Iver and Marit ~ My 2nd Great-Grandparents

Iver Iverson and Marit Thorsdatter were my paternal 2nd great-grandparents. I've written a couple of blog posts about them in the past.  Iver served in the U.S. Civil War. I wrote a bit about that in a post back in 2013. You can read that post by clicking HERE. I shared Marit's death certificate in a blog post which you can read by clicking HERE.

Iver and Marit were both born in Norway. He emigrated from Norway in April of 1858. When I wrote about Iver in 2013, I didn't have any concrete evidence about when he immigrated to the United States. But thankfully I do now and I will share Iver's immigration record in a future post. Unfortunately, I don't have immigration information for Marit, or Mary as she was known in the United States.

Iver Iverson married Marit Thorsdatter on 23 February 1860 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Iver and Marit were the parents of nine or ten children.*

1. Edward Theodore Iverson (1860-1916)

2. Caroline Lena Gioline Iverson (1864-1882)

3. Mathelda Iverson (1866-1910)

4. Christopher Iverson (1868-1925) [my grandfather]

5. Iver Martin Iverson (1870-1940)

6. Oscar Iverson (1871-1958)

7. William Iverson (1873-)

8. Julia Randina Iverson (1875-1973)

9. Emely or Emily Maria Iverson (1878-1880)

10. William Franklin Iverson (1883-Abt 1885)

* Child No. 7 and Child No. 10 may be the same person. This needs further research to resolve.

As I mentioned, I now have concrete evidence showing when Iver immigrated to America. I have a digital copy of the document that lists Iver leaving for America in April of 1858. I also have digital copies of documents that list Iver's brother Ole and Ole's family, Iver's parents and another brother named Christopher, leaving for America as well. I'll be sharing these documents and other information about my Norwegian family lines in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

 
© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

52 Ancestors: #32 ~ Oscar Iverson

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

This is a photo of Oscar Iverson, my paternal great-granduncle and brother of my great-grandfather, Christopher Iverson. I introduced you to Christopher and his brother Edward in previous 52 Ancestors posts.

Oscar was the sixth child born to Iver Iverson and Marit Thorsdatter. In my previous post about Christopher, I mentioned that Oscar became a carpenter like Christopher. Also like Christopher, Oscar was listed as a house carpenter in census records. Both the 1920 and 1930 federal censuses listed Oscar's occupation as a house carpenter. In the 1940 census, Oscar was listed as carpenter in the building construction industry.

Oscar was born on 16 November 1871 in Birch Cooley Township, Olivia, Renville, Minnesota. He was married and divorced twice. He first married Serena Mary Christopherson, daughter of Ole Anthon Christopherson and Aslaug Nilsdatter. Serena was the sister of Anna Christopherson, who was married to Oscar's brother Christopher.

Oscar and Serena were married on 10 October 1894 in Benson, Swift, Minnesota. They were the parents of four children.

1. Pearl Olga Marie Iverson (1897-?)
2. Ernst Oliver Iverson (Abt 1899-1899)
3. Bert Oliver Iverson (1900-1951)
4. Dollie Selma Iverson (1905-1990)

Oscar and Serena divorced sometime before 2 August 1909 because that's the date that Oscar married his second wife, Ella Lind, daughter of Edward Lind and Katharine Kane.

Oscar and Ella were married in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They didn't have any children together. I'm not sure when they divorced. In the 1930 census, Oscar was living alone. Ella was not listed in the household. He was listed as married. Perhaps they were separated at that time. In the 1940 census, Oscar was listed as divorced.

Oscar passed away on 8 December 1858 in Kirkland, King, Washington at 87 years of age. He was buried in Hillgrove Cemetery, which is located in Des Moines, King, Washington.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Sources:

"United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHNM-YFY : accessed 06 Aug 2014), Oscar Iverson, Clark, Lewis, Washington, United States; citing sheet 9B, family 223, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821933.

"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XC3K-LQ4 : accessed 06 Aug 2014), Oscar Iverson, Centralia, Lewis, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0019, sheet 6A, family 131, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 2507.

"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K9S9-H7S : accessed 06 Aug 2014), Oscar Ivarson, Ward 12, Centralia, Centralia Election Precinct, Lewis, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 21-20, sheet 4A, family 6, NARA digital publication of T627, roll 4350.

52 Ancestors: #31 ~ Edward Theodore Iverson

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

In last week's 52 ancestors post, I shared a photo of and information about my paternal great-grandfather Christopher Iverson. Today, I'd like to introduce you to Christopher's older brother, Edward Theodore Iverson.

Edward was the oldest of ten children born to Iver Iverson and Marit Thorsdatter. Iver and Marit were both from Norway. They immigrated to the United States and were married in La Crosse, Wisconsin on 23 February 1860. Iver served in the U.S. Civil War.

Edward was born on 12 November 1860 in Minnesota. He married Ellen Johanna Arenson on 9 April 1882 in Chippewa Falls, Swift, Minnesota.

Edward and Ellen were the parents of ten children:

1. Herman Theodore Iverson (1883-1950)
2. Casper Ingvald Iverson (1885-1960)
3. William Julius Iverson (1887-1958)
4. Albert M. Iverson (1889-?)
5. Eilert Johan Iverson (1891-1957)
6. Marie A. Iverson (1894-?)
7. Elmer Oscar Iverson (1897-1955)
8. Henry Evin Iverson (1900-Abt 1959)
9. Mabel Aleda Iverson (1903-1985)
10. Myrtle G. Iverson (1906-1978)

Edward lived all of his life in Minnesota. He passed away on 19 November 1916 in Pennington, Minnesota. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, which is located in Thief River Falls, Pennington, Minnesota.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Marit's Death Certificate

In early November, I shared my Death Causes Pedigree Chart on my blog. There were quite a few "Unknowns" on that chart. Since publishing that blog post, I ordered three death certificates from the Minnesota Historical Society. They have a Death Certificates Index online. It was so easy to search for my ancestors and order their death certificates.

Two of the death certificates I ordered have helped me replace the "Unknowns" with a cause of death in my pedigree chart.

The death certificate I'm sharing today doesn't replace an "Unknown" on my Death Causes Pedigree Chart because this ancestor is a generation back from what is shown on the pedigree chart.

This death certificate is quite unusual. At least, to me. I don't recall ever seeing one like it before. Thankfully, the Minnesota Historical Society included an Example of a Non-Pre-Printed Card (1905-1907). It explains the information contained in the death certificate.

This death certificate is for my 2nd great-grandmother, Marit (Thorsdatter) Iverson. She was married to my 2nd great-grandfather, Iver Iverson. I wrote a blog post about Iver. He served in the U.S. Civil War. Here's a link to that blog post if you'd like to read it ~ Military Monday ~ Iver Iverson – A U.S. Civil War Soldier from Norway.

Thanks to the Example of a Non-Pre-Printed Card (1905-1907) below, I was able to decipher Marit's death certificate.

Information gleaned from Marit's Death Certificate:

• Name – Marit Iverson (she went by Mary in America)
• Date of Death – October 8, 1905
• Place of Death – Chippewa Falls, Pope, Minnesota
• Cause of Death – Asthma
• Sex – Female
• Race – White
• Marital Status – Widow
• Father's Name – Thor Rye
• Mother's Name – Marit Rye
• Age at Death – 70
• Place of Birth – Norway
• Father's Place of Birth – Norway
• Mother's Place of Birth – Norway

Marit's cause of death was asthma. I didn't know she had asthma. I am quite intrigued by this finding. Why? Because I also suffer from asthma. I had it as a child, but seemed to grow out of it. Then sometime in my early 40s, it returned. I use asthma meds to keep it under control.

Is asthma an inherited disease? According to WebMD, it is. I found an article about the risk factors for Asthma in the Asthma Health Center on WebMD . Regarding Family History and Asthma, the following was stated,

"Blame Mom or Dad or both for your asthma. Your inherited genetic makeup predisposes you to having asthma. In fact, it's thought that three-fifths of all asthma cases are hereditary. According to a CDC report, if a person has a parent with asthma, he or she is three to six times more likely to develop asthma than someone who does not have a parent with asthma."

Marit is an ancestor on my paternal side. On my maternal side, I have found another ancestor who suffered from asthma. My maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster was discharged from service in the U.S. Civil War due to "asthma of long standing."

Another interesting fact in Marit's death certificate is that Rye was listed as the surname of Marit's parents. Her father's surname was actually Toreson according to my records. The name of "Rye" is actually the name of the farm in Norway that the family came from. I also don't understand why Marit's mother was listed as Marit. My records indicate her mother's name was Rangdi Nilsdatter. Perhaps someone made a mistake on the certificate.

It's amazing how much information I was able to glean from what appeared to be a rather sparse death certificate for Marit.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last