OLSON GRANDPARENTS

OLSON GRANDPARENTS

My Paternal Grandfather, John Henry and Grandmother Martina Elisabeth Olson lived in Two Harbors Minnesota. Grandmother's maiden name was Isachsen. They had each immigrated to the United States from Norway. Grandmother a year before Grandfather. They were each 16 years of age when they came to this country. How they met, I don’t know but I do know that they both lived in Two Harbors. Grandfather became an engineer on the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad and hauled ore from the mines down to the harbor at Duluth. They lived in a three story house with a basement. They had a big yard and I remember many raspberry bushes in the yard. They were delicious!

We only got to go there about every three years because of the expense of traveling, But Mom, Dad, Vivian and I would drive through the plains states straight up to North Dakota where Uncle Carl and his wife Helen and their daughters Joan and Pat lived. Uncle Carl was a doctor and I remember one night we girls were all in a tent in the back yard and a woman came to get Uncle Carl to go to see another member of the family but he just told her what to do. It woke all of us up and I often wondered what happened to whoever was sick.

From there we would go to see the Boss folks in the St. Paul area and then up to Two Harbors to see the Olsons. None of the children lived any closer than Carl's family so that was one of their children that I got to know along with those two cousins. On the way home we usually went by Ft. Madison, home of the Shaeffer.Pen Company.. Uncle Grant lived there with his wife, Dolly and son. Grant was the Vice President in charge of Foreign Sales. He had a big Lincoln Continental car with electric windows and lots of other things that didn't come on any of the cars we ever had. As a child I was very impressed. He was a wonderful uncle who came by to see me when I was in college in San Antonio and took me out to lunch!

          This picture was taken in December 1929 when John was 64 and Marthine was 65

After Grandfather retired and they had been married for 50 years, Grandmother persuaded him to take her back to Norway. They made it to Norway and first visited around Moss where Grandfather was born and had grown up. Next they were to go to Tavlik on a northern island just off the coast. They took a ship to go up where Grandmother had been born and raised. They had been on board for only one day and had been up on the upper deck until late. When they got back to their stateroom he laid down on the bed and died from a heart attack. They had to take her with the body back in another boat the next morning. She made the return ocean trip as a widow after having a service over there.  I always felt sorry for her since she was never able to return to Norway.

There is a Railroad Museum which I think now contains other things too, but there are pictures of the engines and the Engineers. There is also an engine outside the museum with the names of many engineers, including my grandfather. Jean and I went to the museum and found his name on the side.

The Olsons had more children than the Boss clan did, but not all grew to adulthood. Since my family lived in Texas I really didn’t know many of those aunts and uncles. I do remember Uncle Clarence who was the oldest and who was in the lumber business in Texas. Aunt Irene was the daughter I remember knowing. She was a pianist and taught music in an exclusive girls’ school in Winnepeg Manitoba. Aunt Helen was the Superintendent of Nurses at Augustana Luthern Hospital in Chicago and had never married. She once gave me a beautiful doll. I didn't know her but she was very nice to us. She died early in her career of a heart attack at her desk in the hospital. I can't say that I ever knew any of the other children. I'm sure I met some at the funeral for my Grandfather.

Carl's daughter Pat was a little younger than I was and I remember when everyone was in Two Harbors for the memorial service for Granddad we were playing in the yard and Pat ran into me and hit my eye and I had a shiner. Uncle Carl said we needed to get a steak and put it on my eye and I think they did.

And one morning Uncle Clarence went into the kitchen and said to my mother:” Elna, get in there and make a decent cup of coffee that you can't sink a dishrag in.