By TOM HULST
For the North Kitsap Herald
POULSBO — In the winter of 1906, John O. Seierstad, his wife, Marie, and their seven children — Oscar, Hilda, Gina, Amanda, Mabel, Edna, and Aleda — left Lacrosse, Wisconsin, by train bound for Seattle.
After a brief stay in Seattle, the family boarded the steamer S.S. Kitsap and sailed across Elliot Bay for Poulsbo. Seierstad purchased a wood-frame house and 20 acres of property with a creek running through it near Strawberry Point for $3,100. Once in Poulsbo, Seierstad secured a rowboat and loaded his wife, mother-in-law and youngest daughter, Aleda, (and their belongings into the craft) to set out for Lemolo. The other six children raced along a footpath beside the shoreline to beat the boat to their new home.
That was 110 years ago. And on Aug. 13, descendants of theirs gathered as they usually do, for the 50th family picnic on Liberty Bay, to share stories and memories of their family past, present and future.
The original Seierstad family immediately went to work farming their land. They sold chickens, eggs, and dairy products. In the summer season, they picked apples, pears, plums, cherries, and berries such as raspberries, loganberries, gooseberries, and currants. One year after their arrival, the community built the Lemolo dock so local farmers could transport their goods to market in Seattle.
The Seierstad farmhouse became a beehive of activity as the family got ready to take produce to market at Pike Place in Seattle.
“We were all working where we fit in the best,” Aleda recalled in a written account she left after her passing. “Thursday evening was the time for packing egg cases. We prepared young hens for market. Friday afternoons and evenings were the times to get the young hens ready. This was one of the jobs we were paid for — so much for each chicken plucked.”
All the work culminated Friday night so the family could load and transport the produce by boat on Saturdays.
“What a rustle and hustle when the boat was nearing Seattle,” Aleda wrote. “There on the pier we saw our friend with his horse and wagon. Soon we arrived on 2nd and Pike at the Farmer’s Market. How much did we pay for a table for a day? I think it was 10 cents to begin with. This was the time the Farmer’s Market on Pike Street had begun to flourish.”
The family worked hard, but John Seierstad was careful not to work his family — or his animals — too hard. The children remember walking the two miles to the Lutheran Church each week so the horses could enjoy a day of rest.
Aleda recalled the words of her father. “Our horses work hard enough for five or six days — never will I drive them to church on Sundays. That is one of the reasons we should not work on Sundays,” he said.
Ednamay Erickson Kennedy remembered a time when she was a teenager spending the summer with her family.
“John and I, and my brothers and sister rowed all the way across Elliot Bay from Ballard to Poulsbo to spend part of the summer at the Seierstad farm in Lemolo,” she said. “Everyone worried about our return. One time, a storm rose up on Elliot Bay (and it got pretty rough), but we rowed our way safely back home to Seattle.”
Cousin Gloria Klepper Hulst remembered those summers too. She remembered “storing dairy products in the creek to keep them cool and devouring homemade bread with whipped cream and sugar on top.”
Later in the 1940s Lorna Erickson recalled a time after she was newly married to her husband, John. Following church on Easter Sunday John rowed Lorna and himself from Keyport to the Lemolo house to meet his aunts (Mabel, Edna, Aleda and Amanda).
“I wore a teal blue coat from I. Magnin’s and a hat from Minneapolis,” she said. “At the aunts, John and I sat outside with Dick and Gloria Klepper Hulst. There were a few ants crawling on the ground during the picnic … John asked Dick, ‘how’s it going?’ Dick replied in deadpan, ‘too many a(u)nts.’”
Countless stories and memories were recalled at the family picnic at the Hulst home (overlooking the original wood-frame Seierstad farmhouse) The house, originally constructed by John Seierstad and his daughters in 1942, has been carefully and tastefully remodeled by the Hulsts. Mickie Albanese, (granddaughter of Amanda) has assumed the role of the family archivist and also resides on the original Seierstad property.
At the intergenerational gathering, the millennials introduced the next generation of infants and toddlers to the extended family. The children swam, participated in a penny hunt and combed the beach looking for treasure. Family members enjoyed food from recipes extending back generations as they listened to the stories about life on Liberty Bay in the early 1920s.
While reconnecting with his cousins, Carter Warness, (the 8-year-old great-grandson of Gloria Klepper Hulst) said, “I like going to the family reunion because we have fun and learn about our family”. His cousin Hannah Rustad, (Rosemay’s 11-year old great-granddaughter) said, “Listening to our great-grandmother’s memories is pretty cool … Electronics rot our brains, family is better.”
The oral tradition, history, and legacy left by John and Marie Seierstad and their children and grandchildren are important to preserve.
Family picnics like the Seierstad matriarchs have had for many years have strengthened family ties, taught important lessons about local history, and fostered a feeling of belonging to the area. Celebrating family invites members to pause and smell the coffee, engage in authentic games such as three-legged races, horseshoes, and egg toss.
Those in attendance were about 90 descendants of John and Marie journeyed from New Mexico; Juneau, Alaska; San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; and various Washington locales, to honor and celebrate the birthdays of the current matriarchs of the family: Lorna Erickson (99), Ednamay Erickson Kennedy (98), Gloria Klepper Hulst (95) and Rosemay Klepper Olsen Finrow (90).
Tom Hulst has written legislative reports, contributed news articles, magazines, and professional journals in his career. In 2004 – 2006 he wrote a book.
“Are all the children in?”
By: Florence Jones Hadley
Rosemay Klepper Olsen Finrow delivered this poem, recited at many
picnics over the years.
I think oft-times as the night draws nigh
Of an old house on the hill,
Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred
Where the children played at will.
And when the night at last came down
Hushing the merry din,
Mother would look around and ask,
“Are all the children in?”
‘Tis many and many a year since then,
And the old house on the hill
No longer echoes to childish feet
And the yard is still, so still.
But I see it all, as the shadows creep
And though many the years have been
Since then, I can still hear my mother ask,
“Are all the children in?”
I wonder if when the shadows fall
On our last short, earthly day,
When we say good-bye to the world outside,
All tired with our childish play,
When we step out into that other Land
Where mother so long has been,
Will we hear her ask, just as of old,
“Are all the children in?”
