Iver EVERSON

1893 - 1969  (76 years)

• Name	Iver EVERSON
  Birth	1 Mar 1893	Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Railroad fireman in 1920, driller
  Social Security Number	234-14-9993 issued in West Virginia before 1951
  Death	29 Jun 1969	Gorgas Hospital, Panama City, Panama
  	per NARA’s AAD website for the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary
  Burial	5 Jul 1969	Dorris Cemetery, Cedar Lake, Farm Island Twp, Aitkin County, Minnesota
  Notes	Shown as “Male Everson” on his birth certificate (#191) in St. Louis County. Called EOE by some of his siblings. In particular, Lil called him Ole. Iver registered for the WWI draft on June 5, 1917, in Deerwood. He lists his address as RFD #3, Aitkin, MN. He describes his occupation as farmer and bar keeper, employed on his father’s farm in Deerwood. He is single, claims no dependents, and does not claim exemption from the draft. He is described as tall and of slender build with brown eyes and black hair. In November of 1920, Iver received a letter from one of his Army buddies, a Hans Jensen of Kansas City. Iver had been in the 3rd Pioneer Soldiers. Hans commiserated with Iver that they had not received their Soldiers Bonus yet. Iver at that time was working ”on the Iron Range.” Hans said, “... or maybe we don’t want to remind each other about the time you were eating slum and corn bill in France.” In July of 1924, Iver wrote Harold a postcard from Indianapolis: “Indianapolis Ind July 23rd I am having a fine trip and every thing we can eat and that is all can expect from I. Everson.” The postmark was the Indianapolis and Peoria RPO. In a postcard from Minneapolis dated October 18, 1926 or 1928, Harold writes to Iver: “Saw Longyear this A.M. They don’t need Jno at Ariz. now but will want him at some other job soon so get in touch with him. You may hear from them any day so be ready to go. They will have jobs in Ariz., New York, Michigan, and Sask. May go to Milwaukee tonite. Will write then.” The Thursday, November 22, 1928, edition of the Crosby-Ironton Courier had an article saying that, “Iver Everson of Aitkin Township, Thor Anderson of Deerwood, and Pete Hanson of Crosby have signed up with Longyear Exploration Company for at least a two-year contract in exploring and drilling for copper in South Africa.” (Thor Anderson was the brother of Andy Anderson, a friend of John Everson.) Harold and Iver were drillers. British incoming passenger records show that Iver arriving in Southampton from New York on November 20, 1928, aboard the S.S. Leviathan. He is shown as a miner whose intended address in the United Kingdom was Roan Antelope Copper Mines, Ltd. Mark found an entry record for Iver arriving in New York on August 14, 1929, aboard the S.S. Homeric which had sailed from Southampton on August 7th. Iver is shown as age 36 and residing in “Aitken”, Minnesota. He is also shown as married which may be a mistake. British records show that Iver had arrived in Southampton aboard the Arundel Castle of the Union Castle line which had sailed from Capetown, South Africa. He was returning to U.S. from Rhodesia. His occupation was shown as driller. By September of 1929, Iver was in Mexico. At the time of the 1930 census, Iver, 37, was a boarder at the White Hotel in Calderwood, Chilhowee township, Blount County, Tennessee. His occupation is diamond drill runner. He is shown to be a veteran, apparently (“aef”) of the American Expeditionary Force. Iver’s gravestone indicates that he was a Private in Company L of the 3d Pioneer Infantry in World War I. Most of the “Pioneer” infantry regiments were formed from surplus national guard infantry regiments so it’s possible that Iver was initially in the Minnesota national guard. The 3rd Pioneer Infantry was formed partly from troops from the Massachusetts national guard. The 3rd Pioneer Infantry was organized in February of 1918 at Camp Greene, North Carolina, as an army troops unit and was moved overseas in August of 1918. It served with the U.S. 1st Army between September and November and was slotted for conversion to the 381st Infantry but the war ended before that occurred. The 3rd Pioneers returned to the U.S. in July of 1919 and demobilized at Camp Dodge, Iowa. (From Rinaldi’s “The U.S. Army in World War I - Orders of Battle.”) The Pioneers performed engineering tasks such as construction of field fortifications or military camps as well as repair of military railways. In February of 1935, Iver got mail at 3621 3rd Avenue South in Minneapolis. In the summer of 1936, Iver was accepting mail in Grafton, West Virginia. In March of 1937, Iver was in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and received mail from a person name Roan or Haen at 3855 Portland in Minneapolis. In November of 1938, he was in Bethlehem, PA, at the Eagle Hotel. On 14 Feb 1938, Iver was receiving mail at 3855 Portland in Minneapolis. In an October 10, 1939, post card sent to his parents, Iver had arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti. He said he would be sailing again “this afternoon at 2 PM” so Haiti was only a short stay. Iver received a valentine from Mrs. Alice Olson (3132 4th Avenue South) in Minneapolis in February of 1940. At that time he was living in the Canal Zone. In the 30s and 40s, Iver worked as a driller throughout the southern states or Central or South America (mentioned as being “in the south” by a couple of letters Harold had from the ‘40s). He may later have settled in Columbia, and later still lived in the Panama Canal Zone. In the 1940 census, he lived Gatun, on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal Zone, probably in or near the Fort William Davis Military Reservation. He was the “partner” in a two-person household that included Woodford N Babbitt, 30, born in Alaska. Both men were diamond drillers in “special engineering.” Both men were employed full-time and both men had worked 52 weeks in the previous year. Immigration records show that he landed in New York on May 3, 1941, aboard the S.S. Cristobal which had sailed from Cristobal, Canal Zone, 6 days earlier. He was in the Canal Zone at the time of his father’s death in December of 1942; news accounts said that he returned for his father’s funeral. He was described as “of Columbia, So. America” in an obituary for his mother. In 1958, according to a letter that George received from Iver, Iver’s address was Box 583, Diablo, Canal Zone. In this letter, Iver asked George if he could borrow $30. (Apparently he had already borrowed money from Harold.) He said that his vision was blurry and that prevented him from working. From a letter he sent to Harold in April of 1969, we learn that Iver was in Balboa in the Canal Zone and that he had been sick and hospitalized since the beginning of that year. From the symptoms, it sounds as if he was experiencing heart problems much like John would later have. One of the brothers, probably Albin, received a handwritten letter dated June 19, 1969, from someone named R. T. Tweedy, apparently in response to a letter that Tweedy had received that day: “I will give you what information I have, which was received by telephone since I am located fifty miles from the hospital. The information I received from another veteran is that he was admitted to the hospital. Evidentally (sic) he had a stroke, paralyzed right side with complete loss of speech. However, if he recovers this may be temporary. His condition is very serious and the information I received by telephone were that his chances of recovery were very slim.” Tweedy goes on to say that Iver’s address at the hospital was Ward 2, Room 204, Gorgas Hospital, Ancon, Canal Zone. The SSDI shows his address at the time of death was 530, U.S. Consulate, Panama Canal Zone. The SSDI shows the date of death as June 30th. The Gorgas Hospital Mortuary records show the date of death as June 29th. The Gorgas records also show that the body was shipped to the US on July 3, 1969 and the cost associated with whatever the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary did was $331.58. Iver’s funeral was at the Hasskamp Mortuary. Pallbearers were Ronald Everson, Jerry Everson, Andrew Everson, Robert Everson, Robert Foster, Donald Carlson. (These must have been honorary pallbearers. There is no indication in Cora’s diary that Donald H. Carlson or Bob Everson attended in person.) Albin received a letter from DHEW (Social Security) in October of 1969 indicating that, per his request, the lump-sum benefit for Iver ($255) had been sent to Hasskamp Mortuary, Aitkin.
  Person ID	I45	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	15 Feb 2023

  
  

  Father	Anders (Andrew) EVERSON,   b. 15 Feb 1856, Kvernes, Averøy, Møre og Romsdal, Norway d. 15 Dec 1942, Crow Wing County, Minnesota (Age 86 years)
  Mother	Anna Gustava (Annie) Martinusdatter BYE,   b. 29 Sep 1871, Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway d. 22 Mar 1949, Deerwood Twp, Crow Wing County, Minnesota (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	4 Mar 1892	Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin
  Family ID	F32	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Iver Everson, age 25 Presumably, this is Iver before he headed off to Europe with the American Expeditionary Force in WWI.
  		Iver Everson