Jens Olsen QWAM

Notes:

aka Jens Olsen Yngsdalen

Birth:
Solvisbakken according to candacemariewicks25

Died:
Yngsdalen according to candacemariewicks25

Family/Spouse: Anna Olsdatter YNGSDALEN. Anna (daughter of Ole Olsen YNGSDALEN and Gjertrud Eriksdatter) was born in 1740 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 25 Nov 1773 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 10 Feb 1771, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

From Yngsdalen according to the bygdebok (Luster VI, p. 910).

On the Opheim farm in the 1801 census. His family, a subset of a much larger farm roster, is Erich, 29, his wife Berthe Jørgensdatter, 27, Jens Erichsen, 5, Jørgen Erichsen, 3, and Johannes Erichsen, 1.

Birth:
Yngsdalen according to candacemariewicks25

Died:
“77 aar” at death; Opheim according to candacemariewicks25

Erik married Benthe Jørgensdatter JORANGER on 8 Jun 1795 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Benthe (daughter of Jørgen Pedersen JORANGER and Astri Olsdatter) was born in 1772 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 9 Feb 1848 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; was buried on 24 Feb 1848 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Yngsdalen according to candacemariewicks25

Died:
according to Peder Sviggum’s Sviggum Family Tree

Family/Spouse: Jens Knutsen NÆS. Jens was born on 2 Mar 1773 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 26 Feb 1853 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Candace Wicks

Family/Spouse: Birtha Pedersdatter. Birtha was born on 11 Jun 1758 in Hafslo, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane. Norway; died on 8 Oct 1844 in Hafslo, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane. Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 1 Jan 1796, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 4 Feb 1798, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Family/Spouse: Britha Johannesdatter JORDANGER. Britha (daughter of Johannes Hansson JORDANGER and Anna Pedersdatter) was born in 1822 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died in 1910. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 2 Jun 1800, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 12 Sep 1802, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Of Opheim farm according to Berthe’s baptism records and confirmed in marriage records.

She was 26 when she married Anders.

She does not seem to be listed in the 1865 Norwegian census.

We do not know the dates and circumstances for Anna’s death. The best guess, endorsed by Arne, is described in Lars E Øyane’s bygdebøk: Gards- og ættesoge for Luster kommune Band VI (1986). On page 383-85, Øyane claims that Anna Eriksdotter “probably died from cholera in Bergen 3 January 1849.” Arne concedes that Anna ending up in Bergen, rather far from Sogn, is problematic.

Arne’s summary: As to Anders’s and Anna’s seven children, all born in Marheim, three of them (Berthe, Kari and Anders) emigrated to America, one (Erik) lived in Bergen, Norway, two died early (the first Anders and his sister Anna), and only one (Brithe) stayed in Hafslo.

Died:
see notes

Anna married Anders Andersen MAREIM on 28 Nov 1827 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Anders (son of Anders Pedersen MAREIM and Britta Einersdatter TØRVI) was born on 8 Feb 1784 in Marem, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; was christened on 8 Feb 1784 in Marem, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 12 Dec 1858 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; was buried on 16 Dec 1858 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 31 May 1807, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Died in the U.S. according to the bygdebok.

Baptism:
date and location according to the bygdebok

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 18 Mar 1810, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Died in the U.S. according to the bygdebok

Baptism:
date and location according to the bygdebok

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 30 Aug 1812, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

In the 1860 and 1880 U.S. censuses, he and his wife Gertrude lived in Westford in Richland County, Wisconsin. Ancestry indexed him in 1880 as Peter Erexon.

No children.

Died:
date from the bygdebok

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 21 Apr 1816, Opheim, Jordanger, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Not mentioned in the bygdebok.

In the 1860 census (mis-indexed as Upholine), he and his family live in Utica Twp, Crawford County.

In the 1870 census (as Upholm), he and his family live in Utica Twp, Crawford County. The household consists of Herman, 54, Isabel, 52, Erick, 24, Peter, 21, Christopher, 18, Anna, 15, Herman, 13, Bertha, 10, and Isabel, 5,

In the 1900 census, as Herman Uphome, he and his family (Ingeborg, Erik, Herman, Bertha, and Marie) farmed in Utica Twp, Crawford County, Wisconsin. He and his wife and family had come to the U.S. in 1854.

Hermund married Ingeborg Pedersdatter SONNESONNE on 17 Jun 1845 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Ingeborg was born on 20 Sep 1818 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 25 Sep 1900 in Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Nes Søndre på Veitastrond according to according to Peder Sviggum’s Sviggum Family Tree

Died:
Nes Søndre på Veitastrond according to according to Peder Sviggum’s Sviggum Family Tree

Notes:

Birth:
lea001’s Heggestad Family Tree

Died:
lea001’s Heggestad Family Tree

Family/Spouse: Sjur Nilsson HEGGESTAD. Sjur was born in 1818 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died in 1897 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Næs

Died:
Næs

Family/Spouse: Jens Jørgenson NÆS. Jens was born on 31 Oct 1812; died on 19 May 1894. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Candace Wicks

Died:
Hilleren, Veitastrond

Family/Spouse: Lasse Andersen VAARSTOLEN. Lasse was born on 26 Jun 1778 in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 6 Dec 1838 in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 14 Aug 1825, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Shown in birth record as illegitimate.

Does not seem to be listed in the 1865 census.

According to Arne, citing Øyane in the bygdebøk, Bertha emigrated to America in 1861 and there married the Norwegian husmannssonen Peder Olson frå Bakken under Kroken i Luster in 1840. According to Øyane, Berta died in 1868 and Peder in 1908, likely in America.

The Hafslo emigration record shows the unmarried Britha Andersdatter Marheim, age 31, leaving on April 18, 1861.

In his further research, Arne found:

“Bertha and Peder married in Stoughton, Dane, Wisconsin 30 August 1861. They had one daughter there, Oline, born 23 March and baptized 10 October 1862. Later on, it seems they moved to Winneshiek, Iowa, and had two children: Erik, born 15 July and baptized 19 October 1864, and Elise, born 25 February 1866. It seems to me, they were still living in Winneshiek, according to the 1870-census, even if the age is wrong for Peder, Oline, Erik and Elisa.

“I have not found them in later censuses, or death records. It seems obvious, however, that Bertha did NOT die in 1868, and we do not know for sure if Peder died in 1908 as stated by Øyane.”

Berthe married Peder Olsen KROGEN on 30 Aug 1861 in Dane County, Wisconsin. Peder (son of Ole Arnesen URNÆSS and Elisabet Iversdatter KROGEN) was born on 28 Dec 1840 in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 6 Oct 1908 in Hamlin County, South Dakota; was buried on 9 Oct 1908 in West Norden Cemetery, Hayti, Hamlin County, South Dakota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 30 Nov 1828, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 31 Oct 1830, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

She is the Britta Andersdatter Mareim listed as one of the sponsors for Anna Bowe’s baptism and the Brithe Andersdatter Sviggum listed as one of the sponsors for Sjur’s (Sever Bowe’s) baptism.

Family/Spouse: Anders Kristsen. Anders was born in 1831; died in 1920. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Brithe married Jørgen Endressen SOLVISBAKKEN on 20 Apr 1859 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Jørgen was born on 4 Mar 1830 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 29 Apr 1915 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V5, P63
• Baptism: 29 Sep 1833, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
• Confirmation: 6 Aug 1848, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Baptismal sponsors: Peder Anderssen Mareim, Johannes Ericksen Opheim, Bertha Jorgensdatter Opheim, Britta Pedersdatter Opheim, Christie Pedersdatter Mareim.

Of Marem or Mareim farm initially, later, at the time of Anna’s baptism, shown as Sviggum farm. The Luster bygdebok lists her as “Kari Andersdotter frå ein plass under Mareim.”

Shown as Carrie Bowe on her gravestone.

Shown as having been born in 1830 in the 1865 Norwegian census.

Listed in the 1880 U.S. census as “cannot write.”

Family/Spouse: Peder Eriksen. Peder (son of Erik Hansson JORDANGER and Malena Pedersdotter) was born on 12 Feb 1835 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 30 Apr 1857 in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway; was buried on 6 Mar 1857 in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Kari married Claus Sjursen BØE (BOWE) on 27 Mar 1861 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Claus (son of Sjur Nielson BØE and Brithe Monsdatter GJERME) was born on 1 Jun 1833 in Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway; was christened on 7 Jul 1833 in Vangen, Voss, Hordaland, Norway; died on 2 Mar 1913 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 25 Dec 1835, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Anna died in childbirth, giving birth to Andrew.

Family/Spouse: Lars LARSEN. Lars died in Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Tailor, Farmer
• Vernon County Death Index: V7, P169
• Baptism: 15 Mar 1840, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
• Confirmation: 22 Jul 1855, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

He was the heir to his father’s plass, “Kårstoveplassen, heim under bnr.1.”

His gravestone in the Kickapoo Church cemetery shows him as Andrew Anderson, born May 10, 1842, and died December 4, 1910.

Cora’s pictures show an Albert Anderson as Anna’s cousin and Andrew Anderson as Anna’s uncle.

This Anders is shown in the 1865 census as a tailor living as a lodger with the Thomas Thomasen family in Hafslo on the Mareim farm. Anders is shown as born in 1841. He was unmarried at that time.

The Digitalarkivet database Sogn og Fjordane flytting shows that Anders, then unmarried and with no occupation shown, left Hafslo for “Amerika” on April 9, 1867, with Claus and family.

An Andrew Anderson married a Betsey Anderson on June 7, 1868, in Utica in Crawford County. (CRAW, Vol. 1, p. 236, and Wisconsin Marriages on FS)

Cora’s recollections were that Claus, trained as a shoemaker, teamed up with his brother-in-law, a tailor, in his first few years of living in this country.

Not living in Franklin twp at the time of the 1870 census.

In the 1875 state census, the entry for Andrew Anderson was 3 males and 2 females. These five people must have been Andrew, Hans, and Albert, and Bertha and Lina.

In the 1880 census, “A. Anderson”, born in Norway in 1840, is a farmer in Franklin township. His family is his wife Britha, 29, born in Norway, and his four children (all born in Wisconsin): Hans, 11, Albert, 8, Lina, 6, and Edward, 4.

In the 1885 Wisconsin census, the Andrew Anderson household, a farm near the Nels Michaelson farm, consisted of 4 males and 2 females, of which 4 were born in the U.S. and 2 in Scandinavia. So that’s four children: 3 males and a female. The children must be Henry, Edward, Ida, and George. Lina must have died and Albert left.

In the 1895 Wisconsin census, the household consisted of Andrew A. Marreim, a few farms away from the Clouse Bowe farm, consisted of 3 males and 3 females, 4 of whom were born in the U. S. and 2 in Scandinavia. Thus, two of the four living sons (Hans, Albert, Edward, or George) weren’t listed as living at home at that time

In the 1900 census, Andrew and his family were living in Franklin although apparently not near the Bowes. Anders (Andrew) is shown as age “unknown, about 60.” He is shown as having come to this country in 1868. He and his wife had been married for 31 years. The rest of the family is Bertha, born in Norway in Apr 1850, and having had 9 children, 6 still living; Henry, farmer, born Jun 1870; Edward, farm laborer, born Apr 1879; Ida J., servant, born July 1880; George W., at school, born Oct 1884; and Annie E., at school, born Sep 1887. All the children were born in Wisconsin. Bertha is shown as having come to this country in 1856. Andrew may have had an occupation entered for him but it appears to have been erased or whited out. Neither Andrew nor Bertha are shown as able to write. They own their farm.

In the 1905 Wisconsin state census, the Andrew Anderson farm, a few farms away from the Clouse Bowe farm, consisted of Andrew, 65, Betsy, 50, Hans, 30, Edward, 25, Ida, 22, George, 20, and Anna, 18.

In the 1910 census, an Andrew Anderson family lives on a farm two farms away from Charley and Anna and Cora (who were living on the farm next to Claus). The family consists of Andrew 68, his wife Bertha, 62, and their children Henry 39, Ida 29, George, 26, and Anna, 23. Their year of immigration is unclear. Andrew and Bertha had been married 40 years and Bertha had had 9 children, 6 still living. Both Andrew and Bertha were born in Norway but their children were born in Wisconsin.

In the index to the 1896 Vernon County plat book, Andrew’s land is described as Franklin 12 Section 28 R4. Andrew’s farm, and Henry’s after he died, was a 40 acre plot in the northeast corner of Section 28.

An Andrew M. Anderson declared his intention to become a citizen in Vernon County on April 30, 1883. His citizenship was heard, ordered, and filed in 1885.

The Kickapoo Scout newspaper of Soldiers Grove reported, in its December 10, 1910, edition (p.5, column 2) that an Andrew Anderson died on December 4th in the town of Franklin. He was 64 and had lived in the town of Franklin for 40 years. This is very likely our Anders (only the age is inconsistent) and is the basis of the data shown here.

Died:
date per Vernon County Death Index

Family/Spouse: Britha (Bertha). Britha was born on 15 Apr 1850 in Norway; died on 26 Sep 1913 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lived in Bergen.

Family/Spouse: Anna Mikkelsdatter. Anna was born on 7 Feb 1848; died on 9 Apr 1919 in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 1 Nov 1845, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Some incorrect sources say he was born in 1836.

An article in the Fennimore newspaper said that he was one of the “old settlers of Pine Knob.”

He died of cancer and “bequeathed $500 to Rev. Finstad’s Kickapoo church.”

Notes:

Something of a prominent businessman in Soldiers Grove where there was a “Peter Upholm building.”

Died:
according to the Soldiers Grove church record

Notes:

Called Chris or Christian in a brief obit in various newspapers. The Lancaster newspaper said that he was a partner with M.A. Sawyer in the drugstore in Boscobel.

The larger obit in the Soldiers Grove newspaper said that he had lived in Boscobel since 1876.

Birth:
His obit in the Soldiers Grove newspaper says Bergen.

Notes:

She seems to be the only one of her siblings to have children.

Died:
Gays Mills

Anna married Tosten T SIME in 1886. Tosten was born on 20 Feb 1855 in Norway; died on 25 Mar 1949 in Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin; was buried on 28 Mar 1949 in Utica Lutheran Church Cemetery, Mount Sterling, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Herman married Helen SEVERSON in 1913. Helen was born on 22 Feb 1869 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 9 Aug 1955 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 11 Aug 1955 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Called Isabel in the 1870 census.

Notes:

Birth:
John Thompson’s Albert Thompson Family Tree

Died:
John Thompson’s Albert Thompson Family Tree

Family/Spouse: Kari Olsdatter NÆS. Kari was born on 3 Jun 1851 in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 18 Feb 1935 in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Veitastrond

Died:
Kvam Ovre på Veitastrond

Family/Spouse: Augund Erikson BRENGSNÆSS. Augund was born on 1 Jun 1836 in Hafslo, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane. Norway; died in 1913 in Hafslo, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane. Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Candace Wicks

Birth:
Hilleren

Ole married Anna Kristensdatter QUAM on 6 Jun 1837 in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Anna was born on 16 Aug 1814 in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 9 Oct 1895 in Adams County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 10 Oct 1862, Dane County, Wisconsin

Notes:

A different Oline Krogen, the 24 year-old daughter of Peder and Marit Krogen, married Marius Klungnes in Minneapolis in 1909.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 1 Nov 1864, Winneshiek County, Iowa

Notes:

He also had a home baptism at age of 8 days, performed by Ingeborg A. Lia.

The records for the Washington Prairie church in Decorah show Erik was baptized on All Saints’ Day which would have been November 1, 1864.

According to the history of the Glenwood Lutheran Church east of Decorah, the Little Iowa congregation was made up of five present-day congregations: Madison, Washington Prairie, Stavanger, Calmar, and Glendwood.

In the 1900 census, he is Erick Olson, b. July 1864 in Iowa, a hotel keeper living with his family in Signal in Charles Mix County, South Dakota. He and his wife Mary, married 13 years, have two children, Mabel, 9, and Loelena or Toelena, 5, b. Nov 1894. Both girls were born in South Dakota. The families immediately preceding Erick on the census sheet are Beebes, presumably his brothers-in-law.

In the 1910 census, he is Erick Olson, 45, married 22 years, He and his wife operate or own a “first class” hotel in Fairfax Precinct in Gregory County, South Dakota. Both girls are still at home.

In the 1920 census, he was a packer for a millinery. He and his wife and daughter Zoe lived on Colfax Avenue N. in Minneapolis in a house they owned, albeit with a mortgage. Zoe worked as a bookkeeper for a heating company.

In the 1936 Minneapolis city directory, as Erick Olson, he and Mary E live at 3555 Girard Ave N. He is a clerk for McKesson & Robbins Inc.

In the 1940 census, he and Mary still live in Minneapolis at 3555 Girard Avenue N.

Baptism:
Little Iowa congregation (Little Iowa Norsk-Evangelisk Lutherske Menighed)

Erik married Mary Ellen BEEBE in 1888. Mary was born on 5 Jul 1868 in Minnesota; died on 28 Jun 1961 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 15 Apr 1866, Winneshiek County, Iowa

Notes:

Called Lisa Olson in the 1870 census, at which time her family lived in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

Baptism:
Washington Prairie, Decorah

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 24 Jul 1853, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Living with his mother and step-father on Svigum in Hafslo in the 1865 census.

According to the Luster bygdebøk, he never married, “drukna under sesjon.”

Died:
drowning

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 6 Jun 1858, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Cabinet-maker and farmer “på Berget øvre, Valaker.”

Birth:
born in Fedt subparish

Family/Spouse: Anna Marie Nilsdatter WALAKER. Anna was born on 26 Oct 1863; died on 7 Oct 1950. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 29 Dec 1861, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

One of his baptismal sponsors was the ill-fated Anna Andersdatter Mareim. At the time of that baptism, Anna would have been days either way of the conception that led to the pregnancy that led to her death.

Baptism:
perhaps at Joranger

Notes:

She continued living at Tråhaugen 2 until 1922 when she married Johannes Torkildson Teigen.

Family/Spouse: Johannes Torkildsen TEIGEN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Tobacco stripper
• Vernon County Death Index: V12, P310
• Baptism: 11 Dec 1853, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

In the church records for Nils’s baptism, remarks for father: “2den gang leiermaal” and remarks for mother: “1ste gang leiermaal.” This means that this instance for Nils’s father was the second of illicit and punishable intercourse; for Kari it was the first. (Peder’s first instance was Synneve Pedersdatter, born the month before to Anne Kristensdatter of Marifjæren farm.) Nels’s obit said he was born in Lyster.

Nels was found dead in the pasture or field on the Ole B. Fortney farm south of Viroqua, on a Sunday. The obituary went on to say that “Last Wednesday, he had started to walk to Viroqua from the home of Ray Slack where he had been working. He stopped at the home of Ole B. Fortney and then started across the field and that was the last seen of him alive.” The funeral was on a Tuesday at the Kickapoo church. The “Wednesday” was probably August 22, the death date on his gravestone. The “Sunday” then would have been the August 26 date on his county death record.

Shown as Nels P. Bowe on his gravestone.

Shown as Nels F. Bowe, d. August 26th, in the Vernon County death record.

Digitalarkivet’s database for Sogn og Fjordane flytting shows that Nils Pedersen, born in 1854, an unmarried “boy”, left Haflso for “Amerika” on April 9, 1867. This is the same date as Claus Bø left Hafslo. (The out-migration record in the church book shows Niels separately but with the note that he’s with “no. 27 Claus.”)

Not listed in the 1870 or 1880 censuses.

Not listed in the 1865 Norwegian census as living with Claus and Kari. In that census, he is probably the Niels Pederssen, “fosterson”, living with Erik Johannessen, 33, and his wife Kjisti Pedersdatter, 49, of Nøddedal farm in Haflso.

Not listed as living at home at the time of the 1880 census. Shown as “step-son” living with Claus and Carrie in the 1900 census.

According to a newspaper account of an incident that occurred September 17, 1908:

“Mr. Nels Bowe, a farmer living near Readstown, met with a painful accident Thursday evening. While driving home from town his team became frightened and unmanageable and he was thrown from the wagon and had his hip dislocated and several other bone crushed. At the present writing he is getting along nicely under the care of Dr. A.P. Minshall of this city {Viroqua}.”

He was living at home, with Claus and Carrie, in the 1905 Wisconsin state census.

Married a girl from the Dakotas and had a son. The wife later died and the son was raised by the wife's parents. Nels’s obit said “One child in infancy and wife died two years after marriage.”

In the 1910 census, shown as Nels P. Bowe, 53, a widower, a boarder in the household of Lewis Lewison in the town of Viroqua. Nels is shown as a farm laborer. He emigrated in 1865.

Shown as living with Louise in Viroqua in the 1920 census. Naturalized in 1890.

Nels’s estate was administered by M. O. Larson in hearings in March of 1924. The estate’s appraised value was $14,284.37 which was to be offset by debts of approximately $600. The value of his estate was to be equally distributed among his siblings: Sever, Andrew, Louise, Anna, Bertha, Susan, and Martha. Each received approximately $1900.

A claim against the estate was made by Otto Otteson for $310 for Nels’s funeral.

Birth:
the date on his gravestone, confirmed by Hafslo parish record

Baptism:
Date is not clear on the parish record. The church book makes no indication of Fedt or Joranger.

Died:
The 22nd was the date on his gravestone. It was August 25th according to the probate records.

Nils married Sigrid LARSON on 20 Mar 1877 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Sigrid (daughter of Lars LARSON) was born in 1854 in Norway; died on 2 Jan 1879 in Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V20, P472 As Susan Ekum
• Baptism: 30 Dec 1860, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Shown as illegitimate in her baptism record. The first daughter yet not named after her paternal grandmother because of the rule to name first children after dead spouses. Thus, she was named after Claus’s first wife.

Sponsors for her baptism were: Torbjørn Andersen Kleiven, Anders Andersen Mareim, Marthe Pedersdatter Kleiven, Sophie Pedersdatter Kleiven, Anna Pedersdatter Heidshammer.

Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Susanna Clausdatter, born in 1860 in Hafslo.

Was 4 feet, 10 inches tall but "a great woman, always jolly," according to Cora.

Lived in California for awhile with her five (?) children. Susan’s obit says that she spent 11 years in California but this doesn’t seem possible because she is shown to be in Franklin Township in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.

Census-taker Torge Berge visited the Claus 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.

In the 1910 census, Susan and her family are back in Vernon County in Kickapoo Township. Albert Munson is the head of family (so he hadn’t changed his name to Ekum yet). Albert is 27, Susana is 47 and widowed, Martin is 20, Clara is 16, and Rhoda is 14. They own their farm but it is mortgaged. Martin is shown as a laborer, “working out.” Susana is shown has having emigrated in 1866. There are no entries for the number of children Susan has had.

In the 1915 Vernon County plat book, the family is in Kickapoo Twp, just over the line from Franklin Twp, on the road to Readstown. Albert Ekum is shown as the owner of 77.34 acres (85 in the Farmers’ Directory). Martin Ekum is shown as owning 80 acres in the Farmers’ Directory but he is not shown on the plat map so it probably means that he and Albert jointly own the same 80.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Martin Ekum, 29, owner of mortgaged property, farmer in general farming, an employer. Susan, mother, 51, [59? 61?] widow, immigrated in 1870, naturalized but no date shown. Rhoda, sister, 24, single, born in Wisconsin, no occupation.

In the 1930 census, Susan and Rhoda and Martin lived at 165 West Maple in Viroqua in a house that Martin owned.

In the 1940 census (indexed as Ekrem), Susan and Rhoda and Martin live at 165 West Maple Street. Susan is shown as the owner of the house, worth $400. She had a sixth grade education.

“Susan Ekum” on her death record in Vernon County.

Birth:
Fedt subparish

Christened:
Fedt

Baptism:
in Fedt

Buried:
Rev. D.T. Borgen, of Immanueal Church, conducted funeral

Susanna married Thomas Monsen EIKUM (MUNSON) on 8 Mar 1880 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Thomas (son of Mons Schanke Monson EIKUM and Birthe Torbjornsdatter TEIGHE, son of Nils Sjurson EIKUM and Ragnild Bottolfsdotter) was born on 4 Sep 1850 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 24 Nov 1905 in Siskiyou County, California; was buried in Mount Shasta Memorial Park, Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Tobacco Stripper
• Vernon County Death Index: V18, P139 As Andrew Bowe
• Baptism: 28 Sep 1862, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Shown as illegitimate in his birth record. Sponsors at his baptism were: Thomas Larsen Lykken, Jørgen Endresen Opheim, Anders Andersen Marreim, Marthe Pedersdatter Sviggum, Margrethe Larsdotter Hattleui.

Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Anders Larsen, “foster son”, born in 1862 in Hafslo.

Andrew Bowe's biological mother was Carrie Bowe's sister. She died giving birth to Andrew according to Cora and this is confirmed by the church book. Andrew’s obituary says that Claus and Kari adopted him when he was one day old.

Andrew is not listed with the rest of the family unit in the 1870 U.S. census. Nor is he listed with the rest of the family in the 1910 census.

The 23 Apr 1890 edition of the Vernon County Censor describes an injury that occurred during a drilling operation on the Ole Lewison farm. “… a young man named Andrew Bowe had his right hand caught and frightfully crushed in the cog wheels. He was brought to this city and the wound was dressed by Dr. Gott who amputated one finger and thinks it may be necessary to remove more of them.”

Andrew never married. He is shown in the 1920 census living with Louise in Viroqua.

According to the 1920 census, was naturalized in 1890. May have emigrated in 1870 but the date is illegible. Shown as age 54 in the 1920 census which suggests birth ca 1865.

According to the 1930 census, emigrated in 1874.

Birth:
born in Fedt subparish

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Homemaker
• Vernon County Death Index: V13, P318 As Mrs. Anna Anderson
• Baptism: 18 Oct 1863, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

In a bible that either Carl or Anna had, Anna is shown as having been born October 22, 1864. The birth date in her obituary is also October 22, 1864. Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census as Anna Clausdatter, born in 1863 in Hafslo. Shown as “his daughter.” Cora had, in her address book, an entry for her mother’s birthday as August 22nd. Anna’s gravestone has the correct birthdate.

Cora said that Anna died February 22, 1926. The old bible lists the correct date of February 14.

The 1900 census shows “Annie”, age 33, as having been born in August of 1866 in Norway and emigrating to the U.S. in 1870. She and Charles were, at the time of the census, married for five years and she had had only one child. She was able to read, write, and speak English.

Census-taker Frank Munyon visited the Bowe/Anderson farm on May 6-7, 1910, and found Charley C. Anderson, age 42, Anna, age 43, and Cora C., age 14. At this time, the family was living on a farm next door to Claus’s farm. Anna is shown as coming to the U.S. in 1867, Charley in 1868. Charley is shown as owning his farm with a mortgage. Charley is shown as a general farmer. Charley is shown as working on own account. All speak English and all are 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.

In the 1915 Vernon County plat book, Charley and Anna are shown as owning the 42 or 45 acres of the northeast leg of Claus Bowe’s original homestead (probably the part on the east side of the highway). Sever Bowe is shown as owning the rest of the original homestead plus 40 acres to the west. Sever Nundahl owns 40 acres to the immediate south of that additional 40 that Sever Bowe owned.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Sever Nundahl, 56, owner of home free and clear, immigrated in 1880, naturalized citizen in 1905, can’t speak English, farmer in general farming, an employer. His wife is shown as Brita, 52, born in Wisconsin. Carl O, son, 22, farm worker working on own account. Clara (middle initial maybe “L”), 21, daughter. Tilman, son, 17, had not attended school since September 1, 1919.

Martin Ekum, 29, owner of mortgaged property, farmer in general farming, an employer. Susan, mother, 51, widow, immigrated in 1870, naturalized but no date shown. Rhoda, sister, 24, single, born in Wisconsin, no occupation.

Charlie C. Anderson, 52, immigrated in 1867, naturalized in 1898 (or maybe it’s 1895), owner of home free and clear, a farmer in general farming. Annie, his wife, 55, naturalized citizen but year of immigration is illegible and there is no year of naturalization given.

Birth:
the date on her gravestone, confirmed by IGI; her obit in the Kickapoo Scout said 1864

Christened:
in Joranger

Baptism:
in Joranger

Anna married Carl Clarence (Charly) ANDERSON on 24 Aug 1895 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Carl (son of Ole Christian Anderson FLØTTUM and Kristiane Kristiansdatter) was born on 6 May 1867 in Næs, Hedmark, Norway; was christened on 23 Jun 1867 in Næs, Hedmark, Norway; died on 22 May 1934 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 24 May 1934 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer, Garage Porter
• Vernon County Death Index: V17, P155 As Sever Bowe
• Baptism: 17 Jun 1866, Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

The first son and named after his paternal grandfather according to tradition. His middle initial C. probably stood for Claussen.

Never married. Played the violin at dances.

Cora says in her diary on September 11 that she got word that Sever died. That’s the date on his gravestone and in the Vernon County death record.

Census-taker Frank Munyon visited the Bowe/Anderson farm on May 6-7, 1910, and found Clause, age 77, widowed, Sever, age 44, Bertha Oren, 18, servant, 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. Clause is shown as owning his farm free and clear. Clause is shown as having his “own income”, Sever and Charley are farmers. Sever and Bertha are shown as employees (presumably both by Clause). All speak English except Bertha who only speaks Norwegian. All six are able to able to read.

Shown as age 52 in the 1920 census which suggests birth ca 1867.

According to the 1930 census, emigrated in 1874. (This is wrong, of course, because Sever is listed with the family in the 1870 U.S. census.)

Birth:
The date on his gravestone, confirmed by IDI

Christened:
in Joranger

Baptism:
in Joranger as Sjur Klausen

Died:
The date on his gravestone

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V21, P126 As Berthe

Notes:

Probably named after her paternal grandmother according to the Norwegian naming convention.

If Sever Bowe was born in May of 1866, Bertha could not have been born in September of 1866, the date shown in the 1900 census. Later censuses, and the 1870 census, suggest that September of 1867 may make more sense. Beth’s research says September 28, 1868. Bertha’s obit said September 28, 1869. Norma said, in a 4-1-2004 email, that her sister Eileen told her that Bertha was born in the house that Norma grew up in. That would seem to argue for the 1869 birthdate for Bertha although 1868 would not be ruled out.

“Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson” says that Bertha was born on 28 Sep 1867. If that is true, Kari was pregnant during the passage to the U.S. and Bertha was born soon after the famiy’s arrival in Wisconsin. That would have been too soon for Claus to have completed building his house on his farm. If Bertha was born in September of 1867, she probably would have been born in Liberty Pole, not the farm house. If Bertha was born in the farmhouse, then her birth year couldn’t have been any earlier than 1868 and was probably 1869. If we believe the age two in the 1870 census, Bertha was born in 1867. If we believe the age 11 in the 1880 census, Bertha was born in 1868.

Her death was precipitated by a fall that broke her hip about 4 weeks before she died. After that, she had been taken to the Lutheran hospital in La Crosse where she died.

She and her family initially lived in Soldiers Grove and later moved to a farm next to Clause Bowe's (where Cora was living by that time).

Loved to dance according to Cora.

At the time of the 1900 census (June 6th), the Nundahls were living in the village of Soldiers Grove. Sever is 34 (born Nov 1865), Bertha is 33 (born Sept 1866), Carl O. is 2 (born Aug 1897), and Clara S. is 1 (born July 1898). The couple had been married 4 years; Bertha had had 2 children, both still living. Sever’s occupation is stone mason. They owned their home free and clear and it was not a farm.

In the 1905 state census, Sever and family are living in Franklin Township. Sever is 44 and a stone mason. Bertha is 36, Carl is 7, Clara is 6, and Tillman is 3.

In Sever Nundahl’s obituary, it is noted that “for a few years they resided in Soldiers Grove. Later they moved to a farm near Mason City where they lived the rest of their lives.”

The 1910 census shows Sever and Bertha living in Franklin Town, not far from the Bowes and Andersons apparently. Sever is 45, born in Norway, apparently came to the U.S. in 1886 (the date is not clear) and owns his mortgaged farm. Bertha, 42, is shown as having had three live births, all still living. Carl is 12, Clara is 11, and Tilman is 8. Everyone can read and write (except Tilman) and the three children were all attending school. Sever and Bertha had been married for 13 years.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Sever Nundahl, 56, owner of home free and clear, immigrated in 1880, naturalized citizen in 1905, can’t speak English, farmer in general farming, an employer. His wife is shown as “Brita”, 52, born in Wisconsin. Carl O, son, 22, farm worker working on own account. Clara (middle initial maybe “L”), 21, daughter. Tilman O., son, 17, had not attended school since September 1, 1919.

Her obit said that she was preceded in death by two grandchildren (which must be Clara’s Clifford and Carl’s Ivan).

Birth:
born in Wisconsin according to the 1870 and 1880 census

Died:
died at Lutheran Hospital

Brithe married Sever Olsen NUNDAHL on 19 Sep 1896 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Sever (son of Ole Throndsen NUNDAL and Kari Mathiasdatter) was born on 12 Nov 1861 in Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 19 May 1954 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 22 May 1954 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1943-MN-020813

Notes:

Beth’s research says Martha’s birthdate was December, 1870.

Martha is shown in the 1891 La Crosse city directory as “Miss Martha Bowe, domestic.” It lists a succession of addresses. The one in print is “13th betw Main and King.” Two later addresses, entered by hand, are 303 N. 8th and 118 S. 11th. Martha is still listed as a domestic in the 1893 city directory, now at 812 Cass.

Divorced her first husband, with whom Cora says she had a son, then married Hendrickson. Cora remembers the divorce as "a disgrace." Because she had nowhere else to go, Martha moved back home to the farm and Anna, Charly, and Cora moved out for a year. Cora remembers Martha as "a bossy woman, and her boy {Georgie} was wild and noisy." Nevertheless, Martha later moved to Minneapolis and was the means by which Cora ended up meeting and marrying Maurice. (See notes under Cora.)

In the 1900 census, Martha and her first 1st husband lived in Barre, La Crosse County, in a house that they rented. Gabriel is shown as a farm laborer and had been unemployed for three of the previous 12 months. Martha is shown as having borne two children, one still living. Gabriel, Martha, and George are shown as having been born in Wisconsin; Gabriel’s and Martha’s parents were born in Norway.

In the 1905 state census, the family is still in Barre, La Crosse County. Gabriel is 34 and a farm laborer, Martha is 32, and George is 7. They live on a farm that they are renting. Living with them is a 54 year-old boarder named Elisa Olson, who is married.

At the time of the 1910 census (April 27th), Martha and her 2nd husband, Charles Hendrickson, were living at 2630 13th Ave. S. in Minneapolis in a house they owned. (This is the house that we have a picture of as “Aunt Martha’s house.”) The family consisted of Charles, 56, Martha, 40, Charles’s twin sons Carlson and Edgar O., 19, another of Charles’s sons whose name is illegible (may be Adolph), 17, Arthur C., 2, and step-son George Markson (or Markuson?), 12. George and Martha were born in Wisconsin, Charles in Norway, and everyone else in Minnesota. Charles’s occupation is blacksmith at some type (illegible) of shop. Edgar O. is a pipefitter at a hardware company. Carlson is a helper at a tile company. The illegible one is a laborer. Martha and Charles had been married three years. Martha is shown as having had three children, two living.

Martha and her 2nd husband, Charles Hendrickson, were visited by the 1920 census enumerator in January, 1920, when the family lived at 4032 11th Avenue.

They were still at that same location at the time of the 1930 census. The home was valued at $4500 and Charles and Martha owned it. They had a radio. The household consisted of Charles C., 77, his wife Martha, 57, their daughter Myrtle H. Carter, 20, their son-in-law Frank N. Carter, 23, and their grandson Frank N., 1-1/2. Charles is a stationary engineer at a knitting mill, Frank is a clerk at a railroad office. Neither man is a veteran. Martha is shown as first married at age 30.

In the 1940 census, Martha was a widow living at 4032 11th Avenue S. with her son, her son’s three children, and a “lodger” named Anna Petrin.

Death certificate 1943-MN-020813 was issued in Hennepin County for a “Martha Hendrickson” with a date of death of June 25, 1943.

Martha’s obituary appeared in the Sunday, June 27th edition of the Minneapolis Tribune. It said that she died on Friday, June 25th, at her home at 4032 11th Avenue South. She was survived by Mrs. Frank N. Carter of Minneapolis, George M. of St. Cloud, Arthur C. of Minneapolis, 5 grandchildren, and 3 sisters. She was a member of Alfheim Lodge #43. Services were to be on Monday, June 28th, at 1 PM at the Enger Funeral Home with interment at Lakewood.

Her daughter Myrtle was the informant for her mother’s death certificate. Martha died from colon cancer. Her residence at the time of her death was 4032 11th Avenue.

Birth:
27 December 1874 according to her death certificate.

Died:
Died 9:00 in evening according to Cora’s diary. Died at St. Mary’s hospital in Minneapolis.

Buried:
Cora attended funeral according to diary. Section 28, Lot 141, Grave 12

Martha married Gabriel Johann SWENNES on 24 Jun 1893 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, and was divorced in 1907 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Gabriel (son of Ole SWENNES and Ingeborg Knudsen SALSAA) was born in Apr 1870 in Barre Mills, La Crosse County, Wisconsin; died on 23 Aug 1943 in Sparta, Monroe County, Wisconsin; was buried on 26 Aug 1943 in Barre Mills, La Crosse County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Martha married Karsten Henrik (Charles) HENDRICKSON on 10 May 1907 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Karsten (son of Henrik HANSEN and Ane Kristine SENDRESEN) was born on 22 May 1855 in Stensoya (Stone Island), Rørvik, Østfold, Norway; was christened in Lækø, Leka, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 6 Sep 1935 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 9 Sep 1935 in Crystal Lake Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V1, P2

Notes:

Died of scarlet fever three days after her younger brother Albert.

Wisconsin Vital Records Death Index.
Name: Louise Bowe
Death Date: 12 Dec 1876
County: Vernon
Volume: 01
Page: 0001
Reel: 128
Image: 2884
Index Volume: -
Sequence #: 036772

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V1, P2

Notes:

The year of birth is unclear on the death certificate. It may be 1875. The 1875 date is also suggested by the tally of males and females in the household in the 1875 state census.

Died of scarlet fever three days before his older sister Louisa.

Wisconsin Vital Records Death Index.
Name: Albert Bowe
Death Date: 09 Dec 1876
County: Vernon
Volume: 01
Page: 0001
Reel: 128
Image: 2884
Index Volume: -
Sequence #: 036749

Notes:

Or Albertine. Probably died in the early 1880s. Was still alive at the time of the 1880 census. Was probably named after her brother Albert who died while Albertine was in utero.

Not listed in the index of Vernon County deaths.

From the Wisconsin Births database in Ancestry.com:

Wisconsin Vital Records Indexes, Pre-1907 Birth Index, Marriages, and Death Indes.

Name: Albertine Bowe
Birth Date: 18 Apr 1877
County: Vernon
Reel: 0286
Record: 000203

Birth:
Louisa’s twin, died young; was still alive when the census taker visited the farm on June 12, 1880

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: School Teacher
• Vernon County Death Index: V27, P540 As Louise Larson

Notes:

Mistakenly called Louise Eimerman in a tree on Ancestry.

The “Wisconsin Vital Records Indexes, Pre-1907 Birth Index, Marriages, and Death Index.” shows the birth of a Louisa Bowe in Vernon County on 18 April 1877. (Reel 0286, Record 000202) According to the birth records (VERN 0286, p. 203 for Albertina and 202 for Louisa), Louise and Albertine were born at 9:00 PM. Other records show that Louisa was born at 9 PM and Albertine at 10 PM. The birth records were entered by the girls’ father on June 4, 1877. They are the only children of Claus and Kari to have birth records.

Louise’s gravestone and her obituary say, erroneously, that Louise was born in 1879. Louise and Albertina were shown as three years old in the 1880 census.

Louise’s sibling twin died in childhood. Louise was apparently named after her older sister Louise who died of scarlet fever while Kari was pregnant with Louise and Albertina.



At the time of the 1910 census (April 18th), Louise and Martin, both 32 and married 6 years, were living on Main Street in the city of Viroqua in a house they were renting. Louise is shown as having had one child, zero still living. No one else was living with them in 1910. Martin is shown as a traveling agent for a “Harvester Co.” Louise’s middle initial is shown as B. but that may have referred to her maiden surname.

Found Louise and Martin living in Viroqua, in a home they owned on Maple (St.?), possibly house #122, in the 1920 census. By that time, Clara, Nels, Andrew, and Sever were all living with her.

In the 1930 census, Louise and Martin are living at 122 East Maple Street in Viroqua. The household consisted of Martin, 52, Louise, 51, their daughter Aida, 19 (absent, attending school), Sever, 64, Andrew, 68, and Clara, 37. Martin owns the house, valued at $5000, and the household does have a radio. Martin was 25 and Louise 24 when they were married.

In the 1940 census, Louise and Martin and Clara live at a house Martin owns at 122 East Maple Street and that is worth $4000. Martin is an automobile dealer. Martin had an eighth-grade education, Louise had had two years of high school.

Martin and Louise were married in a Lutheran ceremony witnessed by Ida Anderson and Sever Bowe.

From the Wisconsin Births database on Ancestry.com:
Wisconsin Vital Records Indexes, Pre-1907 Birth Index, Marriages, and Death Indes.

Name: Louisa Bowe
Birth Date: 18 Apr 1877
County: Vernon
Reel: 0286
Record: 000202

Her obit in the La Crosse Tribune, Tuesday, January 7, 1958:

Viroqua. Mrs. Louise Larson, 78, Viroqua, died Monday at the Bethel Home for the Aged. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Halvor Allness, Viroqua, the Rev. O. J. Nesheim officiating. Burial will be at the Viroqua Cemetery. Mrs. Larson, the former Louise Bowe, spent her entire life in Viroqua. She was active in county Republican organizations and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, holding offices in both. She was also active in the Viroqua Lutheran Church. Mrs. Larson, wife of the late Martin Larson, who died in 1948, is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Halvor (Ada) Allness, and four granddaughters.

Birth:
Albertina’s twin

Died:
the date according to her obituary

Buried:
4NE3

Louisa married Martin Otto LARSON on 4 Jul 1903 in Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Martin (son of Ole L Skagen LARSON and Anna Eriksdatter SVENDSØY) was born on 27 Sep 1877 in Kickapoo Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was christened in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 15 Jun 1948 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V19, P414 As Henry A.

Notes:

In the 1920 census, Henry, his brother Edward, and his sister Ida are living on a farm that Henry owns in Franklin Twp. Their ages are shown as 48, 31, and 43 respectively and all are single and born in Wisconsin.

In the 1930 census, he’s Hans again and living with his brother Ed on a farm that Hans owns in Frankin Twp. They’re both single; Hans is 58 and Ed is 53. The farm is not far from the Albert Ekum general store.

In the 1940 census, he lives with his sister Anna Nelson and her family.

Probably buried with the Bowes in the Bowe plots in the North Kickapoo cemetery.

Birth:
This date is from his obituary.

Notes:

In the 1900 census, an Albert Anderson, age 26, born Apr 1874, who was born in Wisconsin and whose parents were born in Norway, was a boarder in the household of Peter and Marthe Larson in Franklin twp.

Albert is not listed as being with his parents and siblings on the home farm in the 1905 state census.

In the 1920 census, he is probably the Albert A Anderson, 46, living with his wife Mary, 38, at 221 Hickory in Viroqua. He is employed as a laborer at “Sheets.”

He is in the 1930 census as Albert A. Anderson, 58, living in Viroqua at 221 something. His wife is Mary, 49. Albert was first married at age 38 and Mary at age 27 so this may be the first marriage for both. Both of them were born in Wisconsin and both sets of parents were born in Norway. Albert owns the home, worth $3000 and they do not have a radio. His occupation is listed as farm work. No children were living with them. Albert was not a veteran.

Albert A. Anderson, 1872-1939, is buried in the Belgium Ridge Cemetery, Viroqua Twp, with his wife Anna M., 1881-1936.

Albert married Mary THOMPSON about 1910. Mary was born in 1881 in Wisconsin; died on 27 Mar 1936 in Wisconsin; was buried in Belgium Ridge Cemetery, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Not listed in the index of Vernon County deaths.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V15, P138 As Edward A.

Notes:

In his draft registration card for WWI, dated September 12, 1918, Edward listed his employer as Henry Anderson and his nearest relative as Ida Anderson. All of their addresses are the same: 5 Viroqua, Vernon County. Edward is described as of medium height and weight with blue eyes and brown hair. The date of birth Edward gave is at odds with his implied age in the census.

Living with his brother Henry and sister Ida on a farm in Franklin Twp at the time of the 1920 census.

Still living with his brother in the 1930 census. The older brother is Hans again and owns the farm in Frankin Twp. They’re both single; Hans is 58 and Ed is 53.

There is an “Edward O.” buried with the Bowes. It’s almost certainly this Edward. The dates are 1876-1930.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V1, P37

Notes:

His death date is January 28th in the Vernon County records.

Died:
“of croup”

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V14, P137

Notes:

Living with her brothers Henry and Edward in the 1920 census.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V10, P71 As George Anderson

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V39, P76 As Anna Carolina Nelson
• Wisconsin Death Certificate: 013348

Notes:

Listed as “Annie E.” in the 1900 census.

In the 1905 state census, she is living at home with her parents and siblings but is distinctly shown as married. The Torger Larson who married an Anna Anderson in Vernon County on 16 Nov 1901 is not this marriage.

In the 1910 census, she is still living at home but is shown as single.

Her obit says that she was preceded in death by one sister and four brothers. That should have been two sisters and five brothers but those extra two siblings died very young and probably weren’t known or considered by Anna’s survivors. In any event, Anna survived all of her siblings by many years.

Cora had her address as 220 North Center, Viroqua.

Anna married Abraham NELSON in 1917. Abraham (son of NELSON) was born on 22 May 1883 in Wisconsin; died on 8 Apr 1978 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Possibilities, from the Vernon County death index, are:

Jorgen Albert Anderson, d. 14 Dec 1877
Christine Anderson, d. 2 Apr 1892
Mary Anderson, d. 29 Dec 1893
Seamen Anderson, d. 5 Feb 1886
Martha Anderson, d. 8 Feb 1899
Gladys Anderson, d. 7 Sep 1899
Mabel Johanah Anderson, d. 22 Feb 1900

Notes:

The youngest child.

Family/Spouse: Laurits Olsen FANEBUST. Laurits was born on 27 Dec 1889 in Norway; died on 6 Apr 1958 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Herman married Grace HELGERSON on 24 Apr 1918 in Utica, Crawford County, Wisconsin. Grace (daughter of Knute HELGERSON and Mary Clara GUSTESON) was born on 13 Aug 1898 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 9 Jul 1981 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; was buried in Utica Lutheran Church Cemetery, Mount Sterling, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and her husband lived in La Crosse at the time of her brother Adolph’s death in 1982.

Died:
St. Francis nursing home

Ingeborg married Edwin HELGERSON on 12 Mar 1912. Edwin (son of Knute HELGERSON and Mary Clara GUSTESON) was born on 7 Feb 1891 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 14 Mar 1984 in La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried in Mormon Coulee Memorial Park, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adolph married Bertha HELGERSON on 10 Aug 1910 in Utica, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She lived in Tallahassee, Florida, at the time of the death of her brother Adolph in 1982.

Her obit said that she had been in Tallahassee for 29 years. She was a retired retail clerk and a former school teacher.

Family/Spouse: Harry HELGERSON. Harry (son of Knute HELGERSON and Mary Clara GUSTESON) was born on 5 Aug 1893 in Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 23 Oct 1925 in Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin; was buried in Gays Mills Cemetery, Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She lived in Monroe, Wisconsin, at the time of the death of her brother Adolph in 1982.

She lived in Soldiers Grove at the time her sister Ingeborg died in 1987.

Ella married Frank C LINCICUM on 27 Nov 1919 in Crawford County, Wisconsin. Frank was born in 1892 in Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin; died on 8 May 1968 in Lafayette County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He and his wife and family came to the U.S. in 1904.

Birth:
John Thompson’s Albert Thompson Family Tree

Died:
John Thompson’s Albert Thompson Family Tree

Family/Spouse: Kjersti Mette Johannesdatter. Kjersti (daughter of Johannes Hermundsen and Marie Hermundsdatter) was born on 18 Nov 1872 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 10 May 1955 in Chippewa County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Brengsnæss under Kvam

Died:
Nes sondre

Anna married Knut Johannessen NES on 18 Oct 1888 in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Knut was born on 12 Jan 1863 in Hafslo, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane. Norway; died on 28 Feb 1943 in Hafslo, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Candace Wicks

Family/Spouse: Christopher Christopherson LYSE. Christopher was born on 7 Jul 1844 in Rogaland, Norway; died on 12 Jul 1916 in Adams County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was still single and living at home in the 1910 census. She was a music teacher.

She and her husband lived in Minneapolis at the time of the 1920 census. He was a stock clerk at a music store.

She and her husband and two sons lived on Lyndale in north Minneapolis in the 1940 census, the same house in which they all had lived in 1935. Howard was a buyer for Schmitt Music Company.

She survived her sister. She lived in Minneapolis at the time of Zoe’s death.

At the time of her death, she lived at 4235 17th Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Buried:
cremated, ashes scattered at Lakewood

Mabel married Howard Palmer MILLER on 31 Jul 1919 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Howard was born on 16 May 1889 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 22 Nov 1956 in Cincinnati, Ohio; was buried on 26 Nov 1956 in Cincinnati Crematory. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In the 1930 census, she and her husband and daughter live in St. Paul in a house they own worth $5500. Gordon is a traveling salesman.

In the 1940 census, she and her husband and daughter live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in a rented house. Gordon is a wholesale feed salesman. Five years earlier the family lived in St. Paul. Gordon has has one year of college, Zoe is a high school graduate.

She and Gordon lived at 3043 Thirteenth Avenue S. in Minneapolis at the time they announced the engagement of their daughter to Bernard George Black in May of 1946.

She lived at 6870 7th St. NE, in Fridley, Minnesota, at the time of her death. Her daughter was Mrs. Bernard G. Black of Fridley, who had 5 children. Her sister was Mrs. H. P. Miller of Minneapolis. Her obit said that she had been a resident of Minneapolis for 50 years and was a graduate of South High.

An article in the Minneapolis Tribune, 31 Jul 1966, notes: “A modest collection of daylilies has been started in the {University of Minnesota} arboretum as a memorial to Zoe L. Fossum.

Birth:
Many sources say 1895.

Zoe married Gordon Marion FOSSUM on 17 Mar 1920 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Gordon was born in 1896 in Minnesota; died on 8 Feb 1950 in Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jens GAARDEN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Appropriately named after her father’s mother.

Included because Susan is shown in the 1900 census as having borne 8 children, 5 still living.

Albert’s obit says that he was preceded in death by 4 sisters and 1 brother. Therefore, this unnamed sibling of Albert must be a sister.

Susan’s obit shows that she had 5 daughters, one of them named Bertha.

Not listed in the Vernon County Death Index.

The bygdebok has her born in late 1880 and dying at an extremely young age.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V24, P559 As Albert M. Ekum

Notes:

Perhaps named for his little aunt Albertina who may have died at about the time he was born. Albertine had probably been named for her brother Albert Bowe who died while Albertine was in utero.

It’s possible that his middle name was Mons.

He placed the following advertisement in the Vernon County Censor, 9 Aug 1911 edition, and for two more weeks after that: For Sale: My stock and tobacco farm of 86 acres located 3 miles west of Readstown, known as the Hendrickson farm. Albert Munson Ekum, Readstown, Route No. 2. The Kickapoo Scout’s 4 May 1916 edition noted that Albert Ekum had sold his farm to Adolph Anderson.

The Kickapoo Scout’s 22 Jun 1916 edition noted that Albert Ekum had traveled to Minneapolis for medical treatment.

Registered for the draft on September 12, 1918, as Albert Ekum. He listed his home address as Route 4, Viroqua. He claimed to be 35 and born on November 26, 1882. His occupation is illegible. His nearest relative is listed as Bertha Ekum. Albert is described as of medium height and slender build with blue eyes and light hair.

The Kickapoo Scout’s 14 Nov 1918 edition noted that Albert Ekum had started to build his large store buildings in Liberty Pole and would soon start to sell all sorts of things that the people in the area needed. Albert advertised in the 26 Mar 1919 edition of the Vernon County Censor that he has opened up his new store in Liberty Pole and had on hand a full line of groceries.

The Vernon County Censor’s 9 Jul 1919 edition had a For Sale advertisment from Albert: My property at Liberty Pole consisting of 3½ acres of good tobacco land, garden and orchard, good house and barn, new store building, blacksmith shop.

The 27 August 1919 edition of the Censor had a brief article entitled A New City on the Hill: Albert Ekum, who has conducted a grocery at Liberty Pole, will take a change of base. He has purchased two acres of land from Ole B. Fortney and founded a new hamlet, which is christened “Mason City”, named for the early owner of the Mason farm. The store and residence is in course of erection on the country site, opposite the farm residence of Solfest Solverson, in the Franklin area.

The Censor’s 5 Nov 1919 edition said: Six miles south of Viroqua, on the Readstown state trunk highway, nearly opposite that farm home of Sylvester Solverson, looms up a fine combined business structure and dwelling. The place also has a full basement. It will open for business Saturday, November 8. At this favorable location, Albert Ekum has established a new trading place where he will dispense general merchandise to the people, carrying a complete stock. He invites all within his territory to call and inspect his goods, assuring them of new and good purchases at live and let live prices. A gasoline tank is established. Mr. Ekum is well known and has experience. The favorable location ought to insure success to the new merchant.

The Censor’s 9 Feb 1921 edition noted that Albert Ekum had hired a tutor to instruct him in the method of driving his new flivver.

Changed name to Ekum because, according to Dorothy's family stories, there were so many Munsons in the area (after they moved back in 1907) that delivering mail was confusing. Some relatives in northern Wisconsin convinced Albert and other members of the family to change their name to Ekum, similar to the original family name in Norway.

Albert and Bertha ran a grocery store and cabins many years in Mason City, "a small place south of Viroqua." They moved to Viroqua in 1946. After moving to Viroqua, Albert sold corn and was a janitor of Immanuel Church until he died in 1952.

In his obit, it was noted that Albert was the proprietor of a Mason City store for 27 years, an assessor for the Town of Franklin for 22 consecutive years, and treasurer of Immanuel Church for 12 years.

Not shown as living with his mother at the time of the 1900 census (June 12th). He and his father and sister Caroline had gone to California by that time and were living in Butte Township, Siskiyou County. Albert had a job as a laborer in a box factory.

The 1920 census-taker was Douglas Nelson who found the Ekum family on January 21st:

Albert, 31, home-owner but with a mortgage, store-keeper of a general store working on own account. Bertha, 28, born in Norway and immigrated in 1908 or 1909, naturalized in 1911, can read and write (probably Norwegian) but cannot speak English. {Which may be why her age is incorrect.} Children: Earnest T, 6, who has attended school, Selma Margaret, age 4 years and some months, Theresa Caroline, age 2 years and some months, and Archie Bennet age 1 year and some months or less.

Shown as Albert Elsum in the 1930 census index. According to the census, Albert and his family were living on the “Viroqua and Readstown Road” in Franklin Twp, Vernon County, in a $2500 house that Albert owned and that was not a farm. They did not have a radio. The household consisted of Albert, 47, Bertha, 38, Theresa, 12, Archie, 10, Walter, 8, Dorothy, 4+, Selma, 2+, and Thomas, 3 months. (Ernest is not listed.) Albert and Bertha were 29 and 20, respectively, when they were first married. Bertha emigrated in 1909. Albert’s occupation is shown as “Merchant, Country Store.” Albert was not a veteran.

Albert’s store and filling station was robbed in September of 1939 by a “gang” of three Minneapolis men who had staged several other holdups in the area. The three were captured in Michigan. They had raided Albert’s cash register for about $15.

In the 1940 census, Albert, Bertha, and their six youngest children, lived in Franklin Twp. Albert was the operator of a rural store.

In the 1950 census, Albert and Bertha lived 419 S Washington in Viroqua. Albert is a janitor at a church as well as a seed salesman. Living with them at the same address is the Adrian Sherry family.

An article in the December 19, 1951, edition of the La Crosse Tribune:

Viroquans Mark 40th Anniversary

“Friends and relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ekum, 419 S. Washington Ave., honored them on their 40th wedding anniversary December 16th. A reception was held at Immanuel Lutheran Church parlors. Mrs. Ekum, the former Bertha Oren, came to this country from Norway when she was 17. She was 20 when she was married to Albert Ekum at Readstown by the Rev. L. C. Jacobson, then Immanuel Lutheran pastor. Their attendants were Mrs. Ida Anderson and Martin Ekum, sister and brother of the couple. Both were at the Sunday reception.

“In a brief program, the Rev. Peder Nordsletten, Immanuel pastor, reviewed the lives of the celebrants. Daughters of the couple participated in devotions and the reading of anniversary poems.

“Before coming to Viroqua to reside in 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Ekum operated a general store and tourist camp at Mason City on Highway 14 between Readstown and Viroqua for 26 years.

“Their children are Mrs. Floyd Clements, Mrs. Arnold McKittrick, Mrs. Adrian Sherry, all of this vicinity; Ernest, Mason City; Arch, Birmingham, England; Tomas, U.S. Army stationed in Virginia; Walter, Monroe, Wisconsin.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ekum never have seen the two children of Arch, who served overseas during World War II and married an English girl. Nor have they seen a grandchild living in the south. The other six grandchildren are in the area.”

In his World War II draft registration, he gave his address as Route 5, Viroqua. He was self-employed.

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.”

According to the obit in the La Crosse paper, he died suddenly at his home in Viroqua on Tuesday afternoon, March 4th. Visitation was at the home on March 7th, and the funeral on the 8th was from the home and at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

That obit also says: “Before coming to Viroqua six years ago, Ekum operated the Mason City general store and tourist cabins in the Township of Franklin, Vernon County, for 27 years. He held many township offices including assessor, and was treasurer of the Franklin Lutheran Church for many years. He remained active in church work in Viroqua.”

Died:
Died at 2:30 PM according to Cora’s diary. Died suddenly at his home on South Washington Avenue according to La Crosse obit.

Buried:
Rev. Borgen conducted the funeral according to one source, Rev. Peder Nordsletten according to another.

Albert married Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN on 19 Dec 1911 in Immanuel Lutheran Church, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Brita (daughter of Erik Pedersen NUNDAL and Malene Ovesdatter ØREN) was born on 21 Dec 1891 in Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 11 Feb 1960 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1945-MN-005814

Notes:

Caroline accompanied her father and brother Albert to California in advance of Susan and the rest of the children traveling out there to join them. In the 1900 census, Caroline, Albert and Tom were living in Butte Township, Siskiyou County. Caroline was in school.

Clara, Caroline, and Dorothy visited Cora at her Minnehaha Avenue home on July 17, 1944.

Services held at Richfield Baptist Church, 2:00 PM, on Thursday, February 22, 1945, Rev. Royal Bowser officiating. Funeral arrangements by Joe Billman House of Flowers.

Her obituary said that her residence was 6605 1st Avenue South and that she was 58 years old. She was survived by her husband George, daughter Mrs. Mildred Pratt, sons Chester, Wilbur, and Richard, one sister and two brothers.

According to her death certificate, she died of sudden complications of gall bladder disease and stone which led to “lumbar arrest.” This may mean cardiac arrest occurring during or as a result of spinal anesthesia.

Birth:
April 1885 according to the 1900 census. 13 April 1886 according to her death certificate.

Caroline married George HENDRICKSON on 9 Mar 1910 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. George (son of Karsten Henrik (Charles) HENDRICKSON and Mary ERICKSON) was born on 1 Jan 1886 in Minnesota; died on 27 Jun 1955 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died as an infant. Not listed in the Vernon County Death Index.

The bygdebok calls him Kelley. He should have been named after his mother’s father.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 394-07-9077 issued in WI before 1951
• Baptism: 15 May 1890, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin

Notes:

Martin registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, in the town of Franklin by registrar Carl B. Fortney. He claimed to be 27, born on March 6, 1890, in the town of Franklin. His home address is shown as Rural Delivery route 4, Viroqua. He claimed to be a self-employed farmer. Regarding anyone “solely dependent on you for support,” he listed “mother and invalid sister.” He is described as tall and of slender build with blue eyes and brown hair.

Changed name to Ekum because, according to Dorothy's family stories, there were so many Munsons in the area (after they moved back in 1907) that delivering mail was confusing. Some relatives in northern Wisconsin convinced Martin and Albert and other members of the family to change their name to Ekum, similar to the original family name in Norway.

Operated on at the Viroqua hospital for a ruptured appendix in November of 1921.

No children. Seven years younger than Albert.

In his obituary, it was noted that Martin “for many years operated a filling station in Viroqua.”

Pallbearers at Martin’s funeral: Leonard Erickson, Richard Hagun, Robert Miller, Maynard Wedwick, Leland Ekum, and Larry McKittrick.



According to Cora’s diary, she, Ron, and Don R. visited Martin during their trip to Viroqua on June 19, 1966.

Martin Ekum is shown in the 1910 census as a single, 20 year-old hired man on the Ole Solverson farm.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Martin Ekum, 29, owner of mortgaged property, farmer in general farming, an employer. Susan, mother, 51, [that must have been 59 or 61] widow, immigrated in 1870, naturalized but no date shown. Rhoda, sister, 24, single, born in Wisconsin, no occupation.

At the time of the 1930 census, Martin, 40, his mother Susan, 69, and his sister Rhoda, 33, were living at 165 West Maple in Viroqua in a $3500 house that Martin, presumably, owned. The household did not have a radio. Susan is shown as not being able to read or write and having come to this country in 1866. Martin’s occupation is attendant, service station, and he is employed. Martin was not a veteran. Rhoda and Susan have no occupation.

In the 1940 census, he (indexed as Marlin Ekrem), lives with his mother and sister Rhoda at 165 Maple Street in Viroqua. He had a 7th grade education and worked as an attendant at a gasoline filling station.

In his World War II draft registration, he gave his mother Susan, 165 Maple Street, as the person who would always know his address. He was employed by Steenson Bros, of South Main Street, Viroqua.

In the 1950 census, Martin and Esther lived on W. Maple Street in Viroqua. He is an attendant at a gasoline filling station.

In a typed letter to Cora dated December 7, 1968, Theresa Clements says about Martin: “Uncle Martin hasn’t been too good either. He was in the hospital three weeks ago, from Saturday night until Thursday. His heart acted up again and guess it was worse this time. A nurses aide said to Sally that three doctors worked over him for two hours that night and that it was a coronary. But, if it had been that, he wouldn’t have gotten home so soon. He did have oxygen from Saturday night until Tuesday morning but he told me Sunday night that he was feeling fine then. He hasn’t gone back to work though. He tried it a couple of times but didn’t feel good again. He doesn’t work so hard at the station -- just tends the pumps -- but I think he started back too soon and put in too long a day and got over-tired. Then a week ago today he was feeling so good he went out and trimmed some bushes in front of his house and had to have a doctor again. I think the work he does at home is much harder on him. And this past year he has had such an obsession about his lawn that he was mowing it almost every day all summer. He didn’t go to the funeral parlor today {for Carl Nundahl} either but he went up to the funeral parlor last night.”

In her Christmas letter of 1973, Theresa said, “Uncle Martin is doing pretty good but his legs bother him a lot. He says they don’t pain him but get so stiff and bothers him to walk some.”

In her birthday card to Cora dated Thursday, February 28, 1974, Theresa said, “Uncle Martin just got home yesterday after spending 24 days in the hospital. He had an abscess on a toe and didn’t go to the doctor right away -- he had it several days before he told me about it -- so he ended up with a badly infected foot. Then, after a few days in the hospital he got real sick from all the antibiotics he was getting. His stomach got real upset, he had diarrhea for over two weeks, and had hiccups almost steady for three days. He got so weak, and just didn’t get his appetite back, so we did get a little worried as it hung on so long. He was going to go home on Monday but then he was so dizzy and nauseated again. I think now that part of it was weakness and a lot of it was homesickness. He said he had never been away from home this long in his life. And when I talked to him last night he said he felt stronger already. His foot is fine. As far as that was concerned he could have gone home weeks ago.... I just talked with Uncle Martin and he said he had been weak and dizzy this morning but was feeling fine. He isn’t going to try and drive his car until he gets stronger, though, so Floyd is going to take him to the bank tomorrow.”

In a note to Cora after Martin’s funeral, Dorothy McKittrick said that Martin had been in the hospital for a little over a week but had gone back to the nursing home the day before he died. “He had gotten quite thin and was very weak.”

The casket-bearers at his funeral: Leonard Erickson, Richard Hagen, Maynard Wedwick, Leland Ekum, Robert Miller, and Larry McKittrick.

Cora had two addresses for Martin in her address book:

165 West Maple Street, Viroqua 54665, and
Norseland Nursing Home, Room 114, Westby 54667

There was no house at 165 West Maple Street, just a vacant lot, as of August 17, 2003.

Baptism:
Franklin Lutheran Church

Died:
Norseland Nursing Home

Buried:
funeral Viroqua United Methodist Church

Martin married Esther Leona HILTON on 28 Jun 1944 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Esther was born on 22 May 1911 in Iowa; died on 6 Mar 1970 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 9 Mar 1970 in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V25, P19 As Clara Munson

Notes:

Never married. Lived with her aunt Louise. Is shown in the 1920 census and the 1930 census and 1940 census as living with Louise and Martin in Viroqua.

In the 1950 census, she is living in Viroqua with her aunt Louise. Also in the household is the Halvor Allness family.

Her obit says that Clara died suddenly on “Tuesday morning” at a Madison hospital after a lingering illness. That would mean that Clara died on July 1st, the date on her Vernon County death record. The obit said that she had been in failing health for about a year.



May have been the only one of her family to _not_ change her name to Ekum.

Clara, Caroline, and Dorothy visited Cora at her Minnehaha Ave. home on July 17, 1944.

Clara “and Mildred and kids” visited Cora on Minnehaha on July 18, 1947.



According to the obit in the La Crosse newspaper, which had her age as 58, Clara Munson died at a Madison hospital after a lingering illness. “Since childhood she had made her home with an aunt, Mrs. Martin Larson. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Halvor Allness. The Rev. Alf Romstad officiates. Survivors include one brother, Martin Ekum, Viroqua, her aunt, and several cousins.”

Died:
Cora’s diary said July 3rd, probably the day Cora heard

Buried:
4NE3

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V19, P335 As Rhoda Ekum

Notes:

Never married. Lived with her mother and brother Martin according to Cora. Her obit noted that she had been “in poor health nearly all of her life.”

Martin referred to her as his “invalid sister” when he registered for the draft.

Her obit says that she died on September 8th as does the Vernon County death record.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is also consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Martin Ekum, 29, owner of mortgaged property, farmer in general farming, an employer. Susan, mother, 51, widow, immigrated in 1870, naturalized but no date shown. Rhoda, sister, 24, single, born in Wisconsin, no occupation.

An article in the Vernon County Censor, 5 Jan 1921 edition, said “Miss Rhoda Ekum, who has been spending the summer at Minneapolis, returned home for the holidays, accompanied by her brother-in-law, who returned the first of the week …” She had been, apparently, staying with Caroline and her family and George had accompanied her back to Viroqua,

At the time of the 1930 census, Rhoda and her mother were living with Martin in Viroqua.

In the 1940 census, Rhoda lives with her mother and Martin in Viroqua. She had a sixth-grade education.

Died:
Died in a hospital in La Crosse. Cora’s diary says September 9th.

Buried:
Rev. D. T. Borgen conducted the funeral

Notes:

Died from spinal meningitis at age 4.

According to FS’s California Death Index images, Theresa died 14 Mar 1906 in county #47, age 3, state file number 7596 for 1906.

Buried:
As Theresa M Ekum. She shares a gravestone with her father.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1995-MN-034522
• Occupation: Homemaker
• Social Security Number: 472-44-4397 per her 1960-64 diary, confirmed in SSDI as issued in Minnesota in 1956-57
• Baptism: 26 Apr 1896, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin

Notes:

Her middle name is probably from her father’s mother.

Cora is shown on the 1900 census as having been born in Wisconsin in March, 1896. In Ancestry.com’s site, it is La Crosse Ward 17, image 32 of 35. At the time of the census, in June of 1900, the family was living on S. 11th Street, probably #715, according to the census form.

Cora’s birth, as listed in the Wisconsin Births database on Ancestry.com.

Wisconsin Vital Records Indexes, Pre-1907 Birth Index, Marriages, and Death Index.

Name: Cora C Anderson
Birth Date: 07 Mar 1896
County: La Crosse
Reel: 0104
Record: 000126

Her birth is recorded (as Cora Christine) in the records of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Her baptismal sponsors were Simon Lee and Martha Brouhard and Nelson {sic} and Lovise Boe.

In early 1941, Cora, like Maurice, sought a copy of her birth certificate. She received it on April 7th in an envelope postmarked on April 5, 1941, in La Crosse, from Charles J. Wachs, the Register of Deeds of La Crosse County. The birth certificate (#126567) lists her name as Cora Christena Anderson, that she was born at 9:00 AM on Saturday, March 7, 1896, in La Crosse. The birth was recorded by Randolph Elliott, then the Register of Deeds, apparently, on August 19, 1896, and is recorded on page 236, Volume 8, of the register. The certification of the facts of the birth was apparently provided by P. B. Amunson, “attending physician”, on May 15, 1896, in La Crosse. Cora’s father is listed as Charles Clarance Anderson, “laborer.” Cora’s mother’s maiden name is listed as Anna Bowe. Charles Wachs issued the certified copy on April 4, 1941.

Confirmed November 20, 1910, Bethesda Lutheran Church, Viroqua, WI, C.E. Sybilrud, Pastor. {Sybilrud was pastor at Bethesda Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1909 to 1912.}

Witnesses at wedding: Clara Nundahl and (her future husband) Odin Olson. Married by Pastor Esaias O. Hofstead. {Hofstead was pastor at Bethesda Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1912 to 1919.} Hofstead died less than 4 years later at the age of 41.

The Kickapoo Scout’s 18 Jul 1918 edition noted that Cora and her mother, with several other women, visited Sam Nundahls’. This was probably to show off Cora’s one-year old daughter.

We know Cora, Maurice, Don, and probably Vivian visited Viroqua when DHC was one year old to visit with Cora's parents. The next year, Cora’s mother died and soon after that Charley came to Minneapolis to live with Cora and Maurice.



My Mother’s People
By Cora Christine Anderson Carlson, 1980 or 1981

Grandpa Claus Bowe Vaas, Norway
born June 1, 1833 in Norway
died March 2, 1913 at Viroqua, WI

Grandma Carrie Bowe Sogn, Norway
born October 31, 1833 in Norway
died October 31, 1908 at Viroqua, WI

They lived on a farm near Viroqua. When they first came from Norway, they stayed at Liberty Pole, Wisconsin, a small berg about 10 or 12 miles west of the place they homesteaded in 1862. Their first house they built on the farm was dug into the side of the hill near the house they built of logs. Later they built the rest of the house of lumber. (What you saw was the log part.) While they were at Liberty Pole, Grandpa had a shoemaker’s shop. He also built a shoemaker’s shop at the farm. He had a brother-in-law he made shoes for who was a tailor. I used to watch Grandpa make shoes for him in this shop of his. It was a big deal for me to get to be with him. But they - Grandpa and his sons and my dad - were tobacco farmers. They also had cows, sheep, horses, had hay, grain, etc., but tobacco was their main money crop. The chickens, eggs, and butter was money for the household.

My mother and dad had come to stay and take care of grandma and grandpa as they were getting old and I was an only child so no noise. The other daughters had too many kids so they didn’t want them. I was a quiet little mouse.

Grandpa and Grandma Bowe had 6 daughters (one died in childhood), 2 sons, and one adoptive son (Grandma’s sister’s son, she died). The daughters were Aunt Susan, my mother, Aunt Martha, Aunt Bertha, Aunt Louise who was a twin (the other one died). The sons were Uncle Nels, Uncle Sever, and Uncle Andrew the adopted one. (He was the son of Grandma’s sister who died in childbirth of Andrew.)

Aunt Susan married a man named Tom Munson and had 2 sons, Albert and Martin Ekum (the boys changed their names), and 4 girls, Caroline, Clara, Rhoda, and Theresa (who died in California). Caroline married a fellow named Hendrickson, Clara and Rhoda never married.

Aunt Martha married a Swenees and divorced him and married Hendrickson and had a son Arthur and a daughter Myrtle. Myrtle Carter has a son, Frank Carter Jr.

Aunt Bertha had two sons, Carl and Tillman, and a daughter Clara. Aunt Louise had 1 daughter Adah.

They are all dead.

Uncle Nels married a girl in Dakota. She died. They had a son which her folks took to raise. I never met them. Uncles Sever and Andrew never married.

Myrtle is my only living cousin but I have a lot of cousins from my cousin’s children. Clara had 11 children, two died. Carl had 10 or 11 children. Tillman had 3 children; I haven't heard that any of them are dead.

Albert had 6 kids: 3 girls and 3 boys. One girl died: Theresa.

Martin had no kids. Caroline had 1 daughter. Mildred had 2 sons: Chester and the other with an odd name I can’t remember.

Arthur Hendrickson married my cousin Gertie (they had 3 kids) then divorced her and married an older woman. His kids [apparently by Gertie]: 2 girls, Barbara and Pat, and one son Arthur.

My Father’s People

My Grandpa Ole Anderson, Sr.
Born March 11, 1834, in Hedemarken, Norway
Came to La Crosse, Wis, some time in October ,1867
Died November 26, 1898, in La Crosse, Wis

My Grandma Christiana Anderson
Born March 23, 1838, in Toten, Norway
Died April 12, 1906, in La Crosse, Wis.

My Dad Carl Clarence Anderson (Called Charly)
Born May 6, 1867, Hedemarken, Norway
Died May 22, 1834, in Minneapolis, Minn.

My Uncle Ole Anderson, Jr.
Born January 19, 1874 in La Crosse, Wis
Died in Duluth, Minnesota

Ole Anderson and his family lived in Duluth, his family is still there. He worked for a newspaper in La Crosse and Duluth.

My Grandpa Anderson had a dairy. He bought the big lot on the corner. He built a house in front on the street. {Maybe he didn’t build it; the Sanborn fire insurance map from the late 1850s shows a house on that corner already.} He built a barn for his cows on the back of the lot next to the alley. {This is confirmed by the 1891 Sanborn fire insurance map. There is a pair of outbuildings on Ferry, on the west side of the alley,that the Sanborn map identifies as a stable.} He took his cows to graze on a farm a short ways from his home outside town.

{The Lincoln Public School, which Ole and Charley may have attended, was a block north on the northern one-third of the block bounded by Division, 9th, Ferry, and 8th.}

Their home address is 609 South 8th Street, La Crosse, Wis. {No, Ole and Christina lived at 603 South Eighth Street; 609 was next door.} Don, you remember you saw the place when we drove down there [with Ron in 1966]. They had moved Grandpa's house onto a side street and built a new one on the front street. {?} They had torn off a big part of it so it wasn’t so big anymore. {This is confirmed by the Sanborn maps although the change must have happened between 1906 and 1910 after Christina died and Ole Jr. moved to Duluth. The 1891 Sanborn map shows a single house at 603. The 1906-1910 map shows two significant changes: the house at 603 has become a duplex with a new entriy at 802 Ferry and there is an additional dwelling on the lot with the address of 810 Ferry.} He had his customers. I think the lot was bigger than what we saw. {The lot was the same size, and the neighboring house at 609 in the same place, in the 1891 and 1906-1910 Sanborn maps.} They must have sold it for other houses.

My dad’s brother lived in Duluth. He had quite a few kids who still live there. His wife is dead also. I don’t know much about them. I met 2 of the daughters. They were nice. Mariam and Gertie and one son called Herbert.

My dad had relatives on the southern part of Minnesota at Grand Meadow by the name of Jorgens and some by the name of Skogstad. They had their own band. They were his mother’s relatives I guess. I remember meeting some of them at my grandmother’s funeral. [There were] also some cousins in La Crosse and some here in Minneapolis. Grandma Anderson was a singer from Oslo, Norway, so I guess all the music singers were from Grandma’s side. She was very well liked and had lots of friends. She belonged to the Norwegian Lutheran Church in La Crosse. Her funeral was so big and had so many flowers. I haven’t seen so many flowers at a funeral (until Maurice’s). Those days they had special built carriages for choirs, etc. It impressed me so I will never forget it.

Cora Christine Anderson Carlson

I was born at La Crosse, Wis March 7, 1896. I remember [a] few things about when we lived in La Crosse. I remember one place we lived, even to the lay out of the house. It was near the Catholic church and the hospitals. At Easter time, Palm Sunday, the nuns and other people would go by the house, carried palms. I would see the nuns going to the church.

At this place we had rooms upstairs that we let a lady dress maker rent. She made me a light brown silk dress trimmed with light blue. I think I had my picture taken in it. She had a boyfriend that was an artist. To pay his way at school, he had to deliver milk. Anyway, he must have liked me as he painted Christmas cards for me with my name on them. He also painted two big beautiful paintings for my mother, framed. We had them hanging in the living room. I could have had them but I didn’t want them. I am sorry now. They were so big. (I couldn’t see them on my walls, too old fashioned.)

{Presumably, Cora remembers their home at 715 S. 11th. It is shown in the Sanborn fire insurance directory as a 1-1/2 story wood frame building with a slate roof. It was located in mid-block, on the south side of the alley and there were other buildings, including a stable, next to the house on the alley. The house was across the street from St. Francis hospital and a few blocks from the Santa Rose de Viterbo convent.}

My dad worked at a grocery store and saloon beer parlor. {Charley is shown as a clerk for Will & Brothers grocery in the 1893-94 city directory and a barkeeper in the 1895-96 city directory. By the time Cora would have been able to remember, Charley is shown in the city directory as a stone cutter and a teamster so he probably helped out part-time at the grocery and saloon. The Will & Brothers grocery was at 622 S. 9th, a building that is not shown in the 1906 Sanborn fire insurance map.} The grocery store was in front, the saloon in back. I remember I would go with my mother grocery shopping. I would go into the saloon part (there was nobody there in the day.) I could see all those tables and chairs, also what they had on the bar such as crackers, eggs, etc. (snacks). Their name was Wills. {George Will was the name of the grocer/saloon keeper.} They had a little boy, older than me. Anyway, he liked to play with me. His name was Ruben Wills. They teased me about [it?] so I would play with [him?] even after we moved to Viroqua. [When] we would go back to visit in La Crosse, we would go over to visit. We were at my grandma’s. Her place was just a block away, down the alley. Ruben would come running over to play. It was OK as long as they wouldn’t tease me and such things visiting with friends, going over to my grandma’s. She always had such good smelling spices from baking goodies (rolls, etc.). And all those flowers! [She had a] big room full of house plants. She sold one plant to a doctor for $20 which was big money in those days. I also remember his place but I can’t remember his name. My mother had to take a young lady that lived on the next farm from us on the farm at Viroqua to this doctor in La Crosse for a couple of weeks. (This was a cancer doctor.) I would go with Mother and this girl when she these treatments. He had a big machine about 12 or 14 feet wide from floor to ceiling with lights, not like lights we have in our house. I haven’t seen anything like it: red, blue, green, yellow, all mixed up, moving. There was heat from it. I looked at it and fainted. I’ll never forget it. But the girl was cured. She married, had kids, full of pep.

I was six years old when we moved to Viroqua. I was 20 years old when I married and came to Minneapolis so I was only 14 years on the farm. But it seems much longer. Now I will try to remember what took place in my childhood.

My childhood on the farm in Viroqua, Wisconsin, was very lonely. I didn’t have anyone to play with and had to be so quiet. I remember I always thought it was my mother’s fault that we had to live on the farm. I felt sorry for myself and my dad. I had no one to play with or talk to so cats were my friends. But I couldn’t have them in the house although they could be in the summer kitchen.

My grandpa Bowe went to La Crosse to see his daughter Martha who lived there so he went to see my Grandma Anderson and she sent a bird called Petie, cage and all, with him for me. She always was such a good person: always giving you things and goodies. I remember when we went to La Crosse she gave me a pretty yellow crocheted shawl. I remember I took such good care of it but I can’t remember what happened to it.

Aunt Bertha and her family lived in Soldiers Grove, Wis, and we would drive down once in a while. Those days you rode in a wagon or buggy. But most of the time it was a light wagon, we would be so many going. Aunt Bertha loved to dance and have fun so they would get a party going. Uncle Sever (her husband) would play the violin. Carl, Clara, and I would watch them dance and have a good time. My uncle Sever Bowe played the violin also so it was plenty music. Sometimes we would stay a couple of days and I could go to school with the kids (its kindergarten). We made some things cut out of paper. I liked that so when we got home by myself, I would play school with dolls. I had lots of dolls.

Later, Aunt Bertha and her family bought a farm next to Grandpa’s. Then I had Clara and Carl and Tillman to play with once in a while. When I started to go to school, my mother took me up to a farm which joined Grandpa’s farm up on the hill in back of us. They had a boy a little older than I by a couple of years, Alfred Olson. He was supposed to take me to school and take care of me. He was so bashful that he would either be in back of me or in front of me but not too far away. Then I had to walk alone from their house to my place. It must have looked funny. When I got older, I would walk over to Clara and Carl and go to school with them. The other kids would join us. It was a one room school house with a stove in the center. We hung our clothes on the back wall and put our lunch pails on the floor. We had two in a seat, big kids in the back, little ones in the front. At noon, after we had lunch, we had to carry water from a half mile away. I used to have nose bleeds a lot so we had to have lots of water to stop it with. And of course we had to have water to drink with our lunch.

This same farm we got water from had a press drive by horse to press out juice from sugar cane. The farmers all around us grew sugar cane to make sorghum. We had fun watching the the two horse pull this pulley around in a circle. Then we would cook the juice which was a big deal with us kids.

In the winter we would skate and slide in tubs across a big pond near the school. Also sleds. There were big rocks we climb over and around. There were also caves we crawled into. Some were so big they were arches. Near school we picked flowers in the woods, played baseball, threw the ball over the school house to catch. We would get caught in snow storms in the winter, some so bad that the biggest boy would go first and then we would follow in his steps. Sometimes the wind would blow it in before we could get in his steps. The wind would blow and we could hardly see. We hung on to each other so we wouldn’t get lost. Then I had to go on alone but it was all down hill into the valley. The wind would blow so bad. Once I came to a low spot in the road where it had drifted across so much that I stood and wondered how I was going to make it across. But I waded in up to my armpits. After that the roads were fine and when I got home they didn’t know anything about any storm. Everything was fine. I lived in the valley; the school was on the prairie and the roads were closed.

In the spring the snow would melt [and we would get] floods. Sometimes I wondered how I was going to make it home. Once I had to cross a creek that was flooding but I couldn't make it so I walked through a pasture along a hillside until I got to the road that went by the cave. I saw it was flooded so I couldn’t make it so I had to go over the top of the cave to get to Grandpa’s house. You really had to have your wits about you to win out back in those days.

The floods weren’t something you could wade into. The current was so strong it would sweep [away] bridges, chicken coops, whatever happened to be in the way, down the valleys to the Miss River through Readstown which was four miles down from Grandpa’s farm.

[The Mississippi River, of course, is a long way from Readstown. Various branches of the Kickapoo River flow through the Readstown area, including Reeds Creek which Cora may be referring to. The Kickapoo River ultimately reaches the Wisconsin River thirty miles south of the old farm. The Wisconsin then reaches the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien, about 35 miles southwest of the farm.]

When I was 14, I was confirmed in a church in Viroqua. I wouldn’t go to the one out in the country because the minister couldn’t talk very good English (he had just come from Norway) {this must have been Martin Finstad who was installed as pastor at Kickapoo Lutheran Church in April of 1906} so I went to the one in Viroqua. (You saw the new church when we were down there.) The old church burned down and I guess they lost all of their records. I had the minister from Viroqua when Maurice and I were married six years later. {The in-town church, then called the Viroqua Lutheran Church, burned to the ground on Christmas Day, 1946. The new stone church building was begun in the spring of 1949 and dedicated on November 19,1950. The congregation has been called Good Shepherd Lutheran Church since 1964.}

Now back to my childhood. It wasn’t all hard luck or bad. We had parties, picnics, sleigh rides, boy friends. The only thing was we had to walk to parties if we wanted to go to them. My first boy friend was the kid that used to take me to school when I first started going to school. But that was later. (?) I was 16 when I could go to parties. My mother and all the other mothers would be there too. This time Alfred took me home and my mother had to go home without me. (Ha.) After that, Alfred took me to parties. He got the first car down there. He took me for the first long ride in a car, all over the country and small towns. Great day! Then he went away to college and he told me who I shouldn’t go out with so Peter, his brother, used to take me to parties. He got a car but he would take a bunch of us kids. We would have a good time.

Then Aunt Martha came down there for a visit and she wanted me to go back to Minneapolis with her so I did. Dad said if I could stay two weeks he would eat his hat he was so sure I would get homesick. I stayed three months so I wrote and told him he better start eating his hat.

I met Maurice three days after I got to Minneapolis. He was with the kids that met at my aunt’s place to go to church. They all sang in the choir. He had a girl friend named Helen Hall. I liked him the first time I met him. Three days later, he called my aunt and asked her if he could take me to a show. She said yes, he could ask me so he did and that was how I met Maurice. Maurice’s dad had a hardware store on 38th Street and Chicago Avenue at the time. They had an old car they delivered things in. One day he drove by and stopped so I said why don’t you take me for a ride. He said not in this old car so he went home and said he wanted a new car so his dad bought him a car. Then he called my aunt to see if she would let me go with him in his new car with his folks but that I would have to come stay over night at his house as they were going to go early in the morning. So I told him he had to have his mother invite me to come and stay over night which he did and she did. That was the beginning. From that day on until I went back home we were together all the time.

Don, your mother told me to tell you this: I don’t remember saying anything about it, that Grandpa Al, Maurice’s dad, was part French. He told me one day about his folks in Sweden. His dad had horses, race horses, and he was killed by a horse. And about his mother. He said they were rich, she wore silks and satins, but it all changed after his father was killed. And that his mother was part French. He was rather proud of that. Then she met this fellow Fogelquist and married him. They had a son by the name of Sandy Fogelquist, Irene’s father, who was married to Mary .... I can’t remember her last name right now. Anyway she was related to John Everson. She was from up there and John Everson knows her name.

Irene married a fellow by the name of Dawson in California. They had two sons: Duane Dawson, youngest son, and Darrell Dawson. They live in California. I lost touch with them after Irene died.

The Fogelquists lived in Superior, Wisconsin. They had a hardware store. They were both living when I came to Minneapolis. My dad was up to see them and I was up to see them. They were very nice people. Even Grandpa Al couldn’t find fault with them. In fact, he was rather proud of them.

Your Grandpa John knows more about Mary’s people. I believe John Everson was a cousin of Mary’s. Well, anyway John knows how the relation hangs together.

By the way, off the record, I told Vivian about Grandpa Al being part French and she also is rather proud of being part French. She even took French when in school. She even started a French club. I have forgotten the name of it. It was a fancy name.

An Only Child’s Memories

Cora Christine Anderson Carlson
Written in the early 1980’s

My first memories are of a home in La Crosse at [age] 4, sitting in a sun-filled bedroom with my mother, sewing bonnets for dolls while my mother was sewing. I have loved to sew ever since. This home must have been very happy as I can remember even the way it looked inside. I especially remember the large clean kitchen, the arrangement of furniture, even to the doors. There were six doors, each seeming to lead to another room from the kitchen. It was a sunny room as it faced both east and west (an L-shaped house). I used to sit on the front porch and I could see the hospitals a couple of blocks away. I also saw the catholic nuns go by to and from church. I used to be very impressed at Easter when they carried their palms.

My grandmother (father’s mother) lived a few blocks away. She was a good Christian woman but not a very well person as she had asthma. I remember the house well in every detail: the good smells from her baking all these good Norwegian cakes and cookies, all her beautiful house plants, and her canary birds. I can still see her sitting in her rocker crocheting all kinds of lovely things. I remember one yellow wool scarf I loved so well and which I got from her. She was a very generous person, always giving things. She sang in the church choir and was a good singer. When she died I told people my grandmother went to heaven and I wanted them to come and see her before they took her away. She died when I was eight years old. Grandmother Anderson had so many friends. When she died there were so many people and so many beautiful flowers that they had to haul them in two buggies.

I always seem to remember sunshine in La Crosse such as shining in the church.

When I was six years old, we moved to Viroqua to live with my mother’s folks as mother was the only one with one child and my grandparents were old and needed someone to live with them and they didn’t want any noise. I was a very quiet little mouse, playing with dolls, sewing, even to making dolls when I needed more. I would build doll houses out of orange crates, and make furniture copied out of catalogs. I had a little dog named Punch (a neighbor killed him). I used to dress him up and wheel him in my doll buggy.

When I first came to live there, I would follow my grandmother wherever she would go. She only spoke Norwegian, I spoke English, but we got along fine. I learned Norwegian in three months.

They lived on a farm. My grandmother used to raise sheep. I loved them. Grandmother made candles. I used to watch her. I can’t remember that I ever could help. I guess I just kept out of the way.

I used to climb the rocks and imagine big castles. I also used to find big sparkling rocks, read books. A short while after I got there, my grandmother from La Crosse sent me a yellow canary. I wonder if she felt sorry for me, a lone little girl that had to be quiet. I had that bird twelve years. It died when I went away for three months (I was 18 then).

My grandmother was a little woman, a very quiet and serious person. Every day she would go into the living room (we called it the front room) by herself and read her Bible and other religious books. When the minister and his family would come and see her, she would always give him cream, butter, and all kinds of vegetables and apples. His buggy would be loaded. Those days a minister wasn’t paid much.

I remember Mother made me red dresses and white pinafores. I had black patent leather slippers which I was so proud of. If they would get dusty, I would wipe them with my hanky. I would never get dirty. I remember one of my aunts asking her little girl why she couldn’t stay clean like me. She always said I was as clean when I got home from school as when I left in the morning. She asked my cousin if she rolled in the dirt. We would walk home from school together. My cousin and I were together always after I started school.

My folks moved away from grandfolks’ farm for one year as one of my aunts (Martha) got divorced which was a disgrace in those days. She had nowhere to go, she and her little boy, but I guess she and the boy were too much for my grandparents so we moved back. My aunt was a bossy woman and her boy wild and noisy. We stayed there until grandmother died (I was 12 then). My grandfather went to stay with one of my aunts (Louise in Viroqua). My uncles hired a girl to keep house. We had built a house on a farm next to grandfather’s. We stayed there until I was 15. One uncle (Sever) wanted us to move back to grandfather’s farm. I was married in grandfather’s farm house. My folks moved back to their home after I married. My uncles moved to live with my aunt Louise in Viroqua. I moved to Minneapolis.

At six, after we moved to grandfather’s farm, I got sick with pneumonia. The thing I remember is I found myself in the pantry where I had sleep-walked. It was in early spring.

One day I saw some kids climbing a hill we called Hog’s Back. I guess I was very lonesome. I got dressed and took my doll and buggy over to them but I didn’t know a soul. I did think one of our neighbor kids was there but she wasn’t so I came home a forlorn little girl. I never tried to get acquainted with anyone after that. It’s still hard for me to get to know people. My cousin Clara was my best friend. She lived about one-and-a-half miles away. She had two brothers. She moved from Soldiers Grove to this farm which joined grandfather’s when I was about 9 years old. I remember we used to go to Soldiers Grove to see them at the 4th of July and also to parties. It was fun. It was high above the river. We would drive home in the moonlight; we could count the stars.

Then one day my Aunt Susan and her five children came back from California to live with us at Grandma’s. Grandpa found a farm for them about two miles away. We used to play train as they knew so much about trains. We also played with dolls. We would cut paper money and play store and we would fight. My grandma would side with me. I guess it was because they were bolder and noisy. After they moved to their home, we formed a newspaper and the older boys were the mailmen for us when they would come to see my uncles and grandparents.

In the summertime we would always have noon dinner outdoors. Grandpa had planted trees and built a table and bench just like a park right outside of the summer kitchen. We never lived in the big house in the summer other than sleep there. I remember on rainy days I would play upstairs with my dolls. We would have church, preach and sing, have Baptism, Confirmation, and weddings. I would sit and read a big book of my uncle’s with pictures of Jesus and people of Bible time. Then, after the rain, the sun would come out and I would watch the floods go swirling by, washing out the bridges. The men had to get busy and rebuild them after the flood.

I remember going to school with my cousins. I walked alone through the woods to my cousins’ house. It was a long way to school but I did have company about two and a half miles to school. I remember right before Christmas, and it was almost dark, I was coming home carrying all my books as it was Christmas vacation and we never left them there. I heard wolves howling and I got so scared I could hardly move. But I did run when I saw one of my uncles coming from the barn. Was I glad! What a welcome sight. He said that the wolf was a long way off but we found out later he wasn’t more than half a mile away. Someone shot him.

Another time I came home from school I came over a road home which was closer. It was in the spring of the year. We lived in the valley and I had to cross a couple of flooding creeks (from melting snow). There were bridges but sometimes they were covered with water so I had to try some other way. There was a cave alongside of the road we called sand spring. The spring flowed into the creek which was on the side of the road and was flooded so I had to climb a wooded hillside and go over that cave to get home. It was such a long walk home. I would get home about 5 o’ clock. I was so weak I could hardly drag myself along, up hill and down hill. I was a small and delicate child.

I would go early to school. There were south slopes along the road and I would stop and pick violets in the spring to bring to school. Other times I would cross fields and pastures to save time. It would be closer but there would be cows and horses. One morning I saw the herd of horses (20) way off so I thought I could make it across the pasture. When I was half way, the horses saw me. It was down hill for them, up hill for me. Did I run! I just made it under the fence as they came at me. One just missed me. He turned and kicked but I rolled away. I felt safe but not for long as there were young cattle in the new pasture but no mad bulls. I would try and time it before the cattle would leave their pens but then I would get to school and hour early and that hour would seem ages. Some time I would think maybe there wasn’t any school that day. In those days we didn’t have watches for kids.

The windows were up too high for me to look through the school house windows. It wasn’t much of a school house. One teacher for all 8 grades. The stove was in the middle of the room. There were about 30 children. Some of the teachers were very young and not very good. They would have their boyfriends come and get them. The kids would sit and make fun of them. We had a couple of good teachers otherwise we would never have learned anything. I remember one teacher was an old crab. She had everyone in an uproar, some kid was always mad at her. They would stage riots against each other to see which side she would stick up for. There was one girl that always started them. This girl had a brother the teacher was crazy about so she thought she could get by with it.

{The school Cora attended is referred to as “The Ole Torger School - District #8” in the Vernon County 150 Years book. A description of the history of the school, by Wesley Clayton Slack, is as follows:

“The Ole Torger School started in a white wood frame one-room building with pillars on the front porch on land obtained from Ole Torger, hence the name. Many of the students spoke Norwegian so had to learn English.

“The teachers earned $24 a month at the earliest records we have to $257 in 1961. The early teachers had as many as 36 students. Reading, Arithmetic, Spelling, Art, Music, Language, Geography, Agriculture, and Physiology were subjects taught. Children got a very good education because they reviewed anew each year by listening to the lower grades recite. In 1913 a new brick building was put up. There was a considerable controversy over the location of the new school and wives were brought in to vote for the first time. It was decided to stay near the original spot but east a bit. In 1938, the school was remodeled to add restrooms, water, and a small kitchen.

“The teachers from 1904-1962 were: Emelia Johnson, Alice Anderson, Hatie Dickson, Emma Swiggum, Rachel Josvanger, Susanna Sherry, Frances Fish, Agnes Sherry, Beatrice Erickson, Ella Hanson, .... Some of the teachers roomed at the Peter Solverson or Louis Hanson homes. The last school board members were Victor Anderson, Ernest Ekum, and Earl Kvale.”}

Cora’s teachers at the Ole Torger school, and their monthly salaries, were as follows:

1902-1904 ??
1904-05 Emelia Johnson, $25
1905-06 Alice Anderson Johnson, $24
1906-07 Hattick Dickson, $25
1907-08 Emma Swiggum Rice, $30
1908-1911 Rachel Josvanger Thompson

Cora made a death claim against Maurice’s Social Security on June 26, 1956, at the Minneapolis field office.

Seh made a “life claim” to Social Security in January of 1962.

Cora intended to live to be 105 years old so that she could say that her life spanned three centuries. {Note that this means that she understood that the 21st century started in 2001 and not 2000.} She survived breast cancer, with a radical mastectomy, in the late 1950s. She also survived another cancer operation past the age of 90 and even a knee scoping in her late 80s. She spent the last five years of her life at the Martin Luther Manor nursing home in Bloomington. (She was in Martin Luther Manor, and receiving cards, by November of 1989 when she received a card from Darley March.)

Baptism:
Among the sponsors were Louise Bowe and, apparently, Charley’s mother, “Christine Christiansen.”

Cora married Maurice Edward CARLSON on 2 Sep 1916 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Maurice (son of Johan Alfred CARLSON and Brita (Bessie) ERICKSON) was born on 30 Aug 1895 in Wabasha, Wabasha County, Minnesota; died on 17 Jun 1956 in Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 20 Jun 1956 in Sunset Memorial Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 396-26-1219 issued in Wisconsin before 1951
• Vernon County Death Index: V35, P340

Notes:

At the time of the 1930 census, Carl and Mearl and family were living on a farm in Franklin Township at "Brookville & Black Bottom Road" next to the Odin Olson farm. The household consisted of Carl, 32, his wife Mearl, 25, daughter Eileen, 7, and sons Selmer, 5, Kenneth, 2, and Ivan, 0. Also living with the family was a lodger/servant named Edwin McKnight, 43. Carl was 24 when he was first married, Mearl was 17. Carl was not a veteran. Down the road past Carl's farm was Sever Nundahl's farm and Tilman Nundahl's farm.

The history of the Kickapoo United Lutheran Church in Soldiers Grove records the death of a Carl Nundahl in 1968.



Carl registered for the draft on August 14, 1918, in Vernon County. The draft registrar was A E Smith. He claimed to be 21 and to have been born on August 12, 1897. His home address was Route 5, Viroqua, and he was born in Soldiers Grove. He claimed employment as a farmer, employed by Sever Nundahl of Route 5, Viroqua, who was also Carl’s nearest relative. Carl was described as tall and of medium build with dark brown eyes and black hair.

In the 1940 census, he was a farmer in Franklin Twp on the Viroqua to Black Bottom Road. He and his wife had been educated through the 8th grade. Eileen was no longer living at home.

In the 1950 census, mis-indexed as Mundahl in Ancestry, he and his family live on a farm in the town of Franklin, Vernon County, on “14 toward Brookville.” Kenneth and Eileen are no longer at home. Merlin works as an usher in a theatre.

Carl’s daughter says: My parents bought the Bowe farm and moved there when Eileen was eleven months old, which would be the year 1923. If there was someone else living there between that time and when Sever and Andrew left, I do not know who that would be. I have many, many pleasant memories of the farm and growing up. It was the place where a lot of gatherings were held. When I was growing up, Sunday was the day that everyone visited.”



The 1948 Vernon County plat book shows that Carl’s 115 acres were a bit different from Claus’s original homestead. In Section 27, Carl’s farm could be described as all of the SE corner of the SW corner, nearly all of the SW corner of the SE corner, and most, but not all (he didn’t own what was on the east side of the road) of the NW corner of the SE corner. Carl’s farm adjoined, and was east of, Ernest Ekum’s farm which was also all in Section 27. Bertha (who was not alive in 1948) is shown as the owner of 40 acres in the other section immediately south of Section 27. Bertha’s 40 was the NE corner of the NW corner of that section.

He auctioned off his cattle and farm equipment on March 6, 1956.

Died:
not listed in the Wisconsin death index because 1968 was excluded for some reason

Carl married Mearl Margaret CROOK on 12 Oct 1921 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Mearl (daughter of William Frank CROOK and Prudence Mabel (Mable) REYNOLDS) was born on 7 May 1905 in Brookville, Franklin Township, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 6 Nov 1960 in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin; was buried on 9 Nov 1960 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Clara’s birth to “Sever Nundal” was reported in the July 29, 1898, issue of the Crawford County Advance (page 1, column 2) published in Soldiers Grove.

The Kickapoo Scout’s 16 Jul 1918 edition noted that Thea Thompson and Clara Nundahl were going to La Crosse for employment.

At the time of the 1930 census, Odin and Clara and family were living in Franklin township on a farm next to Clara's brother Carl at "Brookville & Black Bottom Road." Odin and Clara are shown as renting their farm. The family consisted of Odin, 35, Clara, 32, Benetta, 9, Orland, 8, Mildred, 6, Selma, 5, Helen, 3+, Agnes, 2+, and Clifford, 0, and a lodger/servant named Martin Dahlberg, 21. The household apparently did not have a radio. Odin was first married at age 25, Clara at age 23. Clara's parents are shown as having been born in Norway; everyone else was born in Wisconsin. Odin is shown as being a veteran of the World War.

On the other side of the Olson farm was Anna Thompson and down the road past Carl's farm was Sever Nundahl's farm and Tilman Nundahl's farm.

In the 1940 census, the Olson farm is listed a few households down from the Carl Nundahls but on the same census page. Odin and Clara did not own their farm (Carl owned his).



Cora said that Clara was her best friend in childhood.



Clara was shown as unmarried and living at home at the time of the 1920 census on January 11th.

Clara was living in Beloit at the time of her father’s death. Cora had Clara’s 1953 address as 202½ Short Street in Beloit.

The vocalists at Clara’s funeral were her nieces Martha Nundahl, Norma Nundahl, and Marlene Nundahl Thoftne.

Died:
“Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson” says that Clara died in Beloit.

Buried:
Her funeral was at 2:00 PM. Cora mentions the funeral in her diary. May have wanted to attend.

Clara married Odin Bernhard OLSON on 5 Feb 1920 in Crawford County, Wisconsin. Odin (son of Andrew OLSON and Christina OLSON) was born on 9 Feb 1895 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 15 Dec 1977 in Marshall, Richland County, Wisconsin; was buried on 19 Dec 1977 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Confirmation: North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin
• Vernon County Death Index: V30, P236 As Tillman Oliver

Notes:

Not listed in the SSDI.

Shown as Tilman O. on is gravestone.

Had three children; had two at the time of the 1930 census.

At the time of the 1930 census, Tillman was living on Black Bottom Road in Franklin Township next door to his parents and down the road from his sister and brother. The family was: Tilman, 27, his wife Selma, 29, and their sons Sylvan, 5, and Gordon, 2. Tilman was 20 when he was first married; Selma was 22.

At the time of the 1940 census (indexed as Memlahl), Tilman and his three children lived with his parents, the same house in which they all had lived in 1935. Tilman, a laborer, was engaged in public work.

The history of the Kickapoo United Lutheran Church records the death of "Tillman Nundahl" in 1962 and "Tilman Nundahl" in 1971. The 1971 “Tilman”’s specifics, according to the SSDI, are as follows: b. 20 Mar 1901, d. Jun 1971, Residence Viroqua, 396-36-1124 issued in WI in 1955. [The 1910 census for Town of Franklin, Vernon County shows a 9 year old “Tilman” as the son of Ole O. Nundahl, a brother of Sever.]

[This “other” Tilman is living with brother Oscar, mother Brita, and sister Mabel at the time of the 1930 census.]

Tillman married Selma Benora SIMONSON on 14 Nov 1923. Selma (daughter of Simon SIMONSON and Bertha) was born on 9 Jul 1899 in Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 4 Mar 1935 in La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried on 7 Mar 1935 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Included because Martha is shown to have had three children, two still living, at the time of the 1910 census and because of an entry in the La Crosse County birth records of a “Swenes” (no first name) born at 1:00 AM, October 8, 1896, for which the father is shown as G. Swenes and the mother is not listed (LACR 0104, p. 471). Both mother and father were shown as having been born in Norway.

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1956-MN-016766  
• Occupation: Electrician

Notes:

Known as Georgie. Cora attended his funeral.

Not listed in the WWI draft registrations. May have enlisted before the draft was started.

George fought in World War I and, supposedly, was injured by poison gas. He may also have been damaged psychologically. He spent his last years living at the “Old Soldiers” home (Veterans Administration Hospital) in St. Cloud. That’s where he was at the time of the 1930 census, shown as 34 years old, as a mental patient. His death certificate indicated that he had been under VA care since October 9, 1924. Presumably, this meant that he had been in the VA hospital since that time.

After he returned from the war, Georgie appears to have struggled to hold various jobs with his step-brothers. He was listed as a tile setter in the 1919 city directory and an electrician in the 1920 city directory. That 1920 entry was the last time that he was listed in the city directory.

In the 1940 census, he was an inmate at the VA mental hospital in St. Cloud. He was erroneously shown as age 38. He had had two years of high school.

Death Certificate:

HENDRICKSON, GEORGE M. CertID# 1956-MN-016766   
 Date of Birth:  n/a
 Place of Birth: OUT OF STATE
 Mother Maiden Name: BOWE
 Date of Death: 04/14/1956
 County of Death: STEARNS

Veteran Service Start Date: 25 Mar 1918
Veteran Service End Date: 24 Jul 1919
Rank: PFC
Branch: US Army
Interment Date: 17 Apr 1956
Cemetry: Ft. Snelling National Cemetery
Buried At: Section G Site 1173

His death certificate showed a birthdate of February 10, 1902. It also showed that he died from a pulmonary thromboembolism (which he had had for one hour) complicated by posterior gastroenterostomy (12 days) and diverticulism of duodenum (which he’d had for years). His body was autopsied. The death certificate shows that Georgie had undergone a lobotomy of the left frontal lobe, presumably in an attempt to treat his psychological disorders.

His brief obit in the Star on 16 April has his correct age and lists his address as 5753 2nd Avenue S., the Carter’s address. Either that was just his address of record or else he didn’t die at the St. Cloud veterans’ home.

Died:
Per Cora’s diary; says he died at 5:00. His death certificate says 5:45 PM.

Buried:
Section G, Site 1173

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1908-38648
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1974-MN-020579
• Occupation: Salesman, electric signs, Housepainter

Notes:

Birth certificate says “Hendricksen” with no first name.

Arthur was employed as a salesman for the Federal Electric Co. at the time of Joyce’s birth. At that time, the family was living at 4104 13th Avenue S.

At the time of the 1930 census, Arthur, 22, and his wife Gertrude, 21, and their daughter Joyce, 1-1/2, were living in a house they owned (worth $4300), at 3545 44th Avenue South in Minneapolis.

In the 1940 census, Arthur and his three youngest children were living with his widowed mother at 4032 11th Avenue S. Included in the household as a “lodger” was 42 year-old Anna Petrin. Arthur Sr. was a salesman for an advertising company. Anna Petrin was a machine operator at an underwear factory. Arthur was a high school graduate. Anna Petrin had had three years of high school. Martha had an eighth-grade education. Martha, Arthur, Barbara, and Art Jr. had lived in that same house in 1935. Because Arthur and Barbara and Art Jr. had lived with Martha at 4032 11th in April of 1935, even before Patsy was born, Gertie was probably living with Martha and Charles also in 1935.

Here's a timeline of Arthur and Gert:

1928: In the Minneapolis city directory, Arthur lives at 4032 11th Avenue S, his parents' home, and is a salesman for Federal Electric.

February, 1928: Arthur and Gertrude marry in Duluth.

December, 1928: Joyce, Arthur and Gertrude's first child is born in Minneapolis. According to Joyce's birth certificate, Arthur and Gertrude live at 4104 13th Avenue S. at the time. Arthur is a salesman for Federal Electric.

1929 In the city directory, Arthur lives at 4104 13th Avenue S. Still a salesman for Federal Electric.

1930: In the city directory, Arthur lives at 3545 44th Avenue S. Still a salesman for Federal Electric.

April, 1930: In the 1930 census, Arthur, Gertrude, and Joyce live at 3545 44th Avenue in south Minneapolis. Arthur is a salesman of electric signs.

December, 1930: Barbara, Arthur and Gertrude's second child is born in Minneapolis.

1932: In the city directory, Arthur and Gertrude live at 4032 11th Avenue S (his parents' home). He is a manager for Twin City Sign Studios.

October, 1932: Art Jr., Arthur and Gertrude's third child is born in Minneapolis. The Hendricksons live at 4032 11th Avenue S.

1934: In the city directory, Arthur and Gertrude live at 2501 17th Avenue S. Arthur is a sign painter.

Summer, 1934 (approx): Joyce Hendrickson, age 6-1/2, is struck by a car and is seriously hurt.

Late February, 1935: Gertrude becomes pregnant with Patsy.

April, 1935 (if we believe the 1940 census): Arthur and Art Jr. and Barbara (and, presumably, Joyce and Gertrude) live at his parents' home, 4032 11th Avenue S.

September, 1935: Arthur's father dies.

November 24, 1935: Patsy is born in Minneapolis. Arthur and Gert live at 114 W. 33rd Street.

1936: In the city directory, Arthur and Gertrude live at 114 West 33rd Street. Arthur is a salesman.

March, 1937: Joyce is institutionalized at the Cambridge State Hospital. According to her death certificate, her residence at the time she was institutionalized was 114 West 33rd Street.

1937: In the city directory, Arthur and Gertrude live at 114 West 33rd Street. Arthur is a salesman for Pioneer Neon Co.

1938: In the city directory, Arthur (no wife mentioned) lives at 4032 11th Avenue S, his mother's house. He is a salesman for Pioneer Neon Co.

August, 1938: Gertrude marries Robert Marshall in Duluth. He is 23, she is 28.

1939: In the city directory, Arthur lives at his mother's house. He is a salesman.

January, 1939: Gertrude and Robert have their first child, Robert, born in Duluth.

1940: In the city directory, Arthur lives at his mother's house. He is an artist.

April, 1940: In the 1940 census, Arthur and his three youngest children, plus Anna Petrin, live at his mother's house. Arthur is a salesman for an advertising company.

April, 1940: In the 1940 census, Gertrude and Robert, and their son Robert, live in Duluth.

1941: In the city directory, Arthur, a sign painter, lives at 4032 11th.

After that, Arthur is no longer in the Minneapolis city directory.

In the 1950 census, Arthur and his wife Anna and Arthur’s children Arthur C, 17, and Patricia, 14, live in South Harbor in Mille Lacs County. Arthur is an interior decorator in the painting business.

This is Arthur’s death info:

HENDRICKSON, ARTHUR CLARENCE SR.
Minnesota Death CertID#  1974-MN-020579   
Date of Birth: 01/17/1908
 Place of Birth: MINNESOTA
 Mother Maiden Name: UNKNOWN
Date of Death: 08/08/1974
 County of Death: MILLE LACS
 


He was referred to on his death certificate as Arthur Hendrickson Sr. The informant for his death certificate was Mrs. Arthur Hendrickson Jr. The informant did not know who Arthur Sr.’s mother was. Arthur was a painter or painting contractor and lived in South Harbor Twp, Route 1, Onamia. He died of a heart attack. He was not a veteran.

An obit on Findagrave:

Arthur, age 66, died at Mercy Community Hospital in Onamia. Arthur was the son of Karsten Henrik (Charles) Hendrickson and Martha (nee Bowe) Hendrickson. Arthur was born and lived for many years in Minneapolis. He was a salesman, often for sign companies, and a housepainter. Arthur's first marriage was to Gertrude Nellie June Anderson of Duluth on February 11, 1928, in St Louis County. The couple had four children, a son and three daughters. His second marriage was to Anna Marie Petrin.

Arthur was preceded in death by his parents and two of his children, Joyce and Patricia. He was survived by his wife Anna, his daughter Barbara and son Arthur Charles, and grandchildren.

Died:
Mercy Community Hospital, Onamia

Buried:
aka Eleanor Foster Cemetery in Onamia

Arthur married Gertrude Nellie June ANDERSON on 11 Feb 1928 in St. Louis County, Minnesota, and was divorced about 1937 in Minnesota. Gertrude (daughter of Ole Christian ANDERSON, Jr and Ella Kristine NORDRUM) was born on 13 Jun 1910 in Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 24 Jul 1993 in St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota; was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anna Marie PETRIN. Anna was born on 13 Nov 1897 in Minnesota; died on 5 May 1977 in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota; was buried in Foster Cemetery, Cove, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: Bethany Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1910-42326

Notes:

Living at 5753 2nd Ave. S. at the time of Frank Jr.’s wedding. Myrtle’s address in her mother’s death certificate information, for which Myrtle was the informant, was 5758 2nd Avenue South.

In the announcement of their son’s engagement to Margaret Wheelock, Myrtle and Frank lived at 5753 2nd Avenue South.

According to Cora’s diary, Myrtle and Frank had a “new house” as of January 5, 1958.

Myrtle and Frank were living in Arizona in September of 1981.

In her 1989 Christmas card to Cora, Myrtle and Frank are living at 11022 Topaz Drive, Sun City, AZ 85351. Myrtle says in that card that Frank had had a difficult several months because he overworked in the yard in May.

Myrtle C. Carter, SS 474-22-3587 issued in MN before 1951. Last residence 85351 Sun City, Maricopa County, Arizona. Born 20 Jul 1910, died 3 July 2002.

Hannah Hansen was Godmother to Myrtle and Edgar, step brother to Myrtle, was Godfather. Records from the Bethany Lutheran Church on 25th. and Franklin in Minneapolis.

Not listed in the index of Minnesota births.

Baptism:
Hannah Hansen was Myrtle’s godmother

Myrtle married Frank Nye CARTER, Sr on 8 Feb 1928 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Frank (son of Arthur Burlie CARTER and Belle Agnes NYE) was born on 18 May 1906 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 22 Jan 1997 in Arizona; was buried in Sunland Memorial Park, Sun City, Maricopa County, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died in infancy. Not listed in the index of Vernon County deaths.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Teacher
• Vernon County Death Index: V34, P184 As Aida Allness
• Wisconsin Death Certificate: 019261

Notes:

Listed as Aida C. Larson in her high school yearbook. She was class treasurer. Her motto in her high school yearbook was, “Merit is worthier than fame but pleasure is always in the game.”



In the 1950 census, she and her husband and their four daughters lived in Viroqua with her mother and her cousin Clara Munson. Halvor was a farmer, Ada was an art teacher at the county normal school.

In Aida’s obit, it’s noted that she taught history at La Crosse State College for 18 years, resigning in the early spring of 1967 after becoming ill. The obit also notes that in the fall of 1965, Governor Warren Knowles appointed Aida to be a member of his commission on the status of women. She was also selected by the Vernon County Board as the first member of the county educational committee investigating the consolidation of the rural schools into the high school districts.

Also spelled Adah and Ada. Spelled Aida in the 1930 census. Signed what appears to be her high school graduation picture “Adah.”

Aida was active in the Vernon County Fair. From a history of the fair:

“The hundredth anniversary of the Vernon County Fair came in 1956.  With it came approximately 10,000 attendees.  ‘Women's group from 11 communities constructed replicas of homes and shops that had existed in Vernon County 100 years earlier.’ says a later Broadcaster-Censor article.  The "Centennial Street" was coordinated by chairman Mrs. Halvor Allness.”



Aida was a member of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Viroqua, the first president of the Vernon County Historical Society, and a member of and delegate from the Viroqua Republican Club. She was appointed by Governor Warren Knowles to the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women soon after the governor was inaugurated. Her obit said that she died at her home on the morning of Monday, June 5th, 1967.

Died:
Cora found out on June 6th

Buried:
Funeral service at 2 PM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 4NE4

Aida married Halvor Christopher ALLNESS on 23 Nov 1938 in Nashua, Chickasaw and Floyd Counties, Iowa. Halvor (son of Ole M ALLNESS and Anna Maria (Mary) BOLSTAD) was born on 30 Jun 1904 in Liberty Pole, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 26 Oct 1969 in Spring Coulee, Cashton, Monroe County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Confirmation: North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin
• Social Security Number: 392-22-4238 Issued In Wisconsin Before 1951

Notes:

Living in Westby at the time of her mother’s death.



Her obit said that she and Arvid farmed their married life in Town of Coon, Vernon County, Wisconsin.

Confirmation:
by Martin Finstad

Mildred married Arvid Chester SWENSON on 26 Oct 1947 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Arvid was born on 12 Oct 1919; died on 2 May 1988 in Wisconsin; was buried in Coon Valley Lutheran Church Cemetery, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 398-36-2255 Issued In Wisconsin In 1956

Notes:

Living in Readstown at the time of his mother’s death.

Apparently his gravestone says Alvin W. O. Nelson.

Died:
Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse

Alvin married Norma Elean CHRISTIANSON on 28 Apr 1951 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Norma (daughter of Elmer A CHRISTIANSON and Inga A TOLLACKSON) was born on 26 Nov 1925 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 11 Feb 2014 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 14 Feb 2014 in Kickapoo Lutheran Church, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Irene M. Nedland, age 89 of Viroqua, died Thursday, Jan, 27, 2011.

She was born on Nov. 22, 1921, to Aberham and Anna (Anderson) Nelson. On Nov. 22, 1951, she was united in marriage to Floyd Nedland. Irene was an active member of the Bethel Lutheran Church, the Rebecca Circle and the WELCA. She enjoyed living on the farm, where she milked cows and raised chickens. She took pleasure in flowers and indoor plants, sewing, watching birds and entertaining people as well as sharing coffee with friends and relatives and baking cake for her son. Irene was proud of her Norwegian heritage and enjoyed attending Syttende Mai and baking Norwegian pastries.

She is survived by one son, Wayne (Becky) Nedland of Viroqua; six grandchildren, Brent (Chelsey) Nedland, Trisha (Ryan) Peterson, Lance Nedland, Eric Nedland, Emily Nedland and Ryan Nedland; six great-grandchildren, Isabella, Olivia and Devin Nedland, Evan and Caleb Peterson and Gavin Nedland; daughter-in-law, Debra Nedland; one sister, Allene (Alvin) Christianson; sister-in-law, Norma Nelson; and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; one son, Blayne G. Nedland; her husband, Floyd, who died on Aug. 7, 2010; sister, Mildred Swenson; and brother, Alvin W. Nelson.

Blessed be our memory of Irene Nedland.

Due to the fire at Bethel Lutheran Church, funeral services for Irene were held on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011, at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Viroqua. Pastor Kris Fahey officiated with burial in the Bethel Cemetery. Friends called on Saturday afternoon at the Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home in Viroqua. Friends also called on Sunday at the church before the time of the services.

Irene married Floyd A NEDLAND on 22 Nov 1951 in Wisconsin. Floyd was born on 9 Aug 1923 in Wisconsin; died on 7 Aug 2010 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 11 Aug 2010 in Bethel Cemetery, Jefferson Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Living in Viroqua at the time of her mother’s death.

Allene L. (Nelson) Christianson, 90, of Viroqua, died Thursday, Match 27, 2014, at the Bethel Home in Viroqua.

Allene was born June 10, 1923, in the town of Kickapoo, rural Readstown, to Abraham and Anna (Anderson) Nelson. She was baptized in the Lutheran faith and confirmed at Kickapoo United Lutheran Church in Soldiers Grove. She attended Spring Valley Country School through the eighth grade. She graduated from Readstown High School, Class of 1941. After graduation, besides helping on the family farm, she worked various jobs including waitressing in Viroqua at the Oriole cafe and also worked in La Crosse painting radio dials to support the war effort. On Oct. 26, 1947, she married Alvin E. Christianson. They were married in a double-ring ceremony with her sister Mildred and Arvid Swenson at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Viroqua.

The couple farmed side by side and raised their four children on the family farm in the town of Jefferson, rural Viroqua. Allene was a member of Bethel Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday school for several years, Rebecca Circle and the WELCA. She was an avid scrapbooker and journal writer. Her favorite hobby was crocheting, where she had made many items for family and friends. Allene enjoyed visiting in person and on the phone with her sisters, cousins and friends. She was famously known to her grandchildren for her homemade strawberry jam, biscuits and chocolate chip cookies.

Allene is survived by her daughter, Marsha (Mike) Ryan of La Crescent, Minn.; two sons, Marcus Christianson and Ryan (Nora) Christianson, both of Viroqua; daughter-in-law, Pat Christianson of Apple Valley, Minn.; grandchildren, Tara (Pete) Peterson, Dr. Lucas (Dr. Lee) Christianson, Nick (Heather) Christianson, Ben and Katy Christianson, Kim Ryan, Holly (Rex) Delgado, Ryanna and Carly Christianson; great-grandchildren, Robbie and Fernando Souza, Taysa Peterson, Wesley Christianson, Kaleb and Jace Delgado and Preston Ryan; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; son, Rodney; daughter-in-law, Sara Christianson; grandchildren, Wendy (Dan) Thicke; brother, Alvin Nelson; sisters, Mildred Swenson and Irene Nedland; and nephew, Blayne Nedland.

Funeral services were held on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at the Bethel Lutheran Church, rural Viroqua. Pastor Pete Beckstrand officiated with burial following in the Bethel Cemetery.

Allene married Alvin Esias CHRISTIANSON on 26 Oct 1947 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Alvin (son of Elmer A CHRISTIANSON and Inga A TOLLACKSON) was born on 15 Aug 1924 in Wisconsin; died on 23 Feb 2011 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in Bethel Cemetery, Jefferson Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anny Hjørdis LARSEN. Anny was born on 28 Aug 1920 in Norway; died on 10 Feb 1999 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He served in World War II as a Tech 5 in the 14th Amored Division.

Kermit married Virginia DOWELL about 1941. Virginia was buried in Cremated. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was not living with her parents in the 1940 census.

Family/Spouse: Charles HORNER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

G. married K. FAERBER [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Arlene married Raymond E DEML in 1955. Raymond was born in 1925; died in 2017; was buried in Catholic Cemetery of La Crosse, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was predeceased by : his parents, Herman Sr. Sime and Grace Sime (Helgerson); his former wife Alice Kapanke; his son Daniel H. Sime; his son-in-law Rodney Bolstad; and his siblings, Kermit Sime, Clarabelle Horner and Arlene Deml. He is survived by : his friends, Herman and Sandra Lee Hauge; his wife Sandra Lee Hauge Sime; his children, and his siblings, Geraldine Faerber, Roger Sime (Elaine), Janice Roberts, Mary Lou Burton, John Sime (Louise) and Jim Sime (Lila). He is also survived by 17 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.

Family/Spouse: Alice KAPANKE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Roger Gale Sime, born October 19, 1929, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at the age of 92. He was born to Herman and Grace (Helgerson) Sime and was the 6th of 10 children. Roger served in the Army, being stationed in Germany and he was extremely proud of his military service. He farmed all his life in Crawford County.

On July 2, 1960, Roger married the love of his life, Elaine Anderson, at Utica Lutheran Church and together they had three children: Alan, Barb, and Brian. Roger was a lifelong member of Utica Lutheran Church and was very involved in many church activities. He also served as Chairman of Town of Freeman and was on the Crawford Eastman Insurance Board.

Family meant everything to Roger.

Roger is survived by his wife of 62 years, Elaine; children: Alan (Sherrie) Sime, Barb (Gary) Emerson, and Brian (Tricia) Sime; eight grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; his siblings: Geraldine Faerber, Janice Roberts, Mary Burton, John Sime, and Jim (Lila) Sime; and sister-in-law, Sandy Sime.

He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings: Kermit (Ginger) Sime, Herman (Alice) Sime, Clarabelle (Charlie) Horner, and Arlene (Ray) Deml; and his in-laws: Ken Faerber, Keith Roberts, Ken Burton, and Louise Sime.

Roger married Elaine ANDERSON on 2 Jul 1960 in Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

J.T. married L.M. SHERRY [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
as Angeline Tucker

Family/Spouse: Oscar Casper GSCHWIND. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: TUCKER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Louis GEORGE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Edwin married Mabel BENNINGTON on 5 Sep 1949 in La Crescent, Houston County, Minnesota. Mabel was born on 16 Sep 1920 in Minnesota; died on 27 Oct 2011 in Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She died before her father.

Family/Spouse: Laurel Leon GEORGE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She lived in Tallahassee at the time of her mother’s death.

Family/Spouse: DORLAG. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Wisconsin Dells Health and Rehab Center

Beulah married Dale Dorman MOORE on 8 Jun 1938 in Waukon, Allamakee County, Iowa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Seven children, 18 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren. Long time member of the South Wayne United Methodist Church.

The family moved to Rockford, Illinois, in 1964. She moved to Lake Mills in 1998.

Died:
Willowbrook Nursing Home

Betty married Paul Allen LAWRENCE on 22 Mar 1942 in Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin, and was divorced. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She lived in Beloit at the time of her sister Betty’s death in 2005.

Sue married Carl Louis HUMMER on 31 Dec 1953, and was divorced on 27 Jan 1969 in Rock County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
John Thompson’s Albert Thompson Family Tree

Family/Spouse: Selma Oline NELSON. Selma was born on 17 Apr 1907 in Lac Qui Parle County, Minnesota; died on 31 Jul 1965 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 24 Apr 1904, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway

Lars married Allie Mae MCLEMORE on 26 Mar 1923 in Oklahoma. Allie was born on 2 Jun 1902 in Arkansas; died on 6 Aug 1976 in Dana Point, Orange County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lecey Family Tree

Birth:
hamerthree

Family/Spouse: Lillian Agnes POULSEN. Lillian was born in Jan 1885 in Richland Center, Richland County, Wisconsin; died on 15 Nov 1973 in Los Angeles County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

hamerthree

Family/Spouse: Edward HANSON. Edward was born on 28 Dec 1872 in Wisconsin; died on 20 Feb 1923 in Juneau County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

When he registered for the draft in June of 1945, he was an unemployed veteran living at home with his parents.

In the 1950 census, indexed as Muller, he and his wife and son lived in north Minneapolis. He was a beverage salesman.

Buried:
SSGT US ARMY WORLD WAR II

Graydon married Merilyn Lucille Bertha MILLER on 1 Mar 1946 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Merilyn was born on 18 Aug 1921 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 13 Oct 2012 in San Diego County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Registered for the draft in Minneapolis in May of 1943. He was a student at the time, probably high school.

He was a Colonel in the U.S. Army. WWII, Korea, Vietnam.

He may have married Anna Cataldi in Orange County, California, on 22 Oct 1977.

His gravestone says Soldier Father Friend.

Notes:

She was a freshman (9th grade) at Washington High School in Sioux Falls for the 1939-1940 school year.

She was an officer in a Job’s Daughters chapter while in high school in Sioux Falls.

She was a student at the University of Minnesota, probably a junior, at the time her engagement was announced in May of 1946.

She and her husband lived in Fridley at the time of her mother’s death.

Mary married Bernard George BLACK on 13 Jul 1946 in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Bernard was born on 21 Dec 1916 in Minot, Ward County, North Dakota; died on 29 Apr 2003 in Oldsmar, Pinellas County, Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ola FLÆTHE. Ola was born in 1933; died in 2001. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Bookkeeper, town clerk, farmer
• Social Security Number: 393-10-1662 issued in Wisconsin before 1951

Notes:

Graduated from Ole Torger School in 1927. His wife’s obit said that she and Ernest farmed in the town of Franklin from 1941 until 1990 when they moved to Viroqua.

According to Dorothy Fish Ekum's letter of March, 1983, Ernie, Susanne, and one of Susanne's sons visited Norway and the relatives "five years ago."

In her Christmas card of 1986, Dorothy Fish Ekum tells Cora that Ernest intended to retire from his town clerk job, "and 25 years of aggravation," in the spring of 1987.

Ernest’s obit said that he was a bookkeeper for the Wadhams Oil Co. for 7 years, Clerk for the Town of Franklin for 25 years, a member of ASCS board for 15 years, treasurer for the Ole Torger School Board, a member of the church council at Immanuel Lutheran Church, and a member of the Viroqua Eagles Club.

Not listed in the 1930 census. Was not listed with Albert’s household.

Ernie and Dorothy’s address in the country was Rt. #4, Viroqua 54665. The 1948 Vernon County plat book shows that Ernest owned 160 acres in Section 27: three of the four quarters of the SW corner (Carl owned the SE quarter of that corner) and the SW corner of the NW corner.

In the 1950 census, he and his family lived a couple of farms away from the Carl Nundahl farm in Franklin Twp, Vernon County.

Birth:
date confirmed in SSDI

Died:
date confirmed in SSDI

Buried:
funeral at Immanuel Lutheran Church

Ernest married Dorothy Mae FISH on 16 Oct 1937 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Dorothy (daughter of Harvey Herb FISH and Erma Furl OSBORN) was born on 8 Nov 1915 in Viroqua Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 26 Oct 2003 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 29 Oct 2003 in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V12, P202 As Selma Margrete

Notes:

Her obit noted that she “passed away suddenly, having been ill only a few hours.”

Birth:
“near Readstown”

Buried:
Rev. Borgen conducted the funeral, buried with her parents 1NO25

Other Events and Attributes:

• Confirmation: 25 Oct 1931, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin

Notes:

Cora pronounced her name as Ther-ess-a, second syllable rhyming with dress.

Graduated from Ole Torger School in 1931. She was a very good student according to her 5th grade report that is included in the VCHS records for the Ole Torger school.

She attended high school in Viroqua and graduated in May of 1935.

She was reported to be ill in several newspaper accounts from the later 1930s. The family had a large celebration for her 19th birthday. Perhaps there was some doubt that she would have much longer to live.

She was still living at home at the time of the 1940 census. She had had 4 years of high school.

At one point, perhaps in the mid-1950s, Theresa and Floyd lived at 122 North East Avenue in Viroqua.

Theresa had diabetes, apparently, and gradually lost her sight. As early as the mid-1960s she was corresponding with Cora via a typewriter because she could no longer see to write. By 1975, she implies in her Christmas letter that her sight wasn’t much better than distinguishing between dark and light.

In her birthday letter to Cora dated February 28, 1974, Theresa says that she had had a “siege” in the hospital in December of 1973, apparently from the flu.

Cora kept several letters from Theresa, with whom she apparently corresponded fairly regularly. Theresa’s birthday was the only one from Viroqua that Cora noted in each of her diaries.

Theresa typed this letter to Cora (dated only "Thursday P.M.") apparently sometime after Cora, Ron, and Don R. had driven down to visit on Sunday, June 19, 1966.

Dear Cora,

Got your letter Tues. morning and was so glad to hear that you made it home O.K. and that you all enjoyed your day with us. Floyd and I enjoyed it a lot, too, and we both say that you have a couple of real nice grandson's. Am glad too, that you came when you did, as now my eyes are hemorrhaging again, so I am in a dense fog again. Had such terrible dizzy, headaches the last couple of days but have felt better today. Of course, it cut down on my activities again, but I do go out and water the flowers every day, to get my excercise. I know the landmarks real well, and can see a little bit, so when I take my time I get around pretty good at home.

Uncle Martin found the original deed to the farm and the homestead was approved in 1874. Of course, they had to live there three years before it was approved. He said he didn't know just when the house was built, as when they first came there they lived in a basement, which was up behind the house--said he thought the markings of that old basement still showed up.

I also found out that the farm has been sold. the fellow who bought the Lewis Hanson farm near Mason City bought it. Uncle Martin said that he'd heard he paid seven thousand for it.

All for now--hope I haven't made too many mistakes so you can read this, as I sure can't see what I'm writing. Come again when you can--

Much Love Theresa

Theresa typed this letter to Cora, dated Wednesday, April 22nd, 1970 (postmarked April 23 from Viroqua), and Cora had marked it "Keep this letter":

Dear Cora,

I'm sorry I've been so long answering your letter, with the information you asked for. But with the confusion of Esther's death I didn't ask Uncle Martin for awhile, and then when I did he kept forgetting to get the deed out. So last night we went up there, and Floyd read the deed -- and good thing we did as Uncle Martin was a little mixed up on it. Anyhoo, the homestead was applied for on May 20, 1862 and was approved June 15, 1874. They must have applied for the homestead rights, right after they came over here. As my grandma was around a year and a half when they came over and she was born Dec. 18, 1860. Uncle Martin says that they lived at Liberty Pole for awhile where Grandpa Bowe was a shoe maker. Oh yes, Grandpa Bowe was born in 1833 in Vaas (I don't know if that is spelled right -- it's pronounced V-aw-s) it is in Bergen, Norway.

Uncle Martin is feeling pretty good now. Thea is still there, but he is letting her go the first of May -- says he can't afford to keep her on. We tried to talk him into keeping her on, as we will worry about him there alone, but when he makes up his mind, that's it. Don't say anything, but I have a sneaky suspician that he is afraid people will talk. He is terribly lonesome I think, and wont eat like he should either.

This sure is some weather -- it stays so cold and everything is so behind. Was down to 26 degrees here this morning, and has been drizzling all morning. Guess maybe you have been having sime snow this week, tho -- were a few flurries here yesterday. And seems like we have so much wind, too -- April hasn't been near as nice as March was.

I have a man here checking my refrigerater this morning. I don't know if he can fix it or now--may have to get a new one, if the unit is shot. They sure don't make them as good as they used to -- I had my Coldspot for 15 years and it was still running pretty good when we traded it off, and we have only had this one eight years. We sure weren't planning on this extra expense right now. As Floyd just got a new pick-up, and they don't give them away either. This is the first brand new one we've ever had -- but the old truck was getting to where he hardly dared take it out on the road, so we decided to get a new one instead of buying someone elses troubles.

My eyes are a little better so I have been trying to get some baking done up-- it's not easy, but I struggle along and manage pretty good. I should be cleaning house, but just can't get in the mood in this weather. I have been "reading" some books lately, so am afraid i spend a lot of time with my record player.

Guess I don't know too much news. Talked to Bennetta and Selma (Olson) just a minute at Esther's funeral.

Richard and Willie Hendrickson and Mildred were down for Esther's funeral. It had been 25 years since I had seen Willie -- about 30 years since he had been down here.

All for now--thank you for the nice Easter card--I didn't get any sent out this year. And hope you will forgive me for being so slow with this information.

Much love Theresa

Theresa had the May 20, 1862, part wrong. That was the date that Congress passed the Homestead Act. Reference to that date is included on the original land patent. How she thought that Susan was a year-and-a-half old when the family moved to the U.S. is a mystery and a perpetuation of the myth of the early-1860s emigration. We know that Claus and his family were still in Norway as late as 1865. Maybe Theresa was confused with Susan’s husband Thomas who supposedly came to the U.S. when he was a year-and-a-half old. (Which, as it turns out, is not true either.)

Confirmation:
Immanuel Lutheran

Died:
“in a La Crosse hospital” according to her obit

Theresa married Floyd Albert CLEMENTS on 14 Oct 1944 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Floyd (son of George CLEMENTS and Elsie SMITH) was born on 16 Apr 1914 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 15 Jul 1994 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A note in the Vernon County Censor’s 17 Dec 1919 edition noted that Mrs. Albert Ekum and baby are spending a few days at Viroqua where the little one is under the care of a doctor.

Graduated from the Ole Torger School in 1933.

He lived at home with his parents and siblings in the 1940 census. He was a farm laborer and had been educated through the 8th grade.

He was discharged from Fort Sheridan in Illinois in August or early September of 1945.

Archie’s obit in the Viroqua paper listed his date of death as October 30th.

Was in the service in Birmingham, England, and, apparently, stayed.



Archie’s enlistment record:

Name:Archie B Ekum
Birth Year:1919
Race:White, citizen
Nativity State or Country:Wisconsin
State:Wisconsin
County or City:Vernon
Enlistment Date:25 Oct 1940
Enlistment State:Wisconsin
Enlistment City:Milwaukee
Branch:Coast Artillery Corps
Branch Code:Coast Artillery Corps or Army Mine Planter Service
Grade:Private
Grade Code:Private
Term of Enlistment:Enlistment for Hawaiian Department
Component:Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
Source:Civil Life
Education:Grammar school
Marital Status:Single, without dependents
Height:67
Weight:131

An article in the La Crosse Tribune’s September 6, 1945, edition reported that Pfc Archie Ekum was “home from the European thater of operations and was discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.” No mention is made of whether or not Archie was married at that time. However, his first child was already under way at that point.

Archie married Margaret Irene WOOLOFF in 1944 in Birmingham, England. Margaret was born on 18 Jun 1922; died in May 1988 in Leicestershire, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Engineer, Licensed Land Surveyor
• Social Security Number: 393-18-4593 Issued In WI Before 1951

Notes:

Graduated from the Ole Torger School in 1935.

In the 1940 census, he was a senior in high school.

Graduated from Viroqua High School in 1940. Graduated from UW-Platteville in 1947.

In the 1943 Madison, Wisconsin, city directory, Walter is a “sub clerk” for the post office. He lives at 109 West Johnson.

In the 1950 census, he and Marjorie were living with her mother, Edna Schmid, in Monroe.

In a typed note to Cora from what appears to be December 11, 1965, Theresa Clements mentions that she and Floyd had spent Thanksgiving with Walter and family in Monroe. “They had just moved into a beautiful new home and it sure was nice -- our place looked pretty tacky when we got home.” Theresa and Sally and family (Floyd stayed home) also went to Walter’s for Thanksgiving in 1968.

Had an abstract office in Monroe. Lived in Monroe but wintered in Florida.

He resigned from his position as city engineer of Monroe on 31 Jan 1961 “to take over his newly-acquired abstract business.” He had been city engineer from 1951 to 1952 and was rehired in 1955 or 1956. In the intervening period he was a mining engineer with a company in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Licensed Land Surveyor in Wisconsin, #650. The license was first issued November 22, 1957, and expired on January 31, 2000.

Walter’s enlistment record:

Name:Walter R Ekum
Birth Year:1921
Race:White, citizen
Nativity State or Country:Wisconsin
State:Wisconsin
County or City:Vernon
Enlistment Date:8 Aug 1942
Enlistment State:Wisconsin
Enlistment City:Milwaukee
Branch:Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Branch Code:Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Grade:Private
Grade Code:Private
Term of Enlistment:Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component:Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source:Civil Life
Education:4 years of high school
Civil Occupation:Engineering Aide (Designated Field) or Sales Clerk
Marital Status:Single, without dependents
Height:66
Weight:131

Wally and Marjorie donated a 1.63 acre parcel in Monroe, located along 3rd Avenue north of the Moose Lodge, as a city park. The Ekum family also donated a 40’ diameter octagon shelter that was to be constructed in the park in the spring of 2006.

From the Monroe Times as published Saturday, June 26, 2004:

Walter Raymond Ekum, age 82 of Monroe, passed away on Thursday, June 24, 2004 at the Monroe Clinic Hospital.

Wally was born September 20, 1921, the son of Albert and Bertha Ekum, in Viroqua, WI. In 1941, after graduating from high school in Viroqua, WI, he served in the United States Army. Wally graduated from the school of Mining and Engineering in Platteville. He married Marjorie Schmid in 1948 at the Union Presbyterian Church in Monroe, WI. He was employed as an engineer in lead and copper mines in Wisconsin and the upper Michigan Peninsula. The family located in Monroe in the mid-fifties when Wally was employed as City Engineer. He then began his Abstract & Land Surveying Business known as W. R. Ekum Abstracts. In conjunction with his abstract and land surveying business, he served three terms as City Mayor. Wally served on numerous city, county and state committees and organizations.

Wally is survived by his wife, Marjorie; daughter, Nancy (Richard) Maliszewski; son, Eric (Anne) Ekum; four grandchildren, Ryan, Jeffrey, Nicholas and Elizabeth; a brother, Thomas (Gwynn) Ekum, of Kansas; sisters, Dorothy (Arland) McKittrick of Richland Center, and Sally (Adrian) Sherry, of Onalaska.

Wally's pride, dedication, and interest in the city of Monroe was never ending.

A celebration of Wally's life will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, June 27, 2004 at the Union Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Paul Ketterer, family member, of the United Methodist Church in Lake Mills, will be officiating. Relatives and friends may greet the family following the celebration of life at the Peppercorn Cafe. Memorials may be made to the Union Presbyterian Church of Monroe, or the Chicago Shriners Hospital for children. The Shriner-Hager-Gohlke Funeral Home is assisting the family.

He received a military burial at Greenwood Cemetery.

Birth:
“a twelve-pound boy” as reported in the Vernon County Censor

Walter married Marjorie Lois SCHMID on 4 Jul 1948 in Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin. Marjorie was born on 1 Dec 1927 in Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin; died on 3 Dec 2009 in Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin; was buried on 6 Dec 2009 in Greenwood Cemetery, Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Librarian

Notes:

Dorothy and Arland were living in Soldiers Grove at the time of Albert’s death according to his obit.

Clara, Caroline, and Dorothy visited Cora at her Minnehaha Avenue home on July 17, 1944.

Dorothy was a student at the University of Wisconsin at the time she married Arland.

Her obit:

Dorothy Marie McKittrick, 94, of Viola passed away at Creamery Creek Assisted Living in Viroqua Friday, July 10, 2020. Dorothy was born in Vernon County to Albert and Bertha (Oren) Ekum on October 30, 1925. She graduated from Readstown High School and Vernon County Normal School. She married Arland McKittrick June 30, 1948. They spent most of their married life farming in Sylvan Township in Richland County. Dorothy had several careers in her life, including teacher, CNA, and librarian. She was very active with her church, Sugar Grove Church of Christ, her community, and her family.

Survivors include her daughter, Ellen (Bob) Miller of Viola; and her son; Tom McKittrick of Cincinnati, Ohio. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren, Ryan McKittrick, Josh (Elizabeth) Miller, Stephanie (Aaron) Joyce, Todd McKittrick, Kyle (Sara) McKittrick, Will (Katie) Miller, Tim (Nicole) McKittrick, Anna McKittrick, Grace McKittrick, Sam McKittrick (Carolena); and her sister-in-law, June McKittrick. She is also survived by several great-grandchildren; other family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Arland; her daughter, Arlana Merry; her son, Larry; and daughter-in-law, Sara McKittrick; as well as her siblings, Ernest, Selma, Theresa Clements, Archie, Walter, Sally Sherry, Tom; and several brothers and sisters-in-law.

A private family service will be held at Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home in Viroqua, with burial in the Sugar Grove Cemetery.



Started working as a librarian at the Viola Elementary school in the early 1980s.

Dorothy married Arland J MCKITTRICK on 30 Jun 1948 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Arland (son of Ernest Melvin MCKITTRICK and Matilda J BORLAND) was born on 10 May 1924 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 26 Aug 2015 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery, Clayton Twp, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Almost certainly named after her sister who died in 1923.

She had perfect attendance in high school: neither absent nor tardy during the entire four years.

Living in Readstown at the time of Albert’s death according to his obit.

Living in Des Moines, Iowa, at the time of Archie’s death according to his obit.

Living in Onalaska at the time of Ernest’s death.



She was a vice-president and regional director of Stanley Home Products from 1981 to her retirement in 1991.

Her funeral services were held at Trinity Lutheran Church in La Crosse.

Selma (Sally) Sherry, 79, of Onalaska, died unexpectedly Tuesday, March 13, 2007.

Sally was a devoted wife for 59 years, loving mother and a wonderful grandmother. Sally Sherry was born March 2, 1928, at Mason City, (rural Viroqua) Wisconsin, the daughter of Albert and Bertha Ekum. Upon graduation from Readstown High School, she worked in the offices of the J.C. Penney store in Viroqua. Sally was united in marriage to Adrian Gerhard Sherry on December 4, 1947, in Viroqua. She and her husband lived and farmed at Kickapoo (rural Readstown) for 12 years prior to moving to Viroqua. In 1953, Sally began her work for the Stanley Home Products Company. During her illustrious career, Sally rose through the ranks from sales person to V.P., regional director, a position she held for 10 years before retiring in 1991. Sally made many lifelong friends during her Stanley career. Sally was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in La Crosse, where she devoted much of her time to volunteer work. Sally cherished her time spent with and caring for her grandchildren. She enjoyed travel, reading and taking care of her home and garden.

Survivors include her husband, Adrian of Onalaska; two children, Cynthia Wendel (David) of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Karl Adrian Sherry (Joyce) of Minnetonka, Minnesota; grandchildren, Mathew Weirauch of Manhattan Beach, California, and Elizabeth Weirauch (Mark Haley) of Ecuador; a sister, Dorothy McKittrick (Arland) of Viola; a brother, Thomas Ekum of Hutchison, Kansas; several in-laws, nieces and nephews and many friends.

In addition to her parents, Sally was also preceded in death by three brothers, Ernest Ekum, Walter Ekum and Archie Ekum; two sisters, Theresa Clements and Selma Margaret Ekum. Sally will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Funeral services were held on Saturday, March 17, 2007, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Onalaska. The Rev. Roger Grow and the Rev. Liberty Lausterer officiated and burial was in the Viroqua Cemetery.

Died:
SSDI’s “last residence”

Buried:
4S22

Selma married Adrian Gerhard SHERRY on 4 Dec 1947 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Adrian (son of Gerhard SHERRY and Mabel Caroline SVIGGUM) was born on 26 Feb 1926 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 20 Jan 2014 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Meat inspector

Notes:

Graduated from Viroqua High School in 1948.

In the 1950 census, Thomas was a lodger with the Kalstadt family in McPherson, Kansas. He is employed making ice cream at a dairy.

At the time of his father’s death, Tom was “in armed services at Fort Eustis, VA.”

Tom and Gwenn lived in McPherson, Kansas, for many years where they ran a chicken and ice factory.

In the 1954 McPherson, Kansas, city directory, Thomas and Gwynn live at 831 N Barber. Thomas is plant manager for Mid-Kansas Hatchery and Produce.

In the 1962 McPherson city directory, Thomas is a meat cutter for Mid-Kansas Produce. He and Gwynn and their four children live at 819 E Euclid. The directory lists their children as Rick, 10, Kristi, 7, Kimberly, 5, and Craig, 4.

From the November 9, 2000, Hutchinson (KS) News:

Thomas and Gwendolyn Ekum, Hutchinson, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Branson, Mo., this month. They will celebrate with their family in December.

Ekum and the former Gwendolyn Roth were married Nov. 12, 1950, in McPherson. He is retired from Western Ice and Poultry, McPherson, and United States Department of Agriculture - Food Safety Inspection Service, Springdale, Ark. She is retired from Western Ice and Poultry, McPherson.



Thomas R. “Tom” Ekum, 85, of Hutchinson, Kan., died Oct. 26, 2015, at Hospice House, Hutchinson. He was born Jan. 8, 1930, in Vernon County, Wis., to Albert and Bertha (Oren) Ekum.

He graduated from Viroqua High School, Viroqua, Wis., in 1948. Tom was a corporal in the U.S. Army from 1951-1953. He was a past commander of the McPherson American Legion Post 24, is a member of the Eagles and the Elks Lodge, and is a lifetime member of the VFW. Tom was owner and operator of Mid Kansas Produce and worked later as a federal poultry inspector in Arkansas. He was and a member of Emanuel Lutheran Church.

On Nov. 12, 1950, he married Gwendolyn Roth in McPherson, Kan. She died Feb. 1, 2006.

Survivors include children, Kristi Ekum, Dodge City, Kan., Kimberly Ekum-Anthony Harris (Michael Harris), Kansas City, Mo., Craig Ekum (Joleen), McPherson, Kan., Richard Ekum, Wichita, Kan.; sister, Dorothy Ekum McKittrick, Viola, Wis.; sister-in-law, Barbara Roth Unrein, Great Bend, Kan.; brother-in-law, Paul Roth, Tulsa, Okla.; grandchildren, Michelle Shelton, Eric Ekum, Jessica Anthony, Haley Cowan, Benjamin Anthony, Jay Harris, Kylie Koehn and Cody Ekum; and 10 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Gwynn; parents; and six brothers and sisters.

Funeral service were held Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, at Emanuel Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, Kan., with Pastor Tim Carey officiating. Burial followed at McPherson City Cemetery, McPherson, Kan., with military honors conducted by the Fort Riley Honor Guard.

Thomas married Gwendolyn Osa (Gwynn) ROTH on 12 Nov 1950 in McPherson, McPherson County, Kansas. Gwendolyn was born on 22 Aug 1931 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa; died on 1 Feb 2006 in Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas; was buried on 6 Feb 2006 in McPherson City Cemetery, McPherson, McPherson County, Kansas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1910-43720
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2010-MN-008023

Notes:

In the 1930 census, she was living at home in Richfield with her parents and brothers. She had no occupation.

Cora had H. C. Pratt’s address as 503 Freemont St., Anoka, MN.

In her note to Cora after Martin’s funeral (March 6, 1978), Dorothy said that Richard Hendrickson had come down for the funeral and had said that Mildred had just gotten married.

Her obit:

Funeral service for Mildred S. Giddings (Pratt), 99, Anoka, will take place Saturday, April 17, 11 a.m., at First Congregational Church of Anoka. Rev. Chris Fazel will officiate.??Giddings died March 12 at Lyngblomsten Health Care Center, St. Paul. She was born Oct. 9, 1910 in Minneapolis to George R. and Caroline (Munson) Hendrickson. She was a retired teacher in Anoka-Hennepin School District 11.??She is survived by her sons, Curtis Pratt (Pat Norton), Tom Pratt (Fran Olivera), Devin (Zoe) Hazenson, Jim Pratt and Jon Pratt (Deborah Clemensen); several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and brother, Richard (Betty) Hendrickson.??She was preceded in death by her husbands, Hazen Pratt and Ralph Giddings; and brothers, Chester and Will Hendrickson.??Interment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery, Anoka. Arrangements are by Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home, Anoka.

Another obit, per Find A Grave:

Memorial service for Mildred S. Giddings (Pratt), 99, Anoka, will take place tomorrow (Saturday, April 17), 11 a.m., at First Congregational Church of Anoka. Rev. Chris Fazel will officiate.

Giddings died March 12 at Lyngblomsten Health Care Center, St. Paul. She was born Oct. 9, 1910 in Minneapolis to George R. and Caroline (Munson) Hendrickson. She worked at Sears and the YWCA, then after her first husband died in 1958, she returned to college and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in education and for the next 17 years taught at Washington Elementary School, Anoka. She was a member of Anoka Philolectian.

She is survived by her sons, Curtis Pratt (Pat Norton), Tom Pratt (Francisca Paz de Olivera), Devin (Zoe) Hazenson, Jim Pratt and Jon Pratt (Deborah Clemensen); stepchildren, Hugh Pratt, Betty Stewart, Bill (Dana) Pratt, Tom (Sharon) Giddings, Marilyn (Roger) Sawyer and Dick (Lyrlette) Giddings; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; many step-grandchildren and great-step-grandchildren; nephews and nieces; and brother, Richard (Betty) Hendrickson.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Hazen Pratt and Ralph Giddings; and brothers, Chester and Will Hendrickson.

Interment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery, Anoka.

Arrangements are by Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home, Anoka.

And another obit, in the Star-Tribune:

Giddings, Millie Pratt age 99, of Anoka, passed away March 12, 2010 surrounded by her loving family.

Millie was born in 1910 in Minneapolis to George and Caroline Hendrickson. She attended Wood Lake School, a two-room schoolhouse, in Richfield, graduated from Minneapolis Central High School a year early and completed two years at Saint Cloud State Teachers College before the financial crash of 1929 interrupted her college career. She then worked at Sears and the YWCA.

Millie was an active athlete, a hiker, a golfer and a skier. In the 1930's she and her friends went on many hiking expeditions, including one by automobile to Glacier National Park. In 1941 Millie married Hazen Curtis Pratt, a fellow founding member of the former Nob Hill Ski Club in Minneapolis. Hazen was a talented engineer trained at MIT, and the principal original designer of the Hoffman electrical enclosures still manufactured in Anoka.

After Hazen's unexpected death in 1958, Millie, with five boys ages 6-16 to raise and support alone, returned to college and graduated from the U of M with a degree in education in 1960. For the next 17 years, as a dedicated teacher, she inspired and encouraged the fifth graders at Washington Elementary School in Anoka.

In 1978 Millie married Ralph Giddings and they enjoyed retirement together with a lot of traveling. Millie was active in her community as a member, volunteer and officer of many organizations, including the First Congregational Church of Anoka and the Anoka Philolectian Society. Millie loved all social events, sending and receiving letters and phone calls, traveling, and learning new things. Millie was a loving and devoted wife and mother and a very good friend to all fortunate enough to know her. She was very talented at appreciating the best in people.

Millie was preceded in death by husbands Hazen Pratt and Ralph Giddings; brothers Chester and Will Hendrickson. Survived by sons, Curtis Pratt (Pat Norton), Thomas Henry Pratt (Francisca Paz de Oliveira), Devin (Zoe) Hazenson, Jim Pratt, and Jon Pratt (Deborah Clemmensen); step children Hugh Pratt, Betty Stewart, Bill (Dana) Pratt, Tom (Sharon) Giddings, Marilyn (Roger) Sawyer, and Dick (Myrlette) Giddings, 7 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, many step grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and brother Richard (Betty) Hendrickson. Memorial Service Saturday, April 17, 11 AM with Visitation 1 hour prior at First Congregational Church of Anoka at Main Street and Third Ave. South. Memorials preferred to Franklin School in Anoka. Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home Anoka 763-421-0220 thurston-lindberg.com

Died:
Lyngblomsten Care Center

Mildred married Hazen Curtis PRATT, Sr on 9 Aug 1941 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Hazen (son of William Henry PRATT and Elizabeth D (Bessie) DEVIN) was born on 9 Mar 1896 in Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio; died on 24 Jun 1958 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Anoka, Anoka County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mildred married Ralph Aranda GIDDINGS in 1978. Ralph was born on 8 Dec 1906 in Anoka County, Minnesota; died on 12 Nov 1990 in Anoka County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1913-40815
• Social Security Number: 472-05-0034 issued in Minnesota

Notes:

In the 1940 census, he and Oriet lived at 2826 1st Avenue South in Minneapolis. Each had had an eighth-grade education. Chet was a sheet metal worker for a metal manufacturing company.

Living in or near Glendale, California in February of 1953 when Cora and Maurice tried to visit them.



Chester and Oriet live in California, at least they did at the time of the October, 1987, earthquake. (St. Whittier?)

They lived at 11911 Dalwood Ave., Norwalk, California (near Long Beach, apparently), in December of 1992.

Chester married Oriet Laverne SOLEM on 6 Apr 1940 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Oriet was born on 31 Jan 1919 in South Dakota; died on 21 May 2005 in Norwalk, Los Angeles, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1917-40501
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1996-MN-031105
• Social Security Number: 475-10-7138

Notes:

He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 25 Jun 1945 at Fort Snelling. He had three years of high school and his civilan occupation was truck driver.

His address was 8747 Portland Avenue in Bloomington at the time that he and Lorraine were married.

Wilbur married Lydia Grace RASMUSSEN on 5 Oct 1940 in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and was divorced. Lydia was born on 28 Mar 1921 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 6 Sep 2006 in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona; was buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Wilbur married Lorraine Katherine GESSNER on 14 May 1966 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Lorraine was born on 15 Jan 1923 in Stearns County, Minnesota; died on 5 Jan 2011 in Roseau County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1928-10640

Notes:

“George R.” in the 1930 census. Referred to as Richard in his mother’s obituary.



He, with his wife Betty, survived his sister Mildred.

A George Richard Hendrickson married an Elizabeth Ann Boquist (b. 3 Sep 1931 in Hennepin County) on 30 Sep 1950 in Hennepin County. They had three children.

George and Betty lived at 6941 Jersey Ave N in Minneapolis in 1992 and 1993.

Lived in Las Vegas as of February of 2011.

An obit:

Hendrickson, George ‘Dick' Died Sept. 21, 2011. Born Feb. 21, 1928. Enjoyed all of His 84 years. Born in Richfield, MN. Mechanic for over 35 years and also while serving in Korea and Japan. Commander for Post 494 Crystal MN. Last few years living in Vegas. Preceded by wife Betty. Survived by daughters, Sue Sewell, Jan Blaisdel; son, Rick Hendrickson; several grand & great-grandchildren. Burial will be at Boulder City National Veterans Cemetery.

According to his burial record, he was a Tec 4 in the U.S. Army in World War II.

FInd A Grave has him buried in Boulder City Cemetery.

Died:
last residence Tonopah

Buried:
Section AB, Site 840

George married Elizabeth Ann (Betty) BOQUIST on 30 Sep 1950 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Elizabeth was born on 3 Sep 1931 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 10 Sep 2010. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1917-44924
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2008-MN-010814
• Baptism: 21 Nov 1917, Nazareth English Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
• Confirmation: 24 May 1931, Minnehaha Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota

Notes:

Baptismal sponsors: Bess and Al, Charly and Anna. Baptism performed by Pastor Halvorsen.

Attended Miles Standish Elementary School.

She had a club called the Les Belles Amies in high school, 1933-1934, and was president in February of 1934.

She was elected president of the new James Henry Longworth unit of the Woman’s Relief Corps formed in January of 1934.

Confirmed by Tenner Thompson at Minnehaha Lutheran Church on May 24, 1931.



Viv and Bill were secretly married in Iowa nearly a year before their 1935 wedding in Minneapolis. That earlier marriage, solemnized by an Episcopal rector, took place on October 20, 1934, at St. John’s Church in Mason City, Iowa. Vivian claimed to be 19 years old although she was only 17. Bill claimed to be 21 although he was 19. At that time, Bill was living at 3344 Stevens Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Viv worked in her father's bicycle business in the mid to late 1930s and ran the Minnehaha store, and, indeed, the entire wholesale and retail business, for awhile. She and Bill moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in the spring of 1940. Ronald was born in June, shortly after they completed their move. Viv and Bill started a bicycle business (also called Acme Bicycle) in Wilmington. (Schwinn assisted them in setting up the Wilmington store.) The Wilmington store lasted less than a year due to supply constraints arising from wartime allocations. Bill and Viv then worked for Du Pont, first in Wilmington, later in other locations, during the war. Vivian was a confidential clerk and Bill worked in the personnel section, hiring construction workers. The projects they worked on were parts of the Manhattan project although they weren’t aware of that until after the war. They returned to Minneapolis for awhile but were transferred back to Delaware in May of 1943. Bill and Viv lived in Gary, Indiana, in November of 1944 when Maurice and Cora visited them on their way back from visiting DHC in New Orleans. Bill and Viv returned to Minneapolis in a couple of weeks later, in November of 1944 to work for Gopher Ordnance, also a part of DuPont.

From Cora’s 2nd diary, we learn of the addresses Viv and Bill lived at between the time they moved and the end of 1944 (at which point they had returned to Minneapolis):

633 Harrington
Wilmington Delaware

711 Villa Monterey
Wilmington?

7531 Blaisdell
Minneapolis

21 Oak Street
Salem, NJ

541 McKinley
Gary, Indiana

445 E. Ridge Road
Gary, Indiana

Their addresses in Minneapolis:

4321 43rd Ave. S. (built in 1932)
Mpls., Minn

Rt #3, Box 352
Hopkins, Minn.

Vivian and Bill and family moved into their Hopkins house on Williston Road on August 30, 1948. They moved to a new house on Idylwood Road in 1955.

She became director of Christian Education at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Minnetonka Mills in September of 1958.

She and Bill celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on 27 Jul 1960 with an open house at their Idylwood Drive home. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Carlson and Mr. and Mrs. Reed S. Wold were hosts and hostesses. (Reed Wold was a neighborhood friend of Bill and Viv when they were high schoolers on Minnehaha Avenue.

As a reprise of her earlier days in the business, Viv and Earl helped out at the store (with Elaine) for several weeks in the spring of 1970.

Her obituary in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on April 5th:

Dahlberg, Vivian Carlson Age 90, of Minnetonka, died Friday at Methodist Hospital from complications of Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She was preceded in death by her husband, Earl and step son, Doug. She is survived by children, Ron (Doris) Marsh, Leslie (Marshall) Lewis; stepdaughter, Lynn Bauer; daughter-in-law, Carita Dahlberg; 7 grandchildren, numerous great and great-great-grandchildren; brother, Don (Elaine) Carlson. Vivian's career as Director of Religious Education began at St. David's Episcopal Church and continued on to Gethsemane Lutheran Church. It was Vivian's inner faith that continued to guide and support her which enabled her to be the foundation of our family. She was dearly loved and will be missed by all who knew her. Memorial service Monday 1:30 PM with visitation 1 hour before at the Washburn-McReavy Strobeck Johnson Chapel, 1400 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Private interment Grandview Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the American Cancer Society.

Birth:
4:30 AM. Attending physician, Dr. Witham or Wickam, would also deliver DHC.

Confirmation:
41st Street and Minnehaha Avenue

Died:
Methodist Hospital

Buried:
cremated

Vivian married William Charles MARSH on 3 Aug 1935 in Gethsemane Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. William (son of Francis Charles (Frank) AUGUSTINE and Frances Emily CARR) was born on 25 Jun 1915 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 15 Feb 1964 in Hopkins, Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 18 Feb 1964 in Sunset Memorial Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Vivian married Earl Anderson DAHLBERG on 9 Jul 1965 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Earl (son of Oscar Frithiof DAHLBERG and Anna Josephine ANDERSON) was born on 31 Dec 1917 in Hopkins, Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 5 Oct 2000 in St. Louis Park, Hennepin County, Minnesota; was buried on 9 Oct 2000 in Grandview Park Cemetery, Edina, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1924-44185
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2011-MN-008512
• Occupation: Store Manager
• Baptism: 3 Oct 1924, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
• Confirmation: 5 Jun 1938, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota

Notes:

Born at home. Attending physician was C.A. Witham or Wickam. He was the same doctor who delivered Vivian. Bess also attended the delivery. Birth certificate noted that “opthalmia neonatorum prophylactic” was administered.

Baptismal sponsors: Mr. and Mrs. Al Carlson and Mrs. G.H. Deiters.

Confirmed at Minnehaha Lutheran Church, June 5, 1938, Pastor Tenner Thompson.

Minneapolis Roosevelt High School, June 5, 1942.

In an interview in his last year of life, when his memory was suspect, DHC recalled the 1938 visit to Viroqua which he found very boring because of all the visiting of relatives. He claimed it was a two-week trip, during which time they stayed at the Ekums’ Cozy Cabins. (It was only one week.) He remembers playing golf one day with his dad at the Viroqua golf course. He also recalls meeting one of Carl’s sons, who was about his age, showing him around Carl’s tobacco farm. DHC remembers that Carl’s farm produced especially good chewing tobacco. He also learned about trapping moles.

In that interview, DHC also recalled his appendicitis operation in 1940, after which he spent time (including his 16th birthday) in the hospital and watched the Aquatennial parade from the balcony of the hospital. (This is recorded in Cora’s diary.)

Registered for the draft on 15 Dec 1942 at the Masonic Temple Building in downtown Minneapolis. At that time, his employer was Thomas F Burniece of Economy Sheet Metal.

Inducted into the US Army November 24, 1943 at the age of 19. Entered active service December 14, 1943, at Fort Snelling. Service Number 37 582 663, clerk-typist, bookkeeper, radio operator. Left Minneapolis on a troop train on December 23, 1943. Discharged as grade T/4, Field Artillery. Trained at Camp Roberts in California and Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi. Went overseas January 15, 1945. Served in 63rd Infantry Division, Artillery Battalion, HQ Battery.

Discharge papers indicated that DHC served in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. He was awarded the American Theater Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. He was vaccinated for smallpox in September, 1943, Typhoid in November of 1945 and January of 1946, and Tetanus in January of 1945. He was an expert in “carbine.”

Total “Continental Service” was 1 year, 25 days. Total “Foreign Service” was 1 year, 3 months, and 26 days. “Longevity for pay purposes” was 2 years, 5 months, and 11 days.

Departure for the ETO (European Theater of Operations) was on January 5, 1945. Arrival was January 14, 1945, a transit of 9 days.

His ASR score was 39 so he was toward the back of the line when it came to returning home. His departure for the USA from Europe was on April 20, 1946. Arrival was on April 30, 1946, a transit of 10 days.

Separation papers indicated that discharge was through the Separation Center, Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, completed on the 4th of May, 1946. Papers were signed by “Neville B. Borzarth, Major AC.” These papers were filed with the Hennepin County Register of Deeds on May 7, 1946, at 9:10 AM. His honorable discharge was as a technician fourth grade, Headquarters battery, 63rd Division Artillery, service number 37 582 663.

Discharge papers indicated height 5-11, weight 154 lbs.

Addresses while in the service, according to Cora’s diary.

Pvt. Donald H. Carlson
37582663
Battery B, 56th Field Artillery Battalion
12th Regiment
Building 6315
Camp Roberts, California

Pvt. Donald H. Carlson
37582663
Headquarters Battery
63rd Division Artillery
APO 410
Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi

Pvt. Donald H. Carlson
37582663 Hq. Bty.
63rd Div. Arty.
APO 410
c/o Postmaster, New York, NY

Pfc. Donald H. Carlson
37582663 Hg. Btry.
6th Corps. Arty.
APO 46
c/o Postmaster, New York, NY

Cpl. Donald H. Carlson
37582663 Hq. Co.
6th Corps. 1 G. Section
APO 46
c/o Postmaster, New York, NY

Sgt. Donald H. Carlson
37582663
APO 46
Hq. U.S. Zone Constabulary
c/o P.O.N.Y., NY

In the 1948 Minneapolis city directory, he is listed as a salesman for Carlson’s Sporting Goods and residing at 4230 Minnehaha. Elaine is not listed.

In the 1950 Minneapolis city directory, he is listed as the manager of Carlson’s and residing at 2255 “Olk” Shakopee Rd.

In July of 1952, he and his family moved to 2239 East Old Shakopee Road.

DHC got a $10,000 loan, at 5% interest, from Mrs. Christine Larson, 1902 4th Avenue South in Minneapolis, tel. no. FE2-7966. The payments were to be $66 per month with the first payment due on March 1, 1956, and the remaining payments due on the first of each month. All payments were recorded in a small book maintained by Christine Larson. Not all payments were made on the 1st of the month. The last payment was recorded February 5, 1962, which left the balance at 7961.75. Presumably, the balance was paid off at that time because the entry of that February payment was made in the book by DHC. Also presumably then, with the loan repaid, Christine gave the book to DHC.

The official description of the 2239 property, for the 1967 Hennepin County real estate taxes, was:

That part of Lot 50 lying S of N 147 6/10 feet thereof and Wly of a line running from a point in N line of S 258 16/100 feet of Lot 49 dis 285 feet W from E line therof to a point in S line of N 116 3/10 feet of Lot 52 dis 652 feet W from E line therof.

Plat 70342, Parcel 7050, District 20, School District 271, Watershed 2. The taxes for that year were $1,102.93.

Don and Elaine’s phone number in Bloomington 854-6106.

Depression-based nervous breakdown in the spring of 1970.

Trans-ischemic attack (TIA) episode in the late 1980s.

Fell and broke his hip in the very early morning hours of May 12, 2010.>

Obit from the Minneapolis newspaper:

Carlson, Don H. 86, died March 15, 2011, at his home in Eagan. He was born on July 13, 1924, in Minneapolis to Maurice and Cora (Anderson) Carlson. He served with the U.S. Army in Europe in World War II and owned Carlson's Cyclery in south Minneapolis for over 40 years. He is survived by Elaine, his wife of 63 years; his son, Don (Mary) Carlson of Green Bay; and his daughter, Cheryl (Kevin) Fautch of Eagan, as well as three grandchildren and one great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his parents, and his sister, Vivian Dahlberg. Funeral services will be at Grace Lutheran Church, 8700 Old Cedar Ave., Bloomington at 11 AM on Friday, March 18. Family will greet friends one hour before service. Interment will be at Sunset memorial Park in Minneapolis. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Grace Lutheran, the Fairview Foundation or the charitable organization of the donor's choice.

Official cause of death “cerebellar metastases, unknown primary.”

Birth:
4:10 AM at home. Minneapolis birth certificate #378, “Ward 12 of Minneapolis.”

Baptism:
Minnehaha Lutheran Church, 41st Street and Minnehaha Avenue, Pastor Tenner Thompson

Confirmation:
Minnehaha Lutheran Church

Died:
at home at 4:30 PM

Buried:
Funeral at Grace Lutheran Church in Bloomington.

Donald married Mabel Elaine EVERSON on 8 Nov 1947 in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Mabel (daughter of John Edwin EVERSON and Mabel Amanda LANDSTROM) was born on 27 Feb 1930 in Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota; died on 25 Jun 2020 in Eagan, Dakota County, Minnesota; was buried on 30 Jun 2020 in Sunset Memorial Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was not living at home with her parents and siblings in the 1940 census. In that census, she was living in Viroqua where she was a maid living in the household of the widower Mertie Harris and his three children.

Living in Viroqua at the time of her mother’s death in 1960. Living in Janesville in 1995. Living in Westby in September of 2003.

Her obit in the La Crosse newspaper:

Eileen Marie (Nundahl) Mikkelson 

Westby, Wis. — Eileen Marie (Nundahl) Mikkelson passed away Thursday, July 14, 2005, at Vernon Memorial Hospital in Viroqua, Wis., from complications following surgery.

She was born in Vernon County to Carl and Mearl (Crook) Nundahl on Sept. 4, 1922. On Feb. 26, 1941, she married Lawrence Mikkelson. Eileen's family was the center of her life and she grandly served her Lord by working hard for and loving her family of 10 children, 23 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Her grandchildren were always welcomed into this world with a sweater, cap and booties that she had lovingly knitted for each as she awaited their arrival. And as they grew, they were the recipients of wonderful big bear hugs from Grandma whenever they came into her presence. She so enjoyed attending their activities and athletic events.

Eileen worked many years cooking for the residents and later keeping records for the Vernon County Manor. After her retirement from there, she managed and ran the family business all the while caring for her disabled son. Once her family was raised, she returned to her love of baseball by attending Milwaukee Brewer games. She loved to travel and especially enjoyed her trips to Las Vegas with her friends.

Eileen is survived by her daughters, Elaine (Jerry) DeWitt, Bonnie (Norman) Bousman, Cheryl (John) Nelson, all of Westby, and Patricia (Roger) Potts, La Crosse, Vicki (Lonnie) Christianson, Coon Valley; and sons, Randy and Kent (Renae), of Westby, and Kurt of Viroqua. Surviving grandchildren are Kelly (Rob) Schlicht, Milwaukee, Joel (Karen) DeWitt, Westby, Kacey DeWitt, Tomah, Jerry Mikkelson, Viola, Jason Mikkelson, Viroqua, Krista Buros, Viroqua, Carrie (Patrick) Dahlquist, Livermore, California, Teresa (Mark) Helgeson, Stoddard, Eric Mikkelson, Elkridge, Md., Jordan Nelson, Sheffield, Iowa, Evan Nelson, Viroqua, Haylee (Jason) Foster, Great Falls, Mont., Kevin Potts, Winona, Minn., Erin and Brian Christianson of La Crosse, Brady Christianson, Wausau, Wis., Jessica Mikkelson, Henrietta, Texas, Ashley Baum, Austin, Texas, Adam Hegwer, Henrietta, Texas, Lindsey, Tyler, and Brooke Mikkelson, and Garrett and Karlee Mikkelson, all of Westby.

Surviving great-grandchildren are Joshua DeWitt, Lyssa Reynolds, Brandon and Keegan DeWitt, Zachary and Madison Mikkelson, Lauren and Marissa Helgeson, Taylor, Ethan, Leah, and Camille Dahlquist, Paris and Aspen Foster, Mason Viner-Potts, Emma Baum, Lily and Walker Mikkelson, and great-great-grandchild, Nickolai Reynolds. Eileen is also survived by sisters, Marlene Carrel and Martha (Mel) Brewer of Janesville, Wis., Norma Pierce, Onalaska, and Judy (Gene) Collins, Richland Center; and brothers, Merlin Nundahl, Beloit, and Donnie (Janus) Nundahl, Richland Center, Wis.; and sister-in-law, Connie Nundahl, Janesville.

The Lord welcomes Eileen home as does her husband, Lawrence; sons, Arden, Charles and Jerry David; brothers, Selmer, Kenneth and Ivan (Bubby) Nundahl; and her parents and grandparents. Blessed be her memory.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, July 17, at 1:30 p.m. at Westby Coon Prairie Lutheran Church. Pastor Dennis Hallemeier will officiate with burial in the Coon Prairie Cemetery. Friends may call on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home, 123 W. Decker, Hwy. 56 in Viroqua. Friends may also call on Sunday after 12:30 p.m. at the church.

Died:
Vernon Memorial Hospital

Eileen married Lawrence Sherman MIKKELSON on 26 Feb 1941 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Lawrence (son of Albert MIKKELSON and Louisa OLSON) was born on 7 Dec 1917 in Wisconsin; died on 17 Oct 1973 in La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried on 20 Oct 1973 in Coon Prairie Cemetery, Westby, Viroqua Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 395-38-8087 issued in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Death Certificate: 036762

Notes:

Selmer (or, possibly, Kenneth) was probably the son of Carl’s who showed DHC around the tobacco farm during the Carlsons’ long visit to Viroqua in July of 1938.

In a December 16, 1979, letter to Cora, Benetta says that “Selmer Nundahl, Carl’s oldest boy, had open heart surgery 2 weeks ago. He is getting along good.”

His obituary appeared in the December 21st edition of the Richland Observer.

According to his obit, Selmer farmed in the Mason City area until 1970. According to Geneva’s obit, they moved to Viroqua in 1967.

According to his obit, Selmer was survived by 13 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

Died:
SSDI last residence was Richland County

Buried:
funeral from Viroqua United Methodist Church 4Sa1

Selmer married Geneva R ERICKSON on 23 Jun 1951 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Geneva (daughter of Lewis ERICKSON and Minnie Aleta SANDY) was born on 3 Feb 1927 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 22 Dec 1998 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 24 Dec 1998 in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

JANESVILLE-- Kenneth O. Nundahl, age 77, of 1456 S. Washington, passed away on Friday, June 10, 2005, at Mercy Hospital. He was born on Feb. 19, 1928 in Vernon Co. and was the son of Carl and Merle (Crook) Nundahl. Kenneth served in the US Army in Korea. He married Connie Skrede in 1954 in Viroqua, WI. Kenneth retired from Fairbanks Morse Co., in 1993, after having been employed there for 43 years. Ken loved collecting old miniature cars, watching TV, and doing crossword puzzles. He was a member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

He is survived by his wife, Connie; a son, Michael (Kristy) Nundahl of Beloit, WI; 3 daughters: Jacqueline Nundahl , Susan Olmsted and Kathy (Rick) Cole all of Janesville; 8 grandchildren; 2 brothers, Merlin Nundahl of Beloit and Donnie (Janus) Nundahl of Richland Center; 5 sisters: Eileen Mikkelson of Westby, WI, Marlene Carrel of Janesville, Norma Pierce of Onalaska, WI, Martha (Mel) Brewer of Janesville and Judy (Gene) Collins of Boaz, WI. He was preceded by his parents; 2 brothers, Ivan (Bubba) Nundahl and Selmer Nundahl; and a grandson, Jason Nundahl.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at the SCHNEIDER APFEL SCHNEIDER & SCHNEIDER Funeral Home, with Rev Larry Kula officiating. Interment will be in the Milton Lawns Memorial Park. Friends may call on Tuesday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the SCHNEIDER APFEL SCHNEIDER & SCHNEIDER Funeral Home.



Kenneth enlisted in the U.S. Army in Chicago on May 29, 1946.

In the 1951 city directory for Beloit, Wisconsin, Kenneth is a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse. He lives at 1711 Porter Avenue.

In the 1954 Beloit directory, he is still a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse but now he lives at 2120 Riverside Drive.

In the 1956 Janesville city directory, he is a machinist with Fairbanks-Morse and lives with his wife, Constance M, and brother Donald L, at 916 Mineral Point Avenue.

In the 1958 Janesville city directory, he is a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse. He and Constance M live at 1703 S Willard Avenue. Connie works for Glenoit Mills.

In the 1960 Janesville city directory, Kenneth and Constance live at 1456 S Washington. Kenneth is a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse in Beloit. Kenneth’s brother Merlin, a teacher in Beloit, lives at the same address.

Kenneth married Constance M SKREDE on 4 Sep 1954 in Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. Constance (daughter of Leonard SKREDE and Iva COLE) was born on 12 Dec 1932 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 27 Jan 2017 in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V16, P578 As Ivan Tollef

Notes:

Ivan drowned with his cousin Clifford “at Black Bottom” on December 23, 1934. Norma says it was in the creek on the Bowe (then Carl’s) farm.

Nicknamed “Little Bubby” or “Little Buddy.”

From the Vernon County Broadcaster, December 27, 1934:

Drowning of 2 Boys Saddens Community

A duo-tragedy occurred last Sunday afternoon at half past three when two small boys, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl and Mr. and Mrs. Odin Olson, met death by drowning in the upper Black Bottom creek.

The two five year old boys were playing on the ice of the creek, which was exceedingly thin at that place. It is supposed that the ice broke while they were at play, and the shock of the chilling water stupefied them to such a degree that they were unable to reach the bank. The water was four feet deep at the place where they were drowned.

They were discovered half an hour later by the other Nundahl children, who ran for help. Mrs. Nundahl, with the aid of two childen, rescued the bodies from the water and summoned assistance from a neighbor.

The entire community combines in offering the Nundahl and Olson families the deepest of sympathy in this period when joy and happiness is so prevalent. Funeral services will be held this Thursday at the Folsom church, with the Reverend Haakenson officiating.

From the Vernon County Censor, December 26, 1934:

Two Lads Drown in Black Bottom

One of the most heart-breaking tragedies that the Censor has been called upon to chronicle in years took place last Sunday afternoon in upper Black Bottom when young sons of Mr. and Mrs. Oden Olson and Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl met death in the icy waters of the creek.

The older boys of the two families had gone sliding earlier in the afternoon, and Clifford Olson and Ivan Nundahl, both not yet five years of age, got the same idea and started out with the sled. The first intimation of trouble came when the older boys returned to the Nundahl home and were met by the dog whose frantic agitation finally led them to the bank of the creek where the bodies of the two young lads were found in the water. From marks on the bank it was apparent that the dog had tried to pull them out but failed.

Mrs. Nundahl, although frail and ill and a mother only six weeks ago, plunged into the ice-cold water above her waist to retrieve the bodies. She was prostrated from the shock and grief and her condition was serious for a time. Mr. Nundahl was not at home at the time of the shocking accident.

The double funeral will be held at the Nundahl home near Brookville, and at the Kickapoo church Thursday afternoon, Rev. Haagenson officiating. To the heart-stricken families the most sincere sympathy of the entire community goes out at this Christmas season when their joy has been transformed to bitter grief.

His obituary:

Ivan Tollef Nundahl, son of Carl and Mearl Nundahl, was born March 23, 1930, and departed from this life December 23, 1934, at the age of four years and nine months.

He leaves to mourn his departure besides his parents, one sister, Eileen, four brothers, Selmar, Kenneth, Merlin, and Donald, his grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Sever Nundahl, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Crook, five uncles Tillman Nundahl, Otto, Clair, Floyd and Faye Crook, three aunts, Mrs. Odin Olson, Mrs. Stanley Simpson, and Mrs. Gale Aikins, a number of cousins and many other relatives and friends.

Little Buddy, as he was better known, was baptized into the Kickapoo Lutheran Church in May, 1930, by Rev. Finstad. He was of a sweet and loving disposition and his smile won everyone’s heart. He will be greatly missed by his loved ones but we know he has gone to that greater home prepared for the blest and is same in the arms of Jesus.

Funeral services were held from the Carl Nundahl home in Brookville and from the Kickapoo Lutheran Church December 2nd, Rev, H. T. Haagenson officiating.

Card of Thanks

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to all those who so kindly rendered their help in the tragic death and burial of our dear little sons, Ivan Nundahl and Clifford Olson. We wish to thank Rev. Haagenson and Rev. Lunde for their words of comfort, the singers at the home and the church, the pallbearers, and to the Brookville community club and others for the beautiful flowers, and those who donated to missions in their memory.

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl and Family
Mr. and Mrs. Odin Olson and Family

Norma says that Bubby and Clifford told their mothers that they were going to the barn to play but instead decided to go ice skating on the thin ice. Mearl and Eileen found the boys and got them out of the water and took them to the house on sleds.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: School Teacher, School Principal

Notes:

Graduated from Viroqua High School in 1950.

Graduated from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse in 1954.

In the 1956 Beloit, Wisconsin, city directory, he was a teacher at Robinson School. He lived in Janesville.

In the 1959 Beloit city directory, he was a teacher at Wright School and lived in Janesville.

In the 1960 Janesville city directory, Merlin lives with Kenneth and Constance at 1456 S Washington. Merlin is a teacher in Beloit and Kenneth is a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse in Beloit.

His obit in the Janesville newspaper:

Merlin C. Nundahl, 76, of Beloit, WI, died Tuesday, July 21, 2009, in Mercy Hospital, Janesville, WI. He was born Sept. 12, 1932, in Vernon County, a son of Carl and Mearl Crook Nundahl. Merlin was a 1950 graduate of Viroqua High School and a 1954 graduate of the University of La Crosse receiving his bachelor’s degree in education. Merlin also received his masters in education from Rockford College. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army. Merlin was employed as an elementary teacher and, then, became the principal for Burdge and Morgan Elementary Schools, retiring in 1989. He also worked for Beloit College for 6 years in the education department as a field director. Merlin was a member of the YMCA board, Kiwanis Club, Historical Society and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, where he taught Sunday school and helped out with the breakfast program. He started a center for children to be tutored and spent 4 summers building Camden playground in Janesville, WI. Merlin’s family was a big part of his life and they were all very important to him, as were his two cats, Ginger and Kitty.
?Survivors include his brother and sisters: Donald (Janus) Nundahl of Richland Center, WI, Marlene Carrel of Janesville, Martha (Melvin) Brewer of Janesville, Norma Pierce of Onalaska, WI, and Judy Collins of Richland Center; a sister-in-law, Connie Nundahl; many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. Merlin will be sadly missed by his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers: Selmer, Kenneth and Ivan; one sister, Eileen Mikkelson; brothers-in-law, Lawrenze Mikkelson, Gene Collins, Jim DeLap; and sister-in-law, Geneva Nundahl.
?Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, July 27, 2009, in OUR SAVIOR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 749 Bluff Street, Beloit, WI, with Reverend Jennifer Jelinek officiating. Visitation will be from 4 until 7 p.m. Sunday at the DALEY MURPHY WISCH & ASSOCIATES FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORIUM, 2355 Cranston Road, Beloit, WI. Funeral services will also be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at 1 p.m. in KICKAPOO UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH, Soldiers Grove, WI, with Pastor Grant VanLishout officiating. Visitation will be from 12 p.m. until the time of service Tuesday at the CHURCH. Burial will be in Kicka-poo United Lutheran Church Cemetery with Military Honors. VOSSETEIG-LARSON FUNERAL HOME assisted the family with arrangements in Viroqua, WI. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.daleymurphywisch.com.

Died:
Mercy Hospital

Notes:

In the 1956 Janesville, Wisconsin, city directory, he is a machinist for Fairbanks-Morse and lives with his brother Kenneth at 916 Mineral Point Ave.

At the time of his wedding announcement in November of 1958, he worked for the Viroqua Dairy.




Obituary for Donald L. Nundahl
Donald L. Nundahl, age 80, of Richland Center died Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at home in Richland Center. He was born October 25, 1934 in Vernon County the son of Carl and Mearl (Crook) Nundahl. On April 11, 1959 he married Janus Johnson in Viroqua, WI. In 1964 he moved his family to Richland Center where he began working at the Richland Center Foundry. He started as an iron pourer and worked his way up as a respected supervisor in the lab. After 33 years, and building many friendships he then retired. Wanting to do more, Don passionately drove van for VARC which led him to a new circle of friends. Don took pride in his love for gardening and it showed with a beautiful array of flowers he planted yearly. He also supplied his family & friends with an abundance of vegetables that he grew. One of Don's hobbies was his ability to turn a piece of wood that he created in his extraordinary workshop, into anything especially his eagles displayed throughout the country. He was an avid Packer fan to the point where family events were never planned during game time. Wheel of Fortune & Family Fued were two shows he also enjoyed watching. Don and his wife, Jan appreciated the opportunity to travel across the United States with family while treasuring his last trip spent in New York with friends.

Survivors include his wife Janus of Richland Center; 5 children, Laverne (Kim) Nundahl, Lori (Ronald) Coppernoll, Lonnie (Thomas) Haas, Jodi Nundahl (Steve Simonson) all of Richland Center, Debra Nundahl (Durrell Gaither)of Wisconsin Dells; grandchildren, Garrett (Julie), Ben (Mysti), Mandi (Ray), Jamie (Anthony), Jacob (Tahlya), Danielle, Sydni, Erin (Jon), Brandon (Hidi), Nicholas, Abigail, Austin, Ryan (Lindsey), Shannon (Tony), Cortney; great grandchildren, Destiny, Echoe, Keegan, Rylee, Zada, Dylan, Kyzan, Aundrea, Kwyntan, Sophia, Devin, Kynli, Chaynce; 4 sisters Marlene Carrell of Janesville, Martha (Melvin) Brewer of Janesville, Norma Pierce of Onalaska, Judy Collins of Boaz; brothers-in-law Harland (Macy) Johnson of LaCrosse, Claurice (Diane) Johnson of Stoddard; a sister-in-law Connie Nundahl of Janesville; other relatives and friends.

Preceded in death by his parents; granddaughter Ashlee Nundahl; a sister Eileen Mikkelson; brothers Selmer, Kenneth, Merlin and Ivan Nundahl.

Donald married J.J. JOHNSON [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Norma L. Pierce of Onalaska, WI passed away at 80 years of age at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center on April 13, 2022. She was born in rural Vernon County on September 26, 1941 to Carl and Mearl (Crook) Nundahl. Norma was raised in a large and loving Norwegian-English farming family. She graduated from Viroqua High School in 1959.

Norma married Earl Pierce on June 6, 1959 and they later divorced. She subsequently married Richard Karth on February 4, 1984 and they were together for a number of years.

In 1972, as a newly single mother to young children, Norma set out to conquer the world and show her children that a strong work ethic can provide opportunities. She began working as a bookkeeper at Home Savings and Loan late that year and within 6 years was promoted to Assistant Vice President and branch manager of the Onalaska location. She later served as a residential home loan specialist and manager of local branches of First Home Mortgage and First Financial Savings and Loan, and ended her career as Assistant Vice President for Residential Real Estate Lending at First Bank.

Norma served on the Board of Directors for the La Crosse Area Home Builders Association and was the only woman on that board for many years. She was awarded Spike Club status by the National Home Builders Association in recognition of her achievements in member recruitment and retention. Norma was elected to the Riverfront Foundation Board in 1989 and served as President of the Optimist Club of La Crosse. She was a career-long member of the Greater La Crosse Board of Realtors. Norma also volunteered with the La Crosse Area Habitat for Humanity chapter and donated generously to the cause of providing homes to people who need a helping hand.

Norma was an accomplished soprano soloist and performed at a number of events over the years. At home, she was an excellent cook and baker whose cinnamon rolls and apple pie have yet to be beat, and an expert seamstress.

Norma raised four children and did it well, with tremendous support from her large extended family and neighbors Berniece Johnson and Nonie Curran. She is survived by her daughter Kim Pierce, Irvine, CA; daughter Carmen Perrizo and son-in-law John, Eden Prairie, MN; son Brian Pierce, La Crosse, WI; and son Brad Pierce and daughter-in-law Jill, Green Bay, WI. Norma was an excellent grandmother to Jared Pierce, Paul Perrizo, Evan Perrizo, Chloe Perrizo, Tyler Pierce, Taylor Pierce, and Tiffani Pierce. She was very proud to be great-grandmother to Cora Jo Pierce. Norma is also survived by her sisters Marlene Carrel, Martha Brewer, and Judy Collins, and sister-in-law Janus Nundahl.

Norma was preceded in death by her mother in 1960 and her father in 1968; sister Eileen Mikkelson (2005); and brothers Ivan (1934), Selmer (1995), Kenneth (2005), Merlin (2009), and Donald (2014).

Norma married Earl Paul PIERCE on 6 Jun 1959 in Vernon County, Wisconsin, and was divorced. Earl (son of Lawrence E PIERCE and Esther ZINTZ) was born on 18 Nov 1938 in Readstown, Kickapoo Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 21 Apr 1996 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried in Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Norma married R.J. KARTH [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 395-12-4842 issued in Wisconsin before 1951

Notes:

She was not living at home at the time of the 1940 census. At that time she was a live-in maid for the Alvin Kuehn family in Viroqua.

Benetta’s obit says that she died in the Sannes Skogdalen Nursing Home in Soldiers Grove. It also says that Benetta and Maurice farmed in the Sugar Grove area of Kickapoo Township. She was living in Readstown at the time of her father’s death in 1977.



Her obituary said that she was survived by 9 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.



Her obit says that Benetta was a member of the Franklin Lutheran Church, the Ladies Aid, and taught Sunday School.



Benetta C. Nelson, 81, of Soldiers Grove died Tuesday, April 23, 2002, at the Sannes Skogdalen Nursing Home in Soldiers Grove. She was born in Clayton Township, Crawford County, on Oct. 27, 1920, to Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. She was united in marriage to Oscar Mikkelson on June 6, 1942, and he preceded her in death on Nov. 29, 1944, in Germany during World War II. On Sept. 25, 1952, she married Maurice Nelson, and until their retirement in 1984, they farmed in the Sugar Grove area of Kickapoo Township, Vernon County, and then moved to Soldiers Grove. Maurice died March 7, 1993. Benetta was a member of the Franklin Lutheran Church, the Ladies Aid and also taught Sunday school.

She is survived by one daughter, Carolyn Nelson of Janesville, Wis.; three sons, Burdette (Tina) Nelson of Readstown, Wis., David (Gail) Nelson of Soldiers Grove, and Jon (Nancy) Nelson of Muscoda, Wis.; nine grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; three brothers, Orland Olson and Ervan (Joan) Olson, both of Westby, Wis., and Clifford (Mary) Olson of Loves Park, Ill.; two sisters, Mildred Tollefson of Montello, and Agnes (Clifford) Buroker of Janesville, Wis.; and nieces, nephews and other relatives.

In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Clifford and Robert Olson; and three sisters, Helen Erickson, Selma Sharp and Anna Ewers.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, 2002, in the Franklin Lutheran Church at Folsom

Benetta married Oscar Melvin MIKKELSON on 6 Jun 1942. Oscar (son of Albert MIKKELSON and Louisa OLSON) was born on 25 Jul 1914 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 29 Nov 1944 in Germany; was buried on 16 Apr 1949 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Benetta married Maurice Hugo NELSON on 25 Sep 1952. Maurice (son of Hugo J NELSON and Mabel K JACKSON) was born on 10 Jun 1921 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 7 Mar 1993 in Crawford County, Illinois; was buried in Franklin Lutheran Church, Folsom, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to the 1940 census, when he was still living at home, he had been educated through the 6th grade.

Living in Beloit at the time of his father’s death in 1977. Living in Westby at the time of Anna’s death in 1999 and Benetta’s death in 2002. He was back in Beloit at the time of his sister Millie’s death in 2015.

In a letter to Cora dated December 16, 1979, Benetta says “Orland, my oldest brother, may have to have heart surgery. Trying medicine for a month. He still don’t feel good. Seems to be so much heart trouble.”



In the 1958 Beloit city directory, Orland and Lorraine lived at 936 Brooks. He worked for J I Case.

In the 1959 directory, he was still working for J I Case. He and Lorraine lived at 1602 Oak.

In the 1960 directory, he was still a machinist for J I Case. He and Lorraine lived at 1619 Cleveland.

He may be the Orland C Olson who lived at 1763 Mary Street in Beloit. His birth date is shown as 4 Aug 1922. No other Olsons are included at that address in the U.S. Public Records Index, Vol. 2.

Orland C. Olson, 94, of Beloit, WI, died Friday, March 24, 2017 in Rock Haven Nursing Home.

He was born August 4, 1922 in Vernon County, WI, the son of Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. Orland attended Vernon County Schools. He married Loraine E. Zillig on March 15, 1947 in Franklin, WI. She predeceased him on December 22, 1980.

Orland was the owner and operator of Olson’s Garage, retiring in 1984.

Survivors include his children, Orland Olson Jr, Judith (Robert) Altenberg and Susan Rogers all of Beloit, WI; grandchildren, Dawn (Chris) Weber, Matthew Raisbeck, Kevin Olson, Stephanie (Tim) Weckerley, Shane Rogers, and Tom Parr; great grandchildren, Kyle, Kira, Blaine, Lacey, Emily, Tyler, Shaylee, Sophia, Ashley, Nathan, Gracie and Cayleigh; great-great grandchildren, Isaih and Brooklyn; brother, Clifford (Mary) Olson of Loves Park, IL; many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents, three brothers, six sisters and three nephews.

Orland married Loraine E ZILLIG in 1947. Loraine was born on 18 Feb 1927 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 22 Dec 1980 in Rock County, Wisconsin; was buried in Floral Lawn Cemetery, South Beloit, Winnebago County, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was not living at home at the time of the 1940 census. In that census, she was a live-in maid for the Roy Kurtz family in Viroqua.



The U.S. Public Records Index, Vol. 1, shows her, as Mildred R, living in Pardeeville in 1993.

Mildred (Millie) Olson Tollefson , 91, of Wyocena passed away peacefully on Monday, October 5, 2015, at the Columbia County Health Care Center surrounded by her family.

Millie was born October 6, 1923, in Vernon County, the daughter of Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. On May 12, 1946, she married Lyle Tollefson and he preceded her in death in 1990. Millie worked many factory jobs in her life and retired from the Weyenberg Shoe Manufacturing Company. She was a member of the Soldiers Grove American Legion Post 220 and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pardeeville.  She was very proud to be a Norwegian and loved spending time with her family.

Millie is survived by a son, Odell Tollefson of Montello and a daughter Margie (Dennis) Barrett of Wyocena; grandchildren, Jerry (Sherrie) Tollefson of Montello, Todd (DeAnn) Tollefson of Portage, Tina (Gary) Carpenter of Pardeeville, Traci (Brian) Zurfluh of Montello, Michele (Joe) Baillies of Pardeeville, and Mike (Julie) Barrett of Friesland; and great-grandchildren, Micheala, Landen, Jordan, Parker, Nathan and Sydney, Harley, TJ, Brandon, Emily, and Chelsey; three brothers, Orland Olson of Beloit, Ervan Olson  of Westby, and Clifford (Mary) Olson of IL; and nieces, nephews and cousins.

She is preceded in death by her parents; husband; daughter in law, Janis Tollefson; five sisters, Benetta Nelson, Selma Sharp, Helen Erickson, Anna Ewers, Agnes Buroker; two brothers, Robert and Clifford Olson.

Mildred married Lyle Clifford TOLLEFSON on 12 May 1946 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Lyle was born on 11 Feb 1918 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 27 Jul 1990 in Columbia County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 397-14-6501 issued in Wisconsin

Notes:

Living in Soldiers Grove at the time of her father’s death in 1977 and at the time of her sister Helen’s death in 1978.

In a letter to Cora dated December 16, 1979, Benetta says that “Selma and LaVerne still live on the same farm near Soldiers Grove.”

In a April 3, 1985, letter to Cora, Benetta writes: "Selma and Verne moved to Anna Aren's house. They moved in 1st March."



Her obit said that she loved bowling and that she was a professional painter and housecleaner. Member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Soldiers Grove.

Pallbearers at her funeral: David Clason, Ronald Olson, Jon Nelson, Roger Sharp, Rodney Olson, and Rusty Sharp.

Died:
Died at Lutheran Hospital in LaCrosse

Buried:
funeral at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Soldiers Grove

Selma married Lavern SHARP on 5 Feb 1944 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Lavern (son of Harry SHARP and Magna (Maggie) HANSON) was born on 22 Mar 1923 in Haney Township, Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 3 Feb 2001 in Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 394-24-5398 issued in Wisconsin

Notes:

Still living in Poynette at the time of her death. Was employed by Ray-O-Vac.

Pallbearers at her funeral were Rodney Olson, Ronald Olson, Stephan Olson, Burdette Nelson, Odell Tollefson, and Roger Sharp.



Mrs. Helen Erickson, age 52, of Poynette, formerly of Crawford County, died Saturday, December 30, 1978, at a Portage Hospital of injuries received in a two car accident near Portage. She was born December 8, 1936, in Crawford County to Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. She had made her home in Poynette the past several years, and was employed by the Ray-O-Vac Company in Portage. She was preceded in death by her father; her mother; and a brother. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Bonnie Smith of Poynette; and Mrs. Danny (Karen) Haag of Beaver Dam; two sons, Ralph Wheeler of Rio, and Michael Erickson in the Air Force in Callen, Texas; seven grandchildren; five sisters, Mrs. Maurice (Benetta) Nelson of Readstown, Mrs. Lyle (Mildred) Tollefson of Marshall, Mrs. LaVerne (Selma) Sharp of Soldiers Grove, Mrs. Clifford (Agnes) Buroker of Janesville, and Mrs. Connie (Anna) Ewers of Lincoln, Alabama; four brothers, Orland and Ervan, both of Beloit, Robert of Portage, and Clifford of Rockford, Illinois. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, January 3, 1979, at 1 p.m. at the Kickapoo United Lutheran Church at Folsom. Pastor Bruce Loewenhagen will officiate. Burial is in the North Kickapoo Cemetery.

Buried:
funeral service at Kickapoo United Lutheran Church

Helen married Raymond WHEELER on 10 Jul 1946 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helen married Norman ERICKSON in 1953, and was divorced on 17 Aug 1976 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Her obit:

Agnes C. Olson Sharp Buroker, age 85, of Janesville, died peacefully on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013, at Cozy Lil Acres, Janesville.

She was born in Crawford County on Dec. 7, 1928, the daughter of Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. She was one of ten children. Agnes married Earl Sharp in Viroqua on July 10, 1946, and he preceded her in death on Jan. 8, 1964. They had six children together. She married Clifford Buroker on June 17. 1967, in Beloit and he preceded her in death on Oct. 3, 2011. Clifford and Agnes were snowbirds and spent 23 years in Florida. She had been employed by Piggly Wiggly and retired in January of 1984. She was a former member of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, a current member of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, and the Loyal Order of Moose.

Agnes is survived by her son, Russell (Margie) Sharp of Orfordville; 4 daughters: Cathy (Gary) Melby of South Beloit, Sandra (Richard) Krueger, Lecia (Dale) Heitsman both of Janesville; stepdaughter, Sandra (Mike) Barbour of Lizella, GA; stepson, Sherman (Judy) Buroker of Beloit; 19 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; 3 brothers: Clifford (Mary) Olson, Ervan and Orland Olson; sister, Mildred Tollefson; and 2 sisters-in-law, Alberta Joseph and Betty Hamilton; numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands; 4 sons: Roger Sharp and Ricky Sharp, twin sons, Elton and Edwin; brother, Robert Olson; and sisters, Bennetta Nelson, Helen Erickson, Selma Sharp, and Anna Ewers.

A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, at MT. CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH with Rev. Cory Rajek officiating.

Agnes married Earl E SHARP on 10 Jul 1946 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Earl (son of Harry SHARP and Magna (Maggie) HANSON) was born on 18 Apr 1926 in Wisconsin; died on 8 Jan 1964 in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin; was buried in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Clifford G BUROKER on 17 Jun 1967 in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin. Clifford was born on 2 Mar 1930 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 3 Oct 2011 in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin; was buried in Milton Lawns Memorial Park, Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V16, P579 As Clifford M.

Notes:

Not mentioned in his father’s obit.

Clifford Milford drowned with his cousin Ivan “at Black Bottom” on December 23, 1934.

From the Vernon County Broadcaster, December 27, 1934:

Drowning of 2 Boys Saddens Community

A duo-tragedy occurred last Sunday afternoon at half past three when two small boys, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl and Mr. and Mrs. Odin Olson, met death by drowning in the upper Black Bottom creek.

The two five year old boys were playing on the ice of the creek, which was exceedingly thin at that place. It is supposed that the ice broke while they were at play, and the shock of the chilling water stupefied them to such a degree that they were unable to reach the bank. The water was four feet deep at the place where they were drowned.

They were discovered half an hour later by the other Nundahl children, who ran for help. Mrs. Nundahl, with the aid of two childen, rescued the bodies from the water and summoned assistance from a neighbor.

The entire community combines in offering the Nundahl and Olson families the deepest of sympathy in this period when joy and happiness is so prevalent. Funeral services will be held this Thursday at the Folsom church, with the Reverend Haakenson officiating.

From the Vernon County Censor, December 26, 1934:

Two Lads Drown in Black Bottom

One of the most heart-breaking tragedies that the Censor has been called upon to chronicle in years took place last Sunday afternoon in upper Black Bottom when young sons of Mr. and Mrs. Oden Olson and Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl met death in the icy waters of the creek.

The older boys of the two families had gone sliding earlier in the afternoon, and Clifford Olson and Ivan Nundahl, both not yet five years of age, got the same idea and started out with the sled. The first intimation of trouble came when the older boys returned to the Nundahl home and were met by the dog whose frantic agitation finally led them to the bank of the creek where the bodies of the two young lads were found in the water. From marks on the bank it was apparent that the dog had tried to pull them out but failed.

Mrs. Nundahl, although frail and ill and a mother only six weeks ago, plunged into the ice-cold water above her waist to retrieve the bodies. She was prostrated from the shock and grief and her condition was serious for a time. Mr. Nundahl was not at home at the time of the shocking accident.

The double funeral will be held at the Nundahl home near Brookville, and at the Kickapoo church Thursday afternoon, Rev. Haagenson officiating. To the heart-stricken families the most sincere sympathy of the entire community goes out at this Christmas season when their joy has been transformed to bitter grief.

His obituary:

Clifford Milford Olson, son of Odin and Clara Olson, was born January 3, 1930, in the town of Franklin, Vernon County, and departed this life on December 23, 1934, at the age of 4 years, 11 months, and 20 days.

He leaves to mourn his untimely departure the grief-stricken parents, six sisters, namely: Benetta, Mildred, Selma, Helen, Agnes, Anna, and three brothers, Orland, Ervin, and Robert James, three grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Sever Nundahl and Mrs. Christena Helgeson.

Blessed be his memory, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

Funeral services were held from both the Odin Olson and Carl Nundahl homes and the Kickapoo Lutheran Church, December 27th, Rev. H. T. Haagenson officiating.

Card of Thanks

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to all those who so kindly rendered their help in the tragic death and burial of our dear little sons, Ivan Nundahl and Clifford Olson. We wish to thank Rev. Haagenson and Rev. Lunde for their words of comfort, the singers at the home and the church, the pallbearers, and to the Brookville community club and others for the beautiful flowers, and those who donated to missions in their memory.

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nundahl and Family
Mr. and Mrs. Odin Olson and Family

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 389-28-8078 issued in Wisconsin

Notes:

Anna’s cousin Burnelle was the maid of honor at her wedding.



EWERS, MRS. CONRAD (ANNA OLSON), age 68, of Center Point, died September 22, 1999. She was born in Wisconsin, baptized and confirmed Lutheran. She was born January 19, 1931, in Vernon County to Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. She has made her home in Birmingham since 1970. She married her husband, Conrad (Connie) Ewers August 6, 1949 in Soldiers Grove, Wisc. Survivors include her husband, two sons, Gary and Ginger Ewers of Pell City; Lonnie and Michele Ewers of Springville; three daughters, Mrs. Victor Holmes (Victoria) of Moody, Mrs. Harold Fant (Valeria) of Mobile and Mrs. Glenn Poole (Debra) of Ohatchee. She has 13 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren; brothers, Orland and Evan of Westby, Wisc., Robert of Pardeville, Wisc., and Clifford of Rockford, Ill. She also has three sisters, Benetta Nelson of Soldiers Grove, Mildred Tollefson of Pardeville, Wisc., and Agnes Buroker of Janesville, Wisc. She was preceded in death by one grandson, one great grandson, her mother, father, two sisters, and one brother. Funeral services will be Saturday, September 25, at 2 p.m. at Jefferson Memorial Chapel with burial in Jefferson Memorial Gardens, Hwy 11. Visitation will be Friday from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Pallbearers will be grandsons. Jefferson Memorial Trussville Chapel directing.

Birth:
“Descendants of Sever O. Nundahl” says she was born in Crawford County.

Died:
“Descendants of Sever O. Nundahl” says 23 Sep.

Buried:
Garden of Faith

Anna married Conrad Eugene EWERS on 6 Aug 1949 in Crawford County, Wisconsin. Conrad (son of Virgil Myron EWERS and Madeline Henrietta SIME) was born on 16 Mar 1929 in Readstown, Kickapoo Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 16 Nov 2011 in Alabama; was buried in Jefferson Memorial Gardens East, Trussville, Jefferson County, Alabama. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]