Thomas Monsen EIKUM (MUNSON)

1850 - 1905  (55 years)

• Name	Thomas Monsen EIKUM (MUNSON)
  Birth	4 Sep 1850	Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	6 Oct 1850	Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Confirmation	18 Jun 1865	Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Death	24 Nov 1905	Siskiyou County, California
  	Date from the California Death Index images on FS. Thomas died in county #47, age 55, state file number 12258 for 1905.
  Burial	Mount Shasta Memorial Park, Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County, California
  	As Thomas M Ekum. He shares a gravestone with his daughter Theresa. CW block 31, lot 3, space 5.
  Notes	Shown as Tomas Monssen, 16 years old, in the 1865 census, a “tjenestekarl” living on the Eikum indre farm with Mons Monssen and Kari Larsdatter. Raised by Nels (d. 11 Oct 1890) and Rognild (d. 10 Oct 1880) Bolstad. {Neither of these deaths are included in the index of Vernon County deaths, either as Bolstad or as Ekum (see below).} Came to the U.S. when he was a year-and-a-half old. {No. See below.} There were several Bolstads shown in the Town of Franklin in the 1910 census but none in the 1870 census. Neither Thomas Munson nor Nels Bolstad is shown in the 1870 census for Wisconsin. A Niels Sjursen Ekum, age 50, of Hafslo, and a Ragnhilde Ekum, age 48, also of Hafslo were on the boat “Claus Heftye” that sailed from Bergen on April 23, 1867, and arrived in Quebec on May 28, 1867. Thomas Monsen Eikum, age 17, of Lyster, was also on that boat. In the 1865 census, Niels Sjurssen, 50, husmand med jord, and Ragnilde Botolfsdatter, 48, were the only two people on Eikum indre bakken. From the Sogn og Fjordane emigration records, we learn that four people from the Eikjum indre farm in Haflso moved out of Haflso, destination Amerika, on April 4, 1867. Those four were Nils Sjurssen, b. 1819; his wife Ragnhilde Botolphsdatter, b. 1819; Thomas Monssen, b. 1850; and Anne Monsdatter, b. 1844. (The date for the Bowes is April 9th.) Also leaving on April 4th were Andrea Johannesdatter Vadvig, age 19. (Andrea was born 31 Jan 1848 to the unmarried Johannes Christophersen Bjørno or Bjørnethune and Sophie Monsdatter Eikum.) In the 1865 census, Niels Sjurssen, 50, and Ragnilde Botolfsdatter, 48, were the only two people living on the Eikum indre Bakken farm in Hafslo. Both were born in Luster. Niels was a husmand with land. Thomas and Susan were married in a civil ceremony witnessed by J. H. Layne and Claus Bowe. In the 1895 Wisconsin state census, Thomas Monson and family live in the town of Franklin, Vernon County. The household consists of seven people, five of whom were born in Wisconsin and 2 in Scandinavia. Four are males, 3 are females. Thomas moved his family, which included six (?) children, to California because of his health. He died in California and his two surviving sons went to work in a factory making fruit boxes to make a living for the family. (The story says that Albert was 17 and Martin was 10 at that time. But that would put the date at about 1899, well before Tom died. Albert may well have started at the box factory in 1899.) Because Susan and family is living with her parents in the 1900 census, Thomas had moved to California by that time and sent for his family later. In the 1900 census, Caroline, Albert and Tom “Munston” were living in Butte Township, Siskiyou County. Caroline was in school. Albert was working in a box factory, Tom had no occupation listed. While they were living in northern California near Mt. Shasta, the family experienced an earthquake in 1906. This was probably the great San Francisco earthquake on April 18th. "They could feel it but weren't damaged by it too much." The family moved back to Wisconsin in either 1907 or 1909. According to Dorothy's family story, Tom brought a bible with him from Norway, dated 1848, that Martin kept. Census-taker O.K. Fortney visited the Munson farm in the Town of Franklin, Vernon County, on June 6, 1880, and found Thomas, age 29, and Susan B, wife, age 19. No children at that time, apparently. In the 1896 Vernon County plat book index, Thomas’s land is listed as being record #3415 in Franklin 12, Section 31, R4. Couldn’t find a separate Thomas Munson or Monson household in the 1885 Wisconsin census. The Thomas Monson household in the 1895 Wisconsin census consisted of 4 males and 3 females, of which 5 were born in the U.S. and 2 in Scandinavia. That mix is not consistent with other family information.
  Person ID	I159	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	23 Mar 2022

  
  

  Father	Mons Schanke Monson EIKUM,   b. 18 Jul 1806, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 13 Jan 1879, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway (Age 72 years)
  Mother	Birthe Torbjornsdatter TEIGHE,   b. 1817, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 1889, Unknown (Age 72 years)
  Family ID	F8538	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Father	Nils Sjurson EIKUM,   b. 23 May 1816, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 11 Oct 1890, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 74 years)
  Mother	Ragnild Bottolfsdotter,   b. 23 Nov 1817, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 10 Oct 1880, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 62 years)
  Marriage	31 Oct 1848	Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Family ID	F15854	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Susanna Clausdatter (Susan) BOWE,   b. 18 Dec 1860, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 9 Aug 1943, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 82 years)
  Marriage	8 Mar 1880	Vernon County, Wisconsin
  	“Thomas Munson, Susan Bowe” Vol 2, p. 439. Wisconsin Marriages on FS says 28 March.
  Children	1. Bertha MUNSON,   b. 1880, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 1880, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 0 years)   2. Albert M EKUM,   b. 26 Nov 1882, Liberty Pole, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 4 Mar 1952, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 69 years)   3. Caroline MUNSON,   b. Apr 1885, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 19 Feb 1945, Hennepin County, Minnesota (Age 59 years)   4. Carl MUNSON,   b. 7 Aug 1887, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. Aug 1887, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 0 years)   5. Martin EKUM,   b. 6 Mar 1890, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 3 Mar 1978, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 87 years)   6. Clara MUNSON,   b. May 1893, Wisconsin d. 1 Jul 1952, Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin (Age 59 years)   7. Rhoda EKUM,   b. 3 May 1896, Liberty Pole, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 8 Sep 1940, La Crosse County, Wisconsin (Age 44 years)   8. Theresa M MUNSON,   b. 1902, California d. 14 Mar 1906, Siskiyou County, California (Age 4 years)
  Photos		Old Ekum farm Identified by one of the Ekums as a house near Readstown. No one is recognizable.
  		The Munsons Probably taken in 1889 or else baby Martin would have been in the picture. Albert is about 7, Caroline about 3, Susan about 29, and Tom about 40.
  Family ID	F115	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Sep 2015

  
  

• Photos

  Tom Monson