.

Here, gathered in our beloved South Dakota, are a few members of our Williamson / Mattson Clan. Charles and Luella are to be blamed (be kind, they didn't know what they were doing). We're generally a happy bunch and somewhat intelligent (notwithstanding our tenuous grasp on reality). I'm also proud to say that most of us still have our teeth.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Our 37th Great Grandfather, Louis the Pious (Williamson Line)


From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Today we take a moment to learn about our 37th Great Grandfather Louis I. Let's begin with the relationship chart.

RELATIONSHIP CHART

37th Great Grandparent, Louis I Holy Roman Emperor married Emengarde Princess of Hesbave
to
Louis II Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire married Engelberga, Empress of Germany
to
Emengarde Princess of the HRE. married Dux Boso de Provence
to
Kunigunde, Princess of Provence married Sigebert De Verdun
to
Wigerich Count of Trier and Ardennes married Kunigunde, Countess.
to
Ralph Comte de Bayeux married Hedwig Von Nordgau
to
Frederic I, Count of Luxemburg married Miss Gleiberg
to
Ogive of Luxembourg married Baldwin IV Count of Flanders
to
Baudouin V Count of Flanders married Adaele Princess of France
to
Matilda married to William the Conqueror of England
to
Henry I King of England married Sibylia Corbet
to
Princess of England Elizabeth Beauclerc married Lord Fergus Galloway
to
Uchtred of Galloway married Gunhild De Dunbar
to
Alan Lord of Galloway married Helen de I’Lsle
to
Helen McDonald of Galloway married Roger de Quincy
to
Elizabeth de Quincy married Alexander Comyn, Earl of Bucan
to
Elizabeth Comyn married G Umfreville Earl of Angus
to
Robert De Umfreville married Lucy De Kyme
to
Eleanor De Umfaville married Gilbert Boroughdon
to
Baroness Eleanor Boroughdon married Henry Talboys
to
Sir Wlater Talboys, Sheriff of Lincolnshire married Margaret Deincourt
to
Lord Waiter Tailboys married Alice Stafford
to
Dorothy Tailboys married Sir Hugh Tylney
to
Anges, Duchess of Norfolk married Sir Thomas Howard
to
Dorothy Howard married Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby
to
Jane Stanley married Edward Sutton, Baron of Dudley
to
Edward Sutton married Elizabeth Tomlinson
to
Ann Sutton married John Bagley
to
Edward Bagley married Ann Gregorie
to
Ann Bagley married William Brinton
to
John Willis married Ester Brinton
to
Henry Willis married Mary Rachel Underwood
to
John Willis - Phebe Bennett
to
Bennett Willis - Katherine Nosseman
to
Jonathan Willis - Anabella Phlegar
to
Margaret Ann Willis - George Matthew Williamson
to
William J. Williamson - Effie Helen Victor
to
Vennie, Ima Della, Inez, Lillie Ethel, Josie, Emmett, Walt, Charles, Maurice.
to
Charles Married Luella to Kim, Victor, Kevin, Janice, Jon, Jilane, Lisa and Annette

Known as Louis the Pious or Louis the Debonair (in French, Louis le Pieux, or Louis le Débonnaire; in German, Ludwig der Fromme; known to contemporaries by the Latin Hludovicus or Chlodovicus), Louis was the son of Charlemagne, and the only designated heir to survive his father.

Charlemagne crowning Louis as co-emperor.

In 781 Louis was appointed king of Aquitaine, one of the "sub-kingdoms" of the Carolingian Empire, and though he was only three years old at the time he would acquire great experience managing the kingdom as he matured. In 813 he became co-emperor with his father, then, when Charlemagne died a year later, he inherited the empire -- though not the title Roman Emperor.

The empire was a conglomerate of several different ethnic groups, including Franks, Saxons, Lombards, Jews, Byzantines and many others across a great span of territory. Charlemagne had handled the many differences and the large size of his realm by dividing it up into "sub-kingdoms," but Louis represented himself not as a ruler of different ethnic groups, but as a leader of Christians in a unified land.

Our 37th Great Grandfather's face on a coin of the period.

As emperor, Louis initiated reforms and redefined the relationship between the Frankish empire and the papacy. He carefully structured a system whereby various territories could be assigned to his three grown sons while the empire remained intact. He took swift action in quashing challenges to his authority and even sent his half-brothers into monasteries to prevent any future dynastic conflicts. Louis also performed voluntary penance for his sins, a display that deeply impressed contemporary chroniclers.

Louis performing penance for his sins

The birth of a fourth son (Charles) in 823 to Louis and his second wife, Judith, triggered a dynastic crisis. Louis's elder sons, Pippin, Lothair and Louis the German, had maintained a delicate if uneasy balance, and when Louis attempted to reorganize the empire to include little Charles, resentment raised its ugly head. There was a palace revolt in 830, and in 833 when Louis agreed to meet Lothair to settle their differences (at what became known as the "Field of Lies," in Alsace), he was instead confronted by all his sons and a coalition of their supporters, who forced him to abdicate.

But within a year Louis had been released from confinement and was back in power. He continued to rule energetically and decisively until his death in 840.

Simply,
Victor

Scenes from the Mattson Ranch

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Today we spend some time on the Mattson Ranch in Montana.

This is the old Mattson Ranch House seen from the side. The front door faced the small grove of willow trees. The old garage sits closest to us. You can see the front gate. The family well sat in the grove of trees. Yes, I said a well. The Mattson home didn't have indoor plumbing. They used an outhouse and fetched water from the well. It is hard to believe isn't it. It was the 1940's and people in the United States still lived without electricity or indoor plumbing.

The water well was the only well that didn't go dry during the dust bowl and drought of the 30' and 40's. Luella remembers the neighbors coming to the house to draw water from their well.

Grandma Mattson was a fan of the willow trees. They supplied the switches she used to spank the Mattson children when then were naughty. Of course she'd make them fetch their own willow switch for their spanking. How very kind of her.

Luella remembers one year they had a bull snake living under their front porch. They didn't bother it because it had its use. The snake was good for killing mice. One day though the snake got into one of the trees in the front yard. It was after the eggs in the bird's nests.
"We heard the birds going crazy in the trees," Luella remembered. "We ran outside with Grandpa (John Albert Mattson) to see what was wrong. We saw the bull snake was in the branches after the eggs. Grandpa got the can of DDT and sprayed the tree to try to get the snake to come down. Can you believe it. We all stood under the tree letting the DDT rain down on top of us!" Luella remembered.

"My grandparents were the hardest working people I've ever known," Luella said. "They worked from sun up to sun down. Even at night they had something in their hands they were working on. Grandma Ida said the mark of a lazy woman was a woman sitting with nothing in her hands. If you had time to sit you had time to sew, or mend, or clean the kerosene lamps."
Great Grandpa John Albert could repair just about anything. Luella said he fixed all their shoes from his work bench. "He loved to work," she said.

John Albert and Ida spoke Swedish to each other and broken English when the rest of the family was around.


Luella was three or four year old when this picture was taken. She is showing off her new robe given to her on her birthday. Luella had many dolls because, as she says, she was adored by everyone and always was given gifts. She told me that everyone adored her - her parents, grandparents and neighbors. "They adored me because I always acted like a grown up. I never gave anyone trouble."
Luella at two years old in the front yard of the ranch house. She is wearing her dad's cowboy hat. Luella's mother Violet and grandmother (Ida) made the pants. Luella refused to wear the pants for quiet awhile. Her reasoning made sense. Her grandmother Ida never wore pants, no not once. And if Grandmother didn't wear pants then why should Luella? Eventually Luella was talked into putting them on (as seen in the photo above).

Luella remembers being a picky dresser. She once refused to wear a nice new nightgown sewn by her mother and grandmother because she thought it had a stain on the front. The stain was actullay an iron on transfer of a little Dutch Girl.

Luella was born with dark hair that turned blond. She remembers wanting blue black hair like her mother's. She would pray at night for her hair to change color to match her mother'. Her prayers were answered when her hair started to change color as she grew older.


Luella (born in 1939) and her younger sister Linda (born in 1941). Linda had a rough start in life. For some reason Grandma Mattson couldn't nurse her so they tried to give her cow's milk. The milk upset her stomach, causing her to scream for her first year. Grandpa Mattson (Walter) was the only one that could put Linda to sleep at night. He'd lay her on his chest to calm her down. Today, Linda says she'd like to be buried over her dad because of the close bond they had with each other. Her illness was eventually cured when the family bought a goat and gave her goat's milk instead.

Linda was the first baby born after baby Walter Albert died, Walter and Violet's second born child right after Luella. She came out a fighter and tough cookie and remains one to this day.
Branding time on the Ranch. Alec, the hired hand, is the one branding. Walter Mattson is holding down the calf. The neighbors always came to help on branding day (Densen's, Rosencraz's and the Cambells). The men branding the cows and the women worked in the house preparing a large meal for everyone. It was like a community barn raising. Everyone pitched in and helped. There was a real spirit of community in Easter Montana.


Simply,
Victor