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Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN

Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN

Female 1891 - 1960  (68 years)

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  • Name Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN 
    Birth 21 Dec 1891  Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Vernon County Death Index V29, P152 As Bertha Malina Ekum 
    Death 11 Feb 1960  Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • “in a Viroqua hospital after an illness of one week”
    Burial Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • 1NO25
    Notes 
    • The Bergen departure records show her (Britha Eriksdtr Øren) as leaving for the U.S. on November 2, 1908. Her reason for leaving was to better her living condition. She was to meet family in Madison, Wisconsin.

      Bertha Øren Ekum's youngest sister and her granddaughter were scheduled to visit Ernest and Dorothy from Norway in the summer of 1983. Bertha's youngest sister is only one year older than Ernest, had already been over to the U.S. twice (as of March, 1983), and couldn't speak English.

      The 1910 census shows Bertha as an 18 year old housemaid servant girl employed by Clause Bowe. She arrived in this country in 1909 and wasn’t yet able to speak English.

      Cora’s address list shows an address for Bertha Ekum at or around 1957 as 419 South Washington in Viroqua.

      Bertha’s only sibling in the U.S., at least living at the time of Bertha’s death, was, apparently, her sister Ida (“Mrs. Ida Anderson”). According to Bertha’s obit, she had 2 brothers and four sisters still living in Norway.
    Person ID I531  Don Carlson's Tree
    Last Modified 27 Aug 2018 

    Father Erik Pedersen NUNDAL,   b. 12 Jul 1867, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1935, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years) 
    Mother Malene Ovesdatter ØREN,   b. 23 Nov 1867, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F3445  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Albert M EKUM,   b. 26 Nov 1882, Liberty Pole, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Mar 1952, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 69 years) 
    Marriage 19 Dec 1911  Immanuel Lutheran Church, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Date per obit in the Viroqua paper. They celebrated their 40th anniversary on December 16, 1951, with a reception at the Immanuel Lutheran Church.
    Children 
     1. Ernest Theodore EKUM,   b. 30 Mar 1913, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Dec 1995, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years)
     2. Selma Margarite EKUM,   b. 26 Mar 1915, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Mar 1923, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 7 years)
     3. Theresa Caroline EKUM,   b. 16 May 1917, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Apr 1977, La Crosse County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years)
     4. Archie Bennett EKUM,   b. 28 May 1919, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 29 Oct 1981, Birmingham, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years)
     5. Walter Raymond (Wally) EKUM,   b. 20 Sep 1921, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Jun 2004, Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years)
     6. Dorothy Marie EKUM,   b. 30 Oct 1925, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Jul 2020, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 94 years)
     7. Selma Mae (Sally) EKUM,   b. 2 Mar 1928, Mason City, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Mar 2007, Onalaska, La Crosse County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years)
     8. Thomas Roy EKUM,   b. 8 Jan 1930, Vernon County, Wisconsin Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Oct 2015, Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)
    Photos
    The Cozy Cabins
    The Cozy Cabins
    Albert and Bertha ran a general store with tourist cabins called the cozy cabins at a location a few miles south of Viroqua. Their son, Ernest Ekum, in the Vernon County 150 years book, wrote:
    “In the year of 1920, Albert Ekum bought two acres of land from Mr. Ole B. Fortney to build a grocery store and living quarters combined. They moved to the store from Liberty Pole on October 31, 1920. Behind the store on the north side were hitching posts for the customers’ horses. They sold groceries and later added clothing such as jackets, shirts, gloves, shoes, etc. There was no electricity then so they used two aladdin lamps to light their store. For a time, they bought fresh cream from the farmers around for Swift & Co. who came and picked it up. Later, when people started buying cars and there were better roads, the Ekums tore the porch off the front and put in gasoline pumps. They also tore out the hitching posts and built a place to drain oil from cars. The Ekums then built a few tourist cabins which was a good business. In 1946, the Ekums sold their store to Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Olson of Madison and they then moved to the city of Viroqua. The store was then run by the Olsons until the roads got better and the people were shopping more elsewhere. Later the state road was rerouted from the store location and the Olsons closed their store and business.”
    Albert Ekum Family
    Albert Ekum Family
    Probably taken in the mid 1940s in front of Albert's general store in Mason City. It can't be later than 1946 because Ernest said that that's when Albert sold the store and moved to town. That's Dorothy and Theresa in the back row between their mother Bertha and their brothers. Sally is in the middle in the front row and Tom is on the right. Ernest is in the front row on the other side of Sally. Walter is on the right in the back row which would leave Archie as the one between Walter and Theresa. That may be Dorothy Fish Ekum with her son on the porch in the background.
    Family ID F116  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 13 Jan 2020 

  • Photos
    Albert and Bertha Ekum, wedding
    Albert and Bertha Ekum, wedding
    This is from their wedding in December of 1911. Albert is 29 and Bertha two days short of turning 20. The original is about 4x6 and mounted on sturdy brown board stock and has the imprint Jasperson Viroqua Wis. with a space to the left of Jasperson indicating perhaps that the change in ownership from Henry and Jasperson was recent. On the back of the picture Cora wrote, "My Cousin Albert and Bertha." One of Albert's daughters confirms that this is their wedding picture with the comment, "Yes, she wore a black dress."
    Bertha Øren Ekum
    Bertha Øren Ekum