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Tracing the Hennington family history is like delving into a mystery with many twists and turns. George Hennington or George Gilbert or J�rgen Gulbrandsen was born in Hole, Norway in 1859. His father was Gulbrand J�rgenson, (Gilbert Georgeson American name used on George�s marriage certificate) born in 1835 in Hole and married Anne Helgesdatter (Anna Helgeson American name). Anna was also born in Nordrehoven in 1836. According to Norwegian census information there is no record of Gulbrand J�rgensen in Norway after 1865 so they apparently he immigrated to United States some time after 1865 and before 1875 census. One of George�s grandfathers was J�rgen Reirersen. There is no record of who he married. Helge Klemmetsen (Klemetson) was Anna�s grandfather, again no record of grandmother.
There is no record of George�s parents in Wisconsin other than they're being listed on George�s marriage certificate. The 1865 Norwegian census the Gulbrand J�rgensons lived in the domicile of Fraagaat with their children J�rgen (1859), Hans (1865), Berte M (1861), and Helene (1863).
There is no record of George in Wisconsin census. He apparently came to Hudson and worked as a livery stable worker. He married Anna Christensen (Anne Christoferson) June 6, 1883. George sometime after they were married changed their name to Hennington. According to Russell apparently he thought there were too many Henningson so changed it to Hennington. Russell thought he took the name Hennington because his dad's relatives came from either a farm or area called Henning in Norway. No one seemed to know why he changed their family name. He and Anna had Arthur George (March 15, 1884) and Helmer (1886). Arthur�s birth certificate lists George Hennington as father. Arthur was confirmed in 1898 at St. Pauls Church, Hudson, Wisconsin as Arthur George Hennington.
George was an alcoholic and sometime before or after Helmer�s birth (could not find Wisconsin birth record for him) and before Arthur�s confirmation he moved the family to Montana. Apparently Anna left George and returned to Hudson where she continued to make her living as a dress maker. She eventually lived with Arthur and his wife Clara. According to Solveig, in 1936 Arthur went to Montana where his father had died and returned the body to Hudson where it was buried in the Hennington plot at the Willow River Cemetery. Anna also died in 1836. No census records show George Hennington in Wisconsin, Minnesota or Montana. No death record in Montana could be found. He is not listed in any census so either had changed his name or never was counted.
Helmer Hennington, Arthur�s brother, married Julia Hyland of North Dakota. They had three children Evelyn, Helen and Leonard. Leonard was killed in train accident as a young boy and Helen died of pneumonia shortly after her graduation. Helmer died at age 36 (also an alcoholic). Julia then married a McMahon and then a Bjorstad. Evelyn married Otto Lundgren and had four children. According to a descendant, there are 13 great-grandchildren of Helmer and Julia.
The following information was researched by another descendant, currently living in Switzerland.
Anna Christensen was born April 30, 1852 in Skoger, Vestford, Norway.
She and her family came to United States when she was 16. Her father Christian Olsen, was born December 26, 1824 Flatten, Skoger, Vestford, Norway. He was a carpenter. Her mother was Maren Andrine Johannesdatter. She was born October 26, 1829 in Flatten Nordre, Sande, Vestford, Norway. She and her husband died in Wisconsin. Anna was a dressmaker and lived with her brother until she married George.
Anna's brothers were Olavus �Ole,� Martin, Carl, Anton and John Christensen. Her sisters were Regina (Gena), Julia, Susanna who married Paul Gilbertson, and Ottilie �Tillie� Christensen. Gena married Olaf Botttolfs and Julia married Edwin Hanson - both moved to Canada. Martin moved to Tacoma, Washington.
Arthur George Hennington (AG) lived with his mother when they came back from Montana. He married Clara Kottke and they lived in Spring Valley, WI for awhile before moving back to Hudson. Russell Arthur Hennington was born August 4, 1912. AG played in a band and had a drinking problem. When Russell was five, the band sent AG away for treatment where AG met a guy who helped him get into the insurance business. Clara never forgave AG for his drinking even though he eventually established a very profitable insurance agency in Hudson and they lived in a very large 17 room home on 2nd Street. (It was torn down and the land converted to parking lot). AG was a well-respected businessman who, during the depression, through his business helped those who were less fortunate.
Clara Louise Kottke was born in Hudson June 26, 1884 to Charles Kottke (11-12-1857) and Louise Martha Roeseler (10-3-1861). Charles Kottke�s parents Charles (Charly or Carl in some records) and Frederike Montenfel were born in West Prussia (now Poland). According to a distant relative, the Kottke�s heritage traces back to southwestern Poland, the Posen district along the Nortec (Netze) River. This whole area was predominately Jewish. Clara had three brothers, William (1888) married Grace Wilcox, Fred (1886) married Alma Johnson and had Kenneth who died at Normandy Beach, France, and Carl O. (1891) who married Anna Haugen and then Rose M Hable. Clara had one sister Dena (1881) who married Clarence Wright and had three sons, Howard, Buddy and William.
Louise�s parents were Fredrich Roeseler Jr. and Henriette Whilhelmine Tamm (Tharum or Tarun) who also came from an area in Prussia that is now Poland. Fredrich was born 10-17-1826 in Zaecherick, Oderbruch. He married Henriette and came to US in 1852. His brother August started a hardware store in Hustisford, WI and the store is still in the family.
Russell was not the world's best student, as his old report cards showed, but he did excel in music. He went to college in River Falls but when his father found out he was studying music he told him he either had to quit or study to become a lawyer. Russell quit. Russell had a band called Smitty�s and they played in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He married his piano player, Orlyne Olson, but they divorced six months later. At one time he also owned a malt shop and was a salesmen for Brown and Bigelow. He eventually went to work for his dad in the insurance agency. In 1955 he sold his Hudson agency and was going to buy a radio station in Wadena but that fell through and he moved to Sauk Centre where he worked for the First National Bank but then quit and opened his own agency.
Solveig Nelsine Michaelson who was 10 years Russel�s junior met Russel at the Agency where she worked after school during her senior year. Solveig (11-14-22) was the youngest daughter of Nels and Maren(Malla) Michaelson.
Nels was born in Drevja, Vefsen, Norway January 1, 1892. His father was Mikal Dambakk (other names Kummermo or Nilsen) who was a fisherman, woodsman and day labor. According to Webj�rn Solli, Mikal was the oldest son of Nils Pederson and Dordi B Eriksdatter. When Nils Pederson died Emelie�s father had an affair with Dordi Eriksdatter. Mikal should have gotten the family farm but something happened to cause him and his wife, Emelie Mork Jensdatter, to leave the farm in the middle of the night. His sister, Nikoline, then got the farm. Nils moved to a small mountain farm called Dambakken. They had Nels, and five daughters Ragna, Signe, Elfrida, Lilly and Anna.
In 1905 Mikal left his family and sailed to the United States aboard the Oceanic. According to the ships manifest he landed in New York City on Oct. 25th, and made his way to, Green Bay, Wisconsin to a G_____ Lori Oluf Kummernes. A Olga Christiansen also was on the boat going to a ___ Oline (?) Christiansen�s in Green Bay. Below Mikal�s name was a Oluf Kummernes age 27 but it appears to be scratched off.
It was a very difficult time for Emelie and her family as Mikal left them with little. He apparently returned about two years later. His family really never forgave him for deserting them.
Emelie Mork Jensdatter�s parents were Jen Sevadsen and Nikolina Andersdatter. Emelie was born in 1867 but there is some question who her mother was. Apparently her father had several wives at the time. Emelie�s mother is listed as Nikolina Andersdatter in one family tree. According to Webj�rn, Emelie was raised by Sevald Olsen and Else Nilsdatter. She is buried next to them, not her husband.
During World War II when the Germans invaded Norway, Mikal and two of his daughters, Lilly and Anna, had to work at a German military base that was near their farm. Mikal did shoe/leather repair. According to Webj�rn, Lilly fell in love with an Austrian soldier, Rudi Burger, stationed at the base and had a child Edmund Bl�fjell. At the end of the war Rudi left. Life was hard for Lilly and Edmund because Norwegians did not look kindly on women who had children by the enemy. Lilly never married. Anna reportedly was raped by a German soldier and had a child that died at birth. Anna never married.
According to a family member, Anna had polio as a child. The family member was told Anna was in the hospital where they put her in an �iron belt�. I assume this must have been some type of back brace. Anna died quite young.
Nels�s three other sisters married. Signe had seven children. Elfrida had foud children. Ragna married Peder Solli and they had four children. Walter married Else and they had five children.
Nels arrived at Ellis Island, New York March 20, 1909 aboard the Lusitania. According to a family member, �That year is significant because he turned 18 in 1910. Every young man in Norway was required to perform military or public service at the age of 18. Nels told my dad that he left Norway to avoid the draft, a very sensible thing in my mind.� The ship�s manifest listed he was going to Minneapolis, Mn.
He later went to Washington where some his cousins were fishermen. He did not want to be a fisherman so he hopped a freight train to Hudson, Wisconsin. A relative also heard that Nels worked in Wisconsin in the forests soon after arriving, but doesn�t know who told him that. He eventually got a job at the North Hudson railroad yards as a repairman of the railroad cars. He met Maren Olsen in Hudson. They never knew each other in Norway but their farms were only about 20 miles apart.
An interesting side note: A relative said, �My dad had all his fingers but during WWII lost a small piece, barely noticeable. I lost part of my little finger in an escalator. Nels lost the tip of one finger. This loss was noted on his naturalization form when he became an American citizen. He always hid the finger when photographed.�
Maren Olson (Norwegian name was Maren Petrine Nilsdatter) was born September 1, 1895 in Seljeli, Elsfjord, Norway. Her parents came to USA came with their children, Olaf, Elias, Anna, Nanna and Gina but could not afford to bring Maren and John so they came a few years later. Her father was Nils Martin Olsen who was born in Seljeli February 5, 1861 and died in Hudson December 8, 1921. His parents were Ole Johan Andersen (2-10-1826) who was born in Bjerknes, Korgen Sogn, Hemnes. Ole married Elen Nikolaisdatter (1834). They both drowned in 1876 and Nils Martin was raised as a foster child. Maren�s mother was Lydia Marie Eliasdatter. She was born at Myklobostad on October 7, 1861 and eventually lived on the Seljeli farm. She died in Hudson on July 20, 1941. Anders Eliasson, her brother, stayed on the family farm.
Lydia�s parents were Elias John Anderson (6-10-1828) born in Seljeli, Elsfjord and Ane Margarethe Olsdatter (5-30-1835). They had seven children.
Maren�s family tree traces back to 1465. A researcher and family member who now lives on Lofoten area but originally came from Oregon is a distant cousin of Elias Johan Anderssen (Lydia�s father) and did most of the research on the Olsen family tree.
Maren and Nels married April 28, 1916 at the Ebenezer Luther Church in Hudson. Rose Marie Moe Olson and Olaf Olson were their attendants. They were married at the parsonage and a dinner was held for immediate family at 719 Sixth Street. They lived in Hudson the rest of their lives. They had three children, Edmund (1917), Esther (1920) and Solveig (1922). They lived in four homes before they bought a home on 9th Street in 1937.
Toots said her parents rarely discussed their lives in Norway. When they did argue she said they argued in Norwegian so the kids couldn�t understand. Malla was very active in the Sons of Norway. She also worked as a cook for Charlie Ward, owner of Brown and Bigelow when he had parties. Nels was an avid woodworker and had his own woodworking shop behind his home. Nels visited Norway after the war. Toots said he wouldn�t take Malla with him because she couldn�t ride a bicycle. He thought he would have to ride a bike but when he got over there discovered Norway was very modern and he didn�t need a bike.
During the Depression Toots worked at the movie theatre so she could have her own money. She said she starting working at age 14. She was a good student and took part in high school debates. She also played the violin in the school orchestra. She remembers Nels having a pearl inlaid violin he had gotten from his family in Norway. This violin he eventually sent back to Norway where it still is at the home of a family member. Walter was a talented musician who played in local bands.
All the children graduated from Hudson High School. Edmund married Maybelle Elaine Swarts in Hayward, Wisconsin 8-14, 1936. They had two children. Edmund and Maybelle divorced and he then married Nadian Phillips but that was annulled. He then married Mildred McElreath on August 1957 in Oregon. Edmund died at age 43 in Gresham, Oregon (12-10-1960) in his sleep.
Esther was married 2-16-1944 in Columbia Heights, MN to Arthur Jensen, son of Tony and Ruth Jensen. Art served in the Army in WW II and saw action in Italy and North Africa. He was wounded by a grenade and lost some use of his left hand. They had one son. They made their home at 2378 Bourne Ave, St. Paul where Arthur worked for the US Postal Service. Esther died in 1993 and Art in 2002.
This family saga had many twists and turns and still a few unanswered questions. Why did Mikal Damabakk leave his family farm in the middle of the night? Why did he leave his family destitute and come to United States only to return to Norway? Who really was George Gilbert (Gilbertson, Gulbrandsen, Hennington)? What happened to have him change his name? Why did he go to Montana? Why did Anna leave him and come back to Hudson?
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Last updated 9.11.2007
