Claus Sjursen BØE (BOWE)

1833 - 1913  (79 years)

• Name	Claus Sjursen BØE (BOWE)
  Birth	1 Jun 1833	Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway
  Christening	7 Jul 1833	Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	7 Jul 1833	Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway
  	as Claus, son of Sjur Nielsen Böe
  Confirmation	15 Oct 1848	Voss, Hordaland, Norway
  Occupation	Shoemaker, Tobacco Farmer
  Vernon County Death Index	V8, P85 As Claus Boe
  Death	2 Mar 1913	Vernon County, Wisconsin
  Burial	North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin
  Notes	His parents’ names and his birth, baptism, and confirmation dates confirmed by the confirmation record in the Voss church book. Shown as Clouse Bowe on his gravestone. The database Digitalarkivet: Migrants from Voss 1837-1864 shows that Claus Sjursen Boe left home on July 5, 1849, for “Christiania for at indtræde i Guldsmedlære.” This probably means that Claus originally intended to be a goldsmith or jeweler and may have begun an apprenticeship in Oslo. Nevertheless, he seems to have found his way to northern Norway in the mid-1850s and fathered a son with a woman there. Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Claus Sjursen, shoemaker, born in Wos in 1830, a husfader on the Svigum domicile in Hafslo, living with his wife, two daughters, Susanna and Anna, and stepson Anders Larsen. In Susanna’s baptism record in Digitalarkivit, Claus’s farm is shown as “Bøe fra Voss.” In Anna’s baptism record, Claus’s farm is shown as Bøe. In Sever’s baptism record, Claus Sjursen Bøe’s farm is shown as Sviggum. The Luster bygdebok describes Claus as “frå Bø på Voss.” An incorrect family tradition has Claus and Carrie emigrating to the US from Norway in 1862 and settling in Liberty Pole, WI. Their Viroqua homestead was supposedly applied for on May 20, 1862, and approved on June 15, 1874. Although the 1862 date is wrong because Claus and his family were still in Norway at that time, the 1874 date is correct as confirmed by the land patent on the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office web site. The homestead papers were signed by President U S Grant on June 15, 1874. The Bowe farm was Box 22, Wisconsin Route 3 in Franklin Township, Vernon County. Claus declared his intention to become a citizen of the U.S. in Vernon County (still known as Bad Ax County at the time). This was recorded September 30, 1868, and the hearing, order, and filing was completed December 9, 1873. Claus and his family were recorded in the 1870 census which took place on July 8th. At that time they were living in Vernon County with the post office shown as New Brookville. The family was Clouse, 38, Carrie, 26 (sic), Susan, 10, Ann, 6, Severt, 4, and Betsey, 2. (No Andrew! No Nels.) Everyone is shown as born in Norway except Betsey who is shown as born in Wisconsin. If Bertha (“Betsey”) was indeed born in Wisconsin, then the family must have been in Wisconsin in 1867. In the 1870 census, the value of Claus’s real estate is shown as $400 and the value of his personal estate is $200. This is an order of magnitude less than some his neighbors but is more than a few others shown on the same census page. The history of the Kickapoo United Lutheran Church indicates that "Klaus Boe" settled in the area in the time period 1859-1862. This is too early and is probably a continuation of the false family legend. Claus moved in with Louise after Carrie died. Claus died intestate so a judicial process to certify descent was carried out (probated) on April 22, 1919, in the Vernon County court. Claus’s property was identified to be the west half of the SE quarter of section 27 so Claus must have sold the NE quarter of the SE quarter (which had been part of his original homestead) before he died. The court order declared that a one-sixth undivided share of the property was to go to: Louise Larson, Anna Anderson, Susanna Ekum, Betha Nundahl, Martha Hendrickson of Minneapolis, and Sever Bowe. The ownership and descendants were verified by the testimony of N. H. Sviggum. (For some reason, this name was whited-out in the court document. It took some effort to discern the name.) Dorothy's family stories say that Claus "homesteaded a farm in what is now called Black Bottom in Vernon County." This is between Viroqua and Readstown. "He came from Norway where he had been trained as a shoemaker and started a shoe shop in Liberty Pole (southwest of Viroqua) until he got his land. There he dug a hole in a bluff and lived in it with his family until he got his home built. This hole was later used as a root cellar and still remains on the farm." The 1875 Wisconsin state census records, for Clouse Bowe, 5 males and 6 females. These 11 people may have been: Claus, Nels, Anders, Sever, and Albert, and Kari, Susan, Anna, Bertha, Martha, and Louise. If not Nels, the extra male could be that unknown boy who Louise remembers as a brother who ran away. Census-taker O.K. Fortney visited the Bowe farm in Franklin Township, Vernon County, on June 12, 1880, and found Claus, age 47, Kari, age 46, Andrew, age 18, Ana, age 17, Sever, age 14, Bertha, age 11, Martha, age 8, Louisa, age 3, and Albertina, age 3. Kari was indicated as “cannot write.” Andrew, Ana, and Sever were indicated as having been born in Norway; the younger children were indicated as having been born in Wisconsin. Andrew, Ana, Sever, and Martha (but not Bertha) were indicated as having attended school within the census year. Census-taker Torge Berge visited the Bowe farm on June 13, 1900. The family consisted of Claus, 67 (born in June 1833), Carrie, 66 (born in Sept 1833), Sever, 34 (born May 1866), Louisa, 22 (born April 1878), Nils, step-son, widower, 46 (born Sep 1853), Andrew, adopted son, 37 (born Sep 1862), Susanna Monson, married, 39 (born December 1860), Martin, 10 (born March 1890), Clara, 7 (born May 1893), and Rhody, 4 (born May 1896). Louisa and Susan’s kids are shown as born in Wisconsin, everyone else was born in Norway. Claus, Carrie, Sever, Nils, Andrew, and Susanna emigrated in 1867. Carrie is shown as having borne 10 children, 7 still living. Susanna is shown as having borne 8 children, 5 still living. Susan’s husband Thomas “Munston”, along with their son Albert and daughter Caroline (“Carrie”), are in Butte Township, Siskiyou County, California at the time (June 12) of the 1900 census. Thomas doesn’t have an occupation shown but Albert is already working in a box factory and Carrie is in school. Census-taker Frank Munyon visited the Bowe/Anderson farm on May 6-7, 1910, and found Clause, age 77, widowed, Sever, age 44, and Bertha Oren, 18, servant. Next door to them, on a separate listing, is Charley C. Anderson, age 42, Anna, age 43, and Cora C., age 14. Clause, Sever, and Anna are shown as coming to the U.S. in 1867, Charley in 1868, and Bertha Oren (later to marry cousin Albert) in 1909. Clause is shown as owning his farm free and clear. Charley is shown as owning his farm with a mortgage. Clause is shown as having his “own income”, Sever and Charley are farmers, and Bertha is a house work servant. Sever and Bertha are shown as employees (presumably both by Clause) and Charley is shown as working on own account. All speak English except Bertha who only speaks Norwegian. All six are able to able to read but Anna is shown as not being able to write. Cora is shown as having attended school in the period since Sept. 1, 1909. Charley and Anna are shown as having been married 15 years and Anna is shown as having borne one child, still living. The Wisconsin Deaths data base on Ancestry.com shows the deaths of Louise Bowe on 12 Dec 1876 and Albert Bowe died three days earlier. These are the only Bowe deaths listed for Vernon County; the database extends only up through 1907. (Albertina Bowe is not listed.) These two children died of scarlet fever while Kari was pregnant with her twins. It seems a good guess the 1877 twins, Louise and Albertina, were named after their dead siblings. Similarly, it seems a good guess that Albert Ekum was named after Albertina who may have died at about the time that Albert was born. The IGI shows that the Claus Sjursen, the son of Sjur Nielsen, married Susanna Kristoffersdatter on 18 August 1857 in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. This woman’s father was Kristoffer Andersen. The IGI records for this are: Batch No.: M423033 Dates:  1841 - 1859 Source Call No.:  0278148 Type:  Film Printout Call No.: NONE Type:  Sheet:  00 This Susanna was born 5 Jun 1827 and christened 24 Jun 1827 in Luster. Her parents were Christopher Andersen and Kisti Olsdatter. The Luster church book shows Klaus Sjursen Böe, unmarried shoemaker, b. 1 Jun 1833, arriving in Luster in May of 1857. He was coming from the Hadsel farm in Vos to the Landvig farm. The Sogn og Fjordane flytting records show Clause Bowe leaving the Luster parish and going to the Hafslo parish with the following comments: “'Bo af Vos' innflyttar til Luster, som flytte til Hafslo. Att. 17/1-61.” The “aar hendling” for that record is 1858. This may mean that Claus joined the Luster parish in 1858 and left it in 1861. The Digitalarkivet database for marriages in Hafslo shows that Claus Sjursen Boe, an Enkermand (widower), Skomager, married Kari Andersdatter Mareim, pige, on March 27, 1861 in Fedt in Haflso. Bride and groom were each 27.5 years old. Bride’s father’s name was Anders Andersen Mareim. The Digitalarkivet database for Sogn og Fjordane flytting shows Claus Bø of Sviggum, a shoemaker born in 1833, leaving Hafslo for “Amerika” on April 9, 1867. Thirty people left Hafslo that day for Amerika. Accompanying Claus, all of Sviggum, were his wife, Kari Melheim, and children, all with surname Bø, Susanne, born 1860, Anna, born 1863, Sjur, born 1866, and Anders, born 1862. Kari’s son, Nils Pedersen, “dreng”, born 1854, left Hafslo for Amerika at the same time. Also leaving Hafslo for Amerika on April 9, 1867, were Anders Andersen of Mareim (Kari’s brother), born 1840, unmarried, no occupation shown. The family departed from Bergen, bound for Quebec, on the frigate Roska, under a Capt. P. A. Stoesen. This ship departed Bergen on April 25th and arrived in Quebec on May 31st (Stoesen’s manifest is dated the 30th). A total of about 341 people (including 292 adults) were on board this ship and one man and one young girl died during the passage. Some others of the 30 people who left Hafslo on April 9th were also on the Roska. Two days ahead of the Roska was the frigate Claus Hefty, under a Capt. Andersen Jr., which departed Bergen on April 23rd and arrived in Quebec on May 28. Niels Sjursen Ekum, 50, his wife Ragnhilde Ekum, 48, both of Haflso, and Thomas Monsen Ekum, 17, of Lyster, were on that boat as were many other ex-residents of Hafslo and Lyster. In the 1885 Wisconsin census, the “Clouse Bowe” household consisted of 4 males and 6 females. Of these 10, 5 were born in the U.S. and 5 in Scandinavia. Eight of those people probably were: Sever, Claus, and Andrew; and Louise, Bertha, Martha, Kari, and Anna. But that leaves a boy and a girl born in the U.S. which suggests that Albertina was still alive and that there was another boy, born in the U.S., living with the Bowes. Could that boy be the one who Louise remembers ran away? Could that boy be one of Anders Anderson’s children? In the 1895 Wisconsin census, the household consisted of 4 males and 4 females, of which 2 were born in the U.S. and 6 in Scandinavia. Those people probably were: Sever, Claus, Andrew, and Nels; and Louise, Bertha, Kari, and Anna. By this reasoning, Martha must have been married and gone and Albertina must have died. In the 1905 Wisconsin census, the household consisted of Clouse, 72, Carrie, 71, Nels, 50, Andrew, 42, and Sever, 40. All three of the younger men are shown as “son.” Nels is shown as a widower. Also living in the household were Chas Anderson, 39, son-in-law, Anna Anderson, 43, daughter, and Cora Anderson, 9, niece. In the index to the 1896 Vernon County plat book, Claus’s property is described as Franklin 12 Sec 27 R4. Claus is listed as a “patron” of the 1896 plat book and his business is referred to in the Patrons’ Directory as the “Bowe Stock, Grain and Tobacco Farm”, Liberty Pole. In that 1896 plat book, Claus’s property is still the original 120 acre homestead in the SE corner (all but the SE 40 which was owned by O.B. Fortney) of Section 27 of Franklin Twp. The property is shown on the plat book map as “Bowe Stock & Tobacco Farm.” Also in the 1896 plat book, two 40s adjacent to Claus’s farm on the west and southwest seem to be collectively owned by Andrew and Sever Bowe. In the plat book, this 80 is shown as owned by “A.S. Bowe.” The two 40s are 1) the SE quarter of the SW quarter of Section 27, and 2) the NE quarter of the NW quarter of Section 34. In the 1915 plat book, Charley Anderson owns 45 (42 in the Farmers’ Directory) acres of that northeast leg of Claus’s original homestead (apparently all of the original homestead east of the road) and Sever Bowe owns the remaining 75 acres of the original homestead plus the northern 40 of the 80 that he and Andrew apparently owned in the 1896 plat book. That gave Sever a contiguous 115 acres (120 in the Farmers’ Directory). In the 1915 plat book, the southern 40 of Andrew and Sever’s 80 is now owned by Sever Nundahl. Andrew Sherry is the owner of that other 40 next to the Bowe property (the SE quarter of the SE quarter which was owned by O.B. Fortney in the 1896 plat book). Claus died intestate and his estate wasn’t settled until April of 1919 when his 80 acres (West half of the SE quarter of Sec 27, Twp 12 N, range 4 west) were divided equally among his six children: Susanna Ekum, Anna Anderson, Bertha Nundahl, Martha Hendrickson, Sever Bowe, and Louise Larson.
  Person ID	I27	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	2 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Sjur Nielson BØE,   b. 23 Oct 1804, Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway d. Bef 1865, Norway (Age < 60 years)
  Mother	Brithe Monsdatter GJERME,   b. Abt 1807, Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway d. Aft 1875, Norway (Age > 69 years)
  Marriage	30 May 1833	Voss, Hordaland, Norway
  Family ID	F3298	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Helena Pernille Larsdatter
  Children	1. Johan Lauritz KARLSEN,   b. 19 Mar 1855, Bodø, Nordland, Norway
  Family ID	F27913	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	12 Jul 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Susanna Kristoffersdatter TANDLE,   b. 5 Jun 1827, Tandle, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 14 Oct 1857, Tandle, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway (Age 30 years)
  Marriage	18 Aug 1857	Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Family ID	F3305	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 May 2007

  
  

  Family 3	Kari Andersdatter MAREIM,   b. 27 Sep 1833, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 31 Oct 1908, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 75 years)
  Marriage	27 Mar 1861	Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  	Fedt
  Children	1. Susanna Clausdatter (Susan) BOWE,   b. 18 Dec 1860, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 9 Aug 1943, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 82 years)   2. Andreas (Andrew) Larssen BOWE,   b. 26 Sep 1862, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 1 Dec 1937, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 75 years)   3. Anna Clausdatter BOWE,   b. 22 Aug 1863, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 14 Feb 1926, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 62 years)   4. Sjur (Sever) Claussen BOWE,   b. 17 May 1866, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 11 Sep 1935, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 69 years)   5. Brithe (Bertha) BOWE,   b. 28 Sep 1868, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 16 May 1944, La Crosse County, Wisconsin (Age 75 years)   6. Martha BOWE,   b. Dec 1871, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 25 Jun 1943, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota (Age 71 years)   7. Louise BOWE,   b. 26 Dec 1872, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 12 Dec 1876, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 3 years)   8. Albert BOWE,   b. 29 Jun 1875, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 9 Dec 1876, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 1 year)   9. Albertina BOWE,   b. 18 Apr 1877, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. Bef 1890, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age < 12 years)   10. Louisa (Louise) BOWE,   b. 18 Apr 1877, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 6 Jan 1958, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 80 years)
  Family ID	F20	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Feb 2019

  
  

• Photos		Claus Bowe, funeral The only image we have of Claus Bowe. The image in the frame is probably from the 1880s or 1890s.
  		Claus Bowe