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of Redlands, CA as of father's death.
This person is dead.
Alfred was the son of Halvar Nelson (Oliver), from Ursdale, Norway and Ann Mary Bren from Bondell, Norway.
a Methodist Minister
Zimmerman Family History and Stories by Mrs. F. C. Nelson
Forward by (ALVL) Page 1
FORWARD Unpublished work © 2008 (ALVL)
Today is February 14, 2008. My name is (ALVL). My grandmother (1) wrote the following preface
and chapters of information about herself and her family. My mother (2) converted the
handwritten notes to typewritten copy, with two carbon copies, and did so with tremendous
pressure to type with no errors. Several years ago mom gave the original type written
pages to me. Last month I converted the pages to a computer file. It took about a week
because the Optical Character Recognition software had a miserably high error rate. It
seemed like 40% of the words needed correction. Sometimes I retyped whole pages. I am
amazed at how few errors my mother made. There were only several typographical mistakes
and a few over strikes. Using a computer makes it possible to fix these errors, easily add
footnotes, and change formatting. It will also allow easier distribution of copies of this
file to all who may be interested. Before we get to what grandma wrote, I'd like to tell
you some more about grandma and grandpa, mom and dad.My grandparents had a big influence
on my childhood because mom and dad (3) fixed a place for grandma and grandpa (4) to live after
retirement in 1944 in a basement apartment in our home at 5984 Zinn Drive, Oakland,
California. Imagine a pie shaped lot. The rim of the pie was at street level, the point
maybe 50 feet down hill. A two car garage, one car wide, was perpendicular to the street
and connected by a long wooden ramp. Below the garage the house was arranged in a crescent
shape. Under the house was a basement which sloped from ground level at the house front to
8 or more feet down at the back. A bit of excavation and concrete floors and retaining
walls made it possible to fashion an apartment with living room, kitchen, bathroom with
shower, and pantry. Up a few stairs and through a door was a large storage area with
reduced headroom. Many shelves were built to store home canned fruits. There was no
bedroom, just an ancient version of a hide-a-bed. When my dad's insurance underwriting job
moved from San Francisco to San Bruno, our family moved to 715 Cuesta Drive, Los Altos a
single story ranch style house on 1/3 acre. An addition was built there behind the garage
for grandma and grandpa.In June of 1944 grandpa and grandma moved in "downstairs." I
don't remember how the larger furniture got down the two story drop but I do remember an
open window at the back of the garage and a rope and pulley that allowed crates and boxes
to be lowered down to a few feet from the entrance to the basement apartment. After they
moved in, communication was often initiated by pounding on the hallway floor with a
broomstick, either from above or below, depending on who was calling. We had one telephone
in the house, in our dining room, which initially was a party-line. I never figured out
who we shared the line with, because they always knew when we picked up the phone and said
so. On my folk's weekly choir practice night, my sister (5) and I were watched (babysat) by
my grandparents. Usually, grandpa would come up the back stairs while grandma was cleaning
up their kitchen and washing dinner dishes. Grandpa would read the newspaper or a book he
brought with him. He had a funny mannerism - pursing his lips - which he did fairly often.
Grandma would later join us with some kind of project. She was proficient with crocheting
and quilting, making many patchwork quilt baby-blankets that were given away. I remember a
large console radio that was not played very often and schools back then didn't assign
homework, so my sister and I had to come up with our own entertainment.Grandma was a good cook so it was a treat to be invited to share a meal at their table.
But the most treasured food memory was during a visit from grandpa's brother, Joe Nelson.
In the morning grandma prepared a pancake breakfast. Everyone else had their fill but Joe
just couldn't say no when
grandma asked him if he would like some more. She made several batches of batter. She ran out of flour!
I was sent upstairs to borrow flour from my mom. Mom wanted to know what was going on and couldn't
believe it when I told her. Several more batches later, Joe finally admitted he couldn't eat any more but
praised grandma's cooking. Too bad the Guinness Book of Records wasn't in attendance. Uncle Joe
would be in it!My grandparents owned a several year old Ford coupe (6). Every once in a while, grandpa was
called on to take me in that car: to or from school, to the grocery store, or on some other errand. Grandpa
had a habit of riding the clutch (this is a bad habit, by the way). This was long before the invention of or
requirement for seat belts. Zinn Drive is at least halfway up Snake Road, in the Montclair district of
Oakland. This is a very hilly area with twisty roads and steep drop-offs. Before long, riding with grandpa
became a rather scary proposition. I went from being eager to dreading having to ride along. The car was
unique because the back of the only seat, a bench seat, would lift up revealing a storage compartment
separate from the large trunk. I remember once waiting for grandpa and hiding in that compartment, just
another one of those actions that led to disciplinary action. There was a thick blanket of Indian design
placed to protect the upholstery. I wonder now if that blanket had anything to do with the Indians that
came to their door in Montana, when my mother was a little girl. The story is that mom was so scared
when she saw the Indians coming that she ran for her bed, hollering "don't let the Squawks (7) get me!" as
she hid under her covers. They said the Indians merely wished to welcome the family to the area and
offered some gifts and food. Oh, mom was later found curled up, asleep, at the bottom of her covers.In addition to all his other interests, abilities and talents grandpa gave haircuts. He had several
hand operated hair clippers. The trick to operating these is a steady but quick and strong hand. It's real
easy to pull hair and even yank a bunch of hairs out by the roots. I know what that feels like. What is
more amazing than grandpa cutting my hair is he also cut his own, using mirrors to see what he was
doing. I've been cutting my own hair at least 10 years now, but with an electric powered clippers and
those plastic attachments that set the cutting head to a fixed distance above the scalp. I still have trouble
positioning the blade when looking in the mirror. Grandpa had a gadget that you put a double edged razor
blade into, turned a crank handle, and it sharpened the blade. Well, it was not as good as a fresh blade
from the package, but it did make it possible to get more than two or three good shaves from a single
blade. I'll bet that if the "pyramid sharpener" was known in his time, he would have given it a try.My grandparents kept a box of toys to entertain kids and I had an insatiable desire to understand
just how things worked. I remember a windup bluebird that vibrated around the floor, looking like it was
picking up birdseed. Somehow I got the bird apart (probably bending little metal tabs so I could take the
two halves of the shell apart). The tabs must have broke making it impossible to put little birdie back
together. Many toys and things came apart never to be assembled into a working unit again (8). Oh well!
At least they had their real birds to enjoy. Bird watching was one of their favorite hobbies which they
shared with grandma's sisters, Minnie, Alice, and Fern Zimmerman. With dad's help, we had several
large bird feeding stations in our yard. Grandpa acquired a BB gun and used it to chase away blue jays,
squirrels and cats. I didn't know at that time that grandpa was a good shot with a rifle. He often put
game, small and large on the table when they homesteaded in northern Montana.Grandma had a no-nonsense demeanor which to others outside the family might construe to be
mean, severe or tough. She worked long hard at whatever tasks she took on. She inherited the
Zimmerman "green thumb" and knew how to start plants from cuttings. She grew a variety of geranium
and pelargonium, marigolds and zinnia, and was especially fond of hanging pots of fuchsia. One of
grandma's favorite tools was a lightweight hoe that had a blade about half the depth of today's standard
with a gently rounded blade, a tool I'm glad I inherited. Our backyard, their front yard, was soon a lush
garden of greenery and often a riot of colorful blooms. Chores took first priority: cooking, cleaning,
mending, laundry, and gardening. After the plants were established, there was watering, weeding and
trimming. After the chores, grandma was always busy with correspondence, crocheting, quilting, or the
like. I don't know how they were acquired but my grandparents had a nice collection of abalone shells
they used to decorate the walkway near their front door.At some point I was given a stamp collecting book. I discovered that grandma had shoeboxes of
old letters still in their envelopes. She gave me permission to go through them and harvest the stamps that
I didn't have. What a goldmine! I only wish I had been told that these stamps are more valuable on their
envelope. I had a great deal of trouble with allergies growing up. In grammar school I was often home
sick a week and then back in school a week. While I lay in bed grandpa would come up to my room,
often with book in hand, to talk about the things that interested him so much: Philosophers and their
philosophies, Theologians and their theologies, Scientists and their research, and whatever else happened
to be the topic of the day. I tried to keep up with grandpa but I'm afraid I didn't measure up to my Uncle
Philip (9). Grandpa and his son apparently had more than a mentor relationship, getting into debates and
arguments. Grandpa was a renaissance man, interested in lots of different things and had a knack for
doing many different things, a trait I inherited. One was working on clocks and watches. He wanted me
to help him with the fine and delicate work because he no longer had a steady hand. Many times I was on
hands and knees, searching the floor for that miniature screw that had jumped out of grandpa's tweezers.
Before today's electronic movements, we had bright red jewels, whale oil lubricant, orange wood sticks
for cleaning and white gasoline to dissolve the gummy oil. His jeweler's tools were handmade by filing
pins stuck into matchsticks or orange wood to make tiny screwdrivers. Ah, the good old days. And, yes, I
do still have some of grandpa's watch and clock maintenance equipment. The eye loops have come in
handy many times.Another interest that grandma and grandpa were eager to share with their descendants was
astronomy. A favorite book of mine when growing up was a small book, perhaps 50 to 100 pages long
that talked about the planets of our solar system, stars and nebulae. Better yet it also had some rather
astounding pictures. I don't remember for sure but this book may have been a gift from them. What I do
remember is grandpa, grandma, my sister ... and myself all bundled up in our warmest coats
walking up to the street and away from street and other lights to watch the sky for the Perseid meteor
shower. It wasn't what a child would call exciting. Every few minutes there would be a shooting star and
some would be quite bright and leave a long streak across the night sky. I have watched the sky on
occasion over the years for this particular meteor shower and no doubt do so because of the interest
instilled by my grandparents. They also were enthusiastic about pointing out the constellations and
teaching the names of stars and planets. When I inherited "aunt" Fern's 60 power zoom monoscope, I set
it up to see the rings of Saturn, observe the moon's craters and seas, and project solar eclipses on a wall.With grandma and grandpa nearby Christmas became more memorable. Our family (10) tradition
was to open presents on Christmas Eve, right after dinner. One that stands out is the Christmas I got a
new Schwinn bicycle. It was black with red and white stripes, and had chrome fenders. Grandpa came
upstairs to join in the celebration saying "Grandma would be up as soon as she finished washing dinner
dishes (a plausible explanation)." The next thing I remember is a person at our front door in a red suit and
cap, trimmed with white fur, white gloves, sporting a white beard, ringing a rather large hand bell, saying
things like "Merry Christmas" and "Ho, ho, ho!" My sister, at 3 or 4 years of age was somewhat
frightened by this stranger. I was invited by Santa to come outside and answer the question "Have you
been a good boy this year?" A quick nod of the head was all I could manage and then I spotted the
bicycle. What a thrill! Santa was invited in and a number of smaller presents were distributed from a
sack, perhaps a burlap one. Then Santa made for the front door explaining that there were many other
deliveries that needed to be made that night. A little while later, grandma came up from downstairs and
was so disappointed to have missed Santa's visit. As for me, I don't remember anything else but the visit
and my new bicycle. Sometime after that I figured out who Santa was because grandma's school bell
looked exactly like the bell that Santa rang to announce "his" presence at our front door.Grandma could speak German and taught us a few words. I remember her playing some 78 rpm
records of German songs, especially Christmas carols. She didn't push a lot of German culture on us, I
think, because of Hitler and the Third Reich. That was a sad and embarrassing period in human history
especially to my grandparents who worked so hard to help people and spread the Gospel (good news of
God's love). One of grandma's favorite foods was sauerkraut; another was liverwurst. Grandma insisted
on a German pronunciation which sounded like "laborwarshed." There was a belief in the Methodist
Church during their era that drinking alcohol, dancing and card games were bad (i.e., the work of the
Devil). It took several generations for this attitude to soften. Grandpa had a large console radio and
record player. He listened to classical symphonies by the hour. Bach and Beethoven were his favorites.
And when TV came along, my grandparents were the first in our family to get a Zenith black and white
set. I was allowed to go downstairs to watch such programs as "Rin Tin Tin" and "My Friend Flicka"
along with westerns such as "Hopalong Cassidy" and "Gene Autry." Even after we moved to Los Altos
in April, 1953, our only TV was in my grandparents' apartment. The older they got the more TV they
watched. While in Los Altos, grandma had flat land to plant flowers and a vegetable garden. It was more
difficult to cultivate and tend because of the clay soil. During the four years of my high school, grandma
and grandpa hosted some family dinners in their apartment. I remember several Thanksgivings that really
stretched the capacity of the little kitchen and drop leaf dining table.Grandma was quite a prize because she was well educated, was a school teacher at 16 and school
principal at age 27, was quite spiritual and religious, had a strong work ethic, was very accomplished in
the domestic arts by virtue of being the oldest child, having to help her mother care for and raise her
younger siblings. It has always been astounding that there was a 25 year age difference between grandma
and the youngest child, my mother's aunt Fern. Grandma helped grandpa in the church by organizing and
running the ladies aid society, running the Sunday school, and even giving the sermon when grandpa was
sick or away. Very few ministers' wives (unless pastors themselves) had the training or inclination to do
what grandma did. One of grandma's favorite causes was the appreciation of God's creation: the mineral
and vegetable, but especially the animal kingdom. She talked eloquently about the importance of being
kind to animals. She was very fond of guinea pigs. We had several as I was growing up: Mary Jane,
Freckles, and Smudgy. We even had a cottontail rabbit that we rescued from a wood-pile and fed with an
eye dropper until it was large enough to eat grass and such. We released it back to the wild after about a
half a year, when it was past the bunny stage and fully grown....One day, my curiosity led me to explore a large cardboard box that was tucked back in the corner
of my mother's bedroom clothes closet. It had in it brassieres, nylon slips, garter belts and corsets. My
mother had a sixth sense about my exploits and soon discovered me going through these items. I wanted
to know what they were. The answer was quite surprising. These were grandma's undergarments that
she no longer wore or wanted. Mother didn't quite know what to do with them, so had stashed them and
forgotten about them. I was appalled especially at the corsets with their stays and laces. It was clear that
grandma no longer wore any support garments. Her once large breasts now hung down giving her a flat
chest. She had a rather large tummy giving her a somewhat rounded shape. She usually wore a cotton or
synthetic dress with dark colors and tiny flowers. In the cold months, she added a sweater jacket. Since
she was often in the kitchen, she used large homemade aprons that would protect her clothes from any
spill or splash. Grandpa favored denim coveralls over a white shirt, also with a dark sweater jacket to
complete the ensemble. Both favored comfort over fashion, except when it came to grandma's shoes.
They were medium heel, pointed toe, black lace up shoes that looked and felt like instruments of torture.In her chapter 3, grandma mentions health concerns that kept them from entering the foreign
mission field, but doesn't elaborate. What I heard is that grandpa had an enlarged heart. This was
attributed to his participation in sports, especially football and track in high school and college. After
retirement grandpa had nitroglycerin capsules for his heart and took hydrochloric acid to aid his digestion.
I believe his death was attributed to heart failure. Grandpa always moved with a slow, shuffling gait. I
saw his feet and ankles on several occasions. He had red splotchy areas, probably due to varicose veins
and poor circulation. Grandma kept covered but her girth indicated she was 225 to 250 pounds. The skin
on her arms was quite flabby. If anything, grandpa was on the thin side, but that could be an impression
from the baggy overalls he always wore.More stories you say? Well, maybe just a few more. Grandpa, as a Methodist Minister had to
counsel the many couples that came to him to get married. As part of his preparation for this aspect of his
duty, he had to be well educated regarding sexuality. He had acquired a number of authoritative books on
the subject. When he retired from the ministry, he had hundreds of all kinds of books. One of the areas in
the basement was the location of a large forced-air furnace. A substantial concrete floor was poured and
walls were roughed in. This "furnace room" was somewhat nicer than the rest of the basement, because
of the warmth. Even in summer the basement never got very warm. So the "furnace room" was selected
as the place to keep our pet guinea pigs and the storage place for Grandpa's books. Since I was placed in'charge
of feeding, watering, and cleaning and exercising the little piggies, I saw his shelf after shelf of
books fairly often. My curious nature led me to look at the titles. It should be no surprise that I found
grandpa's sex books and well, you know. ...Needless to say, when it came time to have the "birds and bees" discussion, grandpa was sent in to handle it. I must have had the answers because the talk was short and no follow-up sessions were scheduled. I now wish I hadn't been such a "know-it-all" and had been a better student.
But that insight has only come after many long years of learning the hard way.After I left home to go to college at San Jose State (now University), met and married ___, my dad found out he had to transfer to the home office of the Reliance Insurance Company
in order to keep his job and advance. He had started as office boy during The Depression and eventually
retired as manager of the Inland Marine Underwriting Department. The home office was in Detroit,
Michigan. My grandparents had no desire to move to Michigan, so they relocated to a rented house in
Oakland, CA, not too far from Laurel Methodist and the church they retired from in the Fruitvale district.
I visited them only a few times before grandpa died. My folks had no choice but to take grandma back to
live with them in Royal Oak, MI. But grandma was getting senile. She wandered away more than once,
had suffered several strokes and was left with diminished mental capacity. The last stroke necessitated
placing her in a nursing home. It was a blessing when she was called to pass through "God's other door."1 The late Anna Maria, aka Annie Marie Nelson neé Zimmerman, my mother's mother.
2 ___________neé Nelson.
3 The late Leslie [no middle name] Van Lehn.
4 The late Methodist minister Rev. Fred Christian Nelson, my mother's father.
5 _________ 4 years younger.
6 The standard joke is you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black.
7 Squaws.
8 In my defense, in later years I've used my knowledge thusly gained to successfully repair many things.
9 Philip Rovang Nelson became a concert pianist and gave piano lessons. I studied with him for 5 years.
10 As best I can remember, Van Lehn's, Nelson's and Zimmerman's were Christmas Eve people.
J. Rose source gives this person's name as Wilton.
Leslie was the son of Elmer Eugene and Jessie Ann Watson Van Lehn.
From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Christian and Louisa's first son was Benjamin Franklin Zimmerman (1883 Can – 1947 Seattle) Frank as he was called made his home in Seattle where he worked in the hotel business. He and his wife raised three children. In later years they retired on Vashon Island.
Annie Marie writes:
Frank was noted for his kindly and lovable disposition and left many very devoted friends.
'E' per Christian Zimmerman Family Sheet #3
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