Naming Johannes' sons and daughters, I think

Two Janson families arrived in Buckman, Minnesota in 1883.  One couple was Joseph and Franziska Janson, my great grandparents.  The other was Joseph's cousin Johannes and his wife Mary Janson. 
Michael Janson, Johannes' eldest, married Antonia Hurdt in 1906.  This photo was taken 50 years later, in 1956, at their Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration, when all the sibs were home.  I'm pretty sure about most of the IDs, but then I was comparing faces with the oval family portrait, and considering Carrie's opinions, too.  See what you think:

From 43 years earlier:

(Damn, I love stuff like this! ☺)

Sr Mamerta, OSB

Some cool connections are being made by emailing back and forth with our new-found cousin Stephan Janson!  He said  his uncle Carl remembered a nun from Minnesota coming by train to visit during the summers when he was a kid.  Carl is 79 now, so if he was, say, 10, it would have been 1942.    

I assume the nun was Johannes' daughter Anna, or Sr Mamerta.  (I emailed St Bens to get more info about her, but in the end it was faster to go over to the nuns cemetery 6 blocks from here and find her grave ☺ )

So, she professed her vows in 1915, when she was 25...and died 65 years later, in 1980. 

Wow, she died at 90 years old.

(Thanks for the pic, Carrie!)

This next photo is Johannes Janson's kids in 1956, on the occasion of Mike's 50th wedding anniversary.  (Mike is sitting, second from right).  I know so little about these people, but I'm posting them so Carl can see them, and maybe ID the nun from Minnesota.  She would have been 60 here.

Another pic from that same day, of 'just the girls'.....

....and another of 'just the boys'.

Carrie, if you see this, would you tell me who's who?  

I imagine we'll goof if we try to guess ☺

The other Jansons

In 1883, there were two Janson families who came to Buckman, Morrison county, Minnesota to settle--one was   Josef and Franziska (my great grandparents) and the other was his cousin Johannes and wife Maria Anna.  Each couple had five children and both wives were pregnant.
They'd purchased a farm west of Buckman where there was a log cabin in a small clearing.  Imagine 4 adults, nine boys under 12 and a seven year old girl...all stuffed into a tiny one room cabin with a loft reached by a ladder outside.  Then, within a month, add two new babies.
Whew.  No wonder Johannes and Maria Anna moved away; somebody had to!
Tragically, that November, three of their children died--the new baby Franziska on the 5th, Johann August on the 18th and Lorenz on the 23rd.  They were 5, 2 and 6 months old.

NOTE #1:   When we first began looking for Janson info online, I found a site called "All my relations..." by Carrie Stave.  She has since taken it down, but I emailed her and asked to use some of the wonderful photos she had there.  She gave me her blessings because, like here on Janson, the photos aren't "mine"--they belong to the family.

NOTE #2:  Going back to various genealogy message boards, its funny to read how we all had enthusiasm and incorrect "facts" in equal measure...names, villages and years all slightly off plumb.  We wrote what we believed was right at the time, and as much as I'd like to apologize or change it, hell, others can have the fun of figuring it all out too!

Still, John and Mary had 11 other children who grew up and grew old.  Most had families of their own and one became a Benedictine nun, Sr Mumertha.

The above photo would have been 1915 or so.

Below are the 11 kids in 1956, on Mike's 50th wedding anniversary 

(he's sitting second from right, I think).

.

I'll post more pics as I make the proper connections, ok?

Many thanks to Carrie for these photos!