that she came in 1890. John Herbert's entry shows that he came in 1893 and was an alien.

1920

Amanda's entry shows that she came in 1894 and is an alien. Bertha's entry shows that she came in 1891 and was a naturalized citizen. John Herbert's entry shows that he came in 1893 and was an alien. Henry's entry records that he came in 1893 and had declared his intent to become a citizen. Joseph's entry shows that he came in 1895 and had declared his intent to become a citizen.

1930

The 1930 census shows Amanda living with her daughter Bertha Olsen.  Amanda is listed as an alien, coming in 1892. Bertha is listed as coming in 1890 and naturalized. John Herbert does not have any immigration information listed. Henry is listed as coming in 1893 and has declared his intent to become a citizen. Joseph is listed as coming in 1894 and is naturalized.


The Bottom Line

Amanda came in 1893. The census reports that she came in 1893, 1894, and 1892. She was never naturalized.

Fanny came in ?. The census reports that she came in 1873 or 1888.

Bertha came in ?. The census reports that she came in 1891, 1890, 1891, and 1890. According to the census, she became a citizen.

John Herbert came in ?. The census reports that he came in 1890, 1893, and 1893. He was not a citizen in 1920 and the information is not noted in 1930.

Henry came in ?. Three different censuses report that he came in 1893.

Joseph came in 1893. The census reports that he came in 1893, 1895, and 1894. He became a citizen.

Unless someone is able to find any additional information, we may never know exactly when and how Henry came to the United States and if he ever became a citizen.

Generations 1 and 2 of the Wessman Family

Now that we're done with Toni's wonderful histories of Henry and Jean Hayward Wessman, it might be a good time to step back and review the topics that have been covered so far this year.

I have not done too much with the history first generation in this family, represented on this chart by John. But it would be wonderful to collect histories of each of the 14 children of Henry and Jean Hayward Wessman. An autobiography would be the best source. If one does not exist, a format like Toni used would be great, consisting of recollections from the children. These biographies would be collected and distributed straight to family members, and not collected on the blog, since they potentially include personal information about living people.

We have just finished the life story of Henry Wessman (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10) and Jean Wessman (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 (this is the post with some of the favorite songs from the Wessman home) - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8).

Earlier in the year Toni sent a collection of Jean's postcards from Germany.

To start the year I posted a history of Henry and two of Jean (Autobiography and "Our  Organist").

A post with some pictures of the Wessman family got a lot of comments. Anytime I post a picture, please feel free to identify the people or share memories of them!

Another post included some newspaper clippings about the World War II service of seven of Jean's sons.

Here is a post with some photos from Jean's funeral.

Update: Henry immigrated to Utah from Sweden as a child. A post covered his immigration and citizenship. (He probably never became a citizen.) Additionally, due to a curious law in effect from 1907 to 1922, Jean lost her citizenship when she married Henry in 1908.

To be continued with a review of the next generation...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 10

In World War I, Henry tried to join the army. He went running down to the recruiting station with his saber in hand. When they found out how old he was and the size of his family, they told him "Mr. Wessman, you take that saber back home and raise your family." Jean's first memory of her father Henry is that of being on his shoulders. They were watching the "Coming Home" parade for those that fought in World War I.

Henry had a hernia that bothered him for many years. He suffered from ulcers later on. His wife made him eggnog to take to work hoping that it would help in someway. When Henry got sick with ulcer complications the last time, he was living on 36th Street in Ogden. A couple of doctors were called for consultation. He had not been feeling well for a couple of days. It was decided to take him to the hospital. The condition was far too advanced to save him. It was very difficult for Jean to watch her husband suffer and she could not do anything to help him. She did not like him being in pain. He went to the hospital on a Sunday and died the following week on Sunday. It was basically ulcer complications that caused his death. He died of peritonitis.

Dick had been away from home a couple of years working and he had just got home right before his father died. Henry talked to Dick, Harry and his wife Jean at the hospital. He told Jean that he could not go through this illness again. He told them that they would have to pull together and scrape together a living. He knew that he was dying. He had been through something similar years earlier and he almost died then. He was 13 years old and had appendicitis. The operation was performed on the kitchen table. He developed peritonitis during this period.

After talking, the family members left the room for a short while. Joe Wessman was in Salt Lake and wanted to come and see his brother. However, he could not leave his business unattended. Therefore, Dick went to take care of the business so Joe could go. That was when Henry died. It was a painful death. There were no antibiotics or painkillers as they do now. It is very sad that he died at such a young age. He had great influence on all who knew him whether personally, professionally or even casually.

Elizabeth Hayward was at her daughter’s home helping out when the phone call came that Henry had died. She picked up the phone and said, "Yes...I am her mother...Thank you doctor...I am sorry." She then broke the news to the family members that were there. Not everyone was home. Jean started to cry. She of course had been up there earlier to see her beloved.

Ernie remembers the death coming as a surprise. Jean (the daughter) after hearing about the death went into the bathroom and cried. She does not remember much else about that day. There was silence around the house. The widow did very well coping with the death considering she had 14 children to care for. However, Jean was in tears most of the time. The kids took many by surprise. The kids did most of the housework as they did anyway after the death. The older kids went out to work to help. Henry left an insurance policy that was paid monthly that lasted about two years. That was very helpful to Jean.

Henry's funeral was big. Jean played some music at her husband’s funeral. She played the songs that he especially liked. Liebestraum was one song. One of his friends from the newspapers came and gave a good talk. Bishop James Harbertsen talked. He was impressed with the fact that Henry was a man who always liked his family. He would drive by the house many times and see him playing ball with his sons. Harry's father in law supplied a car from his construction company so the family could go in it. The funeral was in Ogden but the burial was in Salt Lake.

Some of his younger children have no or few memories of their father. The older children have more memories. The memories of the children in general were that he was handsome, young, active, loving, feisty, affectionate, fun, spry and a musician. He was very much adored. Henry was a good provider who was law abiding, righteous, and loved his family along with everyone in general.

***A special thank you to the children of Henry for their time to tell their memories and information.

by Toni Wyeth

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 9

The younger as well as the older kids would love to play baseball with their dad. It was quite fun. There were enough kids in the family to get together a good size team. He was pretty patient. He used to enjoy showing off by throwing a softball. Not one kid could throw a ball higher than he could. It was so fun. Henry was somewhat athletic. He could play the games such as baseball etc. quite well. He could also slam pretty well. Those are great memories. He was a kid at heart.

They also had picnics. Everyone piled in. Sometimes, they would take along friends. The washtub would be full of lunch to take up the canyons or to a resort to go swimming. “We were all taught to swim while we were little.” The family had two cars. They would be loaded up and up the canyons they would go. Friends would come if there were room. They played baseball, hiked and took instruments and played songs. The family did not go away on big vacations because there were too many of them.

Henry expected certain things out of his children. One time, Keith tried to run away from church and he almost got home. The next thing that he knew, he heard the old Dodge tearing up the road. Henry never went over 45 miles per hour.... He came screeching up the road and spotted Keith. He got Keith right back in the car and took him back to church. Keith does not know how he found out he was gone.

Another time, Keith was attempting to cut school (the first time). Henry ran him down and took him right back. Keith did not try to cut school again until he was a senior.

Life was certainly not boring with so many children around. He never knew quite what to expect. There were illness and disease such as scarlet fever, chicken pox, whooping cough, measles, small pox etc. that were prevalent. Some of his family became sick by having these diseases. A quarantine sign with big black letters would be nailed to the front of the house.

Liz with children Julia and Rich

There was an irrigation pond that was called either Ellison or Beuss Pond. Some of the children snuck in when they were not supposed too. Liz almost drowned but she was saved. She was scared to death and would not go back into the water. A friend name Owen threw her back in so she would not have a fear of the water.

The whole bunch of kids made a deal that they would not tell what happened. Especially to their parents. They were afraid of the repercussions if the situation were known. Jean (the daughter) does not know who squealed but someone did. Imagine the surprise of Henry and his wife when they read in the newspaper that their daughter Liz almost drowned. A very interesting conversation must have followed...

Henry had his certain opinions about hair. He liked long, straight hair. He certainly did not like curly hair. Especially when it was not natural. When his daughter Jean came home and wanted to get a perm, he said "NO." Jean cried and cried. She used one of the oldest excuses in the book, which is "Everyone else does." Henry decided to let her have one. Jean loved it but Henry did not. He never said a word about it though.

Joe Wessman (his brother) also liked long straight hair. Anna and Jean decided to have their hair cut one day. Their spouses were very upset when they saw the new hairstyle. However, Jean did bring home her hair in one long braided piece. It was quite long.

Henry expected the children to live up to the rules of the home. He was the disciplinarian. Jean did not do it. She did not have to. All she would have to do is cry and the children did not like that. It could be heard "don't make mom cry." He did not allow the children to sass or talk back to his wife. If they did, they would incur his wrath.

Marilyn

The family spent evenings together. There was not as much distraction outside the home as there is now. The home environment was great due to their own entertainment. The family was very close. They learned to get along with those with whom they associated with.

In later years, the family still got together when possible and enjoyed each other’s company. They like playing games, reminiscing, etc. By now, there are spouses involved and it makes for more family memories. The children of Henry and Jean live in different places and are involved in different activities but there is still a close bond between the children.

To be continued...

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 8

Henry would pick out different things in each child that pleased him. That became the thing that he would center in to show that particular person some attention. Marilyn had snow-white hair and he would call her the "little Swede." Keith was a premature baby and did not do well at first. Henry said to put him out in the dirt and sunlight. He got quite brown. For many years, he was called "Brownie." Gam was called "Dynamite."

Henry loved to swim and play in the water. He insisted that the kids learn how to swim. The Municipal Warm Springs was his favorite spot to go. At Beck Hot Springs, there was an odor and taste to the water so it was not as good of a place to go. Back then, the hot springs would be used as a folk lore to cure all ills.

Keith with his niece Ann

Henry was good at swimming under the water. Henry taught Ernie to do it about as long as he did. However, as soon as Ernie got to the top of the water, he needed his father because he was not as good there.

Ernie was fearless in the water even though he could not swim on top. Ernie remembers going off the diving board or whatever was there right into the water. He knew that his father was there ready to catch him. Henry would catch his son, take him to shore and it would start all over again.

Marilyn

Jeans’s earliest memory of her father, is sitting on his shoulder watching the parade of soldiers coming home from World War I. She was about three years old at the time. Henry liked being with his family. He loved baseball. He would play baseball with his children.

The family would get in the old 1918 Dodge touring car and go on trips. They would go to Utah Lake, Geneva, and Saratoga, up in the canyons, camp, eat, and swim. He liked to take the kids camping.

He was always concerned for each child. He and his wife would forego their pleasure and comfort many times so the children would have the things that they needed either physically or emotionally. He would always bring home a gift for the sick child. For instance, when John (almost six years old) broke his arm by going down a slide, Henry brought him a small ball. The children loved having this type of special attention paid to them. He was always thoughtful of his children.

One night Norinne was sleep walking and walked out the second story of their home through a window. Jean heard her crying and asked someone to go check on her. Jean realized that the crying was coming from outside and so she went and found her daughter who was muddy. Norinne remembers nothing about going out the window. She does remember being in her parent's bed. Norinne was not hurt. Someone got hold of Henry and he came home to make sure that she was all right.

When the Wessman family lived on Roosevelt Ave. in Salt Lake City, there was a hot water boiler in the basement that would heat up the home. Henry would go down and build a fire in the furnace with coal. It would take about an hour to heat up the house if the fire was started from scratch. However, if the heat had been kept going, it would not take that long.

Henry was a good father but he worked long hours. The family did not see a lot of him because he would work night and day. When he was home, he spent quality time with his family. He enjoyed playing with his children. He would play marbles with the boys. He would play jacks and jump rope with the girls. He would also play jump the rope. He never raised his voice. He never hit anyone. He would sometimes help Harry to move faster by putting his foot on his behind. When Henry said, “quit,” everyone did. We were in the habit of doing what we were told. He thought that girls did not do heavy housework. The boys did the heavy cleaning of the inside woodwork.

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There was an empty field across from their home 36th and Jefferson in Ogden, Utah. This is where Henry made a make-shift golf course. He had two golf clubs and so they had their own little golf club. In addition, while living in Ogden, there were little foothills (36th and Harrison) that Henry taught his children to ski on. Now it is a residential area.

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman: A Biography, Part 7

Henry had a very kind heart. There were a couple of times that he sobered some men up (at separate times) so that they could work for him. One man's name was Charley and had a family of seven children. Henry knew him previously and he was one of the men that he tried to help get on his own feet. He had helped many people in several ways.

Henry was very friendly. He was very pleasant and loved to talk. As a result, he could make friends easily. At work, he would talk and work at the same time. He had an old friend by the name of Ivan Dahlquist that he used to play duets with when he was in his middle teens. They spent a lot of time together. When Henry and Jean would play duets that he and Ivan had played, he would say something to the effect of "That's not how Ivan did it." Jean would respond, "Well, you practiced more than I did." He worked with Willard Brann at The Ogden Standard. It was a short friendship due to Henry's death but it was a good friendship. Lou Galiazi worked with Henry in Provo and they were friends for years.

Henry Adams was also a good friend of Henry Wessman's. When both the Henrys would be working, it was not uncommon for one to start singing. The other would join in. The duet sounded very good. They would also talk about old memories and acquaintances that they had known before.

He also had a kind heart for animals. The family was taught to love animals and care for them. They always had a cat or dog around. Of course, it was a heart breaker when one of them died.

While living on 36th and Jefferson in Burch Creek, Henry found a Civil War saber somewhere. He used to get a kick out of taking his saber and trimming down a great big patch of cattails that were on the street corner. He would do this every once in awhile and enjoyed himself.

One time, the family was going from Ogden to Salt Lake but when they got to about Kaysville, they ran into a sticky situation. There was a herd of cows on the road and Henry was going slowly through them. A bull decided that he did not like that. He was very angry. He charged the truck and hooked the fender with his horns. Needless to say, there was a hole made. Henry just waited patiently while the bull got loose and then he continued on as if it was a fact of life.

Another time while in the Model-T Ford going from Provo to Salt Lake to see Elizabeth Hayward (Jean's mother), they were by Lehi, Utah, when a pig ran into the car. It ended up slipping on the ice on its backside squealing all the way. After the wild ride, the pig casually wandered off.

All of the children had the middle name of Hayward. This was Jean's maiden name. Many of the children's first names were names that were in the family somewhere. Some of the other children names were given because the parents liked them.

Dick worked quite a bit with him. He got along with his father quite well. He taught Dick many things. He was always finding a job for Harry and Dick to do. He would pay them even though it was not very much. Still, they still got a little something.

Henry and Jean gave Merle (who had congenital hypothyroidism) a lot of attention. She was a very simple person with the mentality of a six or seven year old or something like that. However, she could do so many things around the house such as iron, sweep, dishes, make beds, etc. It could be difficult at times for the family because her needs were so different but she was still loved very much. There were no hard feelings about Merle and her handicap. Whenever the extended family came, Merle was accepted by them also. They always gave her hugs and kisses.

Henry was a good auto mechanic and did the repairs on his own vehicles. He taught the boys to do the same. Back in those days, one had to know who to fix cars because they were always breaking. On the family's 1926 model Dodges, they were always fixing bearings, repair this and that. One morning when John went to go to high school, the car blew a rod. It about broke his heart but he got to school anyway.

Henry taught the boys to drive. John was the last one to be taught how to drive by Henry long before he was really old enough to drive. He taught all the older boys how to drive pretty early on as well.

To be continued...