My gg-grandfather Lorenzo Dow Weinhart was mayor of Ankeny, Iowa twice. He was first elected in 1910 and then a second time in 1920. Not only was he a mayor but at one time or another he was Justice of the Peace, Constable, and Superintendent of road work for Crocker Township. As mayor one of the projects he was most satisfied with was the completion of the first paved road from Ankeny to Des Moines in 1921.  ¶ 9:36 AM 0 comments

 
My ggg-grandparents John S. and Mary B.C. Young lived their final forty plus years in Polk County, Iowa. They first lived on a farm for about twenty years and for the rest of time they lived in Mitchellville. The google map shows where I believe their farm was located at and where abouts in Mitchellville I believed they lived. They are both buried in the Mitchellville cemetery along with two grandsons and their youngest daughter Etta Young Case.  ¶ 7:58 AM 0 comments

 
My ggg-grandparents John S. and Mary B.C. Young were cousins. Their fathers were brothers. John and Mary's g-grandfather Hercules Young came to the United States around 1720 from Scotland along with several brothers and sisters. It is noted in Quaker records that they came from Craigforth/Craigforthie Scotland. The only Craigforthie that I can locate in Scotland is near Aberdeen. The picture is of the present Craigforthie farm in Scotland.  ¶ 6:51 PM 0 comments

 
The picture is of Ole Gunhus another brother of my g-grandfather Erick Gunhus. Ole settled in Kenyon Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota in 1856. This was two years after Erick had settled in Richland Township, Rice County, Minnesota in 1854. Even though they lived in different counties they lived within a quarter to half mile of each other. Another close neighbor to Ole was my other g-grandfather Sjur Markusson. Sjur and his brother Lars both settled in Kenyon Township also in 1856. It is possible that Ole, Sjur, and Lars knew each other prior to them settling in Minnesota.  ¶ 8:13 AM 0 comments

 
Of all my Norwegian ancestors that immigrated to the United States, only two (as far as I know) went back to Norway for either visiting or taking care of business. The two are Guri Lien (gg-grandmother) and Erick Gunhus (g-grandfather who married Guri's oldest daughter Astrid). In 1875 Guri along, with her oldest son, went back to the Lien farm to either officially divorce her husband Asle who was still living there or to conduct some important business since she was still legally married to Asle. In 1892 Erick Gunhus traveled to Norway evidently just for a visit. Erick, along with his mother, were my first Norwegian ancestors to arrive in the United States in 1849. The picture is of part of the passenger list for the ship S.S. Island that Erick returned to the United States on.  ¶ 8:43 AM 0 comments

 
All my Norwegians ancestors that came to Amercia either entered through New York City or Quebec in Canada. Prior to 1853 most of the Norwegians entered through New York but between 1854 and the mid-1870's the vast majority of Norwegian immigrants landed at Quebec. I believe I read somewhere that it was cheaper to go to Quebec then New York because the returning ships from Quebec could carry timber from Canada back to Norway where they could sell it and makeup for the cheaper fares. The following is a list of my Norwegian ancestors that immigrated, the year that they immigrated, and where they landed at. The picture is showing a part of a passenger list that has my gg-grandfathers name, Fredrick Ellingson, on it along with the year and month he immigrated and the ship's name.

• Erick Gunhus - 1849 - New York
• Sjur Markusson - 1854 - New York
• Christen Bendixson (Benson) and family - 1856 - Quebec
• Astrid Lien and family - 1861 - Quebec
• Fredrick Ellingson - 1876 - New York
• Lars Haselhaugen and family - 1877 - New York
• Bertha Ellingson - 1878 - New York
• Nub and Bertha Fredrickson and son - 1879 - New York
• Asle Lien - 1882 - New York

  ¶ 9:58 AM 0 comments

 
Happenstance happens to everyone and in many cases it may be enough to completely change a person's future. It happened to my gg-grandmother Guri Lien and her children. They immigrated to the United States in 1861. They were going to Nicollette County, Minnesota where a large number of Norwegians from the Hallingdal region of Norway were located. They might even had relatives or ex-neighbors already living there. As chance would have it a major Indian uprising took place in the Nicollette region forcing mass evacuation of settlers and refugees from the area. Guri and her children were forced back towards the east to Goodhue County where they took up residence. In the end all worked out fine as all of Guri's daughters married well-to-do farmers in that area and Guri was able to live most of her remaining life with her daughters and their families. The picture was taken of refugees exiting the Indian uprising. I doubt it but it is possible that Guri and/or her daughters might be in this picture.  ¶ 1:33 PM 0 comments

 
Moses Parker is not a blood ancestor. He married Ruth Ann Young, the sister to my ggg-grandfather John S. Young. They were married in Tipton County, Indiana in 1854. It appears that Moses and Ruth Ann lived with or within close proximity to John and his family from the time Moses and Ruth Ann married in Tipton County till the time he died in Polk County, Iowa in 1865. He died of wounds suffered in the Civil War or disease that he picked up during the war. One of my most important unanswered questions is what happened to Ruth Ann after 1870. In the 1870 census she is living with two children, a brother and sister, who were born in New York. My guess is that they were adopted except they had a different last name from Ruth Ann. In the picture is a short biography about Moses and it mentions that when he left for war he had children.  ¶ 9:15 AM 0 comments

 
Gool G. Gunhus is a younger brother to my gg-grandfather Erick G. Gunhus. When the family came to the United States they first resided in Wisconsin. Whereas Erick and two of his brothers ended up in Rice County, Minnesota, Gool remained in Wisconsin. According to Gool's county biography he first lived in Rock County, Wisconsin. This agrees with census records showing that his step-father and younger siblings were also living in Rock County in 1850. I have been unable to find where Erick Gunhus was during the 1850 census. Until I find sometype of confirmation I will have to assume that he was living in Rock County also. Erick's and Gool's mother is not listed in the 1850 census. It is safe to assume that she died sometime between July 1849 when records show her and her family arriving in New York and August 1850 when the census was completed for them.  ¶ 8:51 AM 0 comments

 
Ragnhild Haselhaugen is one of my gg-grandmothers. She was born in Norway and died in Wisconsin in 1906. Hers is the oldest death certificate that I have. The picture shows what it looks like. The primary reason Ragnhild died was inanition which is defined as severe weakness and wasting that occurs from the lack of food, or a defect in assimilation. The seconday reason is cholera morbus which is defined as acute gastroenteritis occurring in summer and autumn and marked by severe cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. The term cholera morbus is no longer in scientific use. She had been sick for three weeks. Death certificates besides giving the reason or reason for death also contain information that might not be found elsewhere. For example I found that her and her husband had changed their last name to Gilbertson instead of using their Norwegian Name Gudbrandson. Her birthday was on Christmas Day. Coincidently her daughter, my gg-grandmother, was born on a Christmas Eve.  ¶ 10:56 AM 0 comments

 
My gg-grandfather Sjur Markusson Dyrdal and his brother Lars came to the United States in 1854. No other brothers or sisters, to the best of my knowledge, made the trip. But several neices, nephews, and at least one sister-in-law immigrated later on. In 1871 Markus Olson Bjordal, the son of Sjur's brother Ole and Niels Anderson Dyrdal, the son of Sjur's brother Anders, made the journey to Rice County, Minnesota. In 1873 another son of Ander's, Berge, came over to join his brother. In 1877 and 1878 the rest of Ole's children and his widowed wife made the trip. Ole had died in 1871. The picture is an emmigration record showing Niels and Ole leaving Norway in 1871.  ¶ 10:49 AM 0 comments

 
Beulah Fish (a ggg-grandmother) was married four times. Her four husbands were Joseph Weinhart, Sylvanus Knight, James Crabtree, and Washington Bennett. She outlived all of them. It is not only the number of marriages that stand out but how quickly she remarried in a couple of them. After her first husband died of pneumonia she remarried within six months. After her second husband died she remarried within one month. It would be four years before she would remarry for the last time. She was 75 years old in 1908 when she remarried for the fourth time. It appears sometype of rift took place between her and her fourth husband and they split sometime after 1910. When each died they were living in separate towns and in the obituary of each the other was not mentioned as husband or wife though in her death announcement she was mentioned as the widow of Washington Bennett.  ¶ 8:35 AM 0 comments