Bernt Andreas Monson AARFALD

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 17 Jul 1825, Saxhaug, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

His name is shown as Bernt Andreas in the church book entry for Martin’s birth. He is also shown as Bernt Andreas in the marriage entry in FamilySearch.

He is Bernt Monson, selveier skomager on the Aarfald farm in Saxhaug, Inderøen, Nord-Trøndelag, in the 1865 census. Living with them is 10 year-old Jensine Johannesdatter, born 1856 in Inderøen. Jensine is a pauper and has a disease (fjantet, =foolish).

In the 1875 Norwegian census he is Bernt Monsson gaarmand and skomager on the Aarfald farm in Inderøy. The household is Bernt, b. 1825, Anne Johannesdatter, b. 1830, Martin Berntson, “Søfarende Kystfart,” b. 1852, Martinus Berntson, b. 1861, Johannes Berntson, b.1866, Hans Peter Berntson, b. 1872, Andreas Berntson, b. 1874, Gurina Berntsdatter, b. 1858, Julie Berntsdatter, b. 1864, and Anna Berntsdatter, b. 1870.

In the 1900 Norwegian census he is Bernt M Aarfald, gaarbruger selveier on the Aarfald farm in Inderøen. The household is Bernt M Aarfald, b. 1825; Ane J Aarfald, b. 1830 in Værdalen; Anna B Aarfald, b. 1870, “sypige datter”; and Ragna E Hastad, b. 1878, sypige, whose usual residence is Hallem Værdalen.

From the Inderøy bygdebøk:

...Per Nilsson etter skifte 5 Feb 1847 for 30 spdlr, 1 1862 fekk handelsmann Haagen Bang aukjonsskjøte på 203 c for 517 spdlr., og Bernt Monsson i 1854 skjøte på d for 200 spdlr. Eigaren av dei same 4 partane kring 1890 Johannes Andreasson, Per Nilsson, J.C. Tiller, og Bernt Monsson.

... Eigarar 1910: Kristian Johannesson (døydde som poståpnar år 1926), Jon Peter Lornsson (døydde 1932: arbeide lang tid på kalkverket ved Straumen og Hylla, og var i mange år gravar ved Sakshaug Kyrkje), Hans Sakariasson Tronstad (hadde bruket til 1931) og Jørgen Andersson Kvistad (dragonløytnant, gift med Anna, dottar til Bernt Monsson Aarfall, ho døydde i 1918).

Died:
inferred from Norway Burial Index, DIS-Norge, 1700-2010

Buried:
Norway Burial Index, DIS-Norge, 1700-2010

Bernt married Anne Johannesdatter on 25 Nov 1853 in Saxhaug, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. Anne (daughter of Johannes Hansen ØREN and Gürü Halvorsdatter NESS) was born on 3 Sep 1830 in Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; was christened on 7 Nov 1830 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died in 1905 in Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; was buried on 5 May 1905 in Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1935-MN-013726
• Baptism: 30 May 1852, Saxhaug, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 22 Sep 1867, Saxhaug, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

Emigrated from Inderøy in February of 1881. Martin Aarfald arrived in the U.S. at New York on April 14, 1881, aboard the Parthia.

In the 1885 state census, he and his wife Marie, along with 68 year-old Martha Aune, live in Fergus Falls next door to Theodore and Martha Johnson.

In the 1890-1891 Duluth city directory, there is an entry for Orfel & Co at 2101 W Superior for which the partners are Martin Orfel and Peter Aume. Martin Orfel lives at 2101 W Superior. Hans Bye is listed in that directory as a driver for Orfald & Aune. In the 1891-1892 and 1892-1893 Duluth city directories, there is an entry for “Orfald and Aune meats”, a business at “rear 2101 W Superior”, for which the partners are shown as Martin Orfald and Peter Aune. In that same directory, Martin Orfald of Orfald & Aune lives at 2230 W Michigan. In the 1891-1892 Duluth city directory, the particulars for Martin and the business are the same except that Martin lives at 2302 W Michigan.

In the 1895 Minnesota state census, Martin, 43, Mary, 44, and three month old George live in Duluth where Martin is a laborer.

In the 1895-1896 Duluth city directory, he may be the Martin Orfald, laborer for the Duluth Manufacturing Company, who resides at 211 60th Ave W. In the 1896-1897 directory, there is still a Martin Orfald, laborer, living at 211 S 60th Ave W.

Martin and Maria (Aune) Orfald lived in Mille Lacs County in 1900 and 1910 with a son George H. George H. married Dorothy Scott and together they had a daughter Sally Ann and, probably, a son George Scott. Maria and Martin died in St. Louis County in the 1930s.

According to the 1900 census, he came to the U.S. in 1880. In that 1900 census Martin’s occupation is day laborer.

He is probably the “Martin Orfold of West Duluth” mentioned in a brief note in the Minneapolis Journal in its 13 Nov 1901 edition. He had “returned from the Klondike where he cleared up $15,000 in two years.”

In the 1905 state census, Martin and his family live in Milaca. Martin is a butcher.

In the 1910 census, Martin is a laborer doing odd jobs.

Martin was a clerk in a general store. His brother John was the informant for his death certificate. Martin died from acute bronchitis.

According to the Iron Range Research Center’s database, Martinus B. Orfald applied for citizenship in Otter Tail County.

Birth:
birth record says May 4th, death certificate says May 4th; confirmation record says June 4th, emigration record says June 4th

Martin married Marie Lorenzdatter AUNE on 13 May 1883 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Marie (daughter of Lornts Haldorson SAXHAUG and Ingeborg Marth Johnsdatter) was born on 7 Apr 1851 in Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 25 May 1938 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried on 28 May 1938 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 23 Mar 1856, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

Birth:
According to her baptism record in FS’s Norway-EASy.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 20 Mar 1859, Saxhaug, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

She emigrated on August 8, 1881, from Sakshaug as Gurine Berntsdatter Aarfold. According to the church book’s out-migration record, Gurine was born 27 Dec 1858 and was confirmed on 10 April 1874. She was traveling to America with two other young women, one of whom was her first cousin Grethe Oline Andreasdatter.

She was not the person of 1936-MN-012484.

Birth:
FamilySearch’s Norway-EASy Baptism record has the birthdate as 31 Dec 1858 as the birth date.

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1915-MN-004676
• Occupation: Farm Laborer
• Baptism: 25 Jul 1861, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
• Confirmation: 8 Oct 1876

Notes:

Or Mortinus.

According to the Sakshaug church book emigration record, he left for Amerika in March of 1882 as Martinus Berntssen Aarfald.

He may have been the 23 year-old M. Orfald in Fergus Falls in the 1885 state census.

In the 1895-1896 Duluth city directory, he is probably the Martinus B Orfald, who lives at “e s 57th Avenue W 2 s of Gosnold.” That Martinus B is a butcher for C O Balstad. In the 1894-1895 city directory, there is a Martin Orfod, butcher, living at “e s 57th av 2 s of Gosnold.”

An article in the November 13, 1901, edition of the Duluth News-Tribune claims that Martin had just returned from the Klondike gold country $15,000 to the good. “However, that was acquired with much hardship as he remarked that he nearly starved for three months shortly after reaching Alaska.”

He was unmarried according to his death certificate. The informant was his brother John B. of Biwabik. He died from crupous pneumonia.

Birth:
His death certificate says 2 Jun 1862. His baptism record in FS’s Norway-EASy (for Mortinus Berntsen) says 1861.

Confirmation:
date according to his emigration record from Sakshaug

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 22 Apr 1864, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

In the 1910 Norwegian census, she is probably the Julie Berntsdatter, b. 1-1-1864 in Inderøen, who is the wife of John Jakobsen, owner of the large farm Rol øvre 138 in Inderøen.

She died on Rol or, at least, resided on Rol at the time of her death.

Birth:
Her baptism record in FS’s Norway-EASy.

Died:
as Julie Marie Wibe, Norway Burial Index, DIS-Norge, 1700-2010

Buried:
Norway Burial Index, DIS-Norge, 1700-2010

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1947-MN-014408
• Occupation: cook, “Stationary furnace, iron mine”

Notes:

John married his first cousin.

Immigrated from Norway 1885, naturalized in 1892. He appears not to have emigrated from Trondheim.

In the 1890-1891 Duluth city directory, he is John Orfald, “boarding house 23 1st av E.” In that same directory, Mary Bye is shown as "domestic, John Orfald" and living in West Duluth. John is listed in the 1891-1892 Duluth city directory as John Orfald “boarding house Central Ave. sw corner N 3d W. Duluth.”

John’s brother, Martin Orfald, was a partner with Peter Aune in a meat store at 2101 W. Superior in Duluth. (Hans Bye is listed in the 1891 Duluth city directory as a “driver” for Orfald & Aune.)

In the 1895 Minnesota state census, John, 30, Mary, 23, and “Helma” 1, (with 20 year-old boarder Hans Westby) live in “Town 58, Range 19” in St. Louis County with Mountain Iron as their post office.

At the time of the 1900 census, John is living apart from the family and Marie is the head of houshold and is living in Missabe Mountain Township in St. Louis County. The family consists of Marie, 27 (born April 1873), Alma O., 5 (born Oct 1894), Marvin B., 3 (born April 1897), and Jennie M., 8 months, born in September, 1899. Marie is shown as married and having been so for 7 years. She had had 3 children, all still living. Her occupation is shown as cook. She emigrated from Norway in 1880.

John Orfald, 38, cook, and Petter Aune, 62, butcher, both of 2224 West Superior Street in Duluth, went to Norway in the early 1900s. They arrived back in New York on September 1, 1904, aboard the S.S. Baltic which had sailed from Liverpool on August 24th. Arriving in the U.S. with John and Petter was Ingvald Aune, age 9, a citizen of Norway, who is indicated on the Baltic’s manifest to be the “ward” of Petter. The child’s passage had been paid for by his grandfather. Petter had become a citizen by action of the District Court of St. Louis County on July 17, 1893, and John by that same authority on April 2, 1888. Ingvald is shown as going to join his mother.

In the 1905 state census, the Orfalds live in Biwabik. John is a cook.

In the 1907 Range Towns directory, Peter L. Aune has a meat business at 2224 W. Superior. In that 1907 Range Towns directory, there is no entry for Orfald.

At the time of the 1910 census, the family is together in Biwabik in a house they are renting. The family consists of John (“Jno”), 43, Marie, 36, Alma, 15, Marvin, 13, Jennie, 10, Myrtle, 6, Ruth, 4, Mabel, 2, and Roy, a few months old. John and Marie had been married 17 years. Marie had had 7 children, all still living. John is a cook at a logging camp.

He is Jno B Orfald in the 1912 Hibbing city directory, which includes Biwabik. He is an engineer for the Ruddy Mine, residing at the Duluth Location.

In the 1917 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, he is Jno B Orfald, a fireman, residing ¼ mile n w of Canton Location.

In the 1920 census (January 20th), the family is in Biwabik in a house they are renting. The household consists of John Orfold, 52, a stationary fireman in an iron mine, Marie, 46, Marvin, 22, and a miner in the iron mine, Ruth, 14, Mabel, 12, Robert, 9, and Edna, 7. Also living with John and Marie’s family is Fred Goodman, 29, an iron miner, Jennie Goodman, 20, Marie Goodman, 2 and 7 months, Gladys Goodman, 1 and 2 months, and Harry Goodman, a 26 year old boarder who is an iron miner. John came to this country in 1885 and became a citizen in 1892. Marie came to this country in 1883 and became a citizen in 1892. Fred came to this country in 1912 and was not a citizen (Jennie, even though she was born in Minnesota, is shown as an alien in the census because of her husband’s status). Harry came to this country in 1914 and became a citizen in 1919.

In the 1922 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, he is the only Orfald listed. He is still a fireman, housed ¼ mile n w of the Canton Location.

A January 13, 1922, article in the Duluth News-Tribune mentions that John was an officer of the Diamond lodge No. 262 of the International Order of the Odd Fellows. John was “district deputy grand warden.”

In the 1924 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, he is a watchman at the Canton Location. His daughters, Mabel, Myrtle, and Ruth, are also listed in this directory, in all three cases still residing at home.

In the 1930 census, John and Marie and family were living on Chicago Avenue in Biwabik. The household consisted of John B., 63, Marie, 56, Myrtle (absent, but not to attend school), 25, Robert, 20, Edna, 17, Lawrence, 9, grandson, and Anton, 50, brother of John. Everyone is shown as single except John and Marie who were married when they were 27 and 20, respectively. John and Marie own the house, which is worth $4000, and they have a radio. John, Marie, and Anton were born in Norway. Lawrence’s father was born in England and his mother was born in Minnesota. (Lawrence is Jennie’s son.) Anton and John came to this country in 1888, Marie in 1893. John’s occupation is “cook” and the industry is illegible, may be “county”, and he is currently employed. Anton’s occupation is listed as “none” although the census-taker had one filled in initially and then crossed it out. Myrtle is a telephone operator for Bell Telephone and she is also currently employed. Robert is a sample-taker for the “Evith Furnace Co.” (Eveleth?) and he is unemployed. Neither John nor Anton are veterans.

In the 1940 census, John, Marie, Edna, and Anton lived in Biwabik. John was a janitor for the village hall. Edna was a stenographer for a school paper. John, Marie, and Anton had had an eighth-grade education. Edna was a high school graduate. None of the four were living at the same house in which they had lived in 1935. At that time they had been living elsewhere in St. Louis County.

John died of complications from Parkinson’s disease, which he had had for 9 years.

Johannes married Marie Othelie Martinusdatter BYE on 3 Apr 1893 in Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota. Marie (daughter of Martinus Eliassen BYE and Olianna Johannesdatter JOHNSON) was born on 27 Apr 1873 in Stiklestad, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway; died on 19 Jun 1966 in Virginia, St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried on 21 Jun 1966 in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 12 Jun 1870, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Family/Spouse: Jørgen Andersson KVISTAD. Jørgen was born on 28 Feb 1870 in Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Not listed in Nord-Trøndelag in the 1910 Norwegian census.

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1956-MN-015540
• Confirmation: 25 Aug 1895, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

Notes:

His confirmation record in Inderøy is for Iver Anton Jonsen Aarfald, born in Gran, 29 June 1879, bapt. 27 July. He was living on Aarfald, “with Bernt.”

He is recorded in the Sakshaug, Inderøy, church book’s emigration records as Iver Anton Jonsen Aarfald, leaving the parish in 1900 for Amerika. He was not listed with Bernt and Ane in the 1900 Norwegian census.

In the 1905 census he was a mechanical laborer in Itasca County, Minnesota. He had been in the state for 5 years and in the local area for 3 years.

In the 1910 census he is a single, 30 year-old, diamond driller living in a construction camp, probably for a railroad, in Nashwauk Twp, Itasca County. He came to the U.S. in 1900.

Registered for the WWI draft on September 12, 1918, as Anton Jonson Orfold. His address was general delivery, Buhl, MN. He was a naturalized citizen and was employed by the Duluth Diamond Drill Co. as a diamond drill runner. He lists his nearest relative as John Orfold of Biwabik. He is described as short, of medium build, with blue eyes and brown hair.

In the 1930 census he was 50 years old and living with John and Marie Orfald in Biwabik. He had no occupation.

In the 1940 census, he was 66 and worked as a laborer in an ore mine.

Mrs. A. Cartwright of Biwabik was the informant for his death certificate. He was totally blind. He died of uremia. He had been a diamond driller in the iron mining industry.

Died:
Virginia Municipal Hospital where he had been for 1 day

Notes:

Birth:
Shown as age 1 year, 3 months, in burial record.

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1967-MN-015818
• Baptism: 9 May 1897, Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota

Notes:

He apparently was the second George H. His middle name was probably Hilmar or Helmar, like the first George H.

Adopted by Martin as shown in the 1910 census. His father was Scottish and his mother was from Minnesota.

In the 1900 census there is no mention of his being adopted. He is shown as George E. and both of his parents were born in Norway.

In the 1916, 1924, and 1929 Minneapolis city directories, he works for Armour & Co. and resides at 2547 Emerson Avenue S. In 1916, he was a clerk. In 1924 and 1929, he was a salesman.

In the 1934 and 1944 Minneapolis city directories, he is still a salesman for Armour. Dorothy I is listed as his wife and the couple lives at 2717 Colfax Avenue S.

George is single and living with the Martin Aune family in Minneapolis in the 1930 census. He’s a “specialty man” for Armour.

In the 1940 census, he and his family live at 2717 Colfax. He was a salesman for a meat packing house. They owned their house, worth $5000. Both he and Dorothy were high school graduates.

In the 1950 Minneapolis city directory, George and Dorothy lived at 4829 Colfax.

George was a veteran of WWI. He was a meat salesman according to his death certificate. He died of a heart attack but he also had diabetes. His address at the time of his death was 4829 Colfax in Minneapolis. There is no mention of his being adopted in his death certificate; his parents are shown as Martin and Mary.

George had a patent (#2210728) on a “Method of Cleaning Abrasive Sheet Material.” He applied for the patent in 1937 and it was granted August 6, 1940.

Baptism:
Immanuel

Died:
at home

George married Dorothy I SCOTT on 9 May 1931 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Dorothy was born on 27 Feb 1903 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 14 Aug 1978 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1954-MN-014052

Notes:

Middle name Othelia or Olina.

She was listed, as Alma Orfald, in the 1912 Hibbing city directory which includes Biwabik. She had no occupation, only that she boarded with her father, Jno B Orfald.

In the 1915 Hibbing city directory, which includes Biwabik, she is the only Orfald listed. She is still Alma Orfald, a clerk for Matt Vidas.

At the time of her death, she and Orris lived at Route 1, Box 102, Gilbert. They had lived there for 22 years. Alma died from a cerebral hemorrhage brought on by hypertension.

Birth:
perhaps born in Duluth

Alma married Orris William DANE on 15 May 1915 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Orris (son of William S DANE and Mary WINDUS) was born on 27 Dec 1891 in Portage, Columbia County, Wisconsin; died on 13 Jan 1977 in San Bernardino County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Laborer, iron mine; salesman
• Baptism: 9 May 1897, Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota

Notes:

He is included in the 1912 Hibbing city directory which includes Biwabik. He was a lander at the Ruddy Mine.

In the 1917 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, he is a motorman boarding at his father’s.

An August 3, 1922, article in the Ironwood, Michigan, Daily Globe newspaper describes Marvin Orfald, “First Aid man,” as being in charge of a traveling U.S. Bureau of Mines railroad car which travels to various mining locations and provides instruction on safety apparatus.

Not living with his parents in 1930. Apparently living with his wife Rose on East Third Street in Duluth at the time of the census. Marvin is shown as 31, which is younger than implied by the 1920 census. His wife Rose is shown as 25. They were married at the ages of 26 and 19, respectively. Marvin and Rose are renting, at $50/month, and they have a radio. They have no children. Rose was born in Illinois and her parents were born in Germany. Marvin is a salesman in the safety equipment industry and he is a veteran of the World War.

In the 1932 Pittsburgh city directory, he is Marvin B Orfald, a “ctywkr” for the Mine Safety Appliances Co.

In the 1940 census, he (indexed as Mawin Orfold) and Rose live in White Plains, Westchester County, New York. Five years earlier, they had lived in Chicago. He is a safety inspector for a tunnel construction company.

Not listed in the draft registration for WWI.

Baptism:
Immanuel

Marvin married Rose SCHROETER about 1924. Rose was born on 28 Oct 1904 in Illinois; died on 18 Sep 1969 in Los Angeles County, California; was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1984-MN-030021

Notes:

In the 1940 census, Jennie was a 40 year-old widow living in Biwabik with her four youngest children. This was not the home they had lived in five years earlier. In 1935 they lived at a different residence in St. Louis County.

GOODMAN, JENNIE M. 
Minnesota Death CertID# 1984-MN-030021   
Date of Birth: 09/03/1899
Place of Birth: MINNESOTA
Mother Maiden Name: BYE
Date of Death: 11/08/1984
County of Death: ST. LOUIS

Listed in her mother’s obituary as still being alive, and living in Biwabik, at the time of her mother’s death in 1966.

Of Biwabik at the time of her sister Ruth’s death.

Her obituary was published on p. C8:2 of the November 9, 1984, edition of the Duluth News-Tribune:

Jennie M. Goodman, 85, Biwabik, died Thursday in White Community Hospital’s nursing unit in Aurora. She was born in Biwabik and had lived there most of her life. Her husband, Fred C., died in 1933. She was a member of Community United Church of Christ and the Peterson-Lofquist Auxiliary of the American Legion. Surviving are two sons, Robert G. of Biwabik and William D. of Chicago; three daughters, Marie Peterka of Lewiston, Idaho, Gladyce Himango of Butte, Montana, and Leah J. Cartwright of Biwabik; a sister, Mabel Norton Croon, of Chicago; 20 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday in the Range Funeral Home, Virginia, and from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday in Community United Church of Christ in Biwabik. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday in the church. Burial will be in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik.

Jennie married Frederick Charles GOODMAN on 9 Dec 1916 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Frederick (son of John GOODMAN and Elizabeth MELLOW) was born on 15 Aug 1889 in St. Austell, Cornwall, England; died on 28 Dec 1933 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried on 31 Dec 1933 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1902-23660

Notes:

Shown on the birth certificate as the fifth child of Marie and John. However, Marie is shown in the 1910 census as having seven children, all still living.

St. Louis County death certificate #5001.

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1903-24958
• Social Security Number: 510-30-9221 Issued In Kansas Before 1951

Notes:

Her birth certificate shows her as child #6. Her birth certificate was amended on November 22, 1966, to add her first and middle names.

Not living with her family in the 1920 census.

In the 1924 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, she is listed as living at home and working as a clerk, employer not listed.

She was listed (although absent) with her family in the 1930 census. She is listed in the 1930 census as a servant in the William Tannenhaus family in Chicago.

In the 1940 census, she and Waino and their three children live in Biwabik. He is a plasterer and painter in building construction. He has an eighth-grade education, she has one year of high school. In the 1935, the family lived at a different residence in St. Louis County. Waino was not working in the last week of March, 1940, but he was assigned to “public emergency work.”

In the 1956 Wichita city directory, she is Mrs. Myrtle M Lehto, a saleswoman for Hinkels. Also listed is her son, John T, a driver for Southwestern Electric. Both Lehtos reside at 352 Pennsylvania Avenue, apartment 2.

Listed in her mother’s obituary as living in Chicago at the time of her mother’s death in 1966.

Of Wichita, Kansas, as Myrtle Lehto, at the time of her sister Ruth’s death in 1978. The absence of her husband’s name suggests that she was divorced or a widow at that time.

Died:
The Daniels Family Tree says September 16th.

Myrtle married Waino William LEHTO on 25 Nov 1930 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Waino was born on 23 Jun 1910 in Missoula County, Montana; died on 15 Apr 1992 in Orange County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1905-25170
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1978-MN-023691

Notes:

In the 1924 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, she is listed as living at home and working as a clerk for A H Tandberg.

Her birth certificate was amended on August 1, 1967, from “Babe.”

Her obituary was published on p. 6C:2 of the September 28, 1978, edition of the Duluth News-Tribune:

Ruth E. (Harry) Saxhaug, 73, Virginia, died Wednesday in the Virginia hospital. Surviving are a son, Vernon, Virginia; a daughter Harriett (Roy) Tucker, Franklin, Ohio; a brother, Robert Orfald, Virginia; and four sisters, Edna (Arthur) Cartwright and Jennie Goodman, Biwabik; Marie Lehto, Wichita, Kansas; and Mabel Croon, Chicago. Services will be at 10:00 a.m. Friday in Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Virginia. Arrangements are by the Range Funeral Home.

Ruth married Harry Delford SAXHAUG on 23 Dec 1925 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Harry (son of Martin Ellingson SAXHAUG and Kate SOLEM) was born on 20 Aug 1901 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 11 Oct 1980 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried on 14 Oct 1980 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1907-24258

Notes:

In the 1924 Virginia city directory, which includes Biwabik, she is listed as a student living at home.

The Thursday, August 21, 1947, edition of the Brainerd newspaper noted that “Mr. and Mrs. Henry Norton of Chicago, Mrs. Arthur Cartwright and Mrs. J. B. Orfold of Biwabik visited with Mrs. Anne Everson and John Everson on Thursday.”

Listed in her mother’s obituary as still being alive, and living in Chicago, at the time of her mother’s death in 1966.

She is Mabel Croon, of Chicago, at the time of her sister Ruth’s death. The absence of her husband’s name suggests that Mabel was a widow by that time.

Listed as Mabel Norton Croon of Chicago in her sister Jennie’s obituary.

In the SSDI she is Mabel T. Croon, b. 23 Dec 1907, d. Mar 1991, SSN issued in Illinois before 1951. Place of death not given in the SSDI.

Died:
place of death inferred

Mabel married Henry Hull NORTON on 1 Feb 1926 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Henry (son of Michael William NORTON and Della G HELSEL) was born on 16 Apr 1903 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 14 Apr 1957 in Cook County, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Harold D CROON. Harold was born on 28 Apr 1903 in Illinois; died on 11 Nov 1972 in Cook County, Illinois; was buried on 14 Nov 1972 in Acacia Park Cemetery, Norwood, Cook County, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1910-23644
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1982-MN-007492
• Social Security Number: 062-12-8316 issued in New York before 1951

Notes:

Called Roy in the 1910 census.

Living with his parents at the time of the 1930 census.

In the 1940 census, he and Arla lived in White Plains, Westchester County, New York. They had no children. Five years earlier, they had both lived in Virginia in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Robert is a blacksmith in tunnel construction.

According to Veterans’ Memorial Hall, “Robert W. Orfald entered the Army on Feb. 23, 1943. He was a private in the continental U.S. and was separated on July 9, 1943.”

Robert, with his wife, accompanied his mother to her sister’s funeral.

Of Virginia at the time of his sister Ruth’s death.

Robert died of cancer. He worked at Virginia Ready-Mix. He lived at 325 S 8th Street South in Virginia, Minnesota. That was also the address shown for him when he was the informant for his mother’s death certificate.

His obituary was published on p. A4:3 of the March 6, 1982, edition of the Duluth News-Tribune:

Robert W. Orfald, 72, of Virginia, died Thursday at the Virginia Regional Medical Center. Arrangements are pending with the Cron-Harris-Clarke Funeral Home in Virginia.

Died:
Virginia Regional Medical Center

Robert married Arla SCOTT on 7 Sep 1935 in St. Louis County, Minnesota, and was divorced. Arla was born on 7 Feb 1917 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 11 Jan 1992 in Washington County, Oregon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married B.L. MCCUMBER [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1912-26130
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1978-MN-029420

Notes:

She was still living at home in the 1940 census. She was single and was stenographer for a school paper.

The Thursday, October 18, 1945, edition of the Brainerd newspaper noted that “Mrs. J.B. Orfald, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cartwright and daughter, Linda, of Biwabik visited with the John Eversons Tuesday.”

The Thursday, August 21, 1947, edition of the Brainerd newspaper noted that “Mr. and Mrs. Henry Norton of Chicago, Mrs. Arthur Cartwright and Mrs. J. B. Orfold of Biwabik visited with Mrs. Anne Everson and John Everson on Thursday.”

The St. Louis County Death Index records the death of an Edna Elizabeth Cartwright in Aurora.

Of Biwabik at the time of her sister Ruth’s death.

Not in SSDI.

Her obituary was published on p. 7B:3 of the December 2, 1978, edition of the Duluth News-Tribune:

Edna Elizabeth (Arthur) Cartwright, 66, Biwabik, died Thursday in an Aurora hospital. Surviving, besides her husband, are two daughters, Linda (Russ) Norha, Wayzata, and Shirley (Rich) Czarniecki, Harvey, Illinois; a brother, Robert Orfald, Virginia; three sisters, Jennie Goodman, Biwabik, Myrtle Lehto, Wichita, Kan., and Mabel Croon, Chicago, and four grandchildren. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday in Range Funeral Home, Virginia. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Community United Church of Christ, Biwabik. Burial will be in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik.

Edna married Arthur Nicholls CARTWRIGHT on 12 Nov 1942 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Arthur (son of Arthur CARTWRIGHT and Kate Irene NICHOLLS) was born on 22 Jun 1914 in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota; died on 26 Jul 2001 in Virginia, St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1916-29507

Notes:

He and Frances were living in California (Van Nuys, North Hollywood, San Fernando Valley) in 1939. He was a mechanic for Lockheed Aircraft.

In the 1940 census, he and Frances and their 3 children lived in Los Angeles in a house that he owned. Five years earlier, Richard had lived in Gilbert, St. Louis County, Minnesota, Frances had lived in Bemidji, and their oldest child, Roberta, age 6, born in Minnesota, had lived in Van Nuys, California. Richard was a mechanic for Lockheed.

Died:
the Iverson-Scherich Family Tree says 5 Sep

Richard married Frances Irene IVERSON on 12 Jul 1937 in Los Angeles County, California. Frances (daughter of William IVERSON and Selma RINGERUD) was born on 11 Feb 1913 in North Dakota; died on 5 Jul 1992 in Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona; was buried in Biwabik Township Cemetery, Gilbert, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1917-30786

Notes:

Birth:
Dec 20 in SSDI

Died:
As Edna Marie Wright, mother’s maiden name Orfald, according to the California Death Index. SSDI has this Edna M Wright born 20 Dec 1917, last residence Los Angeles County.

Family/Spouse: Peter Varge WANNEBO. Peter was born on 11 Jan 1915 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 9 Jan 1987 in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Edna married Russell Wilmer JOHNSON on 20 Jan 1940 in Los Angeles County, California. Russell was born on 13 Jan 1914 in North Dakota; died on 31 Mar 1973 in Los Angeles County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Edna married Vernon I WRIGHT on 18 Nov 1974 in Los Angeles County, California. Vernon was born on 8 Nov 1916 in Nebraska; died on 7 Oct 1986 in Los Angeles County, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1917-29114

Notes:

Didn’t have a first name on her birth certificate.

Listed as Marie Peterka, of Lewiston, Idaho, in her mother’s obituary.

Marie E. Peterka of Orofino passed away Tuesday, June 6, 2006, at Clearwater Valley Hospital in Orofino, surrounded by her five daughters.

Marie was born in Biwabik, Minn., June 11, 1917, the oldest child of Fred and Jennie Goodman.

She married Joe Peterka May 30, 1936. The family moved to California in 1942 and then to Orofino in 1946, where they lived for 15 years before moving to Lewiston in 1961. Marie was preceded in death by her husband Joe Peterka in 1974 and in 1992 she moved to Kennewick, where she lived until 2004 before moving back to Orofino.

She devoted her life to caring for her family. She enjoyed laughing and talking over coffee with friends and family and playing cards with her grandchildren.

Her survivors include five daughters: Marjorie Gibson-Swineheart, Judy and Dale Daniels, Becky and Larry Beck, Barbara and Garry Newbry and Marie and David Highfield; 15 grandchildren: Brett Gibson, Greg Gibson, and Cameron Gibson, Jeff Daniels, Danny Daniels, Joni Tiffany and Joe Daniels, Bill Beck, John Beck, and Tim Beck, Rebekah Jo Newbry, Brent Newbry, Brady Newbry, Sandon Ross and Sarah MacInnes; 28 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren; brothers: Robert Goodman and Bill Goodman; sister: Leah Cartwright.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers: John Goodman and Lawrence Goodman; sister: Gladys Himango; and a great-grandson, Justin Daniels.

She was laid to rest at Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens Mausoleum in Lewiston.

Marie married Martin Joseph (Joe) PETERKA on 30 May 1936 in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Martin was born on 28 Sep 1914 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 23 Apr 1974 in Idaho; was buried in Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens, Lewiston, Nez Perce County, Idaho. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1918-29662
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2002-MN-013043

Notes:

Listed as Gladyce Himango of Butte, Montana, in her mother’s obituary.

GLADYS LOUISE HIMANGO
Birth Date: October 30, 1918
Birth City: BIWABIK
Birth State: MINNESOTA
Death Date: April 15, 2002
Death Place: COOK, SAINT LOUIS
State File Number: 2002-MN-013043
Mother's Maiden Name: ORFALD

She did not have an obit in the Duluth newspapers.

In her brother Robert George’s obit, she is referred to as “Bunty.”

Mesabi Daily News (Virginia, MN) - April 16, 2002
Deceased Name: Gladys L. Himango
SERVICES: Memorial service 11 a.m. Saturday at Mlaker Funeral Home in Cook, with the Rev. David Solberg of Calvary Lutheran Church of Orr officiating. Visitation one hour prior to service. Honorary bearers will be grandsons, Don Hoffman, Mike Odella and John Odella. Inurnment will be in Lakeside Cemetery in Biwabik.

Gladys L. Himango, 83, of Gheen died Monday, April 15, 2002, at the Cook Nursing Home.

She was born Oct. 30, 1918, in Biwabik to Fred and Jennie (Orfald) Goodman. She grew up in Biwabik, where she graduated from high school. She married John A. Himango on March 5, 1940, in Biwabik, where they then made their home. They later lived in Idaho, Montana and Minnesota, to where her husband found employment. In 1953, they moved to Gheen, where they purchased the Lost Week Inn Cafe and Bar. They operated it until their retirement in 1972, then moved to Butte, Mont. Over the years Gladys had also worked as a store clerk and cared for elderly clients in their homes. She enjoyed vacationing and traveling and always was the first one in the car. After a long illness, she moved back to Gheen in 1999.

She is survived by two daughters, Patricia (Gilbert) Odella of Gheen and Janice Hoffman of Butte, Mont.; two brothers, Robert (Joyce) Goodman of Biwabik and Bill (Shirley) Goodman of Bloomingdale, Ill.; two sisters, Leah Cartwright of Biwabik and Marie Peterka in Richland, Wash.; six grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John, on Jan. 1, 1979; a brother, Lawrence Goodman; a grandson, Tommy Hoffman; two twin great-grandsons, Danny and David Marsenich; and a great-great-grandson, Jeremy Ramariz.

Gladys married John Arnold HIMANGO on 5 Mar 1940 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. John was born on 12 Nov 1915 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; died on 1 Jan 1979 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1920-29644
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1960-MN-016752

Notes:

A grandson of John and Marie’s shown in the 1930 census. His father was born in England. In the listing for his father and mother and family in the 1930 census, Lawrence has “AB” after his name meaning, presumably, that he was absent from his family in Kinney Village (and was living with, or at least visiting, his grandparents).

In the 1940 census, he was single and living at home with his mother and younger siblings. He was a laborer with a construction company.

He died instantly from a crushed chest caused by a collapsing scaffold. He fell 59 feet. The accident occurred at Erie Mine #2 in Aurora Hoyt Lakes.

Irene was the informant for his death certificate. Lawrence was a drill mechanic. The Goodmans lived at Box 413, Biwabik.

Lawrence was a veteran of World War II. His gravestone notes that he was a staff sergeant in the 3508 Base Unit of the Army Air Force. He was a member of the 351st Bombardment Group.

The following is an article by David Setnicker of Biwabik in a contribution to the hometownfocus.us website.

For Biwabik native Lawrence “Big Sonny” Goodman, a 24-year-old top turret gunner and one of those “courageous American lads,” this September 12, 1944 mission over Berlin would be his last as the 9-man crew of their B-17, Dinah Might, were struck by shrapnel from German anti-aircraft fire after successfully dropping their payload.

Riddled by flak and on fire, the plane was doomed but still controllable. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Lopert, and co-pilot 2nd Lt. Darwin Nichols of Pocatello, Idaho, ordered all of the crew to bail out while they struggled to keep the lumbering and burning bomber trim long enough for the crew to bail out over German territory. Six of the nine man crew dropped out the rear escape hatch; only five chutes caught air and drifted safely away from the burning B-17. One of the crew deployed his chute while still in the bomber. He jumped; the chute streamed…he plunged to his death.

Goodman’s top turret was located just behind the cockpit. When he heard “bailout!” he couldn’t get out; he was trapped, tangled up in a web of turret straps and cords as the flaming plane pitched and yawed, losing precious altitude. It was a race against time as Dinah Might was doomed; it would explode before hitting the ground. It was sheer, confused panic as the plane continued to lose trim and maneuverability. Co-pilot Nichols wasn’t going down with the doomed bomber as he forced himself out of the his cockpit seat towards the open bomb bay. 2nd Lt. Lopert already bailed out through the cockpit escape hatch. He thought he was the last to exit the plane when he peered through the smoke enshrouded cockpit and saw Goodman tangled and struggling unsuccessfully to free himself. Precious seconds ticked away as the bomber lost altitude as 2nd Lt. Nichols cut and freed Goodman from the webbed snare. Dinah Might was fatally earthbound as the last two airmen bailed out. The plane exploded moments later.

Freefalling from 10,000 feet must have provided but a brief silence and moment of eerie solitude for Goodman before noticing that his hair and boots were aflame as he tumbled earthbound.

Goodman’s youngest son John, a Biwabik resident, remembered his dad telling him and his older brother Rick about this rare life and death account.

“If he pulled the rip cord immediately he risked torching the parachute and certain death,” said John. “My dad decided to free fall and hope that the speed of fall and the thin air would extinguish the flames.”

Seconds clicked away with no good options. Gravity was winning and unfriendly Germans would surely meet him dead or alive whether he pulled the ripcord or not. But precious seconds were just what he needed as his hair and boots, practically burned off, began to smolder. Ripp…puff…jolt…a brief sudden ascent as the chute blossomed before slowly drifting earthbound into German uncertainty.

We can only imagine what went through the minds of Goodman and his crewmates. Survive the jump and then be beaten to death by German locals seeking revenge for the daily Allied bombings of der Vaterland? Or be captured by the German Army or worse yet, the SS? At least for that day Lady Luck was with him as Goodman, bootless with smoldering hair, and Lt. Nichols landed near a German Luftwaffe airstrip and were captured by a young German Cadet Schmidt at 11:45 a.m. on September 12. Both Americans were sent immediately to the processing camp (DULAG) in Berlin for interrogation and assignment to one of the hundreds of Stalags (POW camps).

As part of the Geneva Convention Rules of War (sounds like an oxymoron) POWs were only required to provide their name, rank and serial number. However, during the interrogation, Sergeant Goodman was strangely singled out from the other POWs. It was his name…GOODMAN.

The dialogue could have sounded like this, “Goodman…Sergeant Goodman! Goodman… is that not a Jewish name? You are Jewish, correct?” Jewish POW combatants were segregated and sent to a POW labor camp with the highest fatality rate of any Stalag.

Goodman’s persistent denial, insisting on his English ancestry, must have found a sympathetic ear amongst the SS interrogators as he was granted a conference with a representative of the IRC (International Red Cross). His tenacity bought him additional time as the IRC corroborated his English ancestry. He was then assigned, along with other POWs, to a “normal” Stalag Luft.

Prior to July, 1944 the Stalags were under the jurisdiction of the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) where there seemed to be an unwritten “honor and comradeship amongst flyers.” However, by the time Goodman and the crew of the Dinah Might were captured in September, honor and comradeship had long since disappeared. The dreaded SS took control of the Stalags immediately after the botched assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in July, 1944 and numerous POW escape attempts (portrayed in movies “The Great Escape” and “Stalag 17.”)

For the most part, Germany upheld the protocol of the Geneva Convention allowing the IRC to report the status of flyers…dead or alive. Goodman’s surviving crew, with the exception of Lt. Nichols and the airman whose chute streamed, was reported as POW or KIA respectively. Parents and wives were informed of their loved one’s status.

All camp guards now came under the direct control of the SS. Before the SS takeover prisoners got one day of rest per week. With the SS in control, prisoners only got one rest day every three to four weeks. Freedom of movement was severely restricted and POWs were searched more frequently for prohibited items. Soon after the SS took control most of the regular German army guards were removed and sent to fight on the Russian front. As the Russian army got closer to the camps, the German guards decided to force the POWs, many malnourished, like Goodman, or injured, to walk west toward American or British forces. Between January and April 1945 over 80,000 POWs were forced to march westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in extreme winter conditions. This series of events has been called various names by the vets who survived: "The Great March West," "The Long March," "The Long Walk," "The Long Trek," "The Black March," "The Bread March," and "Death March Across Germany.” Most survivors just called it "The March."

John Goodman told me another rare “Daddy, what did you do in the war?” story.

“My dad told me that The March almost finished him. He lost about 50 pounds and was just a little over 100 pounds and losing strength daily. He recounted seeing POWs stumbling, falling, unable to stand and get back in line,” said John. “Their buddies or fellow comrades were jostled at gun point by the guards… forbidden to help the helpless. Moments later… just a gun shot.”

STAY ALIVE?? Keep Moving…Nicht helfen…Vorwaerts!

“Wherever they billeted along the way survival meant picking the crude cell locks at night and escaping long enough to forage amongst the pigs for the meager leftovers thrown by well-fed German guards. Not too many choices if my dad wanted to live,” said John as he recollected his father’s story.

The tide of war had turned and the remaining German Volkssturm (home guard) consisted of old men and boys 12 and older. They realized that the end of the war was near. Many felt it would be far better to surrender to the Americans than to the Russians.

On May 8, 1945, VE Day (Victory in Europe), the unconditional surrender of Germany, was celebrated joyously in the Allied countries. Germany was soundly defeated. Now it was time for all Allied soldiers and POWs like Lawrence Goodman of Biwabik to come home.
It must have been a joyous, tearful reunion for the Goodman family in 1945 and the surviving crew members of Dinah Might. Gone was the anguish, the waiting, the uncertainty. In whatever condition, Big Sonny was back… he was home and father to a new son, Rick Goodman, born while he was a POW.

For the family of Lt. Darwin Nichols of Pocatello, Idaho, the co-pilot of Dinah Might, the end of war proved to be bittersweet. Strangely, Lt. Nichols, unlike the rest of his crew, was never reported officially as POW. He was listed as MIA (Missing In Action). Here is where the historical paths of an honorably discharged Goodman, and MIA Lt. Darwin Nichols, would eventually merge to become part of an unforeseen WWII tribunal in 1946.

By this time, you, the reader, may be asking yourself, “Dave, how did you get all of this war story stuff?” The answer: Where all stories start in Biwabik…at the bar! It all started a year ago at the Black Diamond.

I ran into my high school classmate Denny Imberg and his wife, Bonnie (Goodman) Imberg, and we visited about my upcoming European trip that Fall of 2013. It was the Normandy trip that eventually became the Hometown Focus June 6 D-Day story. Bonnie mentioned that her dad Lawrence was in the Army Air Corp and was a POW. At that point it was a good story but it didn’t grab me.

Fast forward to March, 2014, six months after my Normandy trip. It’s déjà vu at the Black Diamond with the same cast of characters. By now you should get the picture? I told Denny and Bonnie the Normandy D-Day story for HTF was a work in progress. They were mildly interested in the Normandy story when Bonnie unexpectedly said, “Dave, did you know that my father testified at a war crimes trial?”

An unplanned gulp on my MGD! I was totally surprised by Bonnie’s casual revelation.
Somewhat dumbfounded, I gathered myself enough to ask, “Nuremberg? He testified at Nuremberg?”

“I think so. You should to talk to John [her younger brother] about this. He has all of this trial stuff. Some guy from Germany called John a few years ago and wanted to find out the details of these American prisioners documented by the IRC. John was the only ‘Goodman’ in Biwabik. He sent John a bunch of other stuff about the trial. That’s as much as I know. John knows the rest.”

My mind raced ahead, already scripting the basis for a story…this story. I could hardly wait to impose myself on John and his wife LaVonne. Next day it was…Knock, knock…I was just in neighborhood, and was greeted with the usual Iron Range open invitation.

After telling John about the Black Diamond conversation with his sister, John said, “One afternoon about seven years ago I got this strange phone call from this German guy: ‘Hello, I am looking for a Lawrence Goodman,’ speaking in a very pronounced German accent.

“He wanted to know if I was the son of Lawrence Goodman who was a flyer in WWII. From IRC records he knew my dad was from Biwabik and I was the only Goodman in the phone book! His name is Horst Jeckel and he is a WWII researcher. Although his English was broken it was enough for us to communicate… he asked if I would like to see some war information about my dad that we never knew about. My dad had provided written testimony in a war crimes murder trial. He proceeded to tell me about this murder and my father’s connection to the murdered American officer (Lt. Nichols), the co-pilot of my dad’s bomber.”

The German researcher asked John if he would like to see the transcript of the trial, and told him that he had copies from the war archives, including John’s father’s hand written statement.

Questions and images cascaded through my brain as John said, “Dave, would you like to see this stuff that Horst Jeckel sent me?”

The manila envelope John shared with me revealed everything about the murder of Lt. Nichols and the trial. I thumbed through the time worn, sepia colored copies of the 1946 type written transcripts from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Office. The faded documents detailed everything, the circumstances leading to the murder of Nichols, the complete testimonies of the witnesses, including Lawrence Goodman’s deposition, as well as the statement of the accused SS Guard Karl Loesch. Everything was there…and I mean everything! Every word describing why and how Loesch and his fellow guard felt coerced to murder Lt. Nichols. How the tribunal “rules of war” consideration in “only following orders” lead to Loesch’s eventual 11-year prison conviction instead of death. The transcript and proceedings would have been the basis for a very lively ethics and morality discussion in law school or university philosophy class.

To truly understand the essence of the trial, one must study and weigh carefully the testimony of Karl Loesch, the accused (see Figure 1). It evokes many images and questions. Questions about the other Germans involved but not arrested nor charged, as far as I know. Does “just following orders” during times of war have a special legal and war time consideration?

With the end of WWII, Europe and Asia were dealing with utter devastation, the carnage, emptiness and the hollowness of bombed out buildings, and refugees returning to nothing. There were no hidden metaphors amidst the rubble, the Shoah and German lie of “Arbeit Macht Frei,” tens of millions dead. Images were grim, constant reminders of man’s inhumanity to man as we repeatedly saw newsreels in our local show houses and, later, in the comfort of our living rooms. It was now the time of TV when Walter Cronkhite, Eric Sevareid and others went from audio to visual. Big Sonny was now back home in Biwabik with his wife Irene and their new son, Fredrick Lawrence Goodman (Rick Goodman) born during his POW captivity. But for a grieving Emily Bryson of Pocatello, Idaho, mother of Lt. Nichols, there was no joy on VE Day. Her thoughts? Where is my son? What happened to my son Darwin? A determined Emily Bryson wanted to know more from the U.S. War Department about her son. Too many questions remain unanswered.

Communication dated January 3, 1946, from the Army Service Forces, Office of the Quartermaster General:

“Dear Mrs. Bryson:

The feelings which prompted your communication are most understandable and I full realize your desire for additional details regarding your son. The following is an eyewitness account submitted to the War Department by Sergeant Lawrence F. Goodman:

‘Lieutenant Nichols and I were taken to the Air Base in Berlin, and from there we were on our way to Wetzlar, Germany when Lieutenant Nichols escaped. I don’t know the name of the town, it was a little water stop, surrounded by thick forests and rather hilly! He was dressed in ODs and an OD sleeveless sweater, no hat and a pair of army low cut shoes. He didn’t have any wings, no bars, no dog tags, no means of identification. He escaped through the latrine window of the train. That was about the 15th of September, 1944. This is the last that I saw of Lieutenant Darwin Nichols.’

If you so desire, you may communicate with Sergeant Goodman in care of his wife, Mrs. Irene Goodman, whose address is Box 273, Biwabik, Minnesota.”

On May 2, 1945 the War Department followed up with Sgt. Goodman as it sought to determine the status or find the remains of Lt. Nichols.

In March, 1946, Heinrich Gimpel, a Gestapo guard at the Giessen prison, testified that:

“I knew Lt. Nichols for a period of seven months while he was held in the Gestapo prison in Giessen. When he was removed from prison, he gave me a note with his name and identification numbers. I was called to identify the body at the cemetery before it was buried.” The note, signed by Lt. Darwin Nichols, asked that consideration be given for the kind treatment by the guard, Heinrich Gimpel, while he was incarcerated in the jail.
From the time that Dinah Might was shot down near Berlin, the status of Lt. Nichols was always MIA. Why? Perhaps he didn’t have any identification as stated by Goodman’s deposition and/or he refused to tell the SS his name, rank and serial number. We’ll never know the answer to this question.

His mother continued to wait for further communication from the War Department. All the while rumors about the murder(s) of American officers were being investigated and in the process of being confirmed. Unbeknownst to Emily Bryson, there was confirmation and evidence for a trial was being prepared.

Finally, on July 25, 1946, Mrs. Emily Bryson received the dreaded, yet confirming news from the War Department:

“I sympathize with you in your just desire for further information, and am very sorry that no further messages from overseas have been received. A message submitted by our overseas authorities shows that a trial is being prepared regarding certain evidence indicating that a person believed to be Darwin R. Nichols may have been shot near Giessen, Germany on or about March 27, 1945. [Author’s note: The SS prison at Giessen was liberated by American troops on March 28, 1945.]

“Your [Mrs. Nichol’s] comments relative to the absence of a mailing address for Lt. Nichols after he was captured by the Germans have been noted with full appreciation. The records disclose that no official message was submitted by the German Government through the International Red Cross that he was a prisioner of war of that Government and available evidence indicates that he was never assigned to a particular prison camp but escaped while en-route to Wetzlar, Germany and was never seen again. His whereabouts* and activities from the time of his escape until date of his possibly having been shot in Giessen are not known.”

[*Author’s note: Evidence after trial indicated that for seven months the Gestapo guard Heinrich Gimpel was allowed to take Nichols outside the prison as part of some sort of work detail, thus, providing credibility for Nichol’s statement about Gimpel’s kindness, an unwritten bond of humanity in a world torn by war.]

The end of WWII did not bring a quick closure to what really happened to Emily Nichols-Bryon’s son, Darwin. Please read her original correspondence to our War Department (see Figure 2). To me the tone and emotion of her letters show her perseverance, frustration with her government in pursuit of desired answers, language wrapped in an almost stoic pioneer hardness from a bygone era. Do her letters evoke universal but wordless feelings for all mothers, fathers, wives and husbands who have lost loved ones?

Closure on all fronts. Time to move on. Big Sonny and Irene, two of the Greatest Generation, added to their family with the births of Bonnie and John. The family would settle into a productive post-war life as he worked for Boeing in Wichita, Kansas and Spokane, WA. Sonny quickly found employment as a drill mechanic working at Erie Mining. Irene, the daughter of Reverence Cartwright, a pillar of the religious community in Biwabik, was the dutiful wife and homemaker for the three children.

I remember this era, the post war times of innocence, the 50s and early 60s. It was the era of “Leave It To Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” where TV episodes always ended with some kind of morality message, hugs and a consoling smile.

But on December 22, 1960, there were no smiles…only tears and gasps of disbelief as the news rippled through the basketball crowd and student body at Biwabik High School. Big Sonny was killed in an industrial accident at Erie. I can still recollect the hush and the muted whispers of this tragedy to this day. The emotion was compounded as my dad John Setnicker returned from his afternoon shift visibly shaken by the tragedy. He was the pit foreman and first upon this tragic scene. I remember it…all of it…like it was yesterday. And now, looking back 54 years, writing this WWII story of Big Sonny, it seems it wasn’t supposed to end this way…not after everything he went through.

November 11, 2014 is Veteran’s Day. This true story wove the memories of youth revisited, of men, women and their families going to war, daily angst about Western Union telegrams, the question of whose side is God on, terror, death, sorrow, joy, happiness and hope…there are just not enough words for this period of history. The resolute silence of each returning vet became a personal repository of the indescribable.

We honor their service; their silence.

“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

Author’s note: I want to thank the Goodman family for allowing me to tell Lawrence’s compelling WWII story.

Lawrence married Irene Kate CARTWRIGHT on 21 Sep 1942 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Irene (daughter of Arthur CARTWRIGHT and Kate Irene NICHOLLS) was born on 5 Jun 1922 in Cass County, Minnesota; died on 9 Jan 2021 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1922-29955
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2010-MN-009023

Notes:

Listed as Robert G. of Biwabik in his mother’s obituary.

Robert George "Sonny" Goodman, 87 of Biwabik died Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at St. Raphael's Health and Rehabilitation Center in Eveleth.

He was born May 24, 1922, in Biwabik to Fredrick and Jennie (Orfald) Goodman. He graduated from Biwabik High School in 1941. In 1942, Robert enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He married Joyce Lein on January 18, 1947, in Biwabik at the Community United Church of Christ. Robert worked at Erie Mining Company until his retirement in the early 1980s. He was a member of the Peterson-Lofquist-Bronczyk American Legion and was also a member of the Community United Church of Christ. Robert enjoyed fishing, reading, especially the newspaper, and spending time with his family.

Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Vernie "Joyce" Goodman of Biwabik; children, Sandy (Joe) Plattner of North Saint Paul, Kathy (Dennis) Grippe of Biwabik, Jim (Patty Davis) Goodman of Lindstrom, Minn., Kraig (Mona) Goodman of Blaine, Minn., Alaine Fricano and Cheryl (George) Fazekas of Richfield; grandchildren, Lisa Hengen, Theresa (Scott) Hodgman, Jennah (Mike) Hawes, and Rosie, Grace and George Goodman; great-grandchildren, Brett and Shane Swanson, Adam and Jessie Hodgman, and Heather and Adam Hengen; brother, William (Shirley) Goodman; sister, Leah Cartwright; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Marie Peterka and Gladys "Bunty" Himango; brothers, Lawrence and Johnny in infancy.

Memorial service 1 p.m. Friday at Community United Church of Christ with the Rev. Rebecca LeMenager officiating. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service at the church. Inurnment with military honors accorded by the Gilbert VFW Post will be in Lakeside Cemetery in Biwabik. Arrangements by Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home, Gilbert.

Birth:
Biwabik

Died:
St. Raphael’s Health and Rehabilitation Center

Robert married Vernie Joyce LEIN on 18 Jan 1947 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Vernie was born on 7 Apr 1926 in Roseau County, Minnesota; died on 12 Nov 2015 in Ramsey County, Minnesota; was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1924-28129
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1925-MN-013979

Notes:

Not listed in the 1930 census.

He died of pneumonia.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: DC-73259

Notes:

Listed as William D. of Chicago in his mother’s obituary.

He and Shirley lived in Bloomingdale, Illinois, in the 1990s.

William D. Goodman, Veteran of WW II, formerly of Bloomingdale; beloved husband of Shirley, nee Bergren, for 63 years; devoted father of Cynthia (Dennis) Gray and the late Christina Jacobsen; dear brother of Leah Cartwright; dear grandfather of Matthew (Criselda), Andrew (Jennifer) Tarnoff and the late Michael Jacobsen; great grandfather of Zoe, Noah, Katelyn and Hannah. Funeral Thursday 10 a.m. at Salerno's Rosedale Chapels, 450 W. Lake St. Roselle, 60172, (3/4 mile west of Bloomingdale/Roselle Rd.) Chapel Service 11 a.m. Interment Private. In lieu of flowers, donations to Children Shiner Hospital appreciated. Visitation Wednesday 3 to 9 p.m.

William married S.M. BERGREN [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1927-26156

Notes:

Listed as Leah J. Cartwright of Biwabik in her mother’s obituary.

Leah Jane Cartwright, 86, of Cheyenne, Wyo., formerly of Biwabik, died Saturday, March 2, 2013, at her residence.

She was born Feb. 4, 1927, in Biwabik to Fred and Jennie (Orfald) Goodman. Leah was a graduate of Biwabik High School and later married William Cartwright Dec. 4, 1947, in Biwabik.

Leah spent most of her life in Biwabik where she was an active member of the Community United Church of Christ. There she taught Sunday school, was a member of the choir and served as secretary/treasurer for many years. She was also a member of the Eastern Star.

Survivors include her daughters, Connie Wuotila of Wyoming, Minn., and Beverly (Chris) Cardel of Cheyenne, Wyo.; grandchildren, Eric (Vicki), Mark (Deanna), Ryan (Karen), Kyle and Kristin (Stevie); nine great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, William; brothers, Lawrence, Robert and Bill; sisters, Marie and Gladys; son-in-law, Barry Wuotila.

Memorial service 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 25, 2013, at Community United Church of Christ in Biwabik with the Rev. Rodney Slessor officiating. Friends may gather one hour prior to the service at the church. Inurnment will be in the Lakeside Cemetery in Biwabik.

Leah married William Henry CARTWRIGHT on 4 Dec 1947 in Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. William (son of Arthur CARTWRIGHT and Kate Irene NICHOLLS) was born on 30 Sep 1927 in Itasca County, Minnesota; died on 31 Jul 1991 in St. Louis County, Minnesota; was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Biwabik, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Birth Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1931-24714

Notes:

She was Nancy Murphy of Seattle, Washington (no husband’s name listed), at the time of her brother’s death in 2005.

She lived in Federal Way, Washington, in 1992.

Died:
SSDI last residence

Family/Spouse: D.A. MURPHY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Social Security Number: 512-30-5220 Issued In Kansas Before 1951

Notes:

Lehto, John "Jack" T., 68, former Southwestern Electric Vice-President, loving husband, father and grandfather, died Tues. Jan 25, 2005, Service 1:00 P.M., Friday, Resthaven Mortuary Chapel. Survivors; wife, Donna of the home, sons and daughters-in-law, Brian and Marian, Daniel and Euleeta all of Wichita, daughter and son-in-law, Debra Mae and Kevin Spiecker of Tucson, AZ, sisters, Phyllis Hoffman of Denver, Co, Nancy Murphy of Seattle,WA, grandchildren, Selby, Sean, Haley, Jacob, Megan, Derek, Braden, Adam, Cayla.

Family/Spouse: Donna Mae. Donna was born on 26 Jul 1938; died on 16 Mar 2010 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas; was buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• MN Death Cert Checked: Y
• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1927-26154
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1927-MN-012792

Notes:

Shown as stillborn on his death certificate. His mother was the informant.

Birth:
born and died at Biwabik Hospital

Died:
Minnesota Deaths and Burials says 1 Jun 1927

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1928-25913
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2016-MN-009578
• Occupation: Real estate and probate attorney in Virginia, Minnesota

Notes:

Listed as pallbearer at his grandmother Marie’s funeral.

Of Virginia at the time of his mother’s death and his father’s death.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Snelling on 8 December 1945. He had had four years of high school and his civilian occupation was “tinsmiths, coppersmiths, and sheet metal workers.” He was unmarried. His obit says that he served in the Army during the Korean War.

He was an attorney with the Trenti Law Firm in Virginia, Minnesota.

He and Marlys also had a home in Mesa, Arizona.

His obit in the Virginia newspaper:

Vernon Delford Saxhaug, prominent area attorney, 88, died Tuesday, March 15, 2016, peacefully in his home.

He was born Jan. 8, 1928, in Biwabik, the son of Harry “Pat” and Ruth (Orfald) Saxhaug; was a graduate of Virginia Roosevelt High School and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota. Vernon married Marlys Mae Eckert on March 22, 1952, in Amery, Wis. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and had played international basketball while in the Army. He returned to Virginia in 1957 and was employed as an attorney with John Manthey and Ralph Harvey.

He then founded Saxhaug, Stall and Stephenson. In 1974, through merger, Vernon became one of the founding partners in the Trenti Law Firm. Throughout his career, Vernon served as legal counsel for the Virginia School District and various Range municipalities. He was a member of the Virginia Masonic Lodge No. 264 AF&AM, The Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge; and an active member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Virginia. Vernon served as President of the Norwest Bank Board, served on the Virginia Planning and Zoning Commission, the Lake Fourteen Club, The Little Johnson Lake Association, and on the Apache-Wells AZ Community Board as a legal advisor. Vernon’s greatest joy came from time spent with his family, whom he cherished dearly.

Vernon is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marlys; children, Sherry (Jeff) Coughlin of Aurora, Deborah Saxhaug of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Mark Saxhaug of Britt, Karen Saxhaug Walden (Jim Walden) of Maple Grove, Minn., Bradford Saxhaug (Christine Jones) of Virginia and Eric Saxhaug of Ely Lake; grandchildren, Briana Coughlin, Ashley Coughlin (Joe Walli), Kacie Coughlin, Dillon Saxhaug, Lauren Saxhaug Carlson, Adam Saxhaug (Tiffany Austad), Kiersten Saxhaug, Derek Walden, Jacob Walden, Samuel Walden, Samantha (Mike) Irish, Jessica (Pat) Mitsch, William Jones (Lindsey Nehiba), Alexandra Saxhaug, Alex Rebholz and Connor Saxhaug; great-grandchildren, Jamison Saxhaug Anderson, Logan Irish, Odin Taylor, Karson Saxhaug Lentsch, River Coughlin, Brady Mitsch, Jace Walli and Eliza Irish; sister, Harriett (Roy) Tucker of Springboro, Ohio; special family members, Joyce Garcia and Michael Skinner; numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Karen Marie Walden and a brother, William in infancy.

Vernon married Marlys Mae ECKERT on 22 Mar 1952 in Amery, Polk County, Wisconsin. Marlys was born in 1929 in Dunn County, Wisconsin; died on 12 Mar 2018 in Mountain Iron, St. Louis County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and Richard had four children, two boys, two girls.

Geraldine married Richard Anthony PETTERSON on 29 May 1948 in Cook County, Illinois. Richard (son of Lester PETTERSON and Kathryn) was born on 14 Jun 1927 in Cook County, Illinois; died on 6 Mar 2003 in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and John had homes in Mesa, Arizona, and Waseca, Minnesota, in 1993.

Linda says that June was born in a small bedroom at Marie Bye Orfald’s home in Biwabik.

The Fratzkes moved to Waseca in 1973.

June married John David FRATZKE on 27 Sep 1956 in Cook County, Illinois. John was born on 25 Mar 1935; died on 8 Nov 2012 in Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Raised Methodist. Graduated from North Park University.

Listed as pallbearer at his grandmother Marie’s funeral. Lived in Chicago at that time (actually, Hanover Park, Illinois).

Daniel Henry Norton, Age 79, of Hanover Park. Beloved husband of Kathryn Norton nee Mortell. Devoted father Jeffrey (Patricia) Norton, Steven Norton, Kristen (Wendell) Carlson, Gregory (Elizabeth Simon) Norton, Kevin Norton and the late David Norton. Cherished grandfather of Kimberly, Michelle, Amanda and Danielle. Caring great grandfather of Lucy and Marlee. Loving son of the late Henry and Mabel Norton. Dear brother of June Fratzke and the late Geraldine Petterson. Dear uncle of many nieces and nephews.

Family/Spouse: S. JANOWSKI. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Kathryn MORTELL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]