George Elliot BYE

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 26 Mar 1939, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon

Notes:

He and his brother Howard lived together in New Plymouth, Idaho.

His Social Security number was issued in Oregon.

FS’s Public Records Index incorrectly shows George’s birth date as 1 Sep 1938.

Baptism:
Central Lutheran

Buried:
He and his brother Howard share a grave marker

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Postal worker, garage mechanic
• Oregon Death Certificate: 77-14574
• Baptism: 31 Oct 1897, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Notes:

Registered for the WWI draft on September 12, 1918. Living at 420 Channing Ave. N., Fergus Falls. Employed as a clerk at the H. P. Bye and Co., 220 Lincoln Avenue N., Fergus Falls. His closest relative is J. M. Bye of the Channing Avenue address. He is described as of medium height and build with blue eyes and light hair.

George was a private in the U.S. Army in World War I. The Find A Grave entry for Wilma says he was a Sergeant.

In the 1929 Portland, Oregon, city directory, Geo M Bye was a sander for the DmfgCo, the same job and employer as his brother John had. George lived at 935 E 35th N.

George was single and living in an apartment in Los Angeles with his brother John and John’s wife Evelyn at the time of the 1930 census. George was a janitor in an apartment building.

According to the records of the Sawtelle home for disabled veterans in Los Angeles, George enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 31, 1917, in Minneapolis and was discharged as a Private on October 25, 1917, at Fort Snelling. He had been in the 135th U.S. Infantry. He was admitted to the Sawtelle home on July 19, 1932, with a myocardial weakness. He was single, a surveyor by occupation, and was 36 years old, 5 feet six inches in height, with a ruddy complexion, light blue eyes, and brown hair. He gave as his nearest relative his brother, “Jno. G. Bye”, who lived at 74th and San Pedro in Los Angeles. George was discharged on November 8, 1932. He is shown to have had a pension of $12 which was apparently a daily allowance for the home.

In the 1933 Portland city directory, George was a laborer. He lived at 4435 NE 35th Avenue.

In the 1936/37 Portland (Oregon) city directory, he is Geo M Bye, wife Wilma, who lives at 2303 SE 12th Avenue. He is not listed in the 1937/38 Portland (Oregon) city directory.

In the 1940 census, George and Wilma and their 5 children lived at 25 SE 14th Avenue in Portland. George was a recorder for a WPA project.

In the 1941 Portland city directory, George and Wilma lived at 25 SE 14th.

In the 1943/44 Portland (Oregon) city directory, Geo M Bye and wife Wilma M lived at 9201 N Fairhaven Avenue.

In the 1946 Salt Lake City city directory, George and Wilma live in Garfield. George is an unloader for the AS&R Co.

In the 1950 census, he and and Wilma and their children live in Multnomah. George is a laborer doing odd jobs.

His SS# was issued in Oregon before 1951.



His sister Myrtle’s 1967 obituary says that George was living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at that time. That may have been an erroneous reference to Milwaukie, Oregon, a suburb of Portland.

Baptism:
First English Lutheran in Fergus Falls, with Eivind George Bye.

Buried:
Section O, 0, Site 1170

George married Wilma M BECKHAM on 8 Jun 1934 in Los Angeles County, California. Wilma (daughter of William D BECKHAM and Minnie THOMPSON) was born on 1 Feb 1902 in Missouri; died on 14 Mar 1982 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon; was buried on 17 Mar 1982 in Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Oregon Death Certificate: 82-04754

Notes:

In the 1910 census, the closest match is the 8 year-old Willie M Beckham, born in Kansas. In the 1910 census, she is the daughter of George and Celia Beckham of Sheridan Twp, Cherokee County, Kansas. The Beckhams also have a four-year-old daughter, Pearl. George and Celia were were born in Missouri.

In the 1920 census, the closest match is a 17 year-old Willie Beckham. She is a student or inmate at the Missouri State Industrial School for Girls in Chillicothe Twp, Livingston County, Missouri. That Willie Beckham was born in Missouri.

In the 1930 census, she was the widow Wilma M Beckham, a servant/housekeeper working in a private home (the Bondurants) in Los Angeles.

She is listed in the 1931 Los Angeles city directory as Wilma Beckham of 1727 W Ave 45.

She is listed with George in the 1941 Portland and 1946 Salt Lake City city directories.

In The Oregonian’s April 27, 1955, edition, is a want-ad for jobs wanted that lists a Mrs. Wilma Bye, 1907 SW 2d, as offering to do baby sitting (“my home or yours”), house cleaning, or laundry.

Buried:
Section O, 0, Site 1170, with her husband

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1922-MN-010119
• Occupation: Grocer in his brother’s business, dealer in farm products
• Baptism: 4 Mar 1870, Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 4 Oct 1885, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Notes:

Oleanna Johannesdatter, 43, and her four children (Jon Martinussen, 11, Marie Martinussdatter, 7, Anna Martinussdatter, 9, and Hans Martinussen, 5) left Norway on 5 April 1882 on the feeder ship Tasso to Hull, England. Their destination was Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

He married his 2nd cousin.

In the 1895 census, J. M. and Gertie are living in Fergus Falls. J. M. is a clerk.

In the 1900 census, John is shown as 30, having been born in Norway in December of 1869. He and Gertie had been married 5 years. Gertie is 27, born in December of 1872, and has had two children, both still living. The children are Mabel, 3 (born June 1896) and George, 2 (born in August of 1897). John is shown as having emigrated in 1882, Gertie in 1892. John is a grocer. Gertie is shown as not being able to speak English. John owns his home without mortgage.

In the 1902 Fergus Falls city directory, he and Gertie live at the west end of Channing Avenue. He is in business with his father as J M Bye & Co. at 103 Bismarck Avenue E.

In the 1903 Fergus Falls city directory, he was John M Bye, a grocer with his business at 103 Bismarck Avenue E. He and Gertie resided at the west end of Channing Avenue.

In the 1905 directory, he was John M Bye, a dealer in Groceries, Crockery, Glassware and Gents’ Furnishings at 103 Bismarck Avenue E. He and Gertie resided at 420 Channing Avenue W.

In the 1905 state census, he and his family live on Channing Avenue in Fergus Falls. John is a grocery merchant.

In the 1907 directory, his name is listed with bold letters but he has no occupation shown. He and Gertie still live at 420 Channing Avenue W.

As J. M. Bye, he was one of the charter members of Trønderlag of America in 1908. This was (and still is) the bygdelag for emigrants and their descendants from the Trøndelag region of Norway. J. M. Bye, of Fergus Falls and from Vårdalen, was listed in the Trønderlaget’s 1910 yearbook. In that yearbook, J. M. is shown to have emigrated to the U.S. in 1882.

In the 1909 directory, he is John M Bye, no bold letters or occupation or wife’s name shown. He lives at 420 Channing Avenue W.

In the 1910 census, he is shown as age 40 and a widower; apparently a fairly recent widower because he has a one-year old daughter. John is a dealer in farm produce. He owned his home without mortgage.

In the 1911 city directory, he is now in the grocery business with his brother Hans as part of the Hans P Bye & Co. with a store at 220 Lincoln Avenue W. He still lives at 420 Channing Ave W.

John, his brother Hans, and perhaps their uncle Theodor were original shareholders of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Fergus Falls when it was organized on May 22, 1915.

In the 1920 census, (incorrectly indexed as Beel) the family was living at 425 Channing Avenue in a home he owned without mortgage. The family is John, 50, no occupation, Mabel, 24, a school teacher, George M., 22, a clerk at the post office, John G., 19, a shipping clerk at a wholesale house, Myrtle T., 16, and Margaret, 10. John is shown as married. He came to this country in 1882 and is naturalized.

His obit noted that he had been 20 years with H P Bye & Company on Washington in Fergus Falls but had retired on account of ill health. “One of his daughters teaches school at Stanley, N.D.”

John M.’s Minnesota death certificate #1922-MN-010119. Another John Bye died in Otter Tail County on Jan 31, 1922.

There was no such house as 425 Channing in 2008.

John prepared his will on June 21, 1920. His brother was named as the executor of his will. That will was recognized by the probate judge of Otter Tail County on 6 Jul 1922. The terms of the will granted his wife a life estate on his homestead in the city of Fergus Falls. The rest of his property was to go to his children, “share and share alike.” The will notes that his wife is not included in the distribution of his personal property because John had a $2000 life insurance policy “payable direct to her.”

According to the obit, John died “at 6:45 PM, “from apoplexy.” According to his death certificate, he died from a cerebral hemorrhage for which cardiovascular disease was a contributory cause. The doctor filling out the death certificate said that he confirmed the diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage by the fact of “paralysis.” The informant for the information in John’s death certificate was his brother Hans. John was a retired merchant. He was married but the death certificate did not include a name for John’s wife. Hans knew that John’s father was M. E. Bye but all he knew of his mother, or at least all he had included in John’s death certificate, was “Olianna” with no last name.

According to Mike, “John Bye put out ‘year plates’ for his grocery store and my mother has several of them with the dates.”

His naturalization records:

John M. Bye
Otter Tail County
Reel 2
Volume C
Code 4
Page 434

and

John M. Bye
Otter Tail County
Reel 6
Volume J
Code 18
Page 273

Died:
St. Luke’s Hospital. Find-A-Grave says June 1st.

Buried:
1:30 PM funeral at Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Johan married Grethe Johanna Mikalsdatter (Gertie) HAGA on 4 Jun 1895 in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Grethe (daughter of Michael Olsen HAGE and Gurina Johnsdatter SKOGN) was born on 20 Dec 1872 in Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 12 Oct 1926 in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried on 15 Oct 1926 in Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1926-MN-011049
• Baptism: 9 Mar 1873, Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 25 Sep 1887, Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

She is the Grethe Haga, age 18, from Norway and headed to Minnesota, who arrived in Boston on 19 Jun 1892 aboard the Cephalonia. She had left Trondheim, as the 18 year-old Grethe Haga, on June 1st aboard the feeder ship Juno. She gave Boston, Massachusetts, as her destination.

She married her 2nd cousin.

She is Mrs. Gertie M. Bye in the 1905 state census. She had been in Minnesota for 13 years.

Although John is shown as a widower in the 1910 census (although not in the 1920 census), this is incorrect. Gertie spent her last years (perhaps her last 15-17 years) as an inmate in the county insane asylum. A Gertie Bye, age 37 and married, was in the Fergus Falls State Hospital at the time of the 1910 census. A Gertie Bye, age 46 and married, was in the Fergus Falls State Hospital for the Insane in the 1920 census.

She died of pneumonia brought on by septic tonsilitis. The hospital records showed her parents were Mekal Hoga and Gurena Johnson.

The coordinates of the Fergus Falls State Hospital:

461759N (=46.29972°)
0960452W (=-96.08111°)

Died:
her obit gives her death date as October 13th

Notes:

Married:
First English Lutheran

Notes:

William D Beckham and Minnie Thompson are the names shown for Wilma’s parents in the record of her marriage to George Bye in Los Angeles in 1934. Those names do not seem to be consistent with the census record.

William married Minnie THOMPSON. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A Minnie E Beckham, age 81, died in Washington on 9 May 1951. She was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Haki.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1932-MN-010908
• Occupation: Flour mill worker in the U.S., Skomager (shoemaker) in Norway, Tjener at the time of John’s birth
• Baptism: 10 Oct 1847, Vinne, Verdal (Vårdalen), Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 4 Oct 1863, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

Or Mortinus Eliasen.

Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Martinus Eliassen, living with his parents and four younger siblings. Dee Austring says that in this census Martinus was shown as “19 yo skomager” and was living at Storøren gård #265, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway.

Martinus was living in Byvald, Verdal, and Oleanna in Maritvoldvald, Verdal (Vårdalen), at the time of John’s birth. At the time of their marriage, those locations were called Baglovald and Marithvoldvald. Both were living in Maritvoldvald at the time of Hans Peter’s birth.

In the 1875 Norwegian census the family was living on Maritvoldvald with Oleanna’s mother. Martin’s occupation appears to be telegraph operator and farmer.

Martin and Oleanna emigrated to the US from Norway in the early 1880s with all four children. Martin arrived first in 1880 and the rest of the family followed two years later. The family settled in Fergus Falls. The family is listed in the 1885 Minnesota state census as living in Fergus Falls. Martin’s brother Elling is living with them. Martin is 37, Oleana is 48, Johan is 15, Anna is 13, Maria is 11, and Hans is 9.

The girls (and, apparently, Hans) later moved to Duluth, probably after their mother died. Martin remarried after Oleanna's death, according to Edna Cartwright and confirmed in the obituary in the Fergus Falls newspaper. John Everson said that his mother and Marie had a half-sister born in the U.S.

Martin Bye’s obituary said that he arrived in Fergus Falls on May 9, 1880. “Shortly after his arrival, he was employed by H. G. Page in the Red River Mill, and later worked as a miller in the Big A Mill for many years. After retiring from the milling business, he went into business and conducted a store where the Tobacco Mart is now located. Always honest and upright in his business dealings, he gained the respect and good will of all.”

The Red River Mill was built in 1872 and was located on the site of the present Con Agra Montana Inc. on Stanton west of Union Bridge. The old mill burned on March 18, 1915. A story in the Fergus Falls newspaper in 1972 described how Martin’s sons, “John and Hans Bye”, noticed smoke and alerted the night duty men at the mill. One elevator was saved but the total loss was “near $75,000.”

Reportedly survived by 18 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren but these numbers must include the Wold stepchildren.

Living with the family of his brother-in-law, Theodore Johnson, a butcher, in Fergus Falls at the time of the 1880 census. Shown as “Martinus E. Bye”, age 32, married, laborer.

In the 1885 state census, the whole family is in Fergus Falls. Living with them is 34 year-old Elling Bye.

Couldn’t find him in the 1895 state census.

Living alone as a clothing merchant at the time of the 1900 census.

In the 1902 Fergus Falls city directory, Martin and Sophie live at 123 Bancroft Ave W. Martin is in business with his son (J M Bye & Co.). Boarding with them is Alfred Bye, a student.

In the 1903 Fergus Falls city directory, Martin and Sophie still live at 123 Bancroft Avenue W. He had no occupation.

In the 1905 census he is Martin Bye, 58, living at 123 Bancroft Avenue West in Fergus Falls with Mrs. Carin S., 49, and her two children, Harold S., 17, and Alma O., 13. No one has an occupation. Although Martin and Carin are each shown to have been in Minnesota for 20 years, Martin is shown to have been in the present enumeration district for only 5 years. This may refer to Martin’s moving into Carin’s home on Bancroft Avenue five years before.

In the 1907 directory, he and Sophie live at 123 Bancroft.

In the 1909 directory, he is a farmer, still living with Sophie at 123 Bancroft.

Martin was living with his 2nd wife and her two children at 123 Remington in Fergus Falls at the time of the 1910 census. The house is owned by Carin. Martin’s occupation is peddler of notions.

He was not listed in the 1920 census. The house at 123 Bancroft is owned by a recently-immigrated family from Denmark.

He was living with his son Hans at the time of the 1930 census.

In the 1931 Fergus Falls city directory, Martin lived with Hans and Mary at 126 Channing Avenue W.

Minnesota death certificate 1932-MN-010908 issued in Otter Tail County for “M. E. Bye.”

According to a researcher who posted a family tree on Ancestry.com, Martin was born in Storøren gård #265, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway.

Naturalization records:

Martinius E Bye
Otter Tail County
Reel 1
Volume B
Code 3
Page 231

and

Martinus Bye
Otter Tail County
Reel 6
Volume J
Code 18
Page 307

Birth:
On Baglovald according to Sven Tore

Confirmation:
Stikelstad

Died:
“died Tuesday noon at the home of his son, H. P. Bye....”

Buried:
funeral at 2 PM, Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Martinus married Olianna Johannesdatter JOHNSON on 18 Nov 1870 in Vinne, Verdal (Vårdalen), Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. Olianna (daughter of Johannes Hansen ØREN and Gürü Halvorsdatter NESS) was born on 27 Jan 1836 in Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; was christened on 20 Mar 1836 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 26 Oct 1890 in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried on 28 Oct 1890 in Oak Grove Cemetery, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 20 Mar 1836, Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 10 Jun 1850

Notes:

Also spelled Oleanna (the way it’s spelled in her birth record). Called herself Olianna Bye in calling cards that she used in Fergus Falls.

Last name in Norway is also Martitvoldvald. Could not find her in the 1865 census. There was a 27 year-old Olianna Johansdatter who lived on Mikvoldvald and was the wife of the husmand Jørgen Andersen. That couple had two children.

She had 3 siblings living in Fergus Falls.

Oleanna Johannesdatter, 43, and her four children (Jon Martinussen, 11, Marie Martinussdatter, 7, Anna Martinussdatter, 9, and Hans Martinussen, 5) left Norway on 5 April 1882 on the feeder ship Tasso to Hull, England. Their destination was Fergus Falls, Minnesota. They are not listed among the emigrants in the Stiklestad church book.

Birth:
Øhr farm. Her gravestone in Oak Grove Cemetery has her birth date as 12 Dec 1835 (repeated in the Dalby Database), a date which is patently correct.

Died:
month and day from Dalby database

Buried:
she has a stone that says “Mother” near Martin’s at Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery

Notes:

Also Mikal or Mekal. Gaardbruger og Selveier of Hage østre in Verdal in the 1875 Norwegian census.

Michael married Gurina Johnsdatter SKOGN on 12 Sep 1865 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. Gurina (daughter of John Johnsen HALLAN and Guru Madsdatter) was born on 25 Dec 1846 in Alstadhoug, Skogn, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 24 Apr 1892 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; was buried on 5 May 1892 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 14 Mar 1847, Alstadhoug, Skogn, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

Or Gurina Johnsdatter Hallan.

Her cause of death was “strutehoste” (bursting cough?). The location of her death was Kvinderkjøn.