O Canada! Like a Close Cousin

As an American descended from Norwegian and Celtic ancestors, I can't help but feel a close affiliation with, and longing for, certain other countries like Norway, Scotland, and Ireland.  Though I personally identify more with my mother's Norwegian family heritage, the sound of bagpipes combined with a flash of tartan never fails to stir my soul.  But, also vying for position near the top of the list is a country a little closer to home---a distance of only 75 miles to the border, in fact:

 Canada

My mother has always maintained that she is 100% Norwegian-American, but admits she might have just enough Swedish genes to lay claim to the area taken up by one little toe.  Perhaps it is the same with me and my various links to Canada, but in this case, the claim is also made on emotional territory.

My adopted father was a native Canadian.  Dad was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to an ex-patriot American father and a Scottish-born mother.  His mother died when he was five years old, and his father died a few years after that, so he spent the majority of his childhood in a Vancouver orphanage and foster homes.  When he became an American citizen in the mid-1940s, Dad left behind the graves of his parents and three siblings in Vancouver.  He moved to California where his sister lived, but a second sister had been adopted out to an unknown Vancouver family soon after her birth.  Happily, Dad was able to make contact with the unknown sibling a few years before his death.  In 1973, he made a trip back to Vancouver to meet his little sister for the first time, and also visited some beloved family friends and locations important to him as a child in Canada.

Since I am Norwegian-American on my mother's side, then I surely also have Viking blood ("Oh, so that's where all the tenacity comes from," I can hear some smirking!).  Vikings arrived on the shores of Newfoundland (Canada), over 1,000 years ago, looking for new trade goods.  They left the ruins of their Icelandic-style dwellings to be discovered centuries later.  You can read more about the first European discovery of North America on the Smithsonian Institutes's Natural History Museum website:  Vikings, the North Atlantic Saga.  Hmmm... if the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil, then why is Columbus Day (October 12) more prominently celebrated than Leif Erikson Day (October 9)?  Perhaps it is some consolation to Scandinavian Americans that Leif Erikson Day comes before Columbus Day on the calendar.

Canada also served as the point of arrival in North America for the majority of my more recent Norwegian ancestors.  During the 1850s and 1860s, many immigrants coming to America, especially from Ireland and Norway, arrived on sailing ships at a detention station at Grosse Île, an island near Quebec.  From there, my great great grandparents and their families made their way by land to locations within the United States.  You can access surviving records online from the quarantine station at the Library and Archives Canada site for Immigrants from Grosse Île.

If my Norwegian ancestors had not formed prior plans to meet up with friends or relatives in Wisconsin and Minnesota, they might have been tempted by the wild beauty of Canada.  Some men in the family later revisited the idea of settlement there.  A few years ago, I connected with an entire branch of the Winje family that was descended from Edward Winje, who left Minnesota for farming in the open fields of Saskatchewan and later moved with his son to British Columbia.  I have many Canadian cousins from that Winje line, and I know the British Columbia residents are proud, and rightfully so, of their beautiful province.

For twenty years, my husband and I regularly spent Week 50 at a timeshare in Whistler, British Columbia.  The objective was to enjoy the unparalleled scenery from the ski slopes of Whistler/Blackcomb, as well as the ambiance of its international village.  We could not help but notice the level-headed friendliness of Canadians who crossed our paths.  We also watched their government in action and marveled at how it did not waste any time as far as preparing for the 2010 Olympics was concerned.  Stretching from North Vancouver to Whistler, B.C. is the stunning ribbon of a coastal road romantically named the Sea to Sky Highway.  It was evident that the Highway 99 corridor, often narrow and sometimes treacherous, needed to be widened in some areas to safely accommodate the increased traffic expected for the Winter Olympics. The year after the contract for the 2010 Olympics was secured, we were surprised to see the roadside blasting had already begun, with 9 years left to go before the deadline!  Now, that is being proactive, and the sight won my respect for the Canadian powers-that-be for their ability to expedite the inevitable infrastructure repair in such a manner.  No one was going to catch the Canadians asleep at the wheel when the world came to visit, no sir!  

I'm not the only one who has a warm and fuzzy feeling for our hefty and well-mannered neighbor to the north.  It turns out that Canada is at the top of the international popularity list for the third year in a row.  In June, Forbes published its annual list:  The World's Most Reputable Countries, 2013.  Thousands of consumers from G8 countries were asked to rate nations based on four things:  overall reputation, good feelings about the country, whether it was admired and respected, and last but not least, trustworthiness.  I'm happy to say that Norway (this is a Norwegian genealogy blog, after all) also made the top section of the list, coming in at #5 after Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia.  A reality check is that the United States currently rates #22.  Come on, America... we can do better than that!  Let's roll up our sleeves and get some good old team spirit in action.  A little spit and polish never hurts, either.  We are not a nation of quitters!  Okay, enough cheer leading.

The United States will always be my home, but Canada will always have a little piece of my heart. In addition to the personal reasons I have already described, Canada has value because although it is the second biggest country in the world, it has less population than the top 30 of countries worldwide, therefore, it has a lot of wide open space.  Canada also has more coastline than any other country, plus a diverse geography with many mountains, lakes, and waterways that brings tourists from near and far.   Based on the evidence, the attraction is understandable, eh?

Passport Applications: Eyes Into the Past

I paid another visit to Ancestry.com recently to "re-search" some individuals, and ended up striking gold. Since the last time I went hunting there, an entry had been made for Eric L. Winje under the "U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925" category. The family history has already been written and has gone to press, but it is never too late to satisfy one's curiosity, plus, the belated information can always be saved for another project... or, just for a rainy day.

Eric Larsen Winje was my great great grandmother's (Thibertine "Bertina" Johnson Winje's) second husband; the couple had eight children together between 1872-1885. It was shortly after this portrait sitting that Winje made a trip back to Norway to visit his home town of Vinjeoera in Hemne.

The Eric L. Winje family in Duluth, Minnesota, 1888. Left to right: Edward (in front), Louis, Eric, Regina, Emma, and Bertina (Eric's wife). This photograph was likely taken just after the deaths of the two youngest children, Hattie and Annie. Lena, another child, is not present in the family portrait and may have been ill at the time.

Eric and Bertina Winje had lost an infant daughter (Emma M.) to diphtheria on the Chippewa prairie in 1878, followed by their two youngest and red-headed daughters, Hattie Christine and Annie Jorgene, who also succumbed to the ravages of the disease during the spring of 1888. In 1893, their eldest son, Louis Peter, was drowned during a shipwreck in Duluth Harbor to which, tragically, his father was a witness. Within a couple of years after his son's death, Eric Winje decided that he needed a vacation far and away from the familiar cityscape of Duluth, Minnesota, where he worked as an attorney. Perhaps a visit to the old country was just what he needed to overcome some of his grief and put a sense of balance back into his life again.

Initially, I did not know exactly when Eric Winje made the trip back to Norway, and if his wife or any of the children accompanied him. There was mention of the trip made by Markus Wessel in an article about Winje, his parents and brother, and their emigration to the United States from Vinjeoera, Soer-Troendelag: "En Utvandrerfamilie fra VinjeØra i 1869." I found the answers to these questions, and more, within the passport application. According to the document, which was submitted on April 10, 1885, Winje declined to include his wife or any of his children in the application (this is the part that is scratched out following his name, near the top of the document).


Early passport applications contain a wealth of information, including birth statistics, date of emigration, name of sailing vessel, length of residence within the U.S., and date of naturalization, as well as the occupation, address, and signature of the individual.

From the document, I am able to surmise that Winje made his visit back to Hemne, Soer Troendelag, Norway during the summer of 1895, but I can also visualize him more clearly as a 44 year-old man of 5'11" in height, with brown hair, an "ordinary" nose, gray eyes, and a retreating forehead--also possessing a smallish mouth he preferred to keep covered by a full beard, and a mostly light complexion that was colored by ruddy or flushed cheeks.

Eric L. Winje: I'm glad to know you better, and it is all because you decided to take that vacation in Norway, to see old friends and recuperate from difficult trials in the new world. I hope it helped...

A Tribute to Miss Winje

Lena Marie Winje, 1897

Lena Marie Winje was a child of the Minnesota prairie, born on her parents' homestead in Granite Falls Township, Chippewa County on January 22, 1877. She is pictured here in 1897 as a high school graduate.

The 1870s were an exceptionally difficult decade for farmers in the rural Midwest, rife with blizzards, drought, and multiple locust infestations. Welcoming a new mouth to feed into a family was a joyful occasion, but also an uncertain burden. Lena's Norwegian-born father, Eric Larsen Winje, read for the law while serving as the Chippewa County Clerk from 1882-1886. After passing the bar exam, he accepted a position as an attorney in Duluth, and the family moved across the state to the shores of Lake Superior.

Norwegian-American girls growing up in the late 19th century had few expectations. Their immigrant parents worked hard to provide opportunity for their children, but it was the male children who most often benefited. The cards were stacked against females: it was expected that they would be caretakers, not just for their husbands and children, but also for aging parents. If working as single young women, they were expected to leave their jobs once they married. That is why Lena Marie Winje's career, which progressed from teacher's aid in high school, to rural one-room schoolhouse teacher, to Superintendent of Becker County Schools, warrants some attention. Her career was certainly unique within my ancestral family of immigrant farmers.

Lena is remembered as a sweet-faced woman of gentle character, whose kind eyes quickly won over children and adults alike. She was exceptionally close to her next younger sister, Emma Thalette Winje; neither of the sisters ever married. In Lena's case, it could have been that she preferred to continue supporting her aging parents by keeping her career. It is also possible that she never married because she wished to avoid the risk of having children. The Winje family had a serious run-in with diphtheria in 1888 after their move to Duluth, and the two youngest children died. Lena had a weakened heart as an adult--a condition known to be a frequent side-effect for many who survived a case of diphtheria.


Duluth Central High School, from an old postcard.


In Duluth, Lena attended an urban high school, Duluth Central, where she received some training as a teaching assistant and graduated in 1897. She then moved with her family to Sacred Heart in Renville County, where they lived for eight years, followed by another move to Detroit Lakes, Becker County, in 1908.




By 1915, there were 126 rural schools in Becker County, and Lena Winje apparently taught at several of them. Teaching in the early twentieth century was challenging, but quite different from the modern experience. Lena not only had to keep a lesson plan book for each day, but also had to arrive early and build a fire to warm the building, as well as do the janitor work before and after class. In a one-room schoolhouse there were pupils of many different grades and skill levels, and the teacher was required to prepare seat work for each of them. It wasn’t until about 1940 that pre-planned workbooks became available. Also, with the school as a focal point of the community, Lena spent many hours planning and arranging help for the usual number of programs, carnivals, and basket socials that pupils, parents, and neighbors so enjoyed. [1]

Lena appreciated the challenge and rewards of teaching, and continued in the field for close to forty years. A capable and well-respected teacher, by 1920 she had served as Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the Detroit Lakes School District, and in 1926, ran for the position of Superintendent of county schools. [2]

When the filing period for county offices closed on June 1, 1926, five candidates vied for the two nominations allowed for Superintendent of Becker County Schools. Results from the primary election showed that Lena earned the most votes of any of the five candidates, while Anna G. Rogstad, the incumbent, had the second highest votes. The superintendent race on the 2nd of November was between Winje and Rogstad, neither of which claimed any party designation. Rogstad earned 2204 votes, but Lena Winje won the election easily with 3954 votes. She took the oath of office on January 3, 1927, and served as Superintendent from January 1, 1927 to January 1. 1935, earning a salary of about $1,900 annually. That the election could have been won so easily over the incumbent indicates that either Rogstad was not doing an adequate job after years in office, or perhaps it speaks to Lena Winje’s popularity as a teacher and community member. [3]

Lindbergh! Oh what a plucky lad was he,

Lindbergh! His name will live in history.
Over the water, he flew all alone.
Laughing at fear, and at dangers unknown,
Others may take this trip across the sea
Upon some future day,
But take your hats off to plucky, lucky Lindbergh,
The eagle of the U.S.A.

Campaign ad displayed in Detroit News Tribune, October 28, 1926, p.5.

The office of Superintendent was not for anyone who expected to sit and do desk work all day long. Lena had to attend many special events, including those away from home. In March 1927, she spent a couple of days at the State Teachers College at Moorehead, Minnesota in order to observe a rural school demonstration. She was also required to make numerous visits to rural schools in all types of weather, suffering inhospitable driving conditions, especially through the winter season on muddy, ungraded rural roads. She probably carried a few cloths in her car so she could wipe her shoes before making an inconspicuous entrance into each classroom. [4]

With a half-year's experience gained, Lena Winje began the first grueling round of visits to one rural school after another in the autumn of 1927. The local newspaper tracked her visits in monthly school reports drawn up by local rural teachers. Getting a start first thing in September, she visited Districts numbered 40, 52, and 90. The teacher at District No. 90, Gustave H. Backmann, penned a glowing report of his class’s interaction with Miss Winje:

 

Miss Lena Winje, County Superintendent of Schools, visited our school Monday, September 26th. She expressed herself as being well pleased with the work and conditions. She gave a splendid talk to the pupils on the purpose of their presence at school, and the final rewards for their honest efforts. We responded with two flag salutes and a record on the Victrola, entitled ‘Plucky Lindbergh,’ which she enjoyed. [5]

Sources:
Sheet music image: Wikipedia

[1] Lake Park Historical Society. People’s History of Becker County, Minnesota. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1976, p.123.[2] Lena Winje as Assistant Superintendent of Schools: 1920 U.S. Census for Detroit City, Becker County, Minnesota, ED 9.
[3] Dates of Lena Winje’s service as Superintendent of Becker County Schools is from People’s History of Becker County, Minnesota, p.358. Primary election information obtained from the Duluth News Tribune, 3 June 1926, p.1, col.1, and 24 June 1926, p.1, col.7. Final election results published in Detroit Lakes Tribune [change of name], 11 November 1926, p.7. Superintendent salary is from Detroit Lakes Tribune, 6 January 1927, p.1, col.7.

[4] Rural school demonstration at Moorehead: Detroit Lakes Tribune, 17 March 1927, p.5, col.4.
[5] Lena Winje visits with Becker County School Districts No. 40, 52 and 90: Detroit Lakes Tribune, 6 October 1927, p.5 & 7.

Take Me to the Fair

A few years ago, a relative gave me access to a photograph album of cabinet cards belonging to my great grandparents, Ole M. and Malla Johnson. Most of the images inside were collected during the 1880s-1890s, and among the many portraits of people was the photograph of a ship, pictured below. Curious, I scanned the image, enlarged it, and was able to read the name Christopher Columbus on the bow.

The Christopher Columbus was the only passenger steamer of 43 whaleback-type ships developed in Duluth for the World’s Fair Steamship Company. It ran fair-goers between Milwaukee and the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and judging by the regalia on the ship, this photograph was taken in May 1893 as the steamship left Duluth Harbor on its initial run.

From 1887 until 1898, Ole M. Johnson's mother, Bertina, lived in Duluth, Minnesota along with her second husband, Eric Larsen Winje, and their children. It was the Winje family took this rare shot of the only fair-going whaleback passenger ship in 1893.

Photograph from the Johnson/Winje Family Collections

The exciting Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago in May 1893. It was the cultural event of its time, ushering in the carnival concept to the world and introducing many commercial food products that are still popular today, including hamburgers and Cracker Jack. The Exposition marked the United States' coming of age as a political and industrial power. To house the World's Fair, the city of Chicago built the "White City"--a larger and more international venue than for any previous fair. [1]

Photo source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online


Eric L. Winje had become a municipal court judge by 1893 and could easily have afforded to take his family to the Exposition. His peers in the law profession most likely encouraged each other to attend the event of a lifetime, so taking all things into account, it is almost inconceivable that the Winjes did not take the opportunity to experience something so unique and enlightening.

When my Norwegian-American ancestors attended the Fair, they surely visited the Norwegian Exhibit, which displayed panoramas of mountain scenery and representations of peasant cottages and costumes of their homeland. Also of interest would have been the replica of the first discovered Viking war vessel unearthed from a burial mound in Norway a few years earlier, in 1880. The original Gokstad Viking ship was built in around 890. It was the first tangible evidence that Vikings had built ships capable of traveling long distances, especially to the New World.

Photo source: The Illuminated Lantern

A Norwegian named Magnus Andersen built an exact copy of the artifact and sailed it across the Atlantic to display at the World’s Fair, where it arrived on 12 July 1893. The ship was christened the Raven, but quickly came to be known simply a the Viking. Part of the challenge of the voyage was to show the seaworthiness of the Viking ship design, but, there was also controversy over the presence of the replica at the Columbian Exposition, which was meant to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The idea that the Viking, Leif Eriksen, had reached North America first was not widely accepted as early as 1893. [2]

Where were your ancestors in 1893? Did they visit, or were they likely to have visited, the Columbian Exposition in Chicago? What type of photographs or postcards did they save as mementos? What sights, smells, sounds would they have experienced? What World's Fair attractions would they have made a point to see, based on their cultural interests?

The discovery of the 1893 Christopher Columbus photograph in my great grandparents album convinced me that even though an image might seem out of context in a collection, it always warrants careful inspection. You never know what treasures might be revealed about the interests and activities of your ancestors.

[1] Shaw, Marion. World’s Fair Notes: A Woman Journalist Views Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition (St. Paul, Minnesota: Pogo Press, Inc., 1992), 40.

[2] Ǻkesson, Per, “The Viking,” Nordic Underwater Archaeology,
http://www.abc.se/~m10354/bld/viking.htm (accessed 12 November 2005).

For the Love of Twain

Mark Twain, American Humorist.
Illustration from Puck Magazine, 16 Dec 1885.

In 1895, Eric Larsen Winje, the second husband of my great-great-grandmother, Thibertine, was working as a municipal court judge in Duluth, Minnesota. Winje emigrated from Hemne, Soer-Troendelag, Norway at the age of 18. He loved to read, and during his early adulthood in Chippewa County he studied for the Minnesota bar exam while serving as County Clerk (1882-1886). He admitted that during non-work hours, he read as he sat at home and "rocked the babies" that the stork kept delivering to him and his wife.

After moving to Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior in 1887, Eric and his wife "Bertina" adapted to the city after their years as immigrant homesteaders. In the 1880s-1890s, city life proved to be just as challenging and unpredictable as rural life, but in different ways. The couple lost several children while living in Duluth: their two youngest, Hattie and Annie, were lost to diphtheria within several days of each other in 1888, and in 1893 their eldest son, Louis, drowned in a boating accident.

In the summer of 1895, the family was still recovering from their devastating losses when a welcome diversion came to town. The famous American author, Mark Twain (1835-1910), visited Duluth during a tour of multiple locations in the States. It is almost certain that Eric Winje bought himself a ticket and attended with his wife, or with a friend from the law profession.

Twain was scheduled to speak at the First Methodist Church on the evening of July 23rd. The Duluth lecture was part of a 12-month worldwide speaking tour that began a few days earlier, on July 14. The well-known humorist arrived in Duluth over an hour late. The deacon stood at the steamship dock and watched for the ship and the delinquent lecturer, as the audience waited back at the church. The church was overcrowded, and attendees struggled to keep their composure while seated together tightly on the hard pews. Gentlemen stole frequent glances at their pocket watches, while ladies fanned themselves with handkerchiefs in the growing heat.

When the ship finally arrived and Twain disembarked, a horse-drawn hack transported him to his speaking engagement as quickly as possible. He finally stepped on the stage at 9:10 p.m. and began entertaining the crowd with a slow drawl that gave everyone the idea that nothing on earth could make him talk any faster. Twain proceeded to expound on stories from his books: Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, and Roughing It. [1][2]

Many years later, in 1930, Eric and Bertina Winje's daughter, Lena Winje, wrote about a collection of Mark Twain books in her father’s possession at the time of his death. Since Eric Winje obviously enjoyed reading Twain, it would seem likely that he attended the writer’s lecture. Winje must have sat patiently waiting with hundreds of others on that July evening in Duluth, growing warmer and more uncomfortable by the minute in the over-crowded quarters.

Mark Twain went on tour in 1895 to earn money to pay off debts incurred by his publishing company, which failed in part because of the financial panic of 1893. He said, “I cannot hope to build up another fortune now ... . I am getting too old for that. I shall be more than satisfied if within the next five years I can pay off my creditors.” The tour was entirely successful, and Twain was able to pay off all of his debts by 1898.[3]

It is not surprising that Scandinavian-Americans, like Eric Winje, held Mark Twain in high esteem, since they delighted in his self-effacing humor. An example of that humor was Twain's attitude toward Halley's comet being visible at the time of his birth, which made his arrival an even more momentus occasion among his reading public. When discussing the auspicious timing, Twain said, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it... The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'" [4]



[1] Twain’s visit to Duluth described in: “Mark Twain,” The Duluth Evening Herald, 23 July 1895, and “Mark an Hour Late,” The Duluth News Tribune, 23 July 1895.
[2] [3] Twain's 1895 tour specifics, speech and quotes: HistoryLink
[4] Twain quote: About.com

With a Name Like "Johnson"

The latest Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene calls for stories about living relative connections. All of us know how valuable family networking can be to obtain additional data, stories, and photographs to supplement our research, but also to satisfy our intense curiosity, which we all have or we wouldn't be doing this, now would we?

Most of my discoveries came a few short years ago, when I began to seek out and document the history of my mother's side of the family: the Johnsons. That journey eventually took me to nearly all points of the compass.


With a name like "Johnson" - where does one begin?


I wrote my first letter of inquiry to an older cousin who revealed my great grandfather's Norwegian surname, which was a start. But, in itself, the info did not lead anywhere without also learning to use the Norwegian census, Digitalarkivet, and other genealogical databases, including immigration records.

My mother was raised by her grandparents, and I learned that her grandfather, Ole Martin Johnson (my great grandfather) also had a full sister and eight half-siblings that I hadn't been aware of. The central figure in this family was, of course, the mother of all of them: Thibertine (Bertina) Johnson Winje.


What's In a Name?


The thing to remember about Norwegian ancestors is that a surname can be deceptive. One really needs to get a handle on the location of origin, right down to the farm. Often, this means finding church or immigration records first. If the location of origin is not certain, then research can literally run in circles. Fortunately, early Norwegians also identified themselves by their farm name, which was often tacked on to a patronymic surname. In the case of Ole Johnson's mother, her maiden name was Thibertine Olsdatter Lassemo. "Olsdatter" meant that she was the daughter of a man who also went by the name of Ole, and "Lassemo" referred to the farm in Grong, Nord Trondelag where she lived.

I am thinking of one cousin (who shall remain anonymous) who took his wife on a long awaited vacation to Norway, only to spend a large amount of time walking through cemeteries near the old homelands searching for ancestors by hunting down "Johnson" or "Larson" surnames among the higgledy-piggledy rows of worn tombstones. Ack! If only he had known back then...

Patronymic naming practices make it impossible to go by surname alone, or what you get is a collection of hundreds of unrelated "John's son," or "Lars' son." Fortunately, Cousin stopped his cemetery cavorting after his long-suffering wife threatened divorce and exclaimed, "I won't go back to Norway!" He came away from the trip with his marriage still intact, and an intimate impression of lovely old Norwegian cemeteries, especially, how tiny the plots all seemed...

For more detailed information on navigating the maize of Norwegian surnames, see Norwegian Naming Practices.



The Immediate Family of Thibertine Johnson Winje

............................................................................................................

Baard Johnson & Thibertine Olsdatter Lassemo
married 1860, Grong Parish, Nord Trondelag, Norway

Two offspring:

Ole Martin Baardsen, born 1860, Grong, Nord Trondelag, Norway
(ten children) [1]

Ellen Julie (Julia) Baardsdatter, born 1862, Grong, Nord Trondelag, Norway
(seven children) [2]

............................................................................................................

Eric Larsen Winje & Thibertine Olsdatter Johnson
married 1874, Chippewa County, Minnesota, USA

Eight Offspring:

Berthe Regine (Regina) Winje (Strand), born 1873, Chippewa CO, MN
(five surviving children)

Louis Peter Winje, born 1874, Chippewa CO, MN
(no children)

Lena Marie Winje, born 1876, Chippewa CO, MN
(no children)

Emma M. Winje, born 1877, Chippewa CO, MN
(died as an infant: 1877 or 1878)

Emma Thalette Winje, born 1879, Chippewa CO, MN
(no children)

Edward Theodore Winje, born 1881, Chippewa CO, MN
(two children)

Hattie Christine Winje, born 1883, Chippewa CO, MN
(died 1888, in Duluth, MN)

Annie Jorgene Winje, born 1885, Chippewa CO, MN
(died 1888, in Duluth, MN


In the quest for information about my great grandfather's family, I found that his mother, Thibertine Johnson, re-married and bore eight children with her second husband, Eric Winje. Five of the Winje children preceeded their parents in death, and out of eight, only two had children of their own. I knew there had to be Winje descendants out there, "somewhere in Canada." The goal was to find descendants of Edward Theodore Winje, who emigrated to Saskatchewan in the 1890s by way of North Dakota, and descendants of Regina Winje Strand, who were likely still in Minnesota.

Tracking down the Winje branch of the family involved mostly luck. I discovered an online death index for British Columbia, so I started there. Fortunately, the name "Winje" is somewhat unique, and B.C. turned out to be the correct province--what are the odds of that? I located Edward Theodore Winje, who had died in Nelson, B.C., and an Eric Winje (a namesake of Edward's father), who lived nearby in Slocan, according to the telephone directory. I took a chance and wrote a letter, and the hunch turned out to be correct.

After decades of no communication, the Winjes and the Johnsons were reunited. A cousin and I visited the Winjes for the first time in 2004: Karna Franche, Lori Moore, Abbie Winje, and their spouses (see We'll Miss You, Karna, my blog posting for 9/25/07). Without that Winje family connection, I would not have a third of the information I do for the family history book I am about to publish.

I tracked down the Strand branch of the Winje family by pretty much the same method: 1) gather as much information about names, dates, and places from known cousins, 2) check the death indexes and white pages for potential relatives in locations of interest, and 3) narrow down the choices and take a chance and write a letter or call. Doing this put me into contact with a grandson of Regina Winje Strand.


Don't Forget Connections With Old Family Friends


Perhaps my most important connection in regards to gathering historical documents was not made through contacting unknown living relatives, but with the descendants of friends of the Winje ancestors. According to the Winjes in British Columbia, the first family immigrant, Lars Eriksen Winje, came from a village with a similar name in Sor Trondelag, Norway. In Norwegian, the letter "w" is somewhat interchangeable with "v." The Winjes emigrated from Vinjeora, Hemne, Sor Trondelag.

I discovered that someone had put together a website in order to gather genealogical data for the area surrounding Hemne. Miraculously, the website contained an article written about the Winjes' emigration to America from Vinjeora in 1869: EN UTVANDRERFAMILIE FRA VINJEØRA i 1869.

But... it was in Norwegian, and I'd had only one beginning class in the language. What to do?

I e-mailed the webmaster for Hemneslekt.net and asked if he had any information on the author of the article, Markus Wessel. Fortunately, the webmaster was fluent in English and put me in contact with Wessel's daughter, since Wessel himself was no longer living. Astri was kind enough to e-mail and inform me that her family still had some original letters mailed by the Winjes, dating as early as 1869. Oh, my goodness! Primary documents are akin to buried treasure, and I was so excited at this point that I could hardly stand it. The letters came, and afterwards came my quest to get them translated. At this point, I have found assistance in translating not only Markus Wessel's online article about the emigration of the Winje family, but most of the letters.

Through the quest to make connections with living relatives, I have found that most people are excited to help and anxious to relate bits and pieces of information and stories passed down to them. Some of my cousins went all out to make sure that I obtained access to books, albums, and copies of rare photographs and documents. In the past few years, I have met many wonderful people who I am proud to count among my cousins and family friends. Tusen takk to them!


Who's in your family's living treasure chest?



[1] and [2] The patronymic naming practices of early Norway meant that a child's surname reflected who the father was. In the case of Baard Johnson, his children were: Ole Baardsen (Baard's son), and Ellen Julie Baardsdatter (Baard's daughter).

Winje Monument Repaired!

A year after the repair project was begun (see August 28, 2006 blog entry), I can now say that the 1888 Winje family monument at Scandia Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota is almost as good as new. A contractor leveled the ground and a new cement platform was put in place; afterwards, the toppled sections of the marker were stacked and resealed. I am so pleased that this treasured monument has been saved. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible!

Louis Winje Drowning in 1893

Early in the process of researching the Winje Family, I discovered that Eric and Bertina Winje (my great great grandmother and her second husband) lost their eldest son when he drowned in Lake Superior harbor. Curious, I began to uncover what happened. I recently ran across an article published in the Duluth Evening Herald on August 21, 1893, that gives more detail than I had previously found. Reading it for the first time brought tears to my eyes. I have invested so much time discovering the experiences of the members of this family that I feel a connection to each of them.

While reading the article below, imagine how you would feel if you were Judge Winje--suddenly responsible for the death of your precious eldest son, just at the point when he was about to make his way in the world and fulfill his potential. How would/could you face your family after such a tragedy? Could you continue your job as a public servant? Only a couple of days after the accident, which happened on Sunday, August 20, 1893, Winje was required to hold municipal court and preside over cases brought against the city's drunks and vagrants. His son's body had not yet been found. Citizens in nineteenth century America believed that duty came first... no matter what.

(Note: although the newspaper indicates the victim is "Lewis" Winje, I spell his name "Louis" Winje in my family history writings.)

Went to the Bottom

___________________________________________

The Steamer Lucille Ran Into and Sank the Steam Launch Ellida

Last Evening

____________

Lewis Winje Jumped Overboard and Although a Good Swimmer

Was Not Seen Afterward

____________

Judge Winje Remained on the Launch and Was Saved

--The Lucille Not to Blame

_______________________________________

A most unfortunate and distressing accident occurred on the bay last evening at 8:45 o'clock which resulted in the drowning of Lewis Winje, age 19 years, son of Judge Winje, of the municipal court. The judge and Lewis were up the St. Louis river during the day on the steam lauch Ellida. They had a party with them but unloaded the others at West Duluth and were returning alone. The launch had passed through the opening in the dyke in the Rice's point channel and was a short distance beyond when the steamer Lucille struck her amidships breaking in her side, bursting her feed pipe and filling everything with steam.

Judge Winje remained in the boat but Lewis jumped at the first crash. As quickly as possible the judge was taken aboard but nothing could be seen of the young man. He was an excellent swimmer too, but owing to the chilliness wore heavy clothes and these probably dragged him down. The launch sank in about five minutes.

Capt. D. J. Clow of the Lucille says that he was running along in the channel when suddenly he saw a small boat within 100 feet of him. It carried no lights, contrary to the government rules, or he would have seen it further off. He immediately stopped his engine and as the launch seemed to be taking the Rice's point side threw his wheel over to the other side. Just then the Ellida swerved right across the Lucille's bow and almost before Capt. Clow could think his boat crashed into the little one. He immediately jumped down on to the launch but could not see anything because of the escaping steam. A minute or two later he felt the boat sinking and jumped back to his own. By that time Judge Winje was aboard and he learned of the boy jumping over. A boat was lowered at once but not a trace of him could be found.

Both Judge Winje and Capt. Clow were at the office of Inspector Clark and Monahan this morning and made verbal reports and this afternoon written reports will be drawn. Judge Winje attaches no blame to the Lucille.

Lewis, was a young man of good promise, an excellent scholar, and the loss is very keenly felt by his parents. His body had not been recovered up to early this afternoon.

Johnson/Winje/Larson Family Photo



Bertina Johnson Winje (78), with three granddaughters and two daughters.  L to R:  Josephine Larson,
 Thea Larson, Emma Larson, Bertina Johnson winje, Julia Johnson Larson, and Emma Winje.

 I wanted to share this wonderful three generation photograph. Cheryl Nibler found that her mother, Phyllis Johnson Rice, had a copy of it in a box of mementos. The photo was taken in July 1919 at the Larson residence outside of Montevideo, Minnesota, only six months after Julia became a widow. Look at the great hats!

Welcome, Family and Friends

This blog is for keeping track of, and sharing my family research and discoveries. I hope it will also increase the level of sharing and contact between family members, both near and far. If you leave a comment, you'll want to avoid putting any really personal information or dates here, to protect your privacy.

I have been researching my mother's Norwegian-American family for several years now. In 2003, I finished compiling the biographies of my Minnesota-born grandfather, Ernest Johnson, and his nine brothers and sisters (Bennett, Cora, Thea, Odin, Mabel, Oral, Ruben, Carl, and Frank), plus their descendants. A Johnson History, Part II was a rather costly product, since it was put into a format that could be added to in future.

WINJE MONUMENT REPAIR IN DULUTH - NEWS

In the spring of this year I began a project to repair the broken 1888 Winje monument at Scandia Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota. Although the bushes/trees alongside the base were cut to ground level last summer, the roots continued to grow and pushed the monument over soon afterwards. As the very first marker on the family plot, the five-foot granite stone records the deaths of three children born to Eric and Thibertina "Bertina" Winje:  Hattie, 5, and Annie, 2, both died from diphtheria within days of each other in the spring of 1888, and Louis drowned in a tragic boating accident at age 18 in August 1893. There have been delays with the monument company, but after several phone calls, I am told to expect an estimate shortly. In the meantime, the Duluth summer is ticking away.

Winje monument after the damage

(Photo by Gloria Conrad, April 2006,
Scandia Cemetery, Duluth, Minnesota.)

A BIG "thank you" to those who have sent donations. A portion of the money was used to do the final engraving on Emma T. Winje's flat marker stone, also at Scandia. When she was buried in Duluth in 1970, after passing away at a nursing home in Fridley, Minnesota, the year of her death was not engraved. Emma was born on her parents' Chippewa prairie homestead in Granite Falls Township in 1879. During her long life, she was a teacher, millner, care-taker, piano-instructor, stenographer, and election clerk, among other things: truly a female "jack of all trades." She was also a beloved daughter, sister, aunt, and friend to many. Because of family cooperation, we have now been able to complete that final task for Emma. That feels REALLY good, doesn't it?

Emma T. Winje
(Photo taken in Peoria, IL.)

In 1909, while living in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Emma and her older sister, Lena, were invited to accompany friends to a pow-wow at the White Earth Reservation. Their adventures are described in Chapter 3 of Kate Opened the Gate, memoirs written by Elsie Peterson Johnson, who was a young girl at the time.