Enger Kids Vivian and Stanley -- Bad Things Happen to Good People

     Edward Ellingson Enger died of cancer in 1935 at the age of 62 and his wife Hannah became a widow at the age of 55.  Ed and Hannah had been married 37 years at the time of his death and their lives  had been blessed by the birth of six children.    As in most families, the Enger family had its share of good times and bad, and there were also times of tragedy, especially involving their two youngest children, Stanley 1911; and Vivian 1916.

          

                                    Stanley James Enger 1911-1927             Vivian Enger before polio, 1919

     In 1920 Vivian contracted  polio, a little-known disease at that time, which left her with a crippled leg at the age of 4 and the necessity to wear a brace to help her walk for the rest of her life.  This was considered a tragedy at the time, but due to the loving care of  Ed and Hannah, and the courage and tenacity of Vivian herself, this story turned into a triumph. I will have more to say on the subject of Vivian later.  

     The second family tragedy for Ed and Hannah occurred on November 3, 1927 with the death of youngest son Stanley James at age 16.  I heard the story from Grandma Hannah when I was a little girl.  Stanley had argued with his Dad about something earlier in the day and then ran outside.  When dinner was ready Ed and Hannah both called for Stanley but he didn't come in the house.  Finally Ed went outside to look for him and when, on a hunch, he crawled up the ladder to the hayloft which was one of Stanley's favorite hideouts, he found his son's body  hanging  from a rope swing.   Ed being a former fireman and deputy sheriff, was familiar with first aid and revival techniques, but his efforts were to no avail.  Grandma told me that Grandpa Ed was beside himself with grief, and forever after blamed himself for the argument with his son.

      Grandma Hannah always insisted that Stanley's death was accidental, that he was playing with the rope in the barn and got tangled up in it.   My Dad and other family members also stuck to that version of the story whenever it was brought up.  Only when I obtained the official death certificate  from the State of Minnesota  in the 1990's did I learn that the coroner had ruled the death a suicide.  The cause of death:  "Suicide by Hanging" and underneath in parentheses, "some possibility of accident."  (I rather suspect that this notation was added after the fact when the parents objected to the coroner's ruling.)  Whatever the real story we will never know as the truth died with Stanley, but this tragedy left a permanent scar on the hearts of his parents the rest of their lives.

       Stanley Enger's obituary, published in the Worthington Globe

     Stanley Enger, sixteen year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Enger, was found dead late Thursday afternoon, November 3, under circumstances which have already been considerably discussed in the community.  Funeral services were held Sunday at the Evangelical church, conducted by the Rev. H. A. Zieske. The church was filled to its capacity, and floral tributes were profuse.

     Stanley was born August 10, 1911, at Hanley Falls where he spent his first ten years.  Six years ago he accompanied his parents to Worthington, where he was residing at the time of his death. In the immediate family he is survived by his father and mother, three brothers, William Enger of Kindred, N. D., Arthur Enger of Pipestone, and Earl Enger of this city, and two sisters, Mrs. Herman Doeden and his little sister, Vivian, at home.

     In fact this is the first time death has invaded the family for two generations on both sides of the house. Also surviving is a great-grandfather, aged 94 years.

     Appropriate music was furnished by a quartette choir composed of Mr. and Mrs. Zieske, Paul Schaefer and John T. Doeden. Pall bearers were the six remaining members of the Sunday School class to which the boy belonged--Leslie Apel, Roy Doeden, Henry Doeden, Clarence Anton, Osborne Pfeil and Russell Zieske. Interment was in Worthington cemetery.

     The victim of the tragedy was a boy of unusual promise, friendly, likable and of a happy disposition.  In the recent series of meetings conducted by the Evangelical church, he was one of those taking a stand for the Christian life.

          
     Vivian's story ended on a different note, one of victory over the crippling disease of polio and a life of  remarkable success and accomplishment.  Vivian Enger Erbes passed away in August, 2011, at the age of 95, leaving a legacy of a 64-year marriage to her husband Clarence, a loving family, a long business and political career unique for a woman in her generation, and many friends.

      In the fall of 2008 I went to visit "Aunt Tootsie" to help her sort through her boxes of old family  photos and treasures that she had accumulated over the years.   She was living in a nursing home in Worthington by then as her body was failing her but her mind was as sharp as  a tack. 

     Vivian still kept her home in Worthington just as she had left it when she went to the nursing home and she always hoped and talked about being able to go back there and live out her days. Her son and his wife,  Steve and Jo Erbes, traveled from their home in the Twin Cities area nearly every weekend to take care of the  place and they would bring Vivian home while they were there.   During my visit Steve took several days off of work so he could bring Vivian home to stay at the house and he stayed with us to take care of  her and cook for us while we tackled the family history.

      Did we ever find some treasures!  It was so delightful to see Vivian's reactions as we uncovered a photo or clipping which would trigger an old memory and in turn lead to a memorable story.  I brought my laptop computer and kept a scanner handy to make copies of things I wanted for my own history files.

       In my estimation the top find of the entire week was a typed manuscript entitled "Vivian Erbes Remembrances." She didn't recall when she wrote it, but it provided a first person account of her life-changing and lifelong battle with polio. 

       To preface the story Vivian told me that she always thought when she was a child that she came down with polio because she disobeyed her father!  The family was moving from Rice Lake Ranch into town in Ryder, North Dakota, and several people had come over the night before they left to have a little going away party.  Vivian was with some of the children outside and they started playing a game where one would lay on the ground while the others would jump over them and they would take turns doing that.  

     The rest of the story verbatim, from Vivian's account: 

     "Dad came outside and told us it was too cold for us to be on the ground and we would get sick so we got up, but when he went in the house we started again.  The second time he came out he made all of us come in the house.  During the night I woke up with a terrible headache.  I went to my parents' room and woke my Dad and told him how badly my head hurt.  He told me to get in bed with him and Mom, which I did, and I did go back to sleep."

       "In the morning when Mom came in to wake me up I had a temperature and told her I did not feel well.  She carried me to the kitchen where it was nice and warm from the cookstove and she sat in the rocking chair and held me for a while.  I wanted to get down from her lap and when I tried to stand my right leg would not support me.  She thought my leg had gotten numb, perhaps from the way she had held me.  She rubbed my leg for a while then put me on a little kiddie-car which I had.  I pedaled with my left leg and the right one dragging along.  She became very frightened and called my Dad.  They called a doctor who said it was rheumatism.  Mom did not believe him as I had no pain.  We were in the process of moving into town that day, so as soon as we got into the house in town they called another doctor who admitted he didn't know what it was.  He warned my mother not to touch the leg because she could spread whatever it was over my entire body."

     "My parents called the State Health Department in Minot and they sent a doctor out.  He diagnosed it as infantile paralysis or polio as it was later known to be.  It was an unfamiliar disease to him but he did put us under quarantine.  Before he posted the notice on the front door, he let Dad and my brothers out as they had jobs.  Brother Stanley and Sister Hazel could not go to school, so Mom and the three of us were confined to the house for the first month, then an additional two weeks. Dad and Bill, Art and Earle would come to the house and talk to us through the window each evening.  After several days I developed terrific pain in the paralyzed leg and nothing the doctor recommended helped.  My poor mother was on the job day and night trying to alleviate the pain.  Nothing seemed to work."

     "I told Mom one day that I bet Grandma Larson would know what to do for the pain, but Grandma lived several hundred miles away in northern Minnesota.  Mom said that if the doctors we had didn't know what to do for the pain, she didn't know if Grandma (Mattie) could help, but to please me she did write to her.  Grandma wrote right back saying almost the same thing, that if the doctor's didn't know what to do her remedy probably wouldn't help, but she suggested trying it anyway.  By that time Mom was ready to grasp at any straw that she thought would help.  Grandma's suggestion was to rub my leg with warm kerosene--as warm as I could stand it. Mom put the kerosene in a tin cup and set the cup in a pan of boiling water.  She then rubbed me from hip to toes with it, then wrapped my leg in some warmed red flannel.  In a few minutes I fell asleep and slept for hours--the first relief from pain I had.  When I would wake and cry because my leg hurt again she would repeat the treatment and it gave me immediate relief.  Mom thought perhaps when she took off the flannel my leg might be blistered from the kerosene--but the skin wasn't even red!  I thought my Grandma Larson was about the smartest person in the whole world."

     "While I was still confined to bed with the polio I also came down with measles and the pneumonia.  I think the measles prompted the doctor to add the other two weeks to the quarantine.  During the time we were in quarantine our neighbors, who owned the only store in town, would bring our groceries and our mail from the post office.  Their son, a teenager who helped out in the store, would bring the groceries and the mail and put them on the front porch and run as fast as he could!"

Vivian at Rice Lake Ranch in 1920

before polio, with Effie, Bill and Art Enger.

Vivian with her mother and sister Hazel,

wearing the leg brace after polio

     "When my mother would wash clothes and hang them on the line Mrs. Olson would not let her little girl outside to play.  They were so afraid that the polio was contagious, and who could blame them?  It was a frightening disease which no one--not even the medical profession--knew much about."

     "It was such a joyous time when the quarantine sign came off the door and Dad and my brothers could come home again.  They had been staying in the bunk car with the bridge crew on the railroad--and they were happy to get home again.  This was not too long before Christmas.  I had not been out of the house since I had become ill and Dad promised they would take me to the Christmas program at church.  That is the first Christmas in my memory.  I got gifts from people in town we didn't know because they all knew about the ordeal we had been through." 

       "I had asked Santa for a doll whose eyes would close and would have brown curly hair.  My parents did not think they would be able to get such a doll in Ryder as it was such a small town with only one store.  A few days before Christmas a big box came from my Uncle Smith Larson (mom's brother) who lived in Hibbing, Minnesota many hundreds of miles away.  And can you guess what was in the box?  A doll exactly as I asked for.  My parents had told no one about my Christmas wish so they were amazed.  Who says miracles don't happen?"

     "That Christmas Eve is one which is etched in my memory as no other ever has.  Maybe it was the only Christmas I really remember, but it was so special.  Dad put a box on our sled.  They set me in the box, covered me with a warm quilt and set out for the church which was a short distance from our house.  It was a wonderful winter evening--a light snow falling--and as we neared the church I could  see the lighted candles in the windows and could hear the organ playing.  I don't remember anything about the program or any other Christmas festivities, but I never forgot that sled ride to the church, the snowfall, and the music."

More of Vivian's story in another posting!

    

       



HANNAH LARSON MARRIES EDWARD ENGER

Hannah Larson, the second child of Norwegian immigrants Martin and Mattie Larson, was born October 27, 1880 in Vernon County, Wisconsin near Westby.  Martin worked there as a farm laborer, no doubt for his father Christian who raised tobacco.  When Hannah was a small child Martin and Mattie left Wisconsin and lived in Norcross, Minnesota for about 10 years near Mattie's parents, the Ellsons, and later settled in Hanley Falls, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota where Martin hired on with Great Northern Railroad.

As fate would have it, another family also moved to Hanley Falls about that time.  Elling Pedersen Enger and his wife Anna Lee came from Spring Grove, Minnesota to Hanley Falls with their children, Peter, Edward, Sophie, Hjalmer, Elling, Jr. and Lena. I have a copy of a deed showing that Elling Enger bought property at Wood Lake in Yellow Medicine in 1886 and built a house on it.  I figure that Martin and Mattie moved to Hanley about 1890 when Hannah was ten.  I have a Hanley Falls diagram dated 1904 which shows the location of the Martin Larson residence in Hanley not far from the railroad tracks. (But then nothing was far from the railroad tracks in Hanley!)

Edward Ellingson Enger was the second son of Elling and Anne, born March 12, 1873 in Spring Grove so he would have been 13 when coming to Wood Lake.  Elling was a farmer but Ed went to work in the local hardware store and had several other jobs before becoming a railroad man with the Great Northern line.

I don’t know how it all happened but somehow Hannah Larson, 18, and Edward Enger, 25, got together and were married on September 3, 1898 at Granite Falls, the county seat of Yellow Medicine.

The Wedding Day

September 3, 1898, Granite Falls, MN

Ed and Hannah had their first child, my father William Delander Enger, born Nov. 19, 1899 in Hanley Falls.  I asked him where the name Delander came from, and supposedly his father Ed wanted him to have the initials W. D. so he picked the middle name Delander because it started with D and for no other reason.

When “little Willy” was a year old he came down with a bad case of measles and almost died.  His fever was so high that he was burning up, and attempts to cool him down were not working.  His Norwegian grandmother, Anna Lee Enger, picked him up and carried him out to the horse tank which had a layer of ice forming on top and dunked him in.  Hannah was crying and thought her mother-in-law was killing the baby, but the fever broke.  As a result of the dunking, however, Willy developed pneumonia.  The family doctor, Old Doc Beck, (more about him in the future) advised Ed and Hannah to take the baby to the woods to a better environment for recovery, so for a year they lived up north in Lengby, Minnesota with Hannah’s parents, Martin and Mattie Larson.

William Delander Enger Baptism, one year old

I guess the north woods was a healthy environment in more ways than one as little Willy recovered and during that year the second son, Arthur Miller, was born, on May 20, 1902.  After that Ed and Hannah went back to Hanley where their third son, Earle Melvin, was born Feb. 12, 1904.  A daughter Hazel Evelyn came along on Sept. 8, 1907 followed by another son Stanley James on Aug. 10, 1911.

When my uncle Earle Enger retired from the railroad in the early 1970’s his daughter Shirley encouraged him to write the family history while his memory was still good.  He did a wonderful job, and his writings have given a good insight into the life of my grandparents.

Earle wrote, “Dad was employed at the hardware store in Hanley as a farm machine salesman and demonstrator, and served as the town Constable and Deputy Sheriff of Yellow Medicine County.  He later operated his own threshing rig for several years as well as being Fire Chief in Hanley.”

                                      

Ed Enger, Deputy Sheriff                                                      Ed Enger, Fire Chief, Hanley Falls, Minnesota

                                                                                                                 

In the early 1900’s Ed went to work for the Great Northern Railway as a well and pump expert and was sent to British Columbia in Canada to install water stations while the family stayed behind.  Ed was there for about a year before returning to Hanley Falls.

My father told me that his father loved British Columbia and thought it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen.  He really wanted to stay and move his family there but Hannah wouldn’t hear of it so Ed returned to Hanley to continue his work.

Earle stated, “Dad bought a house just a block from the hardware store in town and later bought a lot near the school house and moved the house there.  After it was moved Dad bought a milk cow and some chickens.  Every morning before school it was the boys’ duty to deliver the cow to a gathering place a short distance from home where a boy would take all the cows and herd them along the river, then bring them home at milking time.  Our old cow, named Betsy, was such a family pet we would ride her to and from the gathering place.”

“I remember my father as a very devoted family man.  On Sundays he would often take us down along the Yellow Medicine River to swim, pick wild berries, and picnic.  He would often hire a livery team and take us to visit our Uncle Peter and family near Lorne or Aunt Lena near Granite Falls.”

Earl said that Ed, who had acquired quite a reputation as a water systems expert, was hired by the M & St. L Railroad to keep their systems in good order.  Water in those times was the most important item in the operation of steam locomotives and water stations were located every few miles along the tracks.  Ed was so busy that it was hard for him to get home to Hanley, so in order to be more centrally located he relocated the family to Winthrop, Minnesota in 1912.  At that time he was getting a top salary of $90 per month, and after two years in Winthrop another railroad company, the C. StP. M & O, offered him a very nice increase if he would go to Wisconsin to solve the water problems between Hudson, Duluth and Eau Claire.

Earle explained, “Full of pioneering spirit, as he always was, Dad bought a 40-acre farm in the woods three miles northeast of Cumberland, Wisconsin, and moved the family there.”

The Engers left Winthrop by passenger train with a horse and two cows riding in a railroad “emigrant” car.  Earle remembered being quite disappointed because his older brother Bill got to ride with the animals and he had to ride in the passenger car.

He continued, “I think the two years we lived on this little farm in the woods were the happiest of my young life.  We walked three miles to a country school and spent much of our time cutting wood for winter, fishing and hunting, and a small amount of field work and chores.  It was truly a boy’s dream of heaven.  Mother (Hannah) was never much impressed with this existence and I remember hearing her tell Dad one day that she thought they should get us boys out of the woods before we became savages!”

About this time the M & St. L offered Ed a position as supervisor of their water supply with headquarters in Minneapolis, so much to Hannah’s relief and the sadness of her sons, they sold the farm and stock and moved to Minneapolis in 1916.  Their last child, Myrtle Vivian was born while they lived in Minneapolis, and the following year they moved again to Hopkins, Minnesota for a year.

World War I intervened in 1917 and there was a real shortage of manpower because all of the young men were going to war.  The railroads were desperate for help and the Soo Line offered Ed a real good salary to take over the bridge gang, building bridges and water stations in their Missouri River Division between Drake, Bismarck and Sanish, North Dakota.  Due to the shortage of workers Ed even recruited his young boys to work on the bridge crew during school vacations, and they went to school in Washburn during the winter.  Bill was out of school by then and he was working full time on the bridge gang with his Dad.

Ed, the inveterate pioneer, had some money saved and when he found a ranch for sale with its stock north of Ryder, North Dakota, he made a deal for it and in 1919 the family left Washburn for the ranch with its 1200 acres owned and 2500 acres leased, plus 200 cows and 50 horses.

Things went pretty well for the first year, but the following year the war was over, cattle prices hit bottom and crops failed.  To make matters worse the ensuing winter was terrible with weather that wiped out everything.  Ed was forced to sell out and the family moved to a house in Ryder. Oldest son Bill had married a young schoolteacher, Effie Mestad, in 1920 while in Ryder and he was now managing a lumber office in Bottineau, ND.

That summer Ed started contacting railroads and was offered a position in Sioux Falls in 1921, so the family moved lock, stock and barrel to Valley Springs, SD.  After a year there Ed was transferred to Worthington, Minnesota in the summer of 1922, their final destination.

Ed’s pioneering spirit still wasn’t dead, and in 1927 he and Earle rented a farm south of town and they both worked on the railroad and the farm.  Later Earle became too busy on the railroad so moved into a house in town and brother Art lived on the farm with the folks.  In 1934 Ed’s health began to fail and he and Hannah went to a house in Worthington.  Edward Ellingson Enger died on April 10, 1935 of cancer of the prostate at the age of 62 years and 28 days.

Grandma Hannah remained a widow for the next 44 years, but that is a story for another day!

Ed Enger Family circa 1925

Back row:  Hazel, Earle, Arthur, William

Front row:  Vivian, Edward, Stanley, Hannah



The Oldest Man in Westby, Wisconsin

     In an earlier blog I wrote about Christian Larson who, with his wife Anne and sons Mathias, 12, and Ole, 1, traveled to America on the Bark Nathaneal in 1871 and settled in Wisconsin. 

       In the digitalarkivet birth records for the parish of Faberg in Lillehammer, Norway we find the birth on May 17, 1835, baptism on May 28, of Christian, son of Lars Bruget of Ringsager and unmarried woman Marthe Olsdatter Gettrud (also Gedrud).  Under marriage records of Faberg Parish in 1858, July 7, is the marriage of Christian Larsen Gedrud, age 23, (which indicates to me that he was raised on the Gedrud farm with his mother)  and Anne Olsdatter Saeterbakken of Ringsager, age 26. 

     Remember that their oldest son Martin was born in 1857, which makes them true to form for the  Norwegian custom of the first child being born shortly before or shortly after the marriage.   Maybe that is  the origin of the old saying, "The first one can come anytime, the second one takes nine months!"

     By the time Christian and Anne immigrated to America in 1871 their son Mathias (Martin) was twelve, they had lost a daughter, Maria at age five in Norway, and their son Ole was one year old.  The family settled in Vernon County, Wisconsin, and in 1873 an American daughter was born who was named Mina Amelia.  In the 1880 census Christian, Anne, Ole and "Minnie" resided in Monroe County and Martin was missing since he had been married the previous year.  The family dynamics changed again in 1887 when son Ole died of pneumonia on December 8 at the age of 17.  This left Mina as the only child at home.

    Christian Larson was a carpenter and farmer and my father told me that he raised tobacco which was a popular crop in that part of Wisconsin.  They lived most of their years in Vernon County at Coon Prairie and Westby except for 13 years in Brush Creek. 

     Anne passed away in 1907 at the age of 75, the cause of death being "apoplexy" with a contributing factor of "hyperstatic lung congestion."   Following her death Christian lived with Martin and Mattie in Fosston, Minnesota for a short time, but most of his widowed years were spent with his daughter Mina and her husband Tenus Samb in Westby, Wisconsin.

    From the LaCrosse Tribune of June 3, 1932:  CHRISTIAN LARSON OF WESTBY PASSED HIS 97TH BIRTHDAY  The article concludes:  "Mr. Larson is hale and hearty.  Until last winter it has been the usual thing to see him busy chopping wood, doing chores, working in the garden, etc.  He is easily the oldest man in Westby community."  I also must say, that in this same article, it says that Christian Larson "was the only son of Lars and Martha Larson" which may mean that his parents did eventually marry, but that fact is yet to be determined.

Circa 1900, Martin Larson, Anne Larson, Mina Larson Samb, Christian Larson
(Unfortunately the only photo I have of  Anne Larson and I have never found
an obituary for her.)

A few weeks after the noted 97th birthday, the Westby Times reported on June 29, 1932:

CHRIS LARSON, 97, WESTBY'S OLDEST CITIZEN, PASSES  The article states that he had been ill in bed for about three weeks and concludes: "Christian Larson was a quiet, unassuming man of Christian character.  He was a faithful church member and a good citizen."   Christian and Anne are buried at the historic Coon Prairie Church near Westby where they were members for many years.

 

Coon Prairie Lutheran Church, Westby, Wisconsin



Monument for Christian and Anne Larson



Five generation photo, 1927
Back row: Great-Grandson William D. Enger, 28;  Son Martin Larson, 70; Granddaughter Hannah Larson Enger, 57;
Front Row:  Great-Great Grandson William John Enger, 6; Christian Larson, 92.  (Note:  5 generation pictures were
a really big deal in those days!)

In my last session I promised to bring the Engers into the mix, so I will tell you that William D. Enger was the oldest son of Hannah Larson Enger and Edward Ellingson Enger who married in 1898 in Hanley Falls, Minnesota.  Next time, "the rest of the story."  

   

Mathea (Mattie) Ellson Marries Martin Larson

     

Martin and Mattie Larson

Back row:  Ella, Alma, Hannah

Middle row:  Martin, Smith, Mattie

Front:  Harriet and Rebecca

A civil marriage took place on January 20, 1879, in Shelden, Monroe County, Wisconsin, which joined farmer Mathias (Martin) Larson and Mathea (Mattie) Ellson as husband and wife.  The marriage license states that  both bride and groom were underage, and both fathers signed the covenant for permission to marry. This doesn't make sense to me, since Martin was born on October 22, 1857 which would mean he was already 21 in January of 1879, and Mattie was 18, but it's possible that the legal ages for marriage were different back then.  Another point for research!

    Mathias (Americanized to Martin) was born  on a farm near Lillehammer, Norway to Christian Larson and Anne Olsdatter Saeterbakken.  The 1865 census for Norway shows the family as living on the farm Nordhagen in the parish of Ringsager in Oppland County as follows:  Christian Larsen, age 31, farmer; Anne Olsdatter, 34, his wife; Mathias Christiansen, 8, their son; and Maria Christiansdatter, 2, their daughter.  Also a resident was Guri Olsdatter, 60, a lodger and spinster, who may have been an older relative of Anne.

     Also  in the Ringsager parish on the farm Saeterbakken were Anne's parents, Ole Engebretsen, 73; and his wife Marte Nilsdatter, age 64.

    In the Digitalarkivet record of Emigrants from Oslo, on June 10, 1871, we find Christian Larsen Nordhagen, his wife Anne Olsen, and sons Mathias, 12, and Ole, one year.  There is no daughter with them, which indicates that Maria had died and son Ole had been born since the 1865 census.  The emigration record states that the family's destination was LaCrosse, Wisconsin. 

     Canadian Passenger lists show that the Larsons reached Quebec on 26 July, 1871 on the bark "Nathanael,"  after about a six week journey.  A bark, (or barque),  was a type of sailing ship with three masts which was rigged differently than a regular ship, thus enabling it to sail with fewer crew members.  The bark Nathanael departed from Oslo carrying 294 passengers and there were no deaths on the voyage. When the ship reached the quarantine station at Grosse Ile on July 23, a required stop before entering the port of Quebec, there were seven sick passengers.  There had been an  outbreak of measles and some other unnamed disease, so the ship was not released from quarantine until July 26.  Once the immigrants reached Quebec they would face another journey by boat through the Great Lakes and then overland to their ultimate destination in America.

     Since Mattie Ellson and Martin Larson were born in close proximity to each other in Norway, it is not surprising that they would come together in America.  Norway at that time was largely an agricultural and fishing based society with small rural villages surrounded by high mountains and fjords, which also made it a country of many different dialects and customs.  It was natural for immigrants from the same area in Norway to congregate together in the new land, as often they couldn't understand their countrymen from other areas and they shunned some practices which were different from their own.

    In the Federal Census of 1880 Martin and Mattie were living in Whitestown Township, Vernon County, Wisconsin.  he was listed as a farm laborer, and their first child, Ella, was one year old. According to her birth records she was born November 29, 1878, in Westby, Wisconsin, which was two months prior to her parents' marriage. Hmmm!  But who am I to judge? 

    At census time Mattie would have been pregnant again with my Grandma Hannah, as she was born October 27, 1880.  The next year the young family left Wisconsin and settled in Hanley Falls, Minnesota.  Four more children were born to Martin and Mattie in Minnesota:   Alma, December 26, 1881; Melvin S, known as Smith, 1888; Harriet, 1890; and Rebecca, Nov. 21, 1893.      

     Back to the previous subject, early pregnancies and illegitimate births were not uncommon among Norwegians in Norway and in America in the pioneer days.  In Norway a couple could live together as soon as they were engaged, and many times they would have their first child before the actual marriage to assure that the woman was not barren. (Of course it had to be the woman's fault!)  Children were the lifeblood of a Norwegian family and the more the better, especially since many children died in infancy or childhood due to contagious diseases that we no longer have to worry about.

     In Norway the rural communities were isolated by the landscape and harsh winter weather and the parish priest may get to a village only a few times a year to perform marriages, baptisms and other religous rites.  At any rate, early pregnancies and illegitimate births were not considered a disgrace among the immigrants as they were later during the mid-20th century.

    I was  quite shocked when I first started doing genealogy research and discovered that Martin's father, Christian Larson, and my mother's grandfather, Hans Hanson, were both illegitimate sons at birth and Hans Hanson's mother never married.  I have since learned that it was a common occurence and one reason why many of these children who were not recognized by their fathers emigrated as adults as they were left out of the family inheritance.  A large number of immigrants were the younger children in a family as according to law the eldest son inherited everything, and he was to look after the rest of the family.  As you might expect that didn't usually happen.  Norway has a small percentage of arable land, and as the farms were divided up and became smaller and smaller, it became harder and harder for families to live off the land.

     The third class of immigrants were those who contracted "America Fever", who had heard about the new land of opportunity and wanted a better life for themselves than they had in Norway.  My great-grandfather Elling Enger was the oldest son in the family, but he immigrated to America as a young bachelor of 18 and reportedly tried his luck in the gold fields of California.  It is my speculation that he came for the adventure.

     As an aside, if you are going to research your ancestors in the Federal Census records, don't be thrown off by spelling and age differences.  First, the accuracy depends on the census taker who took down the information in the first place, many of whom could not communicate well with the immgrants due to language barriers, and secondly, it depends on the accuracy of the transcriber who published the information on the web sites. 

     For instance, the 1880 census  for the Larsons lists Martin, 23, Metta, 19, Ella 1, and Anna, mother, 80.  I don't know who this person may  have been.  Martin's mother was Anne, but she wouldn't have been 80 years old when her son was 23 as he was born when she was 26.  The census records are a great genealgocial resource, and you can glean valuable information from them, but some things you just have to take with a grain of salt!

      I am looking forward eagerly to the release of the 1940 Federal Census which will be later this year or early 2012.  For privacy reasons the census records are not published until 70 years after issue, so the latest we have right now in general circulation is 1930.  The 1940 census is the first one where I will be able to find my own listing,  as I was born November 27, 1939!

     That's enough for today:  Next time, more about Christian Larson, who on his death was the oldest resident of Westby, Wisconsin at age 97, and the entrance of the Enger clan into the mix with the marriage of Hannah Larson and Edward Ellingsen Enger in Hanley Falls, Minnesota in 1898.

The Ellsons in Norway and America

    

The Ellson home in Norcross circa 1895

 Ellef Ellson was born in 1842 in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen near Lillehammer, Norway in the parish of Ostre Gausdal (East).  His birth name was Ellef Erlandsen Skogun (farm in the woods).  As I previously explained, the farm name where they were born was  tacked on to Norwegian names, but could change later if they moved.  When Ellef left for America, his name was listed as Ellef Erlandsen Torgersrud as he had been living on the Torgersrud farm with Rena's parents.  James W. Ellson, a descendant, wrote in the summer of 1981, that Ellef had eleven brothers, and two of them emigrated to America besides Ellef.  One took the name of Skaug and settled in Sioux Falls, SD and another brother took the name of Nelson and lived in North Dakota. In Norway Ellef hunted young eagles for bounty by hanging over the edge of a cliff and plucking them out of their nests, while watching out for mama eagle who was very unhappy with the intruders.

     Ronnaug, who became Rena in America, was born August 12, 1841, also in Gausdal, to Hans Oleson Torgersrud and Marte Hansdatter.  Ellef and Rena were married on 27 July 1861.  Rena came from a family of University professors and four of her brother Johan's sons became doctors and his four daughters were nurses. 

     On Easter Sunday 1868 Ellef and Rena set sail on the Hannah Parr for America, leaving with three daughters and arriving with only one, Mathea, having lost two daughters on the voyage.  (See the previous blog on the ship Hannah Parr). When they arrived in America Ellef, Rena, Mathea and Hans Oleson traveled by train from New York to Wisconsin where they settled in the north central part of  Vernon County.  They lived in Wisconsin until 1880 when they moved to Norcross, Minnesota.

    Ellef and Rena lived in Norcross until 1918.  I have heard two different accounts of what happened that year.  One is that Rena hit herself in the head with an axe while chopping wood and it affected her mind so she could no longer take care of herself. Another is  that she had been let off the train a short distance from their house, and while walking home she fell down the embankment and injured her head. 

     Regardless of which story is true, and maybe neither, in the fall of 1918 Ellef and Rena moved to Gary, Minnesota to live with their son Martin and his wife Elfrieda so they could help take care of Rena.  Rena died on December 2, 1918 and Ellef remained in Gary with his son until his death on February 23, 1921.  According to the narrative by Jim Ellson, when Ellef and Rena came to live with Martin he assigned Ellef the job of  feeding the hogs.  Ellef  was very independent minded and would get quite irate with anyone who tried to help him the slightest bit.  He was also a master at building dead-fall rat traps and he never tired of designing and re-designing these contraptions.

The Ellson grave was hidden away in tall grass in the long-neglected private Luchau Cemetery

in Gary Minnesota when I found it in June 2011. Rena and Ellef had left Norcross

to live with their son Martin Ellson in rural Gary in their older years.



     Ellef and Rena are buried in a small private cemetery called "Luchau Cemetery" in Green Meadow Township near Martin's home in Gary.  More about that later when I write about my Gravehopping Trip in northern Minnesota in the summer of 2011.

     In Rena's obituary it states:  "To them (Rena and Ellef) were born 14 children. One died in Norway, two on the voyage to America and five others at Norcross."  Jim Ellson gives the names as follows:  Born in Norway,  Mathea 1862; Even 1863?; Christine 1865; Hanna 1867; and in America, Hanna and Alma, twins 1869; Edwin 1872; Carrie 1873; Otto 1875; Martin 1877; Clara 1878; Thilda 1880; Eva 1885; and Hjelmar 1887.  I am not sure the names and dates are all correct, as on a register of deaths in Gorton Township, Grant County, Minnesota, I also found twin girls, Alma and Clara, daughters of Ellef and Rena Ellson, who died one day apart on Aug. 27 and 28, 1882 of cholera.  They were just two months old, and on the same register was recorded the death of Hans Olson on Sept. 18, 1882 at age 85, no cause of death given. My grandma Hannah tol me that the Ellsons also raised two adopted children that had been orphaned.   

   Rena's obituary attributes her thus:  "There never was a better mother, neighbor or friend and she was highly respected and loved by all who knew her. She lived a good Christian life, was a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, where she attended services when possible. The bible was her source of strength and comfort in time of sorrow." (Gary Graphic, Dec. 1918)

   In Ellef's obituary it states:  "He was a man of fine character, of a quiet disposition, but he made friends with whomever he came in contact.  He went through much hardship during his pioneer days in this state, but he mastered the difficulties and prospered.  He was a man for fine character and a manly man in every way." (Gary Republic, Feb. 25, 1921)

There were two small wooden crosses in the Pioneer Cemetery #23 at Norcross

which made me wonder if they might be the two Ellson babies that died a day apart.

In the same cemetery was Otto, one of the Ellson sons. I did not find Hans Oleson

or any of the other Ellson children.

That's all for now!  Next time:  The Larson clan and the marriage of Mattie Ellson and Martin Larson

The Tragedy and Triumph of the "Hannah Parr"

  

The ship Hannah Parr which brought the Ellson's to America in 1868

  

Since my first blog was centered on my paternal grandmother, Hannah Larson Enger, I will start this session with what I know about her family history.  She was the daughter of Martin Christian Larson and Mathea (Mattie) Ellson who had both emigrated from Norway as children with their parents, and met and married in Vernon County, Wisconsin in 1878.  But for a twist of fate, this marriage may never have happened, in fact I would not be sitting here right now writing this blog--or anywhere else for that matter! You'll find out why later!

     Mathea was born in Ostre Gausdal, Oppland, Norway as the daughter of Ellef Erlandsen (born 1842) in Gausdal) and Ronnaug Hansdatter (born 1841 in Gausdal).  In the 1865 census as recorded in the Norwegian digital archives, Ellef and Ronnaug were living on the farm Torgersrud in Ostre Gausdal with her parents, Hans Olsen Torgersrud (born 1795)  and Marte Hansdatter (born 1790).   Ellef and Ronnaug had two daughters, Mathea Ellefsdatter (born 1862) and Kjerstine Ellefsdatter (born 1865).

     Fast forward to  April of 1868, and this family is found on the manifest of the ship Hannah Parr, leaving Christiania (now Oslo) on April 12, 1868, heading for Quebec with 400 Norwegian passengers.  Passenger numbers 275-280 were listed as follows:  Ellev Erlandsen Torgersrud 26 yrs., Ronnaug Hansdatter, 27 yrs., Matia Ellefsdatter, 6yrs., Christine Ellefsdatter, 3 yrs., Hanna Ellefsdatter, 6 mos. and Hans Olsen Torgersrud, 73 yrs.  From this you can deduce that Hans Olsen's wife had died since the 1865 census and a new baby, Hanna, had been added to the family.

     As a general rule a ship of this size leaving Norway could expect to reach its destination in an average of 51 days, but that was not to be the fate of the Hannah Parr which did not arrive in Quebec until 107 days after departure.  On April 28, a little over two weeks into the journey, there was a storm at sea just off the coast of Limerick, Ireland, and on the second day a huge wave engulfed the stern and carried away the pilothouse and its gear.  That night more sails were blown out so the ship couldn't be steered and the foremast was destroyed. When the wind finally died down on April 30 the crew was able to clear away the wreckage and head for port, and the ship docked at Limerick on May 7, 1868. 

     Lucky for us, the descendants, the Hannah Parr journey is probably the best documented of any of the immigrant voyages prior to 1875.  A great source for information on the journey of the fateful ship is the awesome website norwayheritage.com which chronicles the journeys of many Norwegian immigrant ships, with  information and photos on individual ships, passenger lists and questions and answer forums.

    Not all of  the passengers who left Christiania in April survived the prolonged journey of the Hannah Parr. Sadly, two of the passengers who did not make it to Quebec were Ellef and Ronnaug's two youngest daughters,  Christine and baby Hanna. I have not been able to determine whether the 3 year old, Christine, died on the ship or in port, but family lore relates that baby Hanna died and was buried at sea.  According to what my Grandma Hannah was told by her mother Mathea who was an eye-witness to the events, when the baby died Ronnaug tried to hide for some time as she knew what would happen. When the death was discovered, the body was placed in a crude hand-made wooden casket with several holes drilled in it. The casket was then lowered into the sea where it floated out a ways and then slowly began sinking out of sight.  Mathea said that her mother, Ronnaug (called  Rena in America), had to be held back to keep her from jumping into the ocean with the casket and she nearly went crazy.  It is hard for us to imagine those seemingly cruel tactics today, but as a practical matter, bodies of the deceased could not be kept on the ship for more than a day or two for health and sanitation reasons. 

     I can't help but think, what if my great-grandmother Mathea would have died on the voyage also, or in place of one of the other daughters?  There would have been no Mathea descendants and I wouldn't be sitting her contemplating the alternatives. The whole concept is just too mind-boggling!

     I must digress here to say a few words about Norwegian naming patterns in those days, a constant frustration

for genealogists and descendants to the present day.  First of all, the surname of each person changed with each generation.  For example, Ellef was the son of Erland Christiansen, so his surname became Erland's son,"Erlandsen". Ellef's children, being girls, had the surname of Ellefsdatter. To try to alleviate confusion as to which "Erland's son" was being referred to, they began adding the name of the farm where the father or the child was born (Ellef Erlandsen Torgersrud) but that could change if the father or the child lived on a different farm later. And the wife, of course, did not take her husband's surname when she married so she would have a different surname than her husband or children.  To complicate matters further many of the immigrants changed their names completely or "Americanized" their Norwegian names when they came to America, i.e., The birth name of Grandma Hannah's father was Mathias Christiansen in Norway, and became Martin Larson in America.  Last but not least, if there was a death of a young child or an infant in a Norwegian family, and there were many infant deaths, the next child born of the same gender would most likely be given the same name.  Therefore there may be two or more Peders or  Ellings born to the same parents. A real joy when looking up birth records! 

     Well, that's enough for today. More about the Ellsons and their life in America next time!

Genealogy is an Obsession

Grandma Hannah Larson Enger, circa age 80

I never thought of myself as a person obsessed--or suffering from a form of OCD--that is until I entered the computer age and received my first version of "Family Tree Maker" software for my 50th birthday!

Oh, I had always been interested in family history, and listened eagerly to the tales of the "good old days" from my story-teller Grandma Hannah and her son, my father Bill Enger.   Grandma Hannah was really the only grandparent I ever knew in person, due to the fact that I was born to my parents in their forties, and the fact that most of my ancestors had passed on before I came along or when I was too small to remember them.  My brothers and sister were all married and out of  house before I was 7 years old which turned me into an only child at home with my parents, and Grandma lived just a few blocks from us.  She was my primary babysitter when my parents were otherwise occupied or out of town.  Her favorite pastime was telling stories, and my favorite pastime was listening to stories, so we made a good team.

Grandma and me, circa 1944

Grandma Hannah and her daughter Hazel Enger Doeden making lefse, circa 1970

Hannah Larson was born in 1880 in rural Vernon County, Wisconsin to Norwegian immigrant parents.  She married her husband, Edvard Ellingsen Enger, in 1898 and my father, William D. Enger, was born a year later.  Ed Enger died in 1935 of cancer leaving Hannah a widow at the age of 55.  She remained single for the remainder of her life and she died peacefully in her sleep in 1979 on her 99th birthday.

Back to genealogy,  I thought I knew a lot about my family history until I started filling in the blanks on my Family Tree Maker.  Lo and behold, I could go back two or three generations with the names of my ancestors but I soon found there were a lot of blank spaces that I was at a loss to fill in.  What was her birth name? Where was he born?  And if I was able to come up with some of the answers through old photo books and asking older relatives, there was another generation back to find out about, and then another one after them.

4 Generations June 1957, me, age 17, my daughter Royalee Gries, age 6 months,

my father Bill Enger, 57, and Grandma Hannah Enger age 77, in Worthington, Minnesota

Grandma Hannah Enger with her children,

Arthur, Hazel, William, Vivian and Earl, circa 1970

So for the past 20 years I have been diligently seeking to find as much as I can about my past generations, and now it is my obsession.  Since then I have visited Norway twice and found some of the farms where my ancestors were born.  When my mother died in 1976 she knew only that her mother was born in Denmark and her father was born in Iowa to Norwegian immigrant parents.  In 2010 I was able to travel to Voss, Norway and  find the farms where her grandparents were born.  I so wish I could tell her about it!

Dianne Enger Snell in Voss bunad, purchased in Voss, Norway in 2010

I hope to use this blog in the future to post my family history and photos, and share the information that I have learned.  It's hard to know where to start, but I will give it a shot!  I would love to hear from anyone who is interested in researching their families, or those who may be related in some way.