OLGA and FOLKE's NINE CHILDREN

Olga and Folke Jonsson at Lysholmen Särö, Sweden had nine children.

 

1913: OLGA AND HER CHILDREN AND NANNY IDA, TRAVEL TO FLORIDA

Olga and Folke's newly built summer house at Särö ( Villa Florida).

They lived here until they built their new house Lysholmen in 1918
They had a salt water pipe come from the ocean to the bath tub. This was considered a silly thing by the next buyer and it was removed.

This is the summer of 1913. Olga's father and mother William and Anita Dawson are on a visit and they sit relaxing in this hammock outside Olga and Folke's new summer house at Särö named Villa Florida. Little Anita stands in front of them. They might at this very moment be making plans for Olga and her children to visit Florida after they have returned home. 

Olga was only 23 years old and had recently given birth to her third child, Mary Carita in close succession after the other two, Anita and Billy.  Olga had been married for four years and already had three children. 

For good reason Olga's parents might have thought that Olga needed some rest away from all this childbearing and they invited (they promised to pay for it all)  Olga and her children Anita and Billy and the nanny Ida to all travel to Jacksonville Florida in September that year. Folke gave his permission for Olga and the children to travel to Florida. In those days a husband's permission was necessary. Folke was a very loving husband and did not want to be difficult. He of course realised that he and a nanny would take care of the four month old baby Mary, back in Gothenburg. 

William Dawson no doubt had  told Olga about the Greenfield plantation that he had bought in Jacksonville. It had no house as it had been burned down by the Northern army during the Civil War. He had plans to build a new house and to buy animals. This must have sounded fun for young, creative Olga. When in Florida Olga and the children would have a car and a chauffeur at their disposal so they could go swimming etc (see photo at the end of this post)

Folke worried about his wife and children travelling across the ocean, and for good reasons, the year before, the Titanic had sunk. But the vessel that Olga and her children travelled on was the finest, the best, safest (double lined) and the most luxurious  - the German pride of vessels, called the the IMPERATOR (see below). 

In retrospect, this trip seems like it was guided by a higher force. This was 1913, one  year before the First World War started. Olga's father William would never again visit Sweden. He died in 1916 and Olga could not travel back for his funeral due to the war that only ended in 1918. 

Read more about the 23 year Old Olga and her trip to Florida with her two children and nanny Ida via Hamburg and New York. The baby Mary Carita was left in Sweden with Folke and a nurse. Women did not yet have the right to vote so Folke had to give his permission which he did.  Read about Folke's desperate longing for Olga and the children, especially when they did not return for Christmas as she had initially promised. (My book: My Darling Olga)

The luxurious ship below:

Outside Olga's parents house in Jacksonville, Florida 1913.

Olga's two children, Anita and Billy and the nanny "Syster Ida" are seated in the car provided by Olga's parents. Olga's parents wanted Olga to have a good time so they all had access to a car and a chauffeur so they could go to the beach and make various outings.