Geraldine ROSS

Notes:

Geraldine R. Boldrey, 93, of Traverse City, passed away on Aug. 11, 2014. Geraldine was born on July 4, 1921, in Buffalo, New York, to her parents, the late Lee and Bertha (Swanson) Ross.

She married the love of her life, William D. Boldrey, on March 21, 1942, in Grand Haven, and they raised two daughters together.
In 1966 Geraldine graduated from Mercy College in Detroit and worked many years as a social director at Brightmoor Community Center.

She was a member of Central United Methodist Church, American Association of University Women and she was a volunteer with The Dennos Museum.

She is survived by a daughter, Christine Weber; grandson, Chad William Boldrey-Read; nieces, Marjorie (Dennis) West, Kristin West, Megan West-Fogarty, Nancy Cooper and Susan Boldrey; nephew, Winn Boldrey; and son-in-law, Bob Reed.

She was preceded in death by her husband, William Boldrey; daughter, Diane Boldrey-Read; sister, Eunice Quennell; and nieces, Patricia Brady and Catherine Boldrey.

She will be remembered as a loving, sweet, giving and generous person. Gerry had a wonderful sense of humor. She was a devoted mother and wife. Gerry was loved by all and will be missed by all.

Family/Spouse: William BOLDREY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Diane BOLDREY was born on 3 Aug 1949; died on 14 Jan 2013 in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan.

Notes:

In the 1900 census, in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois, his father was born in Kentucky and his mother in Pennsylvania. In later censuses, his father was born in Illinois, his mother in Michigan.

Registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, while living in Ismay, Custer County, Montana. He was a self-employed real estate agent with a wife and one child. He was described as short, of medium build, with dark gray eyes and dark brown hair.

Birth:
per his draft registration

Died:
as Wm Lee Ross; his birth date is shown as 12 Dec 1889 on the Michigan Death Record

William married Bertha SWENSON in Aug 1914 in Custer County, Montana. Bertha (daughter of John SWENSON and Berit (Betsy) THOMPSON) was born on 16 Aug 1891 in North Dakota; died in Jan 1969 in Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 18 Oct 1891, North Dakota

Notes:

In the 1910 census, as “Bertha Swenson,” 19, she was a “millinary” and living with her aunt Belle and Belle’s husband Nick Bergerson in Duluth.

In the 1920 census (January), William, 31, Bertha, 28, and Eunice, 4, were living in Buffalo, New York, on Elmview Place. William was working in the credit department of a radiator company.

In the 1930 census (April), William L., 40, and Bertha, 38, Ross were living in an apartment, known as the Brittany Apartment Hotel, at 5528 Kenmore Avenue in Chicago. William was in the banking field and was not a veteran. Their daughters were Eunice B, 14, and Geraldine, 8.

In the 1940 census, she was a 47 year-old widow living in East Lansing, Michigan. She was a saleswoman for a lingerie company. Living with her was her 18 year-old daughter Geraldine, a student. Both women were high school graduates. In 1935, both women lived in Detroit.

A Bertha Ross, b. 16 Aug 1891, died in Phoenix in January of 1969. Her Social Security number had been issued in Michigan.

Baptism:
Bethany Lutheran in Hatton

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1925-MN-011378

Notes:

Living in Vineland Twp, Polk County, Minnesota, at the time of the 1900 census (June 9th). The family consisted of John, 54 (June 1845 in Sweden), Bereth, 42 (Aug 1857 in Norway), Ida, 14 (Apr 1886), Bertha, 8 (Aug 1891), Netta, 7 (May 1893), Lydia, 4 (May 1896), Lilly, 1 (Jul 1898), and Selmer, 8 (Aug 1891). John and Betsy have been married for 9 years. Betsy has six children still living but the number she has given birth to is indecipherable (but it appears to be a number other than 6). All the children were born in North Dakota. John came to this country in 1870 and is a naturalized citizen. Betsy came in 1877 and is not a citizen. John is a farmer who owns his farm although it is mortgaged.

In the 1905 state census, the family was still in Vineland Twp. They have been in Minnesota and in Vineland Twp for 5 years and 6 months. The family consists of John, 57, Beret, 46, Selmer, 13, Bertha, 13, Netta, 12, Lydia, 10, and Tille, 6.

Still in Vineland Twp in the 1910 census. The family is John Swenson (indexed as “Samson”), 63, Beret, 57, Selmer, 18, Nettie, 17, Lydia, 14, and Lillie, 11. All of the children were born in North Dakota. John and Beret had been married for 18 years and she had had 11 children, 6 still living. Their pastor at the church they attended may well have been O. N. Bergh (#8157).

In the 1920 census, John, 76, Beret, 62, and Lelia, 21 and single, were living in the village of Climax, Polk County. Lelia is a laborer in the housework industry and John is a retired farmer. John came to this country in 1884 and Beret in 1888.

Birth:
1844 on his gravestone

John married Berit (Betsy) THOMPSON about 1891. Berit (daughter of Anders (Andrew) Tomasson ELLESTAD and Rangdi Eriksdatter KVÅLE) was born on 2 Aug 1857 in Lomen, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; died on 28 Nov 1945 in Polk County, Minnesota; was buried in Skatvold Cemetery, Climax, Polk County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 20 Sep 1857, Lomen, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway

Notes:

Referred to by Alison as Berit Andersdatter Ellestad

Shown in the 1865 census as Berit Andersdatter.

Arrived in the U.S. on 11 Jun 1877 as Berit Ellestad aboard the Brittanic.

Described by Rose as “a big fat woman.”

According to Evey, Betsy was living in or near Mayville, North Dakota, in 1890.

Called “Bergie P” in Ida’s baptismal record.

In the 1930 census, she is a widow and is living with her daughter Lydia and family in Bingham Twp, Traill County, North Dakota.

Not in the 1940 census. Not in the death records of either Minnesota or North Dakota.

Died:
The 1945 is on her gravestone. The more precise date is from Find A Grave. The death is not in the Minnesota Death Index nor is it in the North Dakota death index.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1911-MN-012785
• Occupation: Gaardbr og Selveier
• Confirmation: 27 Jul 1845, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway

Notes:

He is Andris Thomassen Høyne, I33654, in Jim’s VS.

Buried as Andrew Thompson. Shown as Anders Thomasson Ellestad, age 26, in the Vestre Slidre parish record for his marriage to Randi Eriksdatter, age 22.

Referred to by Alison as Anders Tomason Ellestad. Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Anders Thomasen, living on the domicile of Høine in Vestre Slidre. Anders is the Gaardr og Selveier and he has 1 horse, 6 cattle, 8 sheep, 1 pig, 2 barley, and 4 potatoes. Living with him and Rangdi are their children Berit, Thomas, Erik, and Knud, as well as Anders’s parents Thomas and Berit and Anders’s sister Anne, age 22.

The FamilySearch entry is for Andris Tomasson, born in 1830 in Hoine III, Vestre Slidre, Oppland, Norway.

Rose confirmed that Anders got the family farm in Norway, apparently because Knut had left Norway earlier. Nevertheless, Andrew eventually decided that owning that farm in Norway was less attractive than owning a farm in Minnesota, especially with the letters he must have been getting from Knut and Peter. Peter paid for Anders and his family to come to the U.S.

Linda says Andrew and Randi lived in Webster, the township in Rice County next to New Market.

According to Alison, Andrew and his wife and family emigrated to the U.S. in 1877. According to Rose, they took the train to Farmington. Someone was not there to meet them so they had to sleep in a horse barn.

Alison, citing the Scott County deed, describes their farm as the north half of the southeast quarter of section 34, New Market Township, as of 1 Mar 1878. The family is recorded as landing in New York, aboard the Brittanic (from Liverpool via Queenstown), on June 11, 1877: Anders Ellestad, 46, Rangdi Ellestad, 43, Berit Ellestad, 18, Tomas Ellestad, 16, Erick Ellestad, 13, Knut Ellestad, 11, Marit Ellestad, 9, John Ellestad, 7, Iver Ellestad, 4, Olga Ellestad, 3, and Ingeborg Ellestad, 1. Everyone in the family is shown as being from Germany.

According to Evey: “My great-grandfather Thompson settled in the Webster, Minnesota area which is quite close to the New Market/Lakeville area where the Ellingboes still have their homestead.”

Census taker Peter J. Baetes or Baeten visited the “Andrew Thomson” farm in New Market township, Scott County, on June 22, 1880. The record is shown as image 17 of 20, page 160A. Andrew is shown in the 1880 census as “Andrew Thomson,” age 50, a farmer. His wife is shown as 47 year-old Randy. Children at home are 21 year-old Thom Thomson, 19 year-old Erick Thomson, 17 year-old Knut Thomson, 14 year-old Mary Thomson, 12 year-old John Thomson, 5 year-old “Ingebor” Thomson (female), and 2 year-old Johanna Thomson (female).

The listing of the youngest child as a female appears to have been in error.

In the 1900 census (June 17th), Andrew Thompson and family were living in New Market Township. The household consisted of Andrew, 69 (born Sept 1830), Randie, 66 (born April 1834), Knut A., 34 (born May 1866), Belle, 25 (born May 1875), William Carel, grandson, 10 (born Feb 1890), and George, grandson, 11 (born Aug 1888). The two boys are shown as “at school.” The boys were born in Minnesota; their father was born in Sweden. Knut A. is shown as married, Belle is single. The four oldest are shown as coming to this country from Norway in 1877. Randie and Andrew had been married 42 years. Randie had had 10 children, 8 still living. Andrew owned his farm with a mortgage. Knut was shown as a naturalized citizen, Andrew was still an alien. Andrew cannot speak English. The children were apparently Mary’s and apparently visiting because they seem to have been recorded earlier at their parents’ home in Minneapolis.

Both Andrew and Randy were still on the farm at the time of the 1910 census, living with their single son Knut who is shown as head of the household.

Minnesota Death CertID# 1911-MN-012785 as Andrew E.

Birth:
birth date in his confirmation entry in parish record; Jim says born on Høyne 26/1

Died:
“sleuosis of cardia old age”

Buried:
230 EA 32

Anders married Rangdi Eriksdatter KVÅLE on 2 Jun 1857 in Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway. Rangdi (daughter of Erik Iverson QVALE and Ingeborg Jonsdatter ONSTAD) was born on 23 Apr 1834 in Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; was christened on 8 Jun 1834 in Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; died on 25 Jan 1925 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 29 Jan 1925 in East Christiania Lutheran Cemetery, Eureka Twp, Dakota County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1925-MN-017772
• Confirmation: 15 Jul 1849, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway

Notes:

She is incorrectly shown as Ragndi Eriksdatter Kvåle, I8781, in Jim’s VS. Jim’s Ellingboe tree does not show the parents of Erik Anderson Ellestad, the man he shows in that tree as Rose’s father.

However, the marriage record shows her as Randi Eriksdatter, age 22 of Qvale, daughter of Erik Iversen.

Rose said that Rangdi “didn’t take” to Rose because she, Rose, “didn’t look like them.” That may be why Ann was sent to replace Rose in the later 19-oughts. Apparently, however, Rose stayed to help on Andrew’s and Rangdi’s farm for a year and a half (1907-1908) and then Ann came for another year and a half. It was while Rose was helping out on the farm that she met Ole Ellingboe. She “worked another summer” and then, presumably, married Ole.

Also known as Randi (on her death certificate) or Rande. Buried as Randi Thompson.

In the 1920 census, she is living in Minneapolis at 1406 E. 22nd Street with her daughter Mary Willson and family. She is shown as 88 years old and having come to this country in 1877, naturalized as a citizen in 1885.

Spent her last years at 3338 Oakland Avenue S., Minneapolis, in the home of her daughter, Mary Willson.

Evey has a formal family photograph taken, probably, in the ‘teens that contains Rangdi with children Betsy, John, Johan, Mary, Erick, Knute, Belle, and Thomas.

Died:
apoplexy and artheroslerosis