Sigurd Edvin Olaussen Olson Grolid (1880-1946) of Hattfjelldal

Sigurd Edvin Olaussen and Granddad, Matt Hemmingsen, were cousins of Hattfjelldal’s Groli Farm. Matt emigrated in late 1887, at eleven. Sigurd was seven then, but not yet an orphan. He left Norway early in 1902, for the Thief River Falls area of Minnesota.¹ This locale was familiar to Granddad through his work, both there and on the Upper Mississippi River, per his Memoirs:

The spring of 1900 found me on an upper Mississippi River drive where the logs were winched across two lakes by manpower before reaching the outlet to the river. …  Someone in the crew had informed the foreman that those two new men had come through Hell Rapids on one log. He said “I am looking for white water men”. … My prowess was exaggerated a lot by my fellow river men who seemed to think that this young man could do the impossible – even to make a bubble on the water – and ride it, if no log was in sight… My next job, gathering up logs around the shores of Red Lake to be driven down to Thief River Falls for the sawmills, terminated with low water and frost.  

Two years later, Sigurd headed toward Thief River Falls and ultimately, one of those sawmill jobs. Meanwhile, Granddad returned to the northwestern Wisconsin area.

Sigurd: Grands, Parents and Siblings

Sigurd was born on the farm, 10 Feb 1880 and baptized 29 March, where his parents wed, on the upcoming 4 July.^2a,b They were Olaus Olsen, of Vefsen and Ingeborg Anna Marie Hemmingsdtr, of Groli. Groli, though, was headed by Ingeborg’s parents, Hemming Paulsen and his wife, Gurine Olsdtr.

The graphic below was first shared in our post (click): Christmas 1880; Uproar at Groli Farm. Ingeborg Anna Marie is shown among her seven siblings, along with birth, death and marital data of them and family elders. Sigurd was the grandchild mentioned in that saga, who was born that year and brought some joy into the picture. His story is part of the overall mission to show impacts of Norwegian emigration on family members, who remained in country.

Siblings soon arrived for Sigurd: Marie in 1881 and Olav Ingeman, in 1882, but their father died in 1883.^2c

Ingeborg remarried in 1885 to Olaus Nilsen, such that the children were soon given two half-siblings; Hemming and Elen Nikoline. Hemming died an infant in 1887 and Elen, at three, in 1891. Woefully, Ingeborg succumbed to TB, the month after Elen died.^2d

It seemed as though Ingeborg, thus, Olaus Nilsen, would have been next up, to manage Groli, but Olaus moved on responsibly, sometime before Census 1900. The children remained with their grandparents. The management of the farm soon went to Olaus’ younger brother, Magnus Nilsen, who was married, with children. Under such assumption, as the elders aged, their care fell to Magnus. Hemming Paulsen Groli died there in 1905 and Gurine, in 1915. Generations after Magnus Nilsen remained on and own Groli, today.

As for the children, Marie migrated to Vefsen in 1903, to wed Ingebrigt Olaus Larsen. Their large family was shown there, in Census 1920. Olav Ingeman died single, in 1908. Sigurd’s young life was far more complicated.

Sigurd was just eleven when his mother passed, leaving his step-father bereft of wife and last biological child. When Sigurd stepped forth as the elder sibling, he may have worn a brave face, seeming older and wiser than his years.

Sigurd’s First Children and His Emigration

Church Books of Hattfjelldal Parish tell that in 1894, Sigurd Edvin of Groli, was an unconfirmed boy; a father at barely fourteen, with Oleanna Bergitte Jonsdatter, of Gruben.^2e She was five years his elder. Now, all children come equally to Matthew 18:5. While wringing of hands seemed apparent, a common reaction, the teenage parents had been blessed with Andreas Ingeman Sigurdsen, as is our family queue.

Sigurd Edvin Olaussen was confirmed two years after Andreas Ingeman Sigurdsen was born. In yet two more years, at eighteen, Sigurd had a second child.^2f She was Susanna Sigurdsdtr, who lived six days. Her mother, Anna Jorgensdtr Kongsvold, was four years his senior.

Andreas Sigurdsen was confirmed in 1910, the document to which, gave up that Sigurd Olaussen resided in America. From there, it was established he had sailed from Trondheim in 1902, destined for St. Hilaire MN, near to Thief River Falls.

It is not for another to speculate on which path forward was best for his parents to make, on behalf of Andreas Sigurdsen. That is, if they were allowed any input, in the first place. All three were probably subject of lasting whisper. Hindsight suggests it was gotten right when Sigurd was absented, ahead of Andreas’ teenage years.

That said, Norwegians took care of their children. Andreas Sigurdsen remained in the Gruben/Garsmark area of town, nurtured among his mother’s people. He seemed to thrive, marrying in 1915, at twenty-one. His bride was Mathea Karoline Eliasdtr, b. 1883, so eleven years his senior. They had four children by 1920, the last date currently providing data for him, in Church Books and Censuses of the DigitalArkivet.

Extended Family

Time heals and extended family came with the following unions: 1911; Oleana Bergitte Jonsdtr, Garsmark, to Torger Andreas Hanssen, 1902; Anna Jorgensen Kongsvold to Johan Adolf Lundgren and 1901; Olaus Nilsen Krutnaes to Anna Karina Nilsdtr. Their family beginnings can be seen in Norway Census 1920.

Sigurd Olson Grolid: Marriage and American Children

Sigurd Edvin Olaussen, as Sigurd O. Grolid, wed Inga Dahl, in 1905, in Minnesota.³ She was originally from Oslo and like his parents passed away early from him, in 1919. He never remarried. The couple had four daughters.⁴ Two survived into adulthood, married and had children. Some of her kin were part of Sigurd’s household in US Censuses 1910 and 1920.

Sigurd moved to Tacoma WA in the mid-1920s and is, where he passed, in 1946.^5,6 He was a long time employee of St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company, his last position there, being tallyman. His Death Certificate gave Hemming Grolid as his father; his mother, as unknown. That hit this author sadly, knowing that while Hemming Paulsen Grolid was his able grandfather, his true loving parents to honor, were Olaus Olsen and Ingeborg Hemmingsdtr, as shown here.

Reflections:

Fourteen years after the uproar, the elders still ran Groli farm and Sigurd had become a boy father. Of Groli’s eight siblings, only Anne Marie and Sara remained in Hattfjelldal, who were married, with families of their own. Elen, Matias and Ingeborg Anna Marie had passed away, in town. Ole Mathias, who was Granddad’s father, and Pauline were settled in Wisconsin, but Anna Oline, who had settled in Iowa, had died. Our living dear elders, in Hattfjelldal, coped, as best they could. Elder Gurine would also outlive husband, and children, Ole Mathias and Pauline.

Now, with the feel of ongoing family purpose, Pauline’s widowed husband, Lars Rued, was also resident of Tacoma in the 1920s and Granddad’s sister Etta was close in Washington. That, but with no real evidence, other than the recount of Granddad’s timely work at Thief River Falls, gives thought that Sigurd was well received into his large loving family, in America.

The record of the genealogical fabric of our family would be incomplete, without all Sigurd’s children being connected, if only on paper. Indeed, the struggles and triumphs of all the parties begs to have their record straight; we are pleased to provide it.

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Copyright © Marilee Wein and DoubleGenealogyTheAdoptionWitness 2018-2024, author and owner. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright author and owner.

Notes and Sources:

1 Norway, Emigration Records, 1867-1960 at Ancestry.com for emigrant Sigurd Edvard Olaussen. Emigration date: 9 Apr 1902. Also, Trondheim politikammer, 1/32 Emigrant protocols, no. 11: Emigrant protocol no. 10, 1895-1902 accessed at DigitalArkivet NO for Sigurd Edvard Olaussen; Allen Line, Ship Salmo. Destination: St Hilaire MN. [St Hilaire is about eleven miles from Thief River Falls]. U.S. Census 1910 shows Sigurd [Grolid] in Thief River Falls, with a sawmill job.

2 Church Books from Hattfjelldal Parish [CBHP] 1879-1916 and Norway Censuses at DigitalArkivet for 1891, 1900, 1910 and 1920 were consulted and more precisely CBHP 1878-1898 (1826P) as follows: a) Births and Baptisms 1880-03-29 Person Sigurd Edvin. [born 02-10] https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/255/pd00000007164094 for English translation of particulars. For scanned version: https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660240.jpg b) Marriages 1880-07-04 Person Olaus Olsen (and Ingeborg Anna Marie Hemmingsdtr) . For English translation of particulars: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/327/pv00000001694442 and for the scanned version https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660355.jpg c) Burials 1883-06-06 Person Olaus Olsen. For English translation of particulars: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/267/pg00000001305039 and for scanned version https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660383.jpg d) Burials 24 May 1891 Person Ingeborg Anna Maria Hemmingsdtr https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/267/pg00000001305223 and https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660392.jpg  e) Births and Baptisms 1894 Person Andreas Ingeman (Sigurdsen): https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/255/pd00000007165738 and https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660298.jpg f) Births and Baptisms 1898 Susanne (Sigurdsdtr) https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/255/pd00000007166083 and https://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070212660309.jpg

3 All Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2022 results for Sigurd O Grolid 19 Oct 1905 Red Lake MN accessed at Ancestry.com

4 All Web: Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934: results of search for “Mother = Dahl” at Red Lake or Pennington Co., MN provide positive results for years 1906, 1909, 1910 and 1915. Baby Grolid, born 1906, died in infancy. One died a child, and two were married with children.

5 U.S., City Directories 1822-1995 for Sigurd O. Grolid.

6 Washington U.S., Death Records 1907-2017 for Segard Olson Grolid. He had TB.