The Mystery of Anna Syrine’s Death Solved
Anna Syrine Syverson: 1877-1896 (Paternal Grandaunt)
I had always wondered about my grandmother Regina Syverson
Peterson’s second-youngest sister, Anna Syrine (or Anne Sirine) Syverson. I
knew she died in her late teens, before she had a chance to marry and start her
adult life. But I had no clue as to her cause of death until a recent discovery
on Family Search.
Anna Syrine Syverson was born just four days before
Christmas in 1877. She was the third of Ragnhild Olsdatter Ve and Ove Syverson’s
four daughters, and was born on their homestead in Linden Township, Brown
County, Minnesota. Ragnhild and Ove had two more children after Anna. When Anna
was only four years old, her father was killed in a farming accident, fatally
injured by a horse. She probably grew up with only hazy memories of Ove, and
only a single photo to remind her of what he looked like.
I have so little information about Anna. I loved her middle
name—I wondered if she was a calm and serene child as her name hinted, or if
she was feisty and impetuous. All I knew was that she died before her
nineteenth birthday, and was buried in an unmarked grave near her father’s
headstone in Linden Lutheran Church cemetery. The only documents I had been
able to locate that included her were two Minnesota state censuses and the 1880
federal census, and her indexed birth record.
 |
| 1895 Minnesota Census showing Anna Syrine, identified incorrectly as Soren |
But recently, I received a notice from FamilySearch that a
new record for Anna Syrine Syverson had been added to their database. When I
investigated, I discovered that Brown County, Minnesota’s 1890s death records
had been scanned and uploaded. The careful, tidy handwritten entry for Anna
Sirine noted her date of death, February 18, 1896, her father’s name, and her
cause of death: consumption.
 |
| Brown County death record for Anna Syrine Syverson, showing consumption as cause |
As soon as I read the word “consumption”, I realized I
should have suspected that she was a tuberculosis victim. Her older sister,
Jorgine, also died of the disease, but many years later and after she had
married and had several children. I expect Anna Syrine had been sick for some
time, which would explain why she hadn’t married. My grandmother Regina gave
birth to her first daughter in the summer of 1895, just eight months before
Anna Syrine died. Regina named the baby Anna in honor of Anna Sirine, probably
suspecting that her sister would not survive much longer.
Once again I was struck by the random nature of
tuberculosis. Ragnhild and her other children all lived in a small house and
were in intimate contact with one another. Obviously all of them were exposed
to TB, but only two of them died of it. Why was my grandmother Regina spared?
Why was Ragnhild, who probably nursed Anna Syrine for months or years, spared?
Ragnhild lived to the age of 85, and Regina to 80. But poor Anna Syrine was
taken far too soon.
I have one photo of the Syverson family that may include
Anna Syrine. The family stands on the porch of their home—eldest son Ole is at
the left, youngest son Syver next to him. Syver looks to be about 12. He was 14
when Anna died, so Anna might be one of the three daughters who cluster around
Ragnhild. But in that case, where is the fourth daughter? However, I realized
Syver might have been small for his age, and the photo could have been taken at
Anna’s funeral in 1896. I can imagine that Ragnhild might have wanted a photo
of her remaining children, fearing she could lose more of them.
While there is little physical evidence remaining to show that
Anna Syrine spent eighteen years on this earth, at least now I know how she
died. I will keep her memory alive as best as I can.
Sources:
Anna S. Syverson in the Minnesota, U.S., Births and
Christenings Index, 1840-1980, accessed on ancestry.com
"Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949," database
with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-BGWT-Z?cc=1803974&wc=MRJ5-2NL%3A146278001
: 15 May 2020), 004540654 > image 328 of 1795; county courthouses,
Minnesota.
Minnesota, U.S., Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905. Original
data:Minnesota Historical Society. Minnesota State Population Census Schedules,
1865-1905. St. Paul, MN, USA: Minnesota Historical Society, 1977. Microfilm.
Reels 1-47 and 107-164.Minnesota. Minnesota Territorial Census Schedules,
1849-1855. St. Paul, MN, USA:
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