March 20, 2023
Your Ancestors
By: N.L. Skjonsby
The ship was overbooked and crowded. My great grandmother was coming to America from Norway with her three sons and one daughter, after her husband died in a farming accident. It was the summer of 1892 and it wasn’t as much of a choice as it was a last option. She was told that America held all the answers and she could just get her kids there, all would be well.
On the seventh day of a what was expected to be a 15 day crossing of the Atlantic ocean, a fire broke out. Fire was the most feared thing on a ship with ice bergs being the second. The fire started it the engine room and it was all hands on deck. The men started and bucket brigade and two of her older sons joined in. The oldest was named Chittle and he was tall and strong for his age. He was near the engine room working the water bucket line when there was a small explosion. He was burned badly and the ships Doctor had to do a skin graph in order to stop the bleeding.
The skin graph was a procedure where they took healthy skin and laid it over the burned area. As it healed the new skin would adhere to the old and it made a permanent band aid. Unfortunately he was burned over most of his body so the healthy skin they used was from his mother, my great grandmother. Both lived to tell about it but neither actually liked to talk about it at all. The way the story was passed down, the skin was taken of my grandmother without anesthesia. My grandfather, Alfred, was there but too young to remember the specifics.
— N. L. Skjonsby
Your Ancestors
By: N.L. Skjonsby
The ship was overbooked and crowded. My great grandmother was coming to America from Norway with her three sons and one daughter, after her husband died in a farming accident. It was the summer of 1892 and it wasn’t as much of a choice as it was a last option. She was told that America held all the answers and she could just get her kids there, all would be well.
On the seventh day of a what was expected to be a 15 day crossing of the Atlantic ocean, a fire broke out. Fire was the most feared thing on a ship with ice bergs being the second. The fire started it the engine room and it was all hands on deck. The men started and bucket brigade and two of her older sons joined in. The oldest was named Chittle and he was tall and strong for his age. He was near the engine room working the water bucket line when there was a small explosion. He was burned badly and the ships Doctor had to do a skin graph in order to stop the bleeding.
The skin graph was a procedure where they took healthy skin and laid it over the burned area. As it healed the new skin would adhere to the old and it made a permanent band aid. Unfortunately he was burned over most of his body so the healthy skin they used was from his mother, my great grandmother. Both lived to tell about it but neither actually liked to talk about it at all. The way the story was passed down, the skin was taken of my grandmother without anesthesia. My grandfather, Alfred, was there but too young to remember the specifics.
— N. L. Skjonsby
Comments
Post a Comment