It’s not what you take with you, it’s what you leave behind.
 
 
 

The journey of my maternal grandparents (Nias and Anna), from Norway to the United States, began in 1888. That year my grandfather’s next older brother, Even Casper, emigrated to America and settled in the Upper Midwest.

Even was the third, of four sons, born to Mikal and Serine Carlsen at the family farm named Jenshus. The farm still exists and is located in in what was then Beitstaden, Nord Trondelag, Norway. Beitstaden has since been assimilated into a larger community called Steinkjer.

The two oldest brothers (Oskar and Karl) would remain in Norway and keep the Jenshus surname which still exists today. One is Ida Jenshus, an award winning folk singer and composer. She has already produced several albums containing her songs. Some are available on itunes and Google. Ida Jenshus Biography

The two youngest brothers (Even and Nias) would settle in America and adopt the Mickalson surname, which they sometimes spelled Mickalsen or Michalson.

Even was born on Christmas day in 1867 so he would have been 21 years old when he made the journey to the new world sometime in 1888. He probably came through Quebec, Canada, then to Chicago, then to the Upper Midwest. There is no record of him coming in through Ellis Island.

The only record we have (his obituary) says he ended up in St. Paul, presumably in Minnesota. Soon after he moved to Menominee, Michigan and then to Escanaba, Michigan, where he lived out his life. The 1900 census lists a Mickalson in Houghton, Michigan with similar identifiers to Even Casper – birthdate, emigration date and occupation (house painter), so he may have spent some time in the Copper Country.

Why to Escanaba? The old joke is that when the Mickalsons came to the States they traveled and traveled until they came to an area where the weather was as bad as where they had lived in Norway. More likely, though, was that Escanaba was a thriving fishing and lumbering community, similar to the area around the Beirstaden Fjord where they lived before emigrating. Nias, my grandfather, is listed as a fisherman and farm laborer in the 1900 census in Norway.

Even was called Charlie by everyone except my mother who always used Even Casper when talking about her uncle.

Charlie was a house painter and decorator, a fine art painter (oils), and a horticulturist. This is mentioned in his obituary. Some of his paintings still exist in private hands. He raised and sold many types of plants and flower bulbs.

Besides being industrious, he was also thrifty. On his death, in 1938, he left an estate valued at almost $50,000 in today’s money. This was willed to his brothers – Nias here and the two brothers in Norway. There is no record of Charlie ever marrying.

He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Escanaba, Michigan near his brother Nias and Nias’ wife Anna Kristina.

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, IL, held a gingerbread house building project on December 9, 2012. More photos from this fun happening are available here:

MAKING GINGERBREAD HOUSES AT OUR SAVIOUR'S

Families were invited to the church to build ginger bread houses with material ordered in advance.

Multi-generational families pitched in to help the children exercise their artistic abilities in building houses. And you do not have to climb ladders or work in the cold:

Here is one result:

Another family builds:

Another house:

Again, more photos can be viewed here:

MAKING GINGERBREAD HOUSES AT OUR SAVIOUR'S

Recently, I had the privilege of photographing the wedding of my great niece Kathryn and her husband in Woodbine, IL, near Galena.

Lad and Lassie

Kathryn is the daughter of Mark, the son of my sister Beverly and her husband Roy Person. Andrew is the son of Jeff and Ann Currie. Andy and Kathryn were married at the Woodbine Bend Golf Club in Woodbine, IL.

Photos of the wedding are available for viewing at the following site: https://picasaweb.google.com/home

There are six albums each title beginning with “Kathryn Andrew Wedding…”

Kriste Dwight Mickalson, partner of cousin Darryl (Happy’s son), recently wrote the folllowing in an email: “My father in law, Hap (Harold Otto) Otto being the 8th child once told me that his brothers were painters and that they all passed away in the same year, possibly from lead poisoning.” Since I had heard two other theories (all had the same heart problem or all died from alcohol abuse), I decided to investigate life spans and causes of death of the seven adult Mickalson children, and their parents.

The following chart summarizes my findings:

Several things stand out:

1. Three of the boys (Mikal, Asmund and Clarence) died within five years of each other and all worked in auto repair shops, at some time or another. Was there some causative factor here – paint or solvents or lead? However they all died of different diseases. Another factor might have been alcohol – at least two of them had an abuse problem.

2. Nias suffered from, and died of, chronic nephritis (kidney failure). At least two of the boys also died of kidney failure. Inherited?

3. Both Nias and Anna had heart and vascular diseases. At least two of the children also had these problems. Genetics or lifestyle issues? Maybe diet? Most Norwegian recipes seem to start with: “take two sticks of butter…”

4. The boys average life span was 55.5 years. The girls averaged almost 79 years. The parent’s average was slightly more than 67 years.

5. Those who sought their future in the west (in true Viking fashion) averaged 61.5 years and those who stayed in “Yooperland” averaged 68.4 years.

Remember, though, that the above averages are obtained using small sample sizes.

6. The final observation concerns the prevalence of alcohol abuse among the children – at least five, out of seven, having serious problems. No one seems to know if their parents had any kind of a problem. This abuse is also present in some members of the succeeding
generation.

7. Three of my four grandparents (G1) had diabetes. One of my uncles (G2) died of the disease. But, none of my generation (G3) has the affliction, and only one member of G4 is known to have the problem. Are there other examples out there (among relatives)? Let me know, please.

OK, enough of this talk of death and problems.

My thanks to Kriste for reviewing and adding to this post.

May you all live long, healthy and prosperous lives.

My grandmother, my mother’s mother, wife of Nias and incubator of nine children. And probably the person most responsible for the recording of these tales. She was also responsible for many of the Mickalsons in the Midwest and the West coast of America.

I have no actual memories of Anna. Even though she lived only a couple of blocks from the home where I spent my childhood. She died when I was not quite six years old. Not even any memories of her death (sudden) or funeral.

The visitor’s book from her funeral still exists, though. This included the names of about 50 friends, neighbors and relatives from the Soo Hill area outside of Escanaba, Michigan. Even includes the names of my teachers, and the cook, at the Soo Hill school that I attended through the seventh grade.

Anna was the daughter of Anton and Katrina Benjamensen (nee Oldsdtr), both of Beitstad, Nord-Trondelag, Norway. She married Nias Mauritz Jenshus on June 15, 1899, probably in Beitstad or Steinkjer, cities near Trondheim. The following year she had their first child (Mikal Sigurd). Then, in every even-numbered year for almost twenty years, she had another child. The exception was 1904, when Nias was in America, establishing a new home for his developing family.

After their marriage, they rented space (room?) at a farm where Nias was listed as being a farm laborer and a fisherman. This farm is probably where Anna lived, and worked, for a year or so until she left to come to America, leaving all her family and friends, never to see them again. The farm still exists and a relative (Jenshus) still lives there.

She would have traveled, via steamship, to England, possibly through Amsterdam, and then onto the States. This is with two young children (Mikal and Asmund Casper), one or two trunks containing all her possessions, and food sufficient for the journey. Imagine being cooped up below deck with many others and two curtain-climbers, in heat or cold.

This trip would have gone from England to Montreal, Canada via the St. Lawrence River. Then by train or boat, possibly to Chicago, and then more rides north to Escanaba. It is joked, that our relatives, both from Norway and Sweden, came to this country and traveled and traveled until they came to land where the weather was as bad as it was in “the old country” in Europe.

Of the nine pregnancies Anna experienced, eight resulted in live births with one of these dying after living only a short time. Four boys and three girls lived to be adults. The last child (stillborn) arrived in 1918. Then Anna and Nias must have figured out where the kids were coming from, since there were no more after that.

She lived to see her last born (Harold Otto) leave home and then she died at age 63. She died of a coronary occlusion (stroke) brought on by hypertension. This information came from her death Certificate. She, with Nias, is buried at Lakeview cemetery in Escanaba, Michigan.