52 Ancestors No.2: Ole and Emma (Hanson) Hegna's Emigration from Norway

This is the second of 52 blog posts for the 52 Ancestors challenge ~ 2015 edition. The original idea for #52Ancestors is to "have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”

 Last week's blog post was about my husband's Norwegian (paternal) great grandmother Hannah (Hegna) Foreman (1885-1965). 

This week I will write about what I know so far about the Hegna family's emigration from Norway to the United States. We have three critical sources of information for emigration:

1. the 1900 Spokane Washington census, 
2. the 1870 Strong Prairie, Wisconsin Census and 
3. the 1920 Naturalization papers.

Hannah (Hegna) Foreman was born in Wisconsin on the 19th of July 1885, daughter of Norwegian emigrant Ole. O Hegna (emigrated from Norway between 1861-1862) and Emma C. (Hanson) (emigrated from Norway 1872)

1900 Census

We know when Ole and Emma emigrated because of questions 16, 17 and 18 on the 1900 census for Spokane Washington: 

1900 Spokane Washington census
Enumerated on the 19th of June, 1900

General Population Schedule Questions:

1. Number of dwelling home in order of visitation by enumerator (255)
2. Number of family in order of visitation by enumerator (258)
3. Name (Ola Hegna)
4. Relation to head of the family (Head)
5. Color or Race Enumerators were to mark "W" for White, "B" for Black, "Ch" for Chinese, "Jp" for Japanese, or "In" for American Indian. (W)
6. Sex (M)
7. Date of Birth (Nov. 1854)(Emma Apr 1852)
8. Age (45) (Emma 48)
9. Was the person single, married, widowed, or divorced? (M)
10. How many years has the person been married? (15)
11. For mothers, how many children has the person had? (Emma replied 6)
12. How many of those children are living? (Emma replied 6)
13. What was the person's place of birth? (Norway) (Emma replied Norway)
14. What was the person's father's place of birth? (Norway) (Emma replied Norway)
15. What was the person's mother's place of birth? (Norway) (Emma replied Norway)
16. What year did the person immigrate to the United States? (1861) (Emma replied 1873)
17. How many years has the person been in the United States? (39) (Emma replied 27)
18. Is the person naturalized? (This is either Na or No)
19. Occupation, trade, or profession (House Carpenter)
20. How many months has the person not been employed in the past year? (5)
21. How many months did the person attend school in the past year? 
22. Can the person read? 
23. Can the person write? 
24. Can the person speak English? 
25. Is the person's home owned or rented? (O)
26. If it is owned, is the person's home owned free or mortgaged? (F)
27. Does the person live in a farm or in a house? (H)
28. If a person lived on a farm, the enumerator was to write that farm's identification number on its corresponding agricultural questionnaire in this column 

On the same Census, Mary Hegna follows.Born in 1833 she is a 67 year old widow. She had 12 children of which 7 were living. Mary was born in Norway and her mother and father were as well. She emigrated in 1862 and had lived in the U.S. for 38 years, Her home was owned free.

1870 Census

The 1870 census shows us Ole. O. Hegna at 14 years of age with his family living in the Town of Strong Prairie Wisconsin with his family: Father Ole (born 1830, Norway); mother Maria (born 1831, Norway), sister Ellen (born 1859, Norway), sister Margaret (born 1861 at Sea - Atlantic Ocean), brother Jolef (born 1864 Wisconsin), sister Ingborg (born 1865 Wisconsin), and sister Rebecca (born 1869 Wisconsin). 

1920 Naturalization Papers

Petition for Naturalization Part I

Here we learn the following facts about Ole O. Hegna:

• His residence was 612 Scott St. Spokane, Washington
• Ole O. Hegna is working as a machinist helper
• He was born the 14th November 1854 Norway
• He emigrated to the U.S.A. through Canada around April 1, 1861
• His first port of arrival was Chicago, Illinois on the 4th of July 1861
• His vessel name was not remembered in 1920

Petition for Naturalization Part II

 Here we learn the following facts about Emma (Hanson) Hegna:

• Emma was born the 18th of April 1852 in Kongsberg, Norway
• There are five children:
• Hana born July 19, 1886 at Wisconsin; resides at Ontario Canada.
• Mabel born October 12, 1888  at Wisconsin; resides at Worley, Idaho
• Rena born August 19, 1889 at Wisconsin; resides at alberta, Canada
• Ella born May 1, 1894 at Wisconsin; resides at Wallace, Idaho
• Carl born May 21, 1897 at Wisconsin; resides at Tacoma, Washington

Affidavit (Part I) of Ole O. Hegna

Affidavit (Part II) of Ole O. Hegna

Here we learn the following facts about Ole O. Hegna:

• Ole. O Hegna's father was naturalized before Ole was of age
• Ole. O Hegna's father  held 40 acres of government land
• Ole. O Hegna's father died in 1879
• Ole. O Hegna voted since 1876
• Ole. O Hegna served on a jury
• Ole. O Hegna was a councilman (see 1902 news clipping below )

Hannah (Hegna) Foreman's father
Ole O. Hegna (1855-1935)

Hannah (Hegna) Foreman's father
Emma (Hanson) Hegna

Emma (Hanson) Hegna's obituary

For further research is a document believed to belong to my husbands great great great grandfather who applied for naturalization in 1877

52 Ancestors No.1: Hannah (Hegna) Foreman (1885-1965)

This is the first of 52 blog posts for the  52 Ancestors challenge ~ 2015 edition. The original idea was to  "Have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.” 

This week's blog post is about my husband's Norwegian (paternal) great grandmother Hannah (Hegna) Foreman. It was a real challenge to track her records in two states (Wisconsin and Washington), two provinces (Alberta and Ontario) and multiple cities. And I still have not tracked down any photographs but I have only just begun.

This is what I have so far:

1885 Birth: Wisconsin

Hannah was born in Wisconsin on the 19th of July 1885, daughter of Norwegian emigrant Ola. O Hegna (emigrated from Norway 1862) and Emma C. (Hanson) (emigrated from Norway 1872)

Hannah had three sisters (Mable, Rena and Ella) and one brother (Carl). 

1900 Census: Spokane, Washington

In this census, we learn that Hannah's father Ola is a house carpenter. We can also determine from this census that the family moved from Wisconsin to Washington some time between the births of  Rena (1888 Wisconsin) and Oscar (1891 Washington).

"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11841-133750-79?cc=1325221 : accessed 7 January 2015), Washington > Spokane > ED 54 Fairfield, McCoy, and Rockford Precincts Rockford town > image 25 of 38; citing NARA microfilm publication T623, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

1907 Marriage: Spokane, Washington

Hannah married Frederick Dixon Foreman on the 10th of April 1907 in Washington, U.S.A. when she was 21 years old. She was a dressmaker at the time. Frederick's occupation is listed as carpenter.

1907 Marriage Certificate

1911 Census: Calgary Alberta

Between 1907 and 1911, Frederick Dixon and Hannah (Hegna) Foreman made their way to Calgary Alberta. Daughters Lola (Nichola) and Geraldine and son Donald Jennings were born in Alberta. Frederick's occupation is listed as carpenter.

Year: 1911; Census Place: Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; Page: 36; Family No: 252

1921 Census: Beamsville, Ontario

In 1921, the Foremans are found in Beamsville, Ontario and two more children have arrived: Shirley (born 1914 in Alberta) and Kenneth (born 1920 in Ontario). (Patricia will be born in 1922)

Hannah's language is listed as Norwegian and she is shown to have naturalized in 1907. 

(It is interesting to note that Frederick's income is recorded as $2000 which is notably high in comparison to other carpenters of the day?)

Year: 1921: Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 70;
Census Place: Beamsville (Village), Lincoln, Ontario;
Page Number: 17

Beamsville Ontario (circa 1910)
Toronto Public Library Special Collection

1940 Voters List - Newtonbrook

1945 Voters List - Eglinton, Toronto City

In 1945, Fred and Hannah were living with Patricia on Eglinton Avenue.

Hannah is a dressamaker and Frederick is a carpenter.

1949 Voters List - Florence Avenue, North York

In 1949 Frederick and Hannah are living with their daughter Patricia (Foreman) sutton and her husband. Fred is still working as a carpenter.

1965 Death: Toronto, Ontario

Norway Links

• Norway Genealogy

U.S.A. Links:

• Spokane Library Genealogy Resources
• Family Search: Spokane Washington
• Flickr Toronto Public Library Photo Collection

Ontario Links:

• Newtonbrook photos - Toronto Public Library
• Lincoln Public Library photos
• Niagara Green Belt Historic Houses

2015: 52 Ancestors: Week1 - Fresh Start

Thankfully Amy Crow has decided to host the 52 Ancestors - the 2015 edition again and this year's challenge will be the same as 2014 with a few new and interesting twists. This year, in addition to weekly postings of individual ancestors, there will be weekly themes

Week 1's theme is:

 Fresh Start — "Seems appropriate for the beginning of the year. What ancestor had a fresh start? What ancestor has been so confusing to research that you’d like to have a fresh start?"

I have had an exciting fresh start this week on my husband's family history (Surname: Foreman) thanks in large part to a simple search in the Toronto Stars Archives (for only $9.95 for one week).

I found an obituary for his grandfather Donald Jennings Foreman. (1911-1967)

This discovery gave me Donald Jenning's siblings and when I added that genealogical information to my ancestry.ca research I then found the Foreman family on the 1911 (Calgary, Alberta) and 1921 census (Beamsville, Ontario).

Donald Jenning's mothers name was a real brickwall and there she was on the censuses - Hannah! (Hannah Hegna a Norwegian ancestor). Her birthplace in the census was U.S.A. (later determined to be Spokane, Washington) and all of Hannah's siblings and Hannah's marriage certificate to Frederick Dixon Foreman (Donald's father) followed!

By morning, my ancestry.ca app looked like this:

A fresh start indeed! I am so excited to see what's in store in 2015.

All from one brickwall and one obituary!


Link:

• Toronto Stars Archives