Category Archives: social

A Bit of Genealogy Mystery

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Norman J Strombotne (1925-1975) was born at home. Grandmother Strom was assisted by a midwife something that is fairly uncommon in today’s world.

In 2021, midwives attended approximately 12% of all births in the United States, according to data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). This figure reflects a growing trend in midwife-attended births in recent years, with the majority occurring in hospital settings, though some take place in homes or birth centers. For earlier context, a 2009 study noted that midwives delivered 8.1% of U.S. babies, with 12.1% of vaginal births attended by midwives. State variations are significant, with New Mexico reporting the highest rate in 2009 at 24% of all births.

Original Certificate

Also unusual is Norman’s middle name with the initials J. A. S. — The above form field wasn’t long enough to spell it out.

Middle names were sometimes used to honor additional relatives. For example, a child might be named Jens Peter Hansen to honor both a grandfather (Jens) and another relative (Peter).

Might “J” stand for Johan (Johan Jacob Christophersen – paternal Grandfather) and “A” pay ohmage to Axel (Axel August Randrup – maternal Grandfather) I am at a loss for the letter “S” unless the recorder misunderstood and it was meant to be S as the first initial of the surname.

Compounding the perplexity is the following, an amended certificate in 1943.

Revision 2 (note the corrected spelling for Else)

Norman’s middle name is changed. Who chose it and why? As to the when, the timing coincided with WW II. Norman had become of age (18) and in the 2 months following this fresh document he readily signed up with the Army Air Force to fulfil his service to country. Had the Draft Board balked at the middle name – initials J.A.S.? Too unusual? Wouldn’t fit the government form?

Grandmother Strom by then living in Cheyenne, Wyoming must have gone through some degree of effort to effect this change considering that El Paso, Texas was long in the past and far away. Looks to me that the request came at Norman’s behest. She has highlighted the new middle name “Jay” with a by-hand bold underline as if to say here you go dear, done!

This Old House

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photo circa 1924

Grandfather Strom (1890-1945) in El Paso, Texas. Uncle Norman was born in this house on 3119 Memphis St. in 1925. Also pictured is Chris Erik and younger sibling Henrik Walter. A hand written caption on the original photograph says: First Sunday in New Home.

The house still stands.

3119 Memphis Ave. circa 2022

100 years have elapsed. The green grass has withered. Plaster has been added here and there and the porch roof has been altered. An aesthetic enhancement? or perhaps the original design did not have enough slope and the structure was susceptible to water intrusion.

1,207 sq ft and 1 bath, Zillow proclaims “Built in 1930” but we know something they don’t know 😉

Digitization Exposing Obscurity

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Amazingly, a small tidbit of fact revealed much. The information had been in print since 1935 but the hardcopy didn’t circulate because firstly one needs to know that it exists, knows where it is to be found and ultimately, cares to go to the effort to physically access it. The dusty old archive of interest is an inter-office directory that was recently unearthed digitally absolving the barriers of access problem.

Marcella (1915-1945) is family and a person of mystery. People that might have been close to her are long gone and there is no one to recollect. Trying to piece her life experience together is a tough ask. From casual genealogy investigation it is known that she was born in a very small town but not how she managed to strike out on her own.

Speaking to the exposed document; It is fortunate that the family surname happens to be unique and distinct. Being uncommon it is an unfiltered search. Even still, blanket browsing the Archive.org turns up 800+ hits mostly from family that were/are published. Ignoring the obvious exposed an office telephone directory of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) revised August 1, 1935 wherein Marcella’s name is listed. The entry field on page 90 shows a telephone extension and her office address. A sublevel peek was required to learn about the abbreviations from the snippet.

R. & B. Audit translates to: Rental and Benefit Audit Section Office of the Comptroller Division of Finance. In the context of her job description with the AAA, this role would involve auditing financial records and budget allocations, ensuring proper documentation and compliance with the agency’s subsidy programs and administrative expenditures.

AAA was a New Deal agency established in 1933 under the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the agricultural crisis during the Great Depression. Its primary goal was to stabilize farm prices and incomes by reducing agricultural surpluses, which were driving down prices. The AAA paid farmers subsidies to reduce production of certain crops and livestock, aiming to balance supply and demand. It was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s broader efforts to revive the economy. The agency faced legal challenges, notably being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1936 (United States v. Butler), but its core ideas were rescued in later legislation like the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938.

O. P. O. from the descriptive line refers to Old Post Office building in Washington, DC

National Photo Company Collection Link

The Old Post Office building still stands today. Located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, it was constructed between 1892 and 1899 and served as the main post office for Washington, DC, until 1914. After that, it housed various federal offices, including those of the AAA in the 1930s. The building faced demolition threats in the 1970s but was preserved due to public outcry and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It underwent renovations and was repurposed over the years, most recently operating as the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC hotel since 2022, though the clock tower remains accessible to the public and is managed by the National Park Service for visitors to enjoy views from its observation deck.

Marcella appears to be a Local Girl Makes Good story with a very solid career move. Revealing, but now creating more questions than answers. Imagine transplanting from small town life in Watertown, South Dakota to a Megalopolis. What facilitated the move? Did Marcella get on?

What happened next? To complete that picture, we will have to continue mining digital records like the one obscured in plain sight, having greater understanding along the way.

Job Done, Two Decades Delay

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The builder went to the effort of wiring up the panel for a generator backup that included a safety interlock for the circuit breaker. Almost there but not quite, for some reason the Romex wire terminated at a wall outlet box in the garage and sans plug socket. No way to connect anything. The unconnected cable lay inside the box behind a blanking plate — unused.

Switching OFF the main breaker to the grid before powering the household with a genset is an actionable item. Leaving the grid connected would be fatal. The interlock is necessary by code and it prevents the main breaker and backup CB from both being on at the same time. That way you don’t have the undesired state of back feeding the grid or current to your backup when the power comes back on. Idiot proof.

Part: NEMA L14-30P shore plug. Tools: hand tools, drill bit and a hole cutter.

blank plate center located
drill press optional
file smooth the cut edge
ready to drill the mounting holes. 3 #10 machine screws w/ nuts

Insure that the wires are attached as per spec. There are (2) 120- V wires that are interchangeable, a Neutral wire and a grounding wire. Note: this plug is rated for 30 A, hardly enough to run everything. Limit yourself to essentials such as the refrigerator/freezer, lights, TV, Internet but not the Dryer or Heat Pump(s).

wires [4] for 240 V

Result!

A Genset was mentioned but the astute will recognize that the source for energy seen in the video is an EV. Gas powered generators while worthy, have added considerations. The garage is not a suitable space for a genset although it might help to mitigate the noise or prevent theft. Exhaust fumes and gasoline must be kept on the outside. A very long extension cord would be required. Shown is a prefab 10′ cord with a NEMA 14-50 plug for the truck and NEMA L14-30R on the other end. Caution – do not use a Suicide Cord

I suspect that the builder had difficulty sourcing a socket plug and gave it up. Most socket plugs come mounted in an enclosure for outdoor use with the generator. In my case I’m glad he hit the dead end. The indoor location is ideal for my purpose but did require the DIY fabrication of a mounting point and now 23 years after the original job was begun, it’s finished.

Huff and Puff and Bloooow

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The big bad Wolf is a fabled character but around these parts Mother Nature may substitute. Hurricane season starts in June. While there is very little I can do about that I was curious how the 3 little pigs made out.

Architectural drawings provide some idea.

Detail 6E-1

The drawing detail specifies the wall sill anchored to masonry reinforcement and foundation and it looks like they followed that plan. The note from the engineer remarks 110 MPH which got me to wondering about wind and building code and compliance.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has a risk assessment tool that calculates the hazard, based upon your neck of the woods.

Category IIASCE/SEI 7-22
Wind Speed
10-year MRI80 Vmph
25-year MRI96 Vmph
50-year MRI108 Vmph
100-year MRI119 Vmph
300-year MRI136 Vmph

Risk Category II == standard buildings and structures (homes) per ASCE 7-22, Section 1.5 and Table 1.5-1 MRI == Mean Recurrence Interval V == basic wind speed, measured in miles per hour, specifically as a 3-second gust speed at 33 feet above ground in Exposure Category C (open terrain with scattered obstructions).

What this table says is that there is a one year in 10 year chance that the wind could clock at 80. My wall could be tested to its design standard at 50 year MRI. Beyond 300? Won’t be much worry then; nobody will remember this Wolf character.

Destined to be read…

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Cataloging a collection of books saved from my childhood home; it is interesting to peak at the cover pages. Within, it is quite common to witness a name, date or address or to see a remembrance scripted from long ago. One such book revealed so much more. It had belonged to Grandmother.

Elson Basic Readers

This unassuming Third Grade Reader from 1931 — “Good stories from Everywhere Out-of-Doors stories Old tales Big and Little Workers Fairy Tales Festival Stories Hero Stories” was a bit of an oddity.

The pages had no such content. The pages were blank as finished. It was defective from the publisher. Perfectly bound but devoid of author’s work.

The unique but quite useless book likely found itself on some flea-market shelf and this is where Grandmother acquired it. She was thrifty that way.

Actually, I believe she bought it second hand. The first dozen or so pages had been torn out after the previous owner scribbled upon them and then had given up interest, so extra bargain points there. This was circa 1963 and for the next decade and a half (until her death) she spoke of early childhood in the old country. She wrote of admiration for her loving family, and remaining loyal to her faith throughout, of the trials and tribulations that accompany life.

Addressed to: Dear Friend, it offers insight into her declining years which she makes the best of nonetheless with positive thinking and future hopefulness. I’m glad to have found this old book, inconspicuous in the dusty library stack. I read every word.

page 1

Farm Migration

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Lay of the Land

Our 19th century Norwegian relatives were rooted to land that was and still is scattered with small farms. Rural areas of Nordland and and also the fjords provided for them. Published records give ideas on life events — comings and goings.

Nordland County (highlighted red) credit

Within Nordland is the Hemnes municipality and following is a map overlay of the original farms of old.

The farms of interest in this family are 87 Tybækken and 89 Straumbotn. The linked farms displayed with arrows show particular origins of pedigree e.g. from the farm Overleir came Anna Nilsd.

Mons Pedersøn (1671-1734) the oldest trace in the farm migration chain recorded. He settled at Straumbotn but the farm of his birth is not known. Not to be confused by the term farm migrants these folks might migrate once — twice sometimes if a husband passed away and they were looking to remarry.

87 Tybækken and related farms
Hemnes (full size map image)

For perspective the straight-line travel distance was at most 25 km. A 6-Ring work boat with sail (Seksringsbåt) would have been a conveyance of choice. They didn’t migrate too far at all. You’d think that from limited geography that finding a mate (who wasn’t related) might be a challenge. Uh oh…

Best I can tell the bloodlines of siblings of my 6th great-grandparents carried to Tybækken rendering my great grandparents 4th cousins in marriage. What does this mean. Beyond the 3rd or 4th, the genetic relationship becomes quite distant. A study showed that less than half of 4th cousins share IBD segments of identical by descent DNA.

By the turn of the century and with small farms unable to sustain large families there were changes happening. Many moved away seeking to renew prosperity and as we know, made the exceptional migration all the way to the USA and so after this lookback, here we are here.

Found in Translation

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Christopher Olai, my 2nd great-grandfather lived his life on a small farm in Norway. Local parish ledgers recorded in longhand document births, christenings , marriages and deaths. These have been digitized and transcribed. There are also population Census but to drill down even further there are Farm Books (Gård og Slekt). These were created by local historians and genealogists in the 20th century and document the history of individual farms and the families who lived on them over time. These are a trove of information but can be rather cryptic with abbreviations and of course it’s foreign [to me] . Handy is a Table of Common Abbreviations in Bygdebøker

5) Christopher Johannessen (1816?31,10.1914), sønn av f.br., fikk bbr. mot kår til foreldrene, dat. 12.2.1842, tl. 21.6.?43. Han var også smed og rokke­dreier. G. 1842 m. Berit Pedersd. (1819?19.12.?90) fra 40 Myrvik bnr. 1.

This excerpt is an outline summary of the fifth (5) Tennent in the history of the farm Bnr 2 (lnr.276b) STRAUMBOTN and as the abbr. table states Bnr stands for small farm number (bruksnummer). The abbreviation lnr. is serial number, parcel number (løpenummer). Straumbotn is the name of the farm as a whole.

In-between the abbr. is more Norwegian puzzle that Google Translate can’t crack. Make sense of: sønn av f.br., fikk bbr. mot kår til foreldrene, dat. 12.2.1842, tl. 21.6.?43

AI makes quick easy work of it:

“Son of born tenant, received lease against retirement provisions for the parents, dated 12.2.1842, transferred 21.6.1843.” – xI Grok beta

“Son of the farm owner, received a lease with care provisions for the parents, dated 12 February 1842, and took over on 21 June 1843.” – ChatGPT

Claude 3.5 Sonnet was more detailed albeit less conversational. A Google translation, old school (not AI), was weak and worthless:

“son of a brother, received a brother against the will of his parents, date 12.2.1842, tl. 21.6.?43“

Regarde the complete record for 089 Straumbotn and what at superficial glance looks all Greek to me can be found in translation with the aforementioned tools at hand. I’m a bit closer to Great Great Grandfather’s life on the farm.

Teen Trouble in 1908

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4 teenage girls and a 21 year old take his buggy out for a sunny church Sunday afternoon joyride. What could happen!?

To condense the report from the Marshalltown Iowa Times-Republican: Mr. Dawson drove up with his buggy, to which was hitched a pony. The young ladies thought they would fancy a ride, and the four, with Dawson started up the road for a short distance. The wind caught the hat of Miss Drury, who was driving, and the horse frightened, turning suddenly. To make matters worse, the road had just been worked and was rough and furrowed. The buggy began to tip, and Miss Drury was thrown out. Dawson tried to reach the reins, and in so doing knocked Miss Lora Specht out...

Everyone survived more or less. Poor Mr. Dawson was deemed unlucky as in his final act of picking up the reins the horse kicked him cutting a bad gash on his head and breaking his arm.

In the responsible party’s defense it should be known that these were not city folk. Being accustomed to farm life, would it be unusual for a country girl to occasionally operate a Buggy with the close supervision of a man? He would be accountable and right there beside her to coach. Tragically, for his effort, he failed to procure favor with any of the girls; of that I’m sure.

Preceded by the wayward hat and the ensuing shrieking when the horse bolted, there was an element of surprise which was compounded by the unforgivable chaotic reaction of dropping the reins. This was an element of panic — and certainly for the Pony.

These animals are easily spooked by such things and a ladies straw hat passing peripherally would do the deed. (blinders for the beast?) This suggests that there was a breeze coming from behind. I don’t think that they were reckless. Had they been speeding (before the event) the unsecured hat would have disappeared aft rather than in the direction of the stead.

The seating configuration of the buggy is not known but since the story does not reference a carriage model we can assume that there was only one bench style seat on which they all lined up abreast.

Having all 5 aboard could have been unwise. Realize that there wasn’t much to grasp onto. Seat belts? Nope. Max Seating Capacity placard non-existent. Fault or negligence would have been reasoned by the families as opposed to insurance companies or lawyers. These were simpler times…

No Police report, just the recounting in the newspaper story of peril and what could possibly go wrong!

From the Great War to the Second – Drafted Twice

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Whilst browsing publicly available military records for male relatives of the era I was bemused as to why there were so many, seemingly beyond physical fighting years, that were registered for WW II. Initially rationalized in my mind as patriotism, I noted that some of these men had registration cards for WW I – the Great War, both. That would have made a very patriotic statement! Max Boris Harrison was 25 when he enlisted in September of 1918 and here he is signed up in 1942.

Investigation reveals that the Selective Service Act for WW 2 as of 1940 considered all men between the ages of 21 and 36. Following the attack on Hawaii in late 1941 the age range was quickly expanded raising the age to 45 but by 1943 the Draft was revised yet again to 64 years of age.

Those of 45-64 weren’t eligible for actual military service but were registered for potential civilian mobilization and civil defense needs. The expanded draft helped the government closely monitor the national workforce and manpower resources to best support the war effort on both the military and home front. Toward War’s end the age limit was lowered back down to 45 as the nation’s military manpower needs became less acute.

Witnessing all of the yellow draft cards, it seems that everyone fulfilled their civic duty and now I have a second reasoning for the why.