In Arthur Hawkinson's Potato Field, circa 1916.

Esther Paulson in the potato field, Chisago County, Minnesota, circa 1916

Esther Maria Theresia Paulson, born in the hard times of rural Olivia, Texas, grew up in a middle class household of Davenport Iowa, and then moved, with her family to a farm in rural western Minnesota.  About 1913 the family moved to the Swedish American enclave of Chisago County in eastern Minnesota. In 1915, Esther's sisters, Nellie and Edna, married two of the Hawkinson brothers and settled into farm life.


"Those Paulson Girls" said the critics in their new neighborhood "were women with opinions which they were unafraid to share."  They were hard workers, too. Here Esther, dressed for farm work, stands in the potato field of her brother-in-law, Arthur Hawkinson.


I've skipped ahead here, in my story. But I like the contrast of this picture with the last two posts showing the younger Esther  (Esther Paulson prepares to pose; Esther Maria Theresia Paulson, circa 1910)


Identifiers: Negative: Paulson285 (1200 tiff downsized to 400 jpeg for this post)
People: Esther Maria Theresia Paulson Lundholm (January 29 1894 - June 28, 1992)
             Arthur Wilhlem Hawkinson  (November 26 1886 - April 11 1964)
Place: Arthur Hawkinson farm, Shafer, Chisago County, Minnesota