"I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day . . ." (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 35 theme: "Off to Work")

Children (boys, in particular) love trains - train songs, toy trains, train-watching, and perhaps aspiring to work on a train when they grow up.

 

Trains in Montana 1905 from Winfield Scott Lemon's Collection

Steam engines ushered in the golden age of railroads. The huge demand for this method of transportation provided employment in all matters relating to this industry. Several men in my extended family tree chose railroad careers.

North American Railroaders 

The American railroaders in my own family  all relate to the family of my great great grandmother Barbara Hoover (abt 1834-1890) who had been married 3 times and had had at least one additional relationship. Her first marriage to cousin William Hoover resulted in the birth of Samuel Hoover. The second marriage was to Lewis Edwards; she gave birth to twin daughters Mary "Minnie" and Martha "Grace" Edwards. Barbara's third marriage to George Payton resulted in no children but Barbara had given birth to Charles Edwards between the death of her Edwards husband and her Payton marriage.

1. Charles F. Edwards (1869-1941) 

My great grandfather Charles Edwards left home at 17 to work on the railroad, starting as a call boy and later becoming a brakeman. While working for the railway he met his future wife Mayme Wescott who was working at a Montana restaurant. 

Computer Screenshot of Charles and Mayme's Wedding Photo from a video prepared by his grandson Lloyd Miller

After trying and failing to make his fortune as a fruit farmer in Kalispell, Montana, as a homesteader in Saskatchewan and as a prospector in the Yukon/Alaska gold rush, he periodically returned to the railroad. According to his daughter Marion, he  always worked for the Great Northern Railroad, but when it had a strike in 1914, he went to Canada and got work on the Canadian Pacific Railway ("CPR"). Every Canadian knows the significance of the 1885 completion of the CPR stretching from Atlantic to Pacific in the formation of Canada and the opening of the west to settlers; the year after his stint with the CPR, Charles tried homesteading in Western Canada.

The Great Northern stretched along the northernmost part of the United States from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. It expanded over the years to include several side lines, including some into Canada.

From the Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls, Montana June 20, 1905, p6 accessed on Newspapers.com

One of the perks of working for the railroad was passes for family travel. This was their general mode of transportation for regular visits to Mayme's family in Wisconsin and  the 1915 move to their Lancer, Saskatchewan homestead, for example. 

After losing his land in Canada, Charles again returned to railroading in the northwestern states, making the family home in Kelso, Washington. He lost a leg while switching when his foot became caught and the train wheels severed his leg.  The accident resulted in a railroad pension, enabling him to buy property at Castle Rock, Washington. It also resulted in somewhat cruel tricks played on at least a couple of his grandchildren who, upon meeting him for the first time, were encouraged to hit his leg with a hammer or poke it with pins.

2. Samuel L. Hoover (1855-1912)

Samuel was Charles Edwards' older half-brother. His was a long career in the railroad business.

Samuel Hoover

A certificate of the Union Pacific Railroad Co. dated 18 December 1898 in Denver certified that he had been employed as a Switchman in the Denver yard from 5 November 1895 until his resignation.

Union Pacific Certificate for Samuel Hoover, Switchman

He was the Master of the Grand Lodge of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association when he signed his own Delegate's Credential as a representative of Salt Lake City Lodge No. 71 at the Convention to be held in Dallas, Texas on 19 September 1892.

His Certificate of Examination from the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company Southern Pacific Company - Lines East of Sparks dated 17 September 1910 certified his qualifications as a "Herder" (coupling or decoupling engines upon arrival or departure of trains). More information can be found here about the life of Samuel Hoover. 

3. Henry M. Bradshaw (1879-1946)

Charles and Samuel's half-sister Grace Edwards'  second husband was a man named Henry Bradshaw. The 1920 census had Henry Bradshaw and Grace Bradshaw living in Portland, Oregon.  His age was 41, born Oklahoma and his occupation was as a switchman on the railroad.

Henry Bradshaw and Grace Edwards

4. John Filmore Lemon 

Grace Edwards' first husband was, according to his son Win, "an inveterate gambler" who would take her hard-earned wash money as well as his own small wage check and lose it over the card table. He worked at various odd jobs over the years but deserted her in 1903. I could find no evidence of him being connected to the railroad other than the mystery picture below. (Nor has evidence been found showing that John had divorced his first wife in order to marry Grace in 1891, yet in 1908 the newspapers announced the dissolution of Grace's marriage to him under the heading "Lemon Gets Lemon"!)

John Lemon in foreground on railroad track

5. Winfield Scott Lemon (1884-1966)

Purportedly the son of John Lemon, my half first cousin 2XR was born in Winfield, Kansas to one of twin sisters Mary "Minnie" or Martha "Grace" Hoover. His obituary repeats his own belief that his parents were Minnie Simmers Lemon and Harry Lemon. Minnie was never married to a Lemon; her husbands were Harry Simmers and Claude White.  Win was officially taken to be the son of Grace and her husband John Lemon. The following photo shows Win and his sister Maude at their home in Colorado with Grace and John Lemon. 

Win eventually made a career as a switchman on the railroad. He left school early and found work for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo, Colorado  at the age of just 13 in order to help with the family finances. The miners' strike of 1902 put him out of work and he walked to Independence, Kansas (554 miles) to find work in the oil fields, but that proved too heavy for him. 

In 1905 he moved to Great Falls, Montana, the home of his uncle Charles Edwards (see #1 above); while there he hired out as a brakeman on the Great Northern Railroad where his uncle also worked. Many different jobs and moves led to a marriage to Anna Inez Boyd and the birth of son Winfield Lester Lemon in 1909.

Although his formal schooling was cut short, he was a man with a love of learning and expanding his abilities. While working full time, his "hobby" was to  concentrate on chemistry and metallurgy for many years, building up his own well-equipped laboratory and shop for research. He said that while working with George Hibler, the chemist for Wasatch Oil Refinery, they developed asphalt. 

1914 Day Coach at the Salt Lake City Depot, Winfield Scott Lemon switchman 2nd from left

Mostly, Winfield worked as a railroader. His railroad service as listed in his history (see Resources):

"1905 -  Great Northern RR - Great Falls, Montana

1906 - Rio Grande Western RR - Salt Lake City, Utah

1907 - Great Northern RR - Great Falls, Montana

1907 - Oregon Shortland RR - Salt Lake City, Utah

1909 - Great Northern RR - Great Falls, Montana

1910 - Oregon Shortland RR - Salt Lake City, Utah

1917 - Utah Junk Local - Midvale, Utah

1918 - Northern Pacific RR - Pasco, Washington

1922-1951 - Union Pacific RR - Salt Lake City, Utah

TOTAL TIME WITH RAILROAD: 31 YEARS, 3 MONTHS, 22 DAYS"

 

Scottish/Canadian Railroaders

Railroads had really started in Great Britain and at one time covered the country with a web of rail lines. My granddaughters' family tree contains the following additional men who made careers on the railroad:

6. James McKimmie Grant (b. 1879)

James McKimmie Grant is my granddaughters' 3rd great grandfather. James was born in Alves, Morayshire, Scotland. By the time of his 1903 marriage to Susan Lawrie, he was in his mid-20s working as a railway clerk. In 1908 he was working as a railway signalman. He advanced from there to become station master in 1928.

2006 photo by Iain Macaulay/The Old Station at Alves  The copyright on this image is owned by Iain Macaulay and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.

7. George Lawrie Grant (b. 1908)

James and Susan's son George was born 1908; he is my granddaughters' 2nd great grandfather. At the time of his 18 August 1928 marriage to Dora Flora Burns in Kilmany, Fife, he was listed as a railway clerk with an address in "Railway Cottage, Wormit". (Within a few months they had moved to Kinglassie, Fife, so the Wormit connection appears to have been brief.)

Wormit was just a hamlet until the Tay Rail Bridge over the Firth of Tay opened in 1878. This connected it to Dundee on the other side of the Firth and made its owner, the North British Railway Company, the predominant player in the battle for railway supremacy in Scotland. It was the longest railway bridge in the world at the time.

I admit to having gone down a deep rabbit hole at this point, but my engineer granddaughter will be interested to learn of the disaster that had befallen that first bridge, long before her 2nd great grandfather lived in the vicinity. The bridge had been open for less than two years when a terrible storm caused the 13 central high girders to collapse. A Court of Inquiry placed the blame on the design by civil engineer Thomas Bouch, though there is some evidence that the blame should have been shared more broadly. Within 5 years, the new Tay Railway Bridge was constructed; it is over 2 miles long. A wonderful silent black and white film was shot crossing the new bridge in 1897 and can be viewed here. 

Dusking Tay Bridge with stump from original bridge highlighted in the setting sun - 2007 photo by Ross2085. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 

8. James Grant (1928-2001)

Railroading carried on into the next Grant generation. George Lawrie Grant's son James born shortly after his parents moved to Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland was my granddaughters' great grandfather. After his stint in the British army, he moved to the railway hub of Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He sent for his wife Marian to join him, but she hated life in Northern Ontario and moved to Montreal, Quebec; James soon followed. He spent his life as an engineer for the Canadian National Railway ("CNR") system, the headquarters of which were in Montreal.  He was chosen to drive the new Via Rail train when CPR and CNR passenger businesses were combined in the late 1970s. He worked there until he retired. 

In my extended family tree, working on the railroad seems to have ended with James Grant's retirement. Once a viable career path chosen by many, it has faded from the list of common jobs but children still often answer the question of what they want to be when they grow up with an enthusiastic "A train engineer!"

Some Resources:

• Miller, Marion Frances Edwards; My Memories, personal memoir written for her family in January 1978 from her home at 5405 Union Street, Lexington, Michigan
• Lemon, Winfield Scott, "Compilation of History prepared in response to constant requests from grandson Dick", Privately printed c.1965
• "The History of the Tay Bridge Dundee," Network Rail website https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/our-history/iconic-infrastructure/the-history-of-the-tay-bridge-dundee/ accessed 8 August 2In m025

Douglas Paul Barnard, Master Brainteaser (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 34 theme: "Playtime")

Douglas Barnard from his obituary in the London Daily Telegraph 18 May 1994 p.25 accessed on Newsapapers.com 

Douglas Paul Barnard (aka Douglas St. Paul Barnard) was my husband's first cousin once removed. Born 27 January 1924 in Pakefield, Suffolk, England to Arthur and Laura (Parry) Barnard, his idea of playtime might not be everyone's idea of fun. As a cruciverbalist, his work was his play. (To save you the trouble since I had to look it up anyway -- a cruciverbalist is a compiler or aficionado of crossword-puzzles. And -- full disclosure: I have been a lifelong cryptic crossword puzzle junkie, a hobby shared with my mother and her brother Bob. I am in awe of the work of Douglas Barnard.)

Douglas Barnard's father Arthur was the younger brother to my husband's grandfather John Mathias Barnard. (Whereas John Mathias was a large man standing over 6 feet tall, brother Arthur's service records from when he signed up for the army at age 18 show him to be less than 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing just 124 pounds. Perhaps he was still growing?) After serving with the British army during the Boer War and in India from 1896-1908, Arthur committed to service in the Christian ministry. To this end, Arthur moved his family to Australia in the 1920s. 

Young Douglas grew up in Australia and obtained his education at the Brisbane Boys'  College. He compiled his first crossword at age 15.

He started work as a bank clerk, but soon enlisted in the Australian army at Launceston, Tasmania on 10 March 1942 shortly after turning 18. His capabilities were soon recognized and he was sent on a Junior Leaders Course followed by selection for the Royal Military College. Records indicate he was a Bombardier. His casualty forms list frequent illnesses and problems with his eyes and with his right ear after a gun blast near it. It is difficult to follow his military records with any real idea of what he was doing; there is a very mysterious reference to his having "m/in from Queensland LofC area  GDD" and embarked from Cairns for "Mexico" (yes, with the quotation marks) on 19-02-45 and then having disembarked at Aitape (surely this is in New Guinea?) on 3-1-45.  He was promoted to Sergeant on 8 November 1945 before his discharge from service in 1946. 

Perhaps he was actually an intelligence officer during the War as reported by a couple of sources (see Gilbert article and Best for Puzzles website in Resources below). If his talents were not taken advantage of in this way, a great opportunity was missed. No official source has been found, but his was exactly the sort of mind required at Bletchley Park or its Australian counterpart Central Bureau. 

At the end of the War, Douglas transferred to the Army Psychology Corps. Then in 1946 he entered Tasmania University to study political science. He was expelled for publishing a pamphlet calling one of his professors a Communist. Later vindicated when that professor was discharged, it nevertheless cost Douglas the Rhodes Scholarship he had won to study at Oxford. 

When paralyzed from polio at age 25, he was told he would never walk again. With characteristic determination and ability, he designed his own leg clamp and got himself back on his feet.  

In 1954, Douglas moved his wife and children to England where he found free-lance work, including as an occasional crossword compiler for the London Daily Telegraph. By the time his obituary was published in that newspaper on 18 May 1994, they reported that he had compiled 2,956 puzzles for them over a course of 40 years. They added that "recently his crosswords had appeared on Mondays because their clarity and cryptic elegance were considered a refreshing challenge after a relaxed weekend."

His book Anatomy of The Crossword is a classic for demystifying the cryptic crossword (which is unlike the more straight-forward encyclopedic version more common in North America). Having figured out on my own how the cryptic clues can follow a number of different formats, it delighted me to read this book and learn that the patterns all had names and explanations. He expounds on the use of puns (based on homonyms and homophones), drollery, allusion, dialectic clues, dilemmatic clues, paragrams, anagrams, disjunctive clues, parabolic clues, and finally the all-encompassing cryptic licence that may be taken by the cruciverbalist. Oh, my! 

Barnard's Anatomy of the Crossword, 1963

According to his obituary:

A true polymath, he quickly grasped the arcane details of any discipline. Science, mathematics, computers, religion and philosophy were of particular interest to him, but he was also a talented handyman who rewired, replumbed and restored his large Georgian house almost single-handed. 

He designed and built a large Adam-style mantelpiece, restored a Bechstein grand piano and collected and restored Oriental antiques.  

His interest in politics led him to run as a Conservative candidate in the 1964 election; he did not win a seat. 

Over the years, he set many other brain-teaser puzzles and wrote many articles as a freelance journalist, often under various pseudonyms. It takes a special mind to turn mathematics into playtime.

The Rochdale Observer 24 April 1965 accessed on Newspapers.com

In addition to his Adventures in Mathematics (1967), he also wrote The Puffin Book of Car Games (1977), It's All Done by Numbers (1968), 50 Daily Telegraph Brain-Twisters (1985), Figure it Out (1973), One Hundred Brain Twisters (1966), A Book of Mathematical and Reasoning Puzzles (1962) and 50 Observer Brain-Twisters (1963). So much playtime created by him for so many puzzle enthusiasts!

Here is an example of one of his regular Brain-twisters (and, no, I haven't tried to solve it, before you ask!):

The Observer 10 January 1965 p.39 from Newspapers.com

As to why he added the "St." to change his name from Douglas Paul Barnard to Douglas St. Paul Barnard or D. St. P. Barnard, no explanation has been found. Probably there is some sort of cryptic or mathematical clue. Perhaps the "s" and "t" are needed to create an anagram: absurd lapdogs rant? about grandads plural? Sorry, Douglas, some of us need a more fulsome clue to solve this one!

Some Resources:

• Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945 for Douglas Paul Barnard, accessed on Fold3
• Barnard, D. St. P., Anatomy of the Crossword, London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. 1963
• Barnard, D. St. P., 50 Daily Telegraph Brain-Twisters: a book of mathematical puzzles and reasoning problems, Javelin, 1985, accessed on 25 July 2025 on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/50dailytelegraph0000doug/page/12/mode/2up
• Best for Puzzles Website, Crossword Who's Who for Douglas Barnard accessed online 25 July 2025 at https://bestforpuzzles.com/people/b.html
• Gilbert, Val, "The Telegraph Crossword is 80 and Still Going Strong", 30 July 2005 from the Narkive Newsgroup Archive  accessed online 25 July 2025 at https://rec.puzzles.crosswords.narkive.com/5ALuWsOd/the-telegraph-crossword-is-80-down-and-still-going-strong
• Obituary for Douglas Barnard, The Daily Telegraph, London, England, 18 May 1994, p.25.

John Wickes (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 33 theme: "Legal Troubles")

My 9th great grandfather John Wickes (1609-1676) came from Staines, England, to New England aboard the Hopewell in 1635. Like many of my English ancestors, John had come to New England for religious freedom, but his nonconforming religious beliefs landed him in trouble wherever he went. It seemed it was acceptable among nonconformists to be nonconforming -- provided you conformed to the predominant nonconformist dogma. Religious freedom always had its limits.

John was a tanner by trade. He, his wife Mary Rhodes and their baby daughter Hannah (my 8th great grandmother) settled first in Plymouth Colony. John and Mary went on to have two more daughters and a son. 

Within a few years, John had become a "Gortonist", following the beliefs of the radical  Samuel Gorton. The group was progressive in many admirable ways, believing in such things as abolition of slavery, religious freedom for all, and women's right to speak and to be listened to. Outrageous! Blasphemy! Heresy!

Gorton was willing to accede to the authority of the King of England but denied being subject to local civil authority and its magistrates when he was taken before them. John Wickes was among those banished from Plymouth. Thinking to find acceptance in the more liberal-minded colony of Rhode Island, they moved first to Aquidneck (later known as Portsmouth), but they were soon expelled from there too, and finally even from Providence, where Roger Williams and his Baptists had moved to escape from Puritan rule. In fairness, the civil authorities at Providence were probably more problematic for the Gortonists than were the Baptist religious leaders.

Heading into the wilderness outside Providence, the group intended to settle at Pawtuxet but a handful of English settlers already there were not happy to accept them, so they moved on yet again.

In 1642 John Wickes was one of the original purchasers of Shawomet (later known as Warwick, RI) from Miantonomi, the Narragansett sachem. The Gortonists felt more welcome among the Narragansetts than among their fellow English settlers. 

By 1643, Massachusetts was demanding that the settlers of Shawomet appear before their court; the Gortonists sent a lengthy letter denying that Massachusetts had any jurisdiction over them. This angered the Massachusetts authorities who responded by saying armed guards would be sent to force their compliance. And thus began a "little war" with the 11 Gortonist men badly outnumbered. No one was killed and not a single shot was fired by the Gortonists who ended up taken away as prisoners to Boston with no idea what would become of their families. 

On 17 October 1643 the prisoners were brought before the court on charges of heresy and sedition. The wording of the charge from page 20 of the History of Warwick Rhode Island is given for Gorton (but was very similar for all the men charged, including John Wickes):

Upon much examination and serious consideration of your writings, with your answers about them, wee do charge you to bee a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy ordinances, and also of all civil authority among the people of God, and particularly in this jurisdiction.

Gorton was condemned to death but the majority of the court refused to sanction this sentence. In the end, he and  six others were sentenced "to be confined to irons during the pleasure of the court and, should they break jail, preach their heresies or speak against the church or state, on conviction they should die." The seven men were separated and sent in chains to different towns. John Wickes was sent to Ipswich.

The pleasure of the court did not last very long. By April 1644, the men were welcomed back by their families and the Narragansett sachems; a new council was formed in which all agreed to submit themselves and their lands to the government of England. Samuel Gorton, John Wickes and two other men were appointed as commissioners. 

On 15 May 1646, the first meeting of the General Assembly of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was held in Portsmouth. On 19 March 1647, a formal charter was adopted including the towns of Providence, Newport and Portsmouth; Warwick was added to the group. Six men were to represent each town and a council (including John Wickes) was elected. In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, John also served as Town Magistrate. He was Assistant on the Governor's Council in 1659, 1665 and 1666. In all, John Wickes represented Warwick in the General Assembly for 19 years. 

John's wife Mary died in 1661. All four children grew up, married and had lives of their own. 

At the time of King Philip's War (1675-1678), Wickes was not persuaded that he needed protection from the Native Americans; he felt sure that his lifelong good relations with the Narragansetts would hold. It is said that when the attack came, it was not by the Narragansetts but by Pequots and Mohegans, strangers to him  from Connecticut.  In any event, after the town was burned, he ventured out to try to find his cattle and did not return. His severed head was found placed on a pole outside the burned remnants of his home. In the end, it was not his legal troubles that proved to be his greatest danger. 

John Wickes Memorial photo by Garrett Green on Findagrave.com - This is a two-sided memorial with this side containing the harrowing description of his death

Some Resources:

• Chapin, Howard M., Documentary History of Rhode Island, Providence: Preston & Pounds Co, 1912 accessed 21 July 2025 on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/cu31924028851711/mode/2up?view=theater
• Dae Powell, "Ancestral Glimpses", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/ancestral-glimpses/I5923.php : accessed 17 July 2025), "John Wickes (1609-1675)".
• Fuller, Oliver P., History of Warwick Rhode Island, Providence: Angell, Burlingame & Co., 1875 accessed 18 July 2025 on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/historyofwarwick00fullrich 
• Warwick Rhode Island Digital History Project accessed 19 July 2025 at  https://www.warwickhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=476:samuel-gorton-15931677&Itemid=130

The Andersons at Bawlf, Alberta, Canada (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 32 theme: "Wide Open Spaces")

My maternal great great grandfather Israel Anderson (1829-1910) spent a lifetime searching for wide open spaces. Born in 1829  and raised in Laxarby, Västra Götaland, Sweden, 3 miles from the nearest town, he moved to Norway as a young man to work on a farm there. He married farmer's daughter Johanna Gundersdatter Opsahl and moved to America in 1856 with wife and their first child, my great grandfather Anders (Andrew) Anderson. 

Israel and Johanna went on to have the following children: Andrew b 1855, Sophia b. abt. 1856, Ida b. 1858, Gunelius b. 1862, Olava b. 1864, Annetta b. 1868, John b. 1868, Betsy b. abt. 1870 and Carl Gustaf b. 1873. Johanna died in 1900.  

Over the years, the call of its wide open spaces took Israel and family to several newly developing areas on the American frontier. After first settling in Decatur, WI, they moved on to Northwood County, Iowa and then to Grafton, Dakota Territories, traveling by train and covered wagon. In 1901 son Carl Gustaf moved across the border to homestead in Manitoba. In 1902 son Gunelius moved his family to Canada as well, settling in what became the Bawlf area of what was then the North-West Territories.  In 1903 Israel himself emigrated for a third and final time to join Gunelius in the Bawlf area. He was a widower in his mid-70s.

Alberta was not even yet a province when Israel arrived. In 1903 the land was still part of the North-West Territories, and, of course, before that had been part of the truly wide open spaces occupied by the western First Nations peoples. At noon on 1 September 1905 Alberta became a Province of Canada. Israel had been there for a couple of years by this time.

Google Earth view of Bawlf area - showing the present-day checkerboard of fields that were wide open spaces when the Andersons arrived

The Village of Bawlf was established in the vast Canadian prairies in 1905, the same year that Alberta became a province. Named for Nicholas Bawlf, president of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, the town came into being alongside the new railroad. Farming and shipping grain were its raison d'être.

Son Gunelius "G.I."  had moved there the preceding year with his family. The following is from a letter dated 17 May 1977 from Ernie and Esther Anderson to R.W. "Bob" Anderson, based on their recollections of  comments made by Gunelius's son Lawrence Anderson: 

"G.I. left Edinburg, N.D., where he owned a hotel, in 1902 and moved to Alberta. Andrew and John came up two years later and bought a half section beside the homestead. Lawrence was saved land, proved it up and got it at age 21. The railroad came in 1906. Israel homesteaded near his sons' farms and was required to spend a few months each year on his homestead, so he had a house on skids that he pulled over to the land in summer and then back to the sons in the winter.    Lawrence said they lived in 2 tents when they arrive in Daysland and lived in them until three weeks before Christmas when their house was finally ready for occupancy. It was bitterly cold, he remembers."

The 1906 census of Alberta shows Gunelius at section 8-45-17-W4M, his sons Emil at 10-45-17-W4M and Lawrence at 30-44-16-W4M. Another brother, John Anderson, had homesteaded at Bawlf just east of his father at NE36-44-17 W4M.

Homestead application of Israel Anderson

Sadly, on 7 March 1910, at age 80, Israel died before proving up his homestead application. 

1910 Post Card from Gunelius Anderson advising sister Sophia of Israel's death

Decades ago my uncle Bob Anderson and his son visited the rural Lutheran cemetery near Bawlf  where Israel is buried. A few years after this, while attending a kids' hockey tournament at nearby Daysland, my husband and I also paid Israel's gravesite a visit.

Two of His Male Anderson descendants visit Israel's burial location 

In 1998, in response to my letter to the Village of Bawlf, local resident and historical record-keeper Lil Bohmer sent me a considerable amount of information based on local knowledge of the family. Lil was a member of the same Bawlf Lutheran Church as the Andersons and was the record-keeper for the cemetery. She provided the burial locations for Israel as well as for Gunelius, his wife Sophia, their daughter Gina Reesor (1891-1928), son Emil (1884-1950) and son Alfred (1886-1954).

Lil went on to say: 

I found in the Daysland History book the enclosed information about Kenneth and Aleda Anderson. Also in the book were copies of maps showing land owners in the early 1900s. Another son of Gunelius and Sophia farmed north of Ohaton. He was known as Ike but a gentleman who knew him said he thought his given name was Israel - after his grandfather. The other son Lawrence, who farmed with Alfred later lived in Daysland. I found several people who remembered Gunelius and family but no one is left who would remember Israel. The house that the Andersons built on their farm was considered a beautiful place. Their neighbours and church friends were all there for Open House when it was completed. A few years ago that house was moved into Daysland to be a neat looking place yet. It was a 2 story. The fact that it had a kitchen nook and a dining room had impressed everyone. 

Israel's grandsons Clarence and Ingwald (sons of Andrew) homesteaded in the Lancer area of Saskatchewan, Canada a few years later. The wide open spaces of the Canadian prairies did not suit everyone. Some of the sons or their descendants ended up moving back south of the 49th parallel. The current crop of Andersons inhabiting Canada's wide open spaces primarily descend through the Israel/Andrew/Ingwald line. 

3 of Israel's sons backed by their sons about 1915: lower left my great grandfather Andrew Anderson in front of his son Clarence, lower centre Gunelius in front of his son Emil and lower right John in front of his son Victor. The picture was taken after Victor returned from fighting in World War I

Tomas Willumsen (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 31 theme: "Earliest Ancestor")

"How far back have you gone? Who was your earliest ancestor?" are questions frequently asked when folks learn I'm "into genealogy". I generally sidestep, claiming greater interest in finding details to flesh out the lives of more recent generations. In truth, I remain a bit of a skeptic when told that Charlemagne was my 36th great grandfather. The earliest ancestor in my database was even earlier than Charlemagne, namely a Norwegian named Svidrii Heytsson (born c.600) but I have indicated in a big bold note: Probably did not exist and is an imaginary person based on Norse mythology!

I won't be tackling Charlemagne or Svidrii - or anyone from that far back. I have instead selected the earliest named person (with at least a bit of information attached to his name) on one particular line of my paternal family tree. This line hailed from Sogn og Fjordane county (now part of Vestland in the Western part of Norway): Tomas Willumson of  Lærdalsøyri (Lærdal), my 10th great grandfather. He was probably born around 1560 but no record has been located. (I have certainly gone back further than this with my early New England ancestors back to England - but not so much in this part of Norway.) 

This Lærdal area was close to the Vang area of Oppland where Tomas's descendants were found, including my Dad's paternal grandmother Anna Elton. 

Sogn og Fjordane (Vestland, Norway) scene between Aurdal and  Laerdal, image by Stefan Wagener under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Sogn og Fjordane is a land of superlatives: largest glacier in mainland Norway (Jostedalsbreen, in the Breheimen mountain range), the deepest lake (Hornindalsvatnet), and the tallest waterfall in Norway (Ramnefjellsfossen). 

It also has one of the best examples of the Norwegian stave church: Borgund Church. built about 1180. Since the Valdres Samband records connect my family line to Tomas at Borgund, it would be nice to be able to find church records for him here.

22 August 2006 Flickr: Borgund Stavekirk, Norway; author zoetnet 

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Two different biographical sketches have been presented for Tomas:

1. According to a note from the Valdres Samband genealogy page, Tomas was: "a man who came from Bergen and had much money. He was buying farms and was a "grocery" man at Lærdalsøren. He also had some in Vindedalen."
2. According to the Lærdal bygdebok IV:105 - "Tomas Willumsen var prest.  Han tok borgarskap i 1643, var huseigar på Lærdalsøyri og dreiv med handel.  Ein Guttorm Andersson frå Hallingdal vart bøtelagd for å ha overfalle han i hans eige hus her rundt 1617.  Han er gravlagd under koret i Kaupanger stavkyrkje der det heng eit epitafium som viser han og familien."

[English translation - of sorts] "Tomas Willumsen was a priest.  He received permission to trade in 1643, was a house owner at Lærdalsøyri and worked in commerce.  A Guttorm Andersson from Hallingdal was fined for having [overfalle] him [he] in his to own house here around 1617.  He is buried under [koret] in Kaupanger church [stavkyrkje] where hangs an epitaph which shows he and his family."

Well, that's confusing: businessman or priest - or both? An excellent source for genealogical research in Norway is their church records. Although there are some church records dating from the 1600s, the ones for Lærdal and Borgund do not begin until about 1711. Nor is their a census record to add any clarity to what Tomas was actually up to. 

The following lineage has not been verified but Tomas is said to have been the father of Karen Tomasdatter born 1593 at Lærdal. Karen married a man named Ola Bartsalsen Voll and had a daughter Gunvor Olsdatter Voll born c.1624. Gunvor grew up and married Anders Andersen Hatleberg (1612-1692); we are slowly inching our way into the time frame when actual records can be found. Gunvor and Anders are my 7th great grandparents. 

Fortunately Norway did conduct censuses, albeit of just the male half of the population, in the Manntall of 1664 and 1666. The one conducted in 1664 did not specify ages, but the following image appears to be the one for Anders Andersen Hatleberg and sons Olla and Anders.

1664 Parish Priest's Census Manntall for Sogn og Fjordane p97

I believe the following image shows the record for Anders Anderssen Hatleberg in 1666. His age is given as 53 and three boys aged 20, 16 and 4, all conforming closely to existing family information (which would have Anders at 54, sons Ola and Anders aged 22 and 17 and the youngest boy age 5).

Sogn og Fjordane Manntall 1666 for  Borgund Lærdal p 132

Tomas Willumsen has not been spotted in either of these censuses, meaning he probably died between 1643 (when he was reportedly granted permission to trade) and 1664. 

Anders and Gunvor's daughter Velgjerd Andersdatter (b. abt.1651) was the last of this particular line of my ancestors to be born in Borgund/Lærdal in Sogn og Fjordane; she married a man from nearby Vang, Oppland where she died in 1694. 

Having used this opportunity to dig as deeply as I am able in this line (and not finding it particularly fruitful),  I will continue to focus on ancestors for whom record-finding is a better possibility. The upside, however, is that a visit to the Borgund Stavekirk and some of the superlative geographic features of Sogn og Fjordane will definitely be included in future travel plans to Norway.

Some Resources: 

• Hovland, K. and Espe, A., Lærdal Bygdebok v. 4, 2001; accessible at such places as the University of North Dakota's Brekke Collection: https://apps.library.und.edu/bygdebok/place/186
• Valdres Samband (Genealogy Collection), a Norwegian bygdelag or community organization for descendants of Norwegians who emigrated from the Valdres region in Norway to North America.  

Confirmation: A Lutheran Rite of Passage (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 30 theme: "Religious Traditions" )

1940 Confirmation at Bethel Lutheran Church near Leinan, Saskatchewan - author's father Ken Bardahl back row centre

The Evangelical Lutheran Church was the state church in Norway from 1537 until 2012. It was mandated to keep the official state records including births/baptisms, marriages and deaths/burials. All of these entailed church matters as well as vital statistics. The church records are mostly available online through the Norwegian national archives, albeit only in a browsable format in challenging Gothic script in old Norwegian.

One other church record that is often available is the list of  those confirmed into the Lutheran Church as an affirmation of the baptism done in infancy. From 1736 on, it was a requirement that young people be instructed in the catechism and pass a test before taking their first communion. Confirmation traditionally occurred at around 14-15 years of age and can often be found by searching the church records 14-16 years following a person's baptism record; sometimes confirmands were as old as 20 so scrolling through a few years' records might be required. Confirmations are fairly easy to spot even in chronological church records as lists of young people of about the same specified age. Sometimes it lists the father and, occasionally, the mother. It does not often provide much in the way of new information but is another piece of the genealogical puzzle to map out a person's life in a given location. 

For example, after finding the birth record for my paternal immigrant ancestor Hans Olai Johnson Bardahl in 1841, it was fairly easy to find his Confirmation record from 1857.

1857 Confirmation Record for Hans Olai Johnson (blue underlining) from Nesna, Nordland, Norway church book

Hans's Confirmation record is unusual in containing a generous amount of genealogical information including his name, date and place of birth, father's and mother's names, his religious knowledge and diligence (which I wish I could decipher) and finally the date on which he had been vaccinated for smallpox. Smallpox vaccine was mandated in Norway from 1810 and often shows up in the church records alongside births/baptisms, confirmations or marriages. Hans had been vaccinated 18 September 1845 at age 4.

Both paternal grandparents were Confirmed as Lutherans in the United States; much of the same record-keeping persisted in the Church although not mandated in America. My favourite record is the certificate in Norwegian for my paternal grandmother Louise Nelson, confirmed in 1897 in Erdahl, MN.

My paternal grandfather John Bardahl was confirmed in Elbow Lake, Minnesota in 1893.

1893 Confirmation of John Bardahl from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Records for Elbow Lake, MN

John was 14 when he was confirmed; his parents were Hans and Anna Barda(h)l , his birthplace was Chippewa, Minnesota and his religious knowledge was good. 

My maternal grandfather Ingwald Anderson (1893-1958) should have been confirmed in about 1907; no record can be found. This could be because his mother had been experiencing mental health issues following the still birth of a baby in 1900; family life was very disrupted by this and religious practice and guidance may have fallen by the wayside.

My brother's copy of our first year Confirmation book containing much of the Catechism that was to be learned by memory

My Dad's sister Inez Bardahl's Confirmation Photo c.1932

Conformation was a major milestone deserving of a new dress or suit and a professional photograph.

My Dad Ken Bardahl was the son of John and Louise (Nelson) Bardahl and was confirmed in 1940 at age 14. At that time, confirmands were tested orally in front of the congregation on their memorization of the Catechism. Following my Dad, my brother and I took the two years of religious training and had our Confirmation at the same church. By that time, we were all grateful to learn there would no longer be public testing of one's ability to memorize the Catechism and no record kept of one's religious knowledge as had been the case for our ancestors.

One of the last Confirmations at Bethel Prairie Lutheran Church, June 1964, Leinan area of Saskatchewan; author's brother back row left; author front row right; author's younger sister's Confirmation was also held here a few years later (no photo available as so often happens with younger siblings!)

Some Resources:

• Research Outline Norway, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah (a precursor to materials now available on the familysearch.org website Research WIKI), pages 14-16

Wescott and Bullen Cousins (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 29 theme: "Cousins")

 

Wescott - Bullen Cousins photo abt.1893-1894

This photograph shows two sets of sisters who were first cousins, their common grandparents being David Bullen Sr. and  Jane Murdie. The Bullen sisters (on the left) were daughters of David Bullen Jr. (1832-1911) and the Wescott sisters (on the right) were daughters of David's sister Sarah Catherine Bullen (1838-1933). The Bullens were living in Poynette, WI and the Wescotts in Colby, WI., a distance of over 200 miles as the crow flies. 

Pictured are: 

Maude Bullen (married name Branton) upper left

Eva Bullen (married name Wescott) lower left

Idella Wescott (married name Wicker) upper right

Mayme Wescott (married name Edwards) lower right - my maternal great grandmother

The photographer is identified on the back as M. Danks of Colby, Wisconsin. He was registered in business there from 1893-1906 (but had died on 11 February 1905). That limits the timing of this photograph, as does the apparent ages of the young women when compared to other photographs of them.  

I often wonder about the reason for the cousins being together and dressing up with corsages. Perhaps a family wedding? Of the two ring fingers visible in the image, Eva appears to be wearing a wedding ring while Mayme does not; Eva had married her first cousin Harvey Wescott (brother to Idella and Mayme) 14 October 1890 but this would have been prior to Mr. Danks having his photography business in Colby. Mayme married Charles Edwards 1 October 1896 in Great Falls, Montana. There were a couple of family weddings in Colby that occurred in 1894 when Idella Wescott married Frank Wicker and when Idella and Mayme's brother Fred married Josephine Nikodeme. Perhaps the family had gathered for one of those events, but Idella is not dressed in traditional bridal garb if this was at the time of her own wedding. In any event, the gathering of the four of them in Colby was considered worthy of this group photo.

Maude Martha Bullen (1869-1964) was born in Arlington, WI. She married Charles Branton on 16 March 1897. The following is from an undated and unsourced newspaper clipping in the possession of Mrs. A. H. Nelson at the time she and Ruth Dunlop compiled their family history in the 1930s: 

At the Mr. E. Parsonage on Wednesday evening, Nov. 28th, Miss Maude M. Bullen, daughter of Mrs. Hannah Bullen of this city, and Mr. C. H. Branton, also of this place, were joined in holy bonds of matrimony. Following the ceremony the newlyweds started on an auto trip northward to Unity, to spend a few days with the family of the bride's sister, Mrs. Eva Wescott. 

Miss Bullen has spent the major portion of her life in Poynette and was for a number of years a faithful employee of the Poynette Telephone Co. She is held in the highest esteem by her friends. For the past year she has been employed in a hospital in Madison.

Mr. Branton is foreman of a crew of county men, whose business he has successfully conducted for the past eight years; he has been a neighbor to the editor and family for about twenty years, and our associations with each other have been gilt edge. We join in extending congratulations--may they be blessed with health, happiness and prosperity.

This is where the story gets confusing. The good wishes from their wedding announcement did not result in a "happily ever after" story for Maude and Charles. In the 1900 census, just 3 years later, she was a teacher living with her parents under the name Maude Bullen, single. Charles was listed in the same town having been married 3 years to someone named Eliza with two very young children. There is no record of Maude and Charles having any children nor of their marriage having been annulled or ended by divorce. No additional marriage record has been located for Charles and Eliza. Maude is listed as single and a "call girl" with the telephone company in 1920, living with her widowed mother.  From time to time over the years, she used the name Branton. When Charles died in 1959, his obituary lists her as his surviving wife along with the implication that the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren listed were also hers. In fact Eliza had predeceased him but there is no reference to her in his obituary.  

Maude died in 1969 and is buried with her parents in the Bullen section of Hillside Cemetery in Poynette, Wisconsin.

Maude Bullen stone - photo courtesy Findagrave.com member EAK II

 

Eva Lee Bullen (1868-1939) was the first-born child of David Bullen Jr. and Hannah Hodgson in Arlington, WI.  According to her obituary, she received her education in the public schools of Arlngton, and graduated from the Poynette High School.  She went to Marathon County, WI as a teacher, then on 14 October 1890 married her cousin Harvey Wescott and had a family of  3 sons (Harry, Ross and Glenn) with him. 

At the Wescott Homestead in Wisconsin 1895 (colorized). Harvey Wescott is back row, 2nd from left and his wife Eva is on the far right of the picture with young sons Harry and Ross, standing next to her mother-in-law Sarah Catherine (Bullen) Wescott. (Seated front row are Harvey's sisters Idella and Mayme)

Eva was very active in community and church affairs. She died on 8 March 1939 at Marshfield, WI.

Eva Lee (Bullen) Wescott

Idella Louise Wescott (1869-1963)  was the first of two daughters born to George Garner Wescott and Sarah Catherine Bullen. There were 6 brothers. Idella was in the first high school graduating class of Colby, Wisconsin. Like her cousin Eva, she was a school teacher in her early years. At the age of 24, she married Frank Wicker and went on to have a family of 7 children with him. 

Frank and Idella, unknown year - photo courtesy Dawn Wicker

Frank and Idella's Family Celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary
photo courtesy Dawn Wicker 

Frank died in 1949 and Idella survived him until 1963. They are buried beside each other at Colby, WI.

Headstone for Frank and Idella in Colby Cemetery, photo courtesy kclem of findagrave.com

Mary Jane "Mayme" Wescott (1871-1926) was the second daughter born to George and Sarah (Bullen) Wescott. 

Daughter Marion (Edwards) Miller describes Mayme as follows: 

My mother, a small quiet spoken lady, blue eyes, dark auburn hair that turned grey when she was in her thirties or forties, always going around the house singing softly, a very particular housekeeper, with hands that were never idle.  She loved to sew, made all of our clothes, even coats when we were young, and when she had all of us fitted out, she made clothes for poor children. . . . When she was a young woman she went on a trip to Montana, probably around 1895, to visit a cousin in Great Falls.  The cousin had a young man boarding with her, 6 ft. tall and handsome, a railroad man who had headquarters there.  His name was Charles Francis Edwards.

For their wedding in Great Falls, Mayme made her own wedding dress, a pale mint green, soft taffeta.

Mayme and Charles Wedding Photo 1896

My grandmother Idella Edwards was the oldest of their 6 children. The family moved around a bit with Charles working on the railroad and trying his hand at mining and farming. It was during their short attempt at homesteading in Saskatchewan that my grandmother started to teach in the Lancer area, fell in love with my young homesteading grandfather and stayed behind to marry when the rest of the family moved back to the United States. Mayme was not happy about leaving her daughter behind but nevertheless hand-stitched this beautiful wool log cabin quilt for the newlyweds.

Portion of the quilt made by Mayme for daughter's wedding - now in possession of the author

Mayme died in 1926 at the age of 54 years after having had a number of teeth extracted in an apparent attempt to improve an unknown long-standing health issue. She was hospitalized in Kelso, WA on a Sunday, died on Tuesday and the funeral was held on Thursday morning in Castle Rock, WA. Her remains were cremated and the ashes are in the Portland Memorial Mausoleum.  Charles lived until 1941; his ashes are beside hers. 

The four young sisters/cousins gazing out with so much promise (and a bit of trepidation perhaps) in that early group photo were women of their time who led somewhat conventional lives that were certainly stamped with their own individuality. 

Some Resources: 

• Miller, Marion Frances Edwards; My Memories, personal memoir written for her family in January 1978 from her home at 5405 Union Street, Lexington, Michigan, p2
• Nelson, M. and Dunlop, R., Compilers,  Source Book for the Bullen Family; Privately printed in the 1930s
• Train, May Phillips, Samuel Bullen and Some of His Descendants, Privately printed 1941
• Wicker, Frank and Judith, The Wicker-Wescott Heritage, privately printed Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1998