As Dan and I packed our home in Kansas City for the move to Des Moines, I came across many interesting items that had remained buried in storage for years. One of the most treasured finds is a notebook filled with correspondence from my great grandparents, Lewis Albert and Sarah Elizabeth Beeman Sweet, to their son and my grandfather, Forest Albert Sweet. They are dated 1908 to 1910; Forest would have been 20 years old.
I will transcribe and share these letters in future blogs. It is touching to read their expressions of love and concern for his welfare and their pleas for him to return home, but in the meantime to find a Christian community. Forest had set out at a young age to make his own way in rough world. He was a strong willed young man and determined to not only be independent but to experience a world much larger than the small community where he was raised.
I believe pictures are worth a thousand words, so I introduce this new blog topic with a postcard from Forest to his older brother Errett, written toward the end of the series of correspondence I possess. He is pictured (left) with his acquaintences, the Robeck brothers. The card is postmarked Kingsville, Tex, 1910.
"This is a picture of myself and two of my Norwegian friends. The Messers. Robeck. Fine fellows but of different nashionality (sic) than I.
Let me hear from you soon.
Your Bro: Forest.
This is written after Forest had been traveling for a couple of years. He was 22 years old at the time and Errett 26. Errett is living 500 miles from home.
I have found the Robeck's family tree and believe that these brothers are Alex and Martin Robeck from Wisconsin. I will continue my research to see if they have any living descendants and perhaps find out what their story is. In the meantime, return to Sweet Grit and learn what grit the Sweet's had as I transcribe all letters to Forest from our great grandfather and great grandmother Lewis and Sarah.
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