At Tyft lived Emanuel Olsson, born in January 20, 1849 in Lycke, Tanum, and his wife Matilda, born in March 24, 1857 in Ödsmål.

They had the children Frans, Eva, Johan, Gustav, Hilma, Elsa, Gerda and Fredrik. Gustav died at the age of 20 and Gerda at the age of nine. All the other children immigrated to America, except Fredrik who took over the farm. They were all very beautiful, had a good sense of humour and became very old, if they did not catch any lethal diseases.

They were also good working with their hands. The girls sow, embroidered and weaved, and Fredrik was a good carpenter.

Eva’s journey to America
Eva emigrated in 1900. According to her sister Elsa, she borrowed money from a neighbour named Lovisa. She went with the ship Umbria when she was 19 years old. She went to a man named Otto Olsson, living in Brooklyn, New York.

The trip across the Atlantic Ocean went well. Eva wrote home and said that they travelled through England by night and arrived to Liverpool at 4 am. Eva enjoyed being on the ship but many other got sick. She travelled along with Hanna Gädda, Amanda Johansson from Hovsäter and Johanna Gustava Pettersson from Södra Naverstad.

Eva worked for a family as a female cook. She did well and she could pay her neighbour back after just a short period of time. She made 16 dollars a month. The family had a big summer house, called Redbank, out on the countryside and Eva always went there with them for the summers.

She then had some time off and met her Swedish and Norwegian friends.

Hilma’s journey
Hilma left when she was 17 years old. Eva helped her with the ticket and Hilma also went to Otto Olsson in Brooklyn.

She had a very special relationship to her uncle August; she wrote him many letters and always told him nice things. Albert wrote back and used to append humorous drawings.

Hilma married Robert Östlund from Eskilstuna. They were a very beautiful couple and they got a daughter named Ruth, called Peggy. Hilma went back to Sweden to see her father Emanuel who was sick when she suddenly died, suffering from the Spanish flu.

Peggy was then only two years old.
Peggy stayed periodically with her relatives in Sweden and in America. She got married and she and her husband ran a restaurant named Three Crowns (Tre Kronor), serving Swedish smorgasbord. They had a son named Jan-Persa. Peggy’s husband died when Jan-Persa was only a few years old. Peggy then had to raise her son and run the restaurant all by her herself.

Elsa’s journey
Elsa’s mother Matilda died on Elsa’s tenth birthday. That might have contributed to Elsa’s decision to go to America in 1909, only 16 years old. She went with the ship Baltic. They are six young girls from Bullaren leaving at the same time. Elsa worked for the same family as her sisters. Elsa returned to Sweden when the mother got ill but returned to America once again. She then returned to Sweden in 1919.