Ole's Blog

I have found information refuting my theory on the immigration of Helene Olsdatter. There was a Marit Osldatter, age 28, of N. Fron parish, who sailed on the Angelo with Gunder and Engebret Olsen (Sletten) on 3 June 1881. With her was 4-year-old Ole Olsen. So, my updated theory is that that Marit (“M. Olsdatter”) and Ole were on the Lord Clive with G and E Olsen. I still think it was the Slettens on that ship, but now back to square 2 with Helene Olsdatter.

So far, I’m sticking with square 1 for Helene; that it was she who sailed on the Angelo on 20 May, 1881. That is contrary to the thinking of Aline and Clarice, who placed her immigration 2 years later, with other Slettens (details as yet unclear). I resist that notion because Alma Larson, according to family lore the illegitimate daughter of Ole Larson with Helene, must have been conceived around April of 1883. There is also the question of “Kari Hanson,” daughter of Helene prior to Alma Larson, about whom I have learned virtually nothing so far. Was Helene married before Ole? No info (yet).

I apologize if these family skeletons are still uncomfortable for anyone, but to me they are part of an increasingly interesting and complex narrative. By the same token, my understanding and sensitivity is also increasing about why “those Norwegians didn’t talk much.” Stay tuned.

Some enticing, but quite shaky, information on Helene’s immigration, and that of the first two Slettens. I found what may be their names on a ship’s passenger list, and two of them on Oslo police emigration documents. Let’s start with their departure from Oslo. Here are excerpts from the police records.

In Gunder sletten’s citizenship document, he states that he departed Norway on June 3, 1881, on the ship Angelo, so this must be him, 99% certain. Helena’s age is correct, as is her “occupation” (single woman). She may well have moved from Gausdal parish to Oslo (“Kristiana”) for a time before emigrating, and so stated that as her “domicile.” I’d give this an 85% confidence rating for being “our” Helena. Note also that their stated destinations are both in Wisconsin.

Next let’s speculate on the timeframe. From Oslo to Hull, England (the route of the Angelo) is just over 600 miles. On a steamship of the time, in those sheltered waters, that would take about two days. Immigrant ships from England to America generally departed from Liverpool, about 150 miles by rail across the island from Hull. Oslo-Hull-Liverpool-America was a very common route for Nordic immigrants of this period. Steamships from Liverpool reached the US eastern seaboard in 10-12 days.

Gunder Olsen Sletten must have arrived in Hull about June 5. Given another day for rail travel plus a half-day to make connections at each end, he would have been ready to leave Liverpool around June 7-8. Helena Olsdatter (if she departed Oslo as planned) was about two weeks ahead of him, but connections are not what they are today.

Consider now the SS Lord Clive, of the American Line. She arrived in Philadelphia on June 19 or 20; the manifest was signed on June 21. Gunder stated (more than 20 years later) that he arrived on June 16, but that would have been virtually impossible given the timeframe postulated above. Besides, no immigrant ship arrived in Philly on June 16, 17, or 18. Given a crossing time of 10-12 days, the Lord Clive must have left Liverpool about June 9-11.

If you have swallowed my assumptions so far, clear your throat; there are some bigger ones coming. Here is page 43 of the passenger list:

The first glaring problem is that everyone on the page is listed as from “Sweden.” To reconcile this, we must assume that the ship’s purser or clerk was so busy or careless as to conflate the nationals of two countries with similar surnames, languages, and appearance. Not implausible. The second is spinster Olsdatter’s first initial: “M,” not “H.” That still could be attributed to haste or shoddy work.

Third (and perhaps worst) is the child (presumably hers) listed after Ms. Olsdatter: a 4-year-old boy, Ole. Now, according to cousin Aline, Helena did have a child prior to Alma Larson, but it was a girl named Kari (Hanson), not a boy named Ole. But there are no dates of birth, death, or anything else about Kari  in the book “Larsons and Slettens.” Cousin Mary sent me some further anecdotes about this in an email yesterday, but the details are very vague. This may be hard to trace; stay tuned.

All these counter-indications may add up to a strike-out, but I will not be completely dissuaded until some counter-evidence comes to light. Continuing with the passenger list: the next name after the child Ole is “E. Olsen,” approximately the age of Engebret Olsen Sletten; three names later is “G. Olsen,” precisely the age of Gunder Olsen Sletten. These are cause for a certain amount of confidence for the Slettens, but what about Helene?

I ran into a few complications as as I was tracing Helene Olsdatter back into Norway. Things were going pretty smoothly until Helene failed to show up with her family in the 1865 census listing.

I searched the churchbooks, and found birth records for all four of the children listed above. Although the farm name (residential surname) changed several times, indicating the family moved from farm to farm more often than most, the witnesses were from the same two or three farms, in some cases the same individuals. There was no doubt I was following the same family as the one in Helene’s birth record.

Then I discovered that the 1865 census, unlike 1801, grouped each family on the same farm separately, so there were 8 listings for the Bradtland farm (there definitely were not 8 different farms by that name). And, lo and behold, there was Helene (I hadn’t found her earlier because here, her name is spelled slightly differently).

Well, at least I found her. But according to this, she was living as a foster child with another family, while her four siblings, both older and younger, lived with their parents. Yet another intriguing but surely untraceable story. More fiction, anyone?

And now a break from the old movies, to amuse ourselves with a little genealogy. I have been studying Helene Olsdatter, Ole Larson’s second wife. She is not a direct ancestor of mine or my first cousins, but is the mother of Oscar and Olaf Larson, and of Paula (“Aunt Polly”) Larson Sletten, Manda Larson Lunde, and Herman Larson. In addition, Helene’s eldest daughter Alma Larson Raiten, is one of the most prolific of all, with eight children and a total of nine pages of descendants in the “Larsons and Slettens” book.

There was very little background on Helene in “Larsons and Slettens.” She was said to be a midwife and herbalist. Aunt Polly was quoted as saying she “came over on the same boat with the Slettens.” Cousin Mary Lentine has asked her mother, cousin Clarice, for some further information on Helene’s immigration and early life in America, which I will post as soon as I receive it.

I was able to reach quite far into the past using the churchbooks and other online resources from Norway. Aline gave Helene’s birth date as 11 Oct. 1855, and her parents’ names as Ole Lien and Anna Hansdatter. That was enough to get me started, and I located her birth record (actual date 11 Oct. 1854), in Gausdal parish:

Link to the page at Digitalarkivet

(year 1854) (born) Oct. 11, (baptized) Oct. 29, Helene; (Parents): Inderst* Ole Johansen Brettingen (and wife) Anne Hansdatter. (Witnesses): Engebregt Hansen Børø _ ningen (and wife)) —? Marthe Simonsdatter Bratland, Marthe af Christen Christensdatter, and Nils Hansen Rud-Bølien.

*”Inderst” is an indication of status or occupation; my Norwegian chatroom friends had a hard time translating it. One thought it was some kind of servant, but others said it indicated a person staying at a home that is not their permanent residence. At any rate, I found that Ole and Anne moved around a lot, which complicated my work. I may expand on that in another post. For now, I am able to report with good confidence Helene’s pedigree for three prior generations.
Since this is another whole branch of the family, I will put up a new page for it in the Generations section. More info to follow as it develops.