The residents of Burnsville Township, Minnesota, have changed the name of their newly incorporated city to "Nowthen"—the name mistakenly given to its first post office.
During the 1890s, a community leader created a list of possible names for the post office and wrote, "Nowthen, one of these ought to do."
Historians say the post office came to be known as Nowthen. [Link]
Aaron Giles lost his identity bracelet 25 years ago while playing in his grandfather's barn in Minnesota. It turned up a few months ago in an unlikely place.
The barn was dismantled a few years ago, and the materials were used to construct another barn in rural Elmore, about 45 miles away, he said. Giles thinks his bracelet was imbedded in the barn materials when they were moved.
Workers at Olson Locker in Fairmont were cutting the meat of chickens that came from an Elmore farm when one of them, Brittany McDonald, came across a shiny object in a chicken gizzard. McDonald, whose grandfather owns the locker, saw Aaron's name, address and phone number engraved on it. [Link]
The following anecdote comes from Minnesota, which is said to have a larger proportion of blondes than any other state. Draw your own conclusions.
"My friend Lee overheard this exchange while at the post office last week:I bet her marriage certificate is also in her maiden name.
"Woman Patron: 'I'd like to apply for a passport.'
"Postal clerk: 'Do you have a birth certificate?'
"WP: 'Yes, but it's in my maiden name!'
"The clerk told Lee that this response is not uncommon!" [Link]
Ancestry.com is offering free access to two Minnesota databases: Minnesota Divorce Index, 1970-1995, and Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905.
Here's Laura Ingalls in 1875. Look farther down the page and you'll find Nellie Owens and her brother William—inspirations for Nellie and Willie Oleson of Little House fame.
Bea Melville of Prior Lake, Minnesota, was one of fifteen children, and joked when she was a child that she would beat her mother by having even more kids.
“It didn’t turn out to be a joke,” she said, laughing.
Melville has 10 daughters and six sons. All of her daughter’s names begin with the letter “P.” All of her son’s names begin with the letter “L.”
After the Melvilles moved to Prior Lake, neighbors and friends would say they named their children after the town, she said. “But we had 12 of them before we moved here, so we didn’t name them after Prior Lake,” Melville said. [Link]
When Torbjorn Johannes Maage emigrated to the United States from Norway in 1882, he left behind his wallet. It somehow ended up in the family of Tor Oevsthus, who recently tracked down a descendant of Torbjorn in Minnesota.
"I have taken for granted that it came into my family in an honorable way," Oevsthus said. "But you never know. Maybe it was won in a poker game? My thought is that this family needed some money to make the journey to America, and they sold this wallet with other possessions.
"It is a very nice piece of work, but it had nothing to do with my family. I thought it was very important to find the right address for it." [Link]
The release of The Da Vinci Code prompted a reporter from the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week to call local people bearing the surname "Sinclair"—a name prominent in the lackluster blockbuster novel and movie.
A quick call to several listed in the St. Paul and east metro telephone directory brought responses of total confusion.
"You mean our name is in the movie?" one woman asked.
Another woman said Sinclair was her late husband's family name and he never mentioned anything about the family.
Patrick Sinclair of Lake Elmo finds the family's recent notoriety both humorous and intriguing.
Sinclair owns The Dock Stop in Lake Elmo, selling and installing boatlifts and docks. The only times he walks on water, he noted, is in December, January and February.
That ability comes "from being a Minnesotan," he said, "not from being a Sinclair." [Link]
Mike Berglund wrote in to correct a few errors in last week's Cloquet, Minnesota, Pine Journal. The flawed story was titled "Swedes visit area to trace family ancestry."
First, my name is Berglund, not Lundberg. And second, the spelling of our Swedish family name is Jonasson, on Jonassen.
Under relationship errors, Jan Jacobsson is Ann-Christine’s uncle, not her brother. Secondly, Maria is the great-grandmother of Ann. And lastly, Ida was Maria’s sister, not her daughter.
Connecting with the Swedish relatives occurred during the planning of the 2004 family reunion, not during the 2002 reunion, and besides, Barry and I, branch representatives Carol Jaakola and Louwanna Johnson, and the family genealogy group, were involved. Secondly two families came here in 2004, not two Swedes! And no phone calls were made to Sweden (just ask the Bush wire-tappers at NSA). [Link]
From the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune of Oct. 20, 2005:
Norway's crown prince visits Minnesota
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Crown Prince Haakon could have thought he was back home in Norway.
[snip]
Haakon, 32, celebrated the 100th anniversary of Norway's independence from Sweden with a series of cultural and business appearances Wednesday and Thursday in a state that treasures its Nordic heritage.
[snip]
The lives of Norwegian-American immigrants were marked by hardship, suffering and endless work, sustained by their Lutheran faith and their sense of community.
Minnesota House Speaker Sviggum and Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson - both of Norwegian descent - see an echo of that in the modern stereotype of the stoic Minnesotan.
"I only look at my mother-in-law and my mother and grandmother," Sviggum said. "Whether they were overly happy, or suffering pain in their life, you could barely tell the difference."
[snip]
[Read the whole story]
