Friday, April 7, 2017

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she should go to Green Bay and check in to the St. Vincente Hospital. She thought she could surely get better there. So in spite of the fact that her husband could see that she was on deaths door, in order to please her he left with her in tow from Amasa on the 7th of August and arrived at the hospital that same evening. She did however die that night and the next day we had Ch. Rasmusen bring her body to our house. We were joined by mother and Charley, sister and their little daughter all of them came to our house. That same evening we called on Pastor Lund to join us at our house and he came and baptized the child and gave her the name Hazel Caroline Christine Rasmusen. The baptism was on the 8th of August and Sine was laid to rest on the 11th of that same month. Charley, his sister and Hazel were with us for ten weeks after which he bought himself a house of his own where they moved into. A short while before Sine passed away she had given mother the ring that she was holding for Artey so that she could take care of it.  


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My second wife's given name was Ane Marie Nielsen and she was born on the 8th of April 1846. She was the daughter of a crofter who went by the name Niels Petersen who hailed from Bruserup which was in Væggeløse County which was on the island of Falster. When she was about 20 years of age she left Denmark with ten or so acquaintances from back home and ended up in Marquette Michigan sometime between 1868 and 1869. They stayed there for one night. The next day they went with the mail carrier on foot along the railroad tracks up through Negaunee and in to Hell Town, which is now called Ishpeming. This was their final destination because they had a slew of friends who lived there and could supply them with places to stay. The following day a man stopped by who was looking for a girl to come work for him and mother jumped at the opportunity. He was a German who ran a saloon and boarding house and had a multitude of children. She worked there for about a year, then she got married to Peter Johansen Hylsenberg and together they moved to New Denmark where they bought land together. They didnøt have enough money to start farming so they agreed that they would travel back to Hell Town. However, times had

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

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Caroline was born on the 31st of August 1880. She was never really that well physically but she was quick on the uptake when learning new things. This rang true for both school and around the home where she was never afraid to get her hands dirty and get things done. She was confirmed on the 21st of April 1895 by Pastor TJ Ostergaard in New Denmark. From that point on she did leave for a while in order to go earn some money but she did spend most of her time at home. When she turned 21 years of age, she and her mother told me that I could have the farm if I wanted it. Naturally I had to officially buy it and pay for it. (Through this action my wife fulfilled the promise she made to me when I first moved in. However, I didn't inquire as to what exactly what costs were involved and they weren't forthcoming with what they were looking for either. As a matter of fact I ended up telling them that I didn't want it. I felt that I was to old to put myself in that kind of debt and it didn't look like any of my sons were thinking about sticking around to work the land. It also didn't feel right that Sine should be driven from her ancestral home when she in fact was the only heir. So I suggested to them that everything should remain the way it was for as long as we lived together. Upon hearing this, Sine said that she would


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look at me as if I were her father and that for as long as I lived there I could consider the house and land to be my property. It was during the winter of 1901-02 that mother and I offered Albert and Sine the opportunity to rent the farm as partners. However, she quickly quickly declined, stating that she had no interest in doing that, neither by herself or with a partner. Albert was far more forthcoming and took the deal that we offered. He took over everything and was also to pay all expenses, including $36.00 which went to mother and me. He also hired Sine for one year and he paid her $1.00 a week. He was also supposed to receive all earnings from the farm between the 1st of April 1902 and the 1st of April 1903 but after that period he wanted to be done. After that the farm was rented by Peter Olsen for the period of one year which ran from the 8th of April 1903 to the 8th of April 1904. Peter rented it for the amount of $160.00 which was to be paid over four quarters. Sine moved in with him and worked there for a while but that fall she got married and left with her husband Rasmus to move to Amasa where he was from. However, that winter she came down with influenza and was unable to shake it. On the 18th of June 1905 she had a daughter, but she continued to feel ill, so she got the idea that 

Monday, April 3, 2017

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A few days later she arrived at our house. However, she was very weak, and I immediately left to fetch Dr. Vasburg from Cooperstown. We sent for Rockwell and Artey as well. After a few days we began to realize that her condition wasn't going to be improving. So one day mother and I told Rockwell that if he wanted us to we would take care of Hanne the best we could. That way he's be able to continue tending to his affair and maybe be able to make a bit of money. As long as he made sure to come by and see Hanne from time to time, and maybe even help out a bit around the house. We also didn't want him to leave Artey with us since we already had enough to see to without having to watch him as well. Rockwell was very keen at these suggestions and he and Artey swiftly took off. He did come back quite often to see Hanne and on several occasions stayed for several days. Hanne remained ill until the 21st of March 1902 which is when she passed away. A few days before she died she had sent for Sine and given her a ring which she was to take care of it and give it to Artey some day. It was the only inheritance that she had to leave for him. Sine took the ring into her care, and even though Rockwell wasn't present at the moment of her passing, Jørgen did fetch him that very same day. 


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We asked him if he had the money needed to pay for her funeral, which he of course didn't. So I of course had to figure out something else. The day after her funeral I suggested that we sit down together and look at where we were at financially. 
We had previously lent them $75.00 as well as $50.00 that went towards the land that they had purchased. $30.00 for Hanne's operation and $62.00 that went to Dr. Vasburg. On top of that there was the funeral and a bunch of other expenses that we had procured while she was sick. We combined it all and came up with a figure of $300. So we asked him if he'd be willing to wash that against Hanne's inheritance which was an offer he found very agreeable. So we had a judge draw up papers and Rockwell gave us a receipt for $300. With this action he declined all further rights to an inheritance that Hanne might have had coming her way. 
Meanwhile, in order to cover all of the bills at hand, mother had to mortgage the farm for the amount of $300. The property had been previously mortgaged in the amount of $200 by mother herself from when she bought the land together with her first husband, Peter Johansen Hylsenberg.

Friday, March 31, 2017

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They lived in Mason which was on the South side but I seem to have forgotten their house number. The house that they lived in was owned by an old bachelor who lived in the front part of the house while they occupied the back. Each had their own entryway. They took in a young boy from the orphanage, but he was quite ill when they got him and he died soon after. Back then Jørgen worked in Green Bay and I think that it was him who paid for the funeral. The boy was buried in Preble in Aldrich's cemetery. A short while later they took in another boy from the orphanage and since they were unable to figure out if he had been baptized or not, so they did it again and gave him the name Artey Rockwell. They then left there and moved further East, to the North side of Mason Street. During their time there is when Sofie Peter Andersen stayed with them while she underwent an operation on her chest. Later on they moved to Van Buren street where they lived for about a year. Then Rockwell journeyed to Iowa to a place where he had been before and after a while Fred Rockwell and I drove all of their belongings down to the train depot. Hanne left to join him but they soon returned and stayed in Preble for a short while.



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They then traveled to Galesburg in Shawano County where they bought 40 acres of land. They built a house on the property and lived there for a year. It so happened that they managed to have a son of their own, but he only survived a few days past his birth. Hanne didn't seem to be able to recover and as a matter of fact she grew worse. In July it was decided that she should be brought to Green Bay and on her way there she stopped by Frank Barne's place who lived on the West side. One day, Rockwell stopped by and told us that Hanne required an operation but that he lacked the $30 that it was going to cost. I went and saw Ferdinand Vittig and borrowed the money which went straight to Rockwell. The operation didn't help and after she had lain there for a while she was moved to the St. Vincent's Hospital. She had been there for a while before mother and I made it to go see her. She suffered much but remained convinced that she would be able to return home soon. So I asked her if perhaps it wouldn't be a better idea if she came and stayed with us until she felt a little stronger. Truth be told that was exactly what she wanted to do and that was the "home" she was referring to.


















Wednesday, March 29, 2017

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right next door to them. She was therefore home alone a lot but often came to our house to complain and we in turn did our best to calm her down. Also almost every time I ended up having to bring her back home as well as having to procure everything she needed on a daily basis. This went on for eight months until she moved back in with us. 
When they got married he was in possession of a 40 acre farm but when they got divorced he no longer had the farm. So what ever little in possessions she had when she went in was exactly what she had with her when she left again. We gave her a cow and then immediately turned around an bought it from her again for $35.00. I then borrowed $75.00 from Stefen C. Petersen based on liquidating her belongings because she needed to sell most of her things to put some money in her pocket. This is also how Petersen ended up getting his money back. She was faced with having to find a job again and for some time she was in Oconto, Crystal Falls and Green Bay. For a couple of years she was also a member of the Salvation Army. During her time there she became friendly with another member, a George L. Rockwell, and they eventually got married. However, they needed to leave the Salvation Army, because the organization's religious roots forebad a divorcee to remarry.  



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Before she got married to Rockwell she was legally divorced from her first husband. It so happened that three years after that they had gotten separated and while she had kept to herself that there was a widow whom Peter Nielsen had gotten acquainted with who was eager to get remarried. So he approached Hanne and asked if she might be interested in divorcing him to which she of course said yes. Peter even offered to pay for any and all expenses connected to the process. A few days later he returned and asked if she wouldn't please be the one to file for the divorce because he simply couldn't to which she agreed as well. At the time she was unaware that he had another woman lined up, otherwise she probably wouldn't have said yes, let alone offered to help him with the proceedings. yet she did, and a few days after that he remarried. Not long after that she got married to Rockwell. Even though I believe that they had a decent life together we were still the ones that ended up having to feed and clothe them afterwards. I also ended up driving several loads of firewood down to them while they lived in Green Bay. He worked in Enock's broom factory and even though he made a few dollars a day it simply never seemed like it was enough.

Monday, March 27, 2017

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There were three members from the Ansgar lodge and three from the Foresters who carried him to his grave. I put a tombstone on his grave which cost me $32.50. I also placed a marble border around the grave on the 24th of November 1903 which cost me $32.00. On the same day we put a similar border around Hanne's grave, even though the previous year another border had been placed around her grave costing me $15.00. Back when Jørgen had died and was buried and I had settled his affairs I gave $25.00 to Sine out of Jørgen's money. I did so because she had been so good to Jørgen during his sickness. So when the time came to put a tombstone on his grave I asked Sine if she wanted to kick in the $25.00 to help put a tombstone on Hanne's grave as well, to which she agreed. So one day, mother, Albert and myself  went to green Bay and ordered two tombstones that were to our liking. The cost for Hanne's tombstone came out of Jørgen's money which was the same as saying that I was paying for it.


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Hanne was weak from birth, both in body and soul. and had a very difficult time learning and comprehending things. She did see the priest for two years and did manage to get confirmed. She was large and stocky and appeared a lot stronger than she was. She also suffered from catarrh and asthma and was therefore unable to do much of anything. Furthermore, every time she attempted something she would approach the problem in a backwards round about sort of way.
Then when she had gotten confirmed she was forced to head out and earn a living because we were such a large family with many mouths to feed. She acquired a position as a servant with Hans Nielsen in the town of Eaton where she remained for one summer. After that she went to Green Bay as well as a number of other places, but she remained unable to remain anywhere for very long. When she was twenty years old she married her nephew Peter Nielsen. She had mentioned that the first morning together she had made breakfast and he reamed her out because it wasn't good enough. It even got so bad that he hit her, sometimes so hard that it brought her to her knees. She later testified to that in court when they were getting a divorce. 
He only stayed with her for a short while before he left her and stayed with his parents who lived 

Friday, March 24, 2017

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and I sent him $15.00 to cover his return trip home. During the summer of 1900 he fell ill, which got him $65.00 in payout from his medical insurance through the Ansgur Lodge and was brought to him by Jørgen Larsen. It then happened that in the fall of 1900 that Carl Marcusen, who was a fire insurance agent, journeyed on to the next life. Time kept speeding towards the 1st of January and towards a meeting where they were to elect someone to replace him. So I asked Jørgen if he thought he was able to fulfill the responsibilities of an insurance agent. 
What good does it do to think about that, he says. I'm sick and I'm not in any shape to walk anywhere. I don't have a horse to get me where I need to go so why bother wasting another thought on it. I told him to consider the job since they already had the horses and that he would be able to take one of them whenever he wanted to. When there were only a few days left I implored him to get out there and campaign for the job. He simply brushed me aside saying that campaigns cost money which was another thing that he didn't have any of. I tell him that we can fix that. I hand him $2.00 and tell him to go and put the horses in front of the wagon. Then he should head to town and visit the saloons where he'd be able to find people with whom he could speak about his desire to become a fire insurance agent. 



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He had to face facts. He wasn't well and couldn't engage in any sort of hard labor. However, if he went out there and bought people a few drinks I was certain that it would all turn out alright. So forth he went and everything worked out. So in the beginning of January 1901 he officially became an agent and even won a reelection in January of 1902. However, at the end of 1902 he gave up and couldn't do it anymore. The pay that resulted from him taking this job was not enough to cover his expenses and I constantly had to help him financially. I will say though that it seemed to be benefiting him since it gave him something to do and acted as a distraction from his ailments. I ensured that his associations and insurances remained in good standing for several years. If I hadn't done that they would have lost all of their value and I was earning pretty good interest off of my investment. It was towards the summer of 1903 that he asked if his medical insurance money was all gone. He was referring to the $65.00 he had gotten some time ago but I ignored him because I couldn't stomach telling him that it had run out some time ago. Then one day he tells me that it would be best if he gets the land he he owns signed out of his name before he dies. So on the 18th of July 1903 Albert got the deed for the land and Jørgen died a few months later on the 29th of September 1903.