Expenses - Hotel Lincoln Watertown, S.D.

.50 - Storage on car
3.00 - Shoes Roger
2.00 - Shoes Gertrude
1.90 - gas 15 gal
.40 - oil 1qt
.20 - Candy
1.75 - gas 10 gal
.20 - oil 1 qt
.35 - lunch
.82 - gas 5 gal
1.25 - license
2.00 - preacher
2.00 - room
.32 - show
1.12 - Supper & misc
.85 - gas 5 gal
.30 - oil 2 qt
.31 - Breakfast
2.35 - gas - 15 2/3

This list was written in Hotel Lincoln stationary and records the expenses associated with Roger & Gertrude's trip to get married. Remember they eloped, Gertrude was still in High School at the time.

Marriage Certificate

Certificate of Marriage
State of South Dakota
County of Codington

I hereby Certify, That on the 29th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand
nine hundred and 35 at Waterloo in said County, I, the undersigned, a Lutheran Pastor did
join in the Holy Bonds of Matrimony, according to the laws of this State,
Roger G. Hamstreet of Minneapolis, County of Hennepin, State of Minn and
Gertrude Christianson of Minneapolis, County of Hennepin, State of Minn
H. A. Okdale
Witnesses: Waldemar Harang, Esther Oklale

Bessie Wolcott Hamstreet & Roger

This photo is of Bessie Hamstreet and her oldest son Roger. Roger looks like he could be about 2 years old.

I love the clothes Bessie is wearing. Notice all the buttons. She and Roger are wearing hats and Bessie is holding gloves. Did you notice the style of children wearing white?

Tyra Christianson

This is a picture taken in 1924. Tyra Christianson is with her children Myrtle, Roy & Gertrude. This photo was taken about 2 years before her husband Christ died.

Tyra was a talented seamstress and probably made much of the family's clothing. I can't imagine dressing young children in white clothing, but that was the style in the 1920's. Don't you just love the bob hair cuts. What a cute family!

Christmas in Birmingham, Alabama

We lived in Birmingham, Alabama in a two story rented home in the outskirts of town on a large piece of property, where we had a cow named Dolly and lots of chickens. I was in second grade. Our landlady lived in part of the upstairs. She told us we could chop down one of the trees in the back of the property for our Christmas tree. Robert and I thought it would be great to have a children’s tree and a family tree, so we went out back and found a really small pine tree (maybe two feet tall) and chopped it down. We were so excited. Mom was so upset when she discovered what we had done. She said this would have to be the family tree since we could only chop one down. So, I guess that is the smallest tree we ever had for Christmas.
Judy Hamstreet

Roger George Hamstreet

These are a couple photos of Roger George Hamstreet and his maternal grandmother.

Gertrude Christiansen Hamstreet - 2 October 2005

My Mother and Dad were born in what they called "the old country", Sweden and Denmark. Swedish was spoken in my early childhood. i do not know what language my sister, brother, and I spoke. My Dad died when i was eight years old. My English was learned in school. My Mom took English and history classes so that she could become a citizen. i was 12 years old at the time.

My Mother had come from a family of tailors. The whole family sewed men's suits. My Mom was an expert seamstress and did this for a living after my Dad passed away. With my Mom's expertise I learned several kinds of sewing at an early age.

My Dad was a musician. He brought his violin and flute with him when he came to this country. Our family attended Lodge functions where they always had a band of some sort. My Dad loved to dance but my Mom was not a dancer. So I knew that I wanted to dance someday.

At an early age I became interested in drawing and painting. So during my grade school, high school and university days I became more interested.

I also became fascinated with history and tried to learn as much as I could about ancient and more modern history. Consequently, history became my major in college.

Getting back to my early teens. My sister and I had the same desire to learn dancing. Several of the neighborhood girls would get together with us and we danced together. it was not a specific type of dance. We just danced. When I was 15 1/2 my sister and her friends were going to attend a neighborhood dance and I wanted to go too. My Mother must have said it was okay. So off we went. A very good looking young man danced several dances with me, and apparently it was okay. He turned out to be the love of my life.