George Daniel Hemmingsen 1907-1967: Cousin, Tugboats and Such

George Daniel Hemmingsen was the son of our paternal greats: Uncle Ed and Aunt Anna. Ed was six years junior to his brother, Matt, our granddad: eight, to their sister, Etta.

The elder Hemmingsen siblings left Norway in the 1880s for Wisconsin and migrated to the northwest in the early 1900s. Etta, as Mrs. William Church, settled in Washington State, to farm. Matt continued to Vancouver Island, B.C., to establish himself in logging. Ed kept his residential and vocational die aloft, as a sometime resident of Washington State; sometime, of British Columbia. He logged much and sometimes farmed. Sometimes he and Matt partnered in logging. Ed was also a successful innkeeper. The three siblings kept close. (See note 1).

George was born in Monroe, Snohomish, WA, in 1907.

George the Cousin

George was eldest of cousins, the seven grandchildren of Ole Hemmingson (1851-1903) and Beret Has Mathisdatter (1853-1887). Etta and William had no issue. Matt and Margaret had five: two girls (1911-12) (Margaret, Marie), followed by three boys (1913-1920) (John, Bill, Bob). Ed and Anna had two: George in 1907 and Betty, 1920, such that Ed’s two flanked Matt’s five.  In truth, Bob and Betty were both born 1920; Betty not two months the younger.

Their fathers’ partnerships allowed George and his cousins to grow up in British Columbia’s splendor. They dwelt in the old-growth rain forest at Port Renfrew, their logging camp up the Strait of Juan De Fuca. The Pacific Ocean often roils there. They had come from Chemainus, on the quietly gorgeous, inland Salish Sea. There were years at Lake Cowichan, a jewel between the two, and wondrous rivers throughout.

The cousins shared emergent adulthood together, in the floral city of Victoria, which bathes its majestic architecture in sweet scents. They embraced life joyously.

George Hemmingsen: Early Years

George began life in Washington State, but in 1909, his family joined Matt et al. in Comox, B.C. He unlikely had recall of any Snohomish years. Ed was now foreman at a logging camp.

George grew up with this tapestry of Mosjøen, Norway – Anna’s birthplace and hometown. Ed was born in Hattfjelldal, less than 50 miles away. The towns are in Inner Helgeland Region.

In 1914, George accompanied his mother to Norway; the only cousin likely to have met a paternal great-grandparent: Gurine Olsdatter.² She, who lived on Groli farm in Hattfjelldal, just as she had since 1855, died next year, at 85. George would have met his maternal grandmother, Birgithe Danielsdatter, in Mosjøen, along with much of Anna’s family. George was seven, so would recall this momentous journey. It ended with a sail under the Statue of Liberty.

Ed returned to Washington State around 1918 to dairy farm, the trade honed on the homestead of his Wisconsin youth.³ George likely milked as his father had done. The family lived alongside a logging camp at Acme, Whatcom County. Etta was in Spokane, but soon moved to poultry farm in unincorporated Wickersham, at Acme, near Bellingham. George likely gathered eggs for her.

Ed relocated his family to Canada at Lake Cowichan in 1926. Emigration papers showed that he was quite successful and recorded him as set to work at “Eleo Logging Company” at Cowichan. George was now nineteen. Father and son were partners, before he launched out.

Etta and Bellingham remained important to George. Oddly, in 1931, George appeared in the City Directory of Bellingham, at Wickersham and twice in that year’s Canada Census, one in Victoria. The second record survives, although scratched out. It is here for family interest as Ed was superintendent of a logging camp, with George, at Helmcken, part of the Malahat Land District.

In 1932, Ed and Anna bought Riverside Inn at Lake Cowichan, to rebuild. It had burned to ruin. It re-opened April 15, 1933, under their management, with George.⁴ They held it for five years.

George Hemmingsen weds Lucille Gillespie

The couple gave residence of Victoria, B.C., when they wed – in Bellingham WA – on January 3, 1938, at the Faith Lutheran Church.⁵ George was eight years Lucille’s senior. They enjoyed a marvelous life together including a daughter, Anita.

Lucille Paula Hemmingsen, born Gillespie in 1915 at Victoria B.C. Like George, she was active in her community and in the great outdoors. Lucille left in December of 2007 at 92, and John, two months later, in 2008, at 95. Bill’s Barbara passed in 2011, becoming the last in this line of extraordinary cousins and cousin spouses. She was longest living, at age 96 3/4. George was not 60, when he left.

George Hemmingsen: Passions and Business Life

George was much a man of the waters, so fished and worked upon them. He was a man of the woods, so did work and hunted in them. He was an active man of service to others. All said he was taken too soon, just a year and a bit, after his father.

The tugboat GD Hemmingsen and its twin, Hamilton Baillie are pictured below working the waters around Chemainus. Their namesake owners partnered in both Chemainus Towing Co. Ltd. and Ladysmith Log Sorting Co. Ltd.⁶

Reflection

A tug named Chemainus was built for V.L.&M. Co. in 1909.⁷ It was an owner of that company, John Humbird, who called Matt to British Columbia from Wisconsin. Matt and Ed variously worked for and contracted to it, George too. The tug was sold, but brought back to Chemainus in 1923, by then Chemainus Towing. George and Hamilton might have cared for it, except it wrecked in November of 1945. They registered their towing company in September of 1946.⁸

Tug Chemainus is depicted in Mural #15 among the famous outdoor murals of Chemainus. Please click the highlighted, for a real treat. Mural #28 is the Number 3 Climax Engine, seen driven by Engineer Sam Alexander – brother to Matt’s wife, Margaret. The narrative around Mural #43, entitled Kew Gardens Flagpole, recounts a massive log driven through Chemainus destined for England. It was felled by MacMillan and Bloedel, where John was then general manager of logging.

These three murals make story of the cousin and elder interplay in the growth of Vancouver Island, for they were well connected through their various work situations. One comes away understanding their awesome legacy. George was huge in this legacy. He was clearly loved and respected throughout his path in life by his family, in his career, his recreational life and by those touched through his extensive civic endeavors.

Copyright © Marilee Wein and DoubleGenealogyTheAdoptionWitness 2018-2025, author and owner. All rights reserved.

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Notes and Sources

1 Background for this genealogy comes from the Memoirs of Matt Hemmingsen written in 1954, output of audio of 1959 by Gina Plocker (born Rued/Hemmingson), the Family History of John O Hemmingsen, written in 1999 – all unpublished and protected here. Pictures and additional information in this piece were provided courtesy family: Anita Hemmingsen, also VaLois Kofal and Pat Nelson (deceased) of Ole Hemmingson/Alette Ingebrigts lineage and Torill Amdam of Aunt Anna’s lineage. Rolli Gunderson, author and historian in Lake Cowichan has also provided insights and photos. This blog tells more stories of Ed Hemmingsen and his family, especially those related to “Skog-Vefsn”, that is, Aunt Anna’s heritage – use the internal blog search function.

2 Norway, Emigration Records, 1867-1960 / Trondheim Politikammer 1911-1916, for Anna Hemmingsen. Also for Georg Hemmingsen. Date 12 Aug 1914 from Trondheim to New York via England, aboard Stjerne. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 for Anna Hemmings. From Liverpool on 20 Aug 1914 with arrival in NY on 29 Aug aboard Adriatic. They gave a home address in Seattle. She and George are listed on the page for US Citizens, noting her husband was born in Wisconsin, in 1882! / 3 Dairy farming was confirmed by US Census and WW II Draft Registration information. / 4 The Victoria Daily Times, Tue April 18 1933. Page 5 New Riverside Inn Now Open. / 5 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947 at Ancestry.com for Geo. Hemmingsen. / 6 Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle Aug 13, 1975 Page 18, Funeral Notices; Baillie. / 7 Murals at Muraltown.com https://muraltown.com/mural-art-gallery/15-chemainus-tug-boat https://muraltown.com/mural-art-gallery/28-3-climax-engine/ 8 1946 Times Colonist Thursday Sep 26 1946 Page 5, 5 Island Companies, 22 Elsewhere In B.C., formed during week. Chemainus Towing Co. Ltd. $10,000 Duncan.