Page 207 - Family History

Internet Information and Links

natural growth along the path and painting them. He now has paintings of over
800 different species. His work on flowers is excellent and one painting of a
chestnut in a broken burr almost invited the writer--who is very partisan to the
American chestnut--to pick it out and devour it, despite the dangerous look of the
burr. Mr. Paulsen has been doing extensive pencil drawing and his work looks
much like the prints from which they are taken. He has a fine pencil study of
Postmaster General Jim Farley. His portraits show a firm hand, and a wall lined
with painting of great American looks much like photographs. Despite the fact

Abraham Lincoln died 12 years before Mr. Paulsen arrived from Denmark, he has
much admiration for the Great Emancipator. He has several portraits from
different poses of "Abe", as he calls him. One is made from a picture taken four
days before the President's assassination. He considers this one of his best. The
picture portrays the tired, thoughtful expression of Lincoln and the lines of his
thin face are accentuated by the worry of four years of civil war.

WOULD NOT DISPLAY WORK

A local merchant recently looked over the collection and was so much taken with
Mr. Paulsen's work that he asked to display some of the paintings in his store
window. Mr. Paulsen declined saying that if they were for sale, he would like to
have them seen publicly but since he did it more as a pastime he didn't want
them shown. "I paint because I like to," he said. "If I were getting paid for painting

maybe I wouldn't enjoy it so much. When I have spare time on my hands I like to
sit down and do a little drawing. It seems as though I have been doing something
all the time, and can't be idle without getting nervous. I can't get away from
work." Later he added: "You're not going to say anything about this are you?"
He got a thoughtful expression in his eyes as he recalled his immigration in
America. "Over in Denmark," he said, "they regard a person who wishes to leave
the country to seek a fortune in another a traitor. It was with difficulty that I

persuaded my mother to permit me to come to America. I had to promise her
that I would return within three years before she would leave me go as a man."
"I returned in three years, but everything was changed. Although they were all
friendly enough, I felt like an alien among them. So I packed up and returned to
America."

The following is from Gloria Kerns notes:

207