Like many Americans, I have a Heinz (57 varieties) ancestory. The most recent immigrants in the family tree are Norwegians. In the 1850s, Andreas Langum came to the USA from Drammen, Norway. In a pile of old documents, we found what amounts to a book manuscript of his experiences as a young man in Norway, and his life after he reached the USA. I'm having a hard time getting a look at this manuscript as Wing, ordinarily uninterested in history, has become entralled with the story, and won't let it out of her sight.
AL had a very hard life in Norway. Apprenticed to a blacksmith, he was fed so poorly, he almost died. Apprenticed to a shoemaker, after one year he received seven dollars and a new suit of clothes.
Arriving in Quebec - on borrowed money he was not able to repay for many years - he took a boat for Chicago and was shanghied to work on an Illinois railroad. Left destitute in the prairie with 30 other Norwegian immigrants, AL finds water, and hatches a scheme that allows him and his countrymen to escape their bondage and get back to a more civilized area.
In 1854, AL meets a fellow Norwegian. Her name is Gurina, and she is a quite beautiful blue eyed blond. Her family immigrated to Texas in 1847. but she and her brother move north after another brother is shot by a Texas bad man.
As AL and G are so poor they must continue to work at sepereate jobs that keep them apart, they move to Minnesota where they homestead 80 acres for no cost.
Their early years in Minnesota are a tale of grinding poverty. AL walks 50 miles to borrow rope so he and G can drag logs to build a 10' X 12' log cabin (we have a photo of the cabin - taken in later years). After using the rope, he walks 50 miles to return the rope.
Just out of their teens, these two make a life for themselves. They have no axe, no kettle, and at times, no shoes. Their clothing is what they are wearing on their backs. Many times they are starving. For most of the first winter, their food consists of grain, ground in a coffee grinder, and water. Once they are saved, when during a blizzard, a neighbor's ox falls through the barn roof (deep snow!) and is killed. Though the neighbor is happy to share, AL doesn't feel right about charity. AL borrows an axe and cuts and splits a cord of wood in exchange for a 1/4 of the beef. Their clothing becomes so thread bare it can no longer be patched.
That is as far as Wing is in the manuscript at this time. If there is any interest in hearing more - I will post as she relates what she's read.
PG
AL had a very hard life in Norway. Apprenticed to a blacksmith, he was fed so poorly, he almost died. Apprenticed to a shoemaker, after one year he received seven dollars and a new suit of clothes.
Arriving in Quebec - on borrowed money he was not able to repay for many years - he took a boat for Chicago and was shanghied to work on an Illinois railroad. Left destitute in the prairie with 30 other Norwegian immigrants, AL finds water, and hatches a scheme that allows him and his countrymen to escape their bondage and get back to a more civilized area.
In 1854, AL meets a fellow Norwegian. Her name is Gurina, and she is a quite beautiful blue eyed blond. Her family immigrated to Texas in 1847. but she and her brother move north after another brother is shot by a Texas bad man.
As AL and G are so poor they must continue to work at sepereate jobs that keep them apart, they move to Minnesota where they homestead 80 acres for no cost.
Their early years in Minnesota are a tale of grinding poverty. AL walks 50 miles to borrow rope so he and G can drag logs to build a 10' X 12' log cabin (we have a photo of the cabin - taken in later years). After using the rope, he walks 50 miles to return the rope.
Just out of their teens, these two make a life for themselves. They have no axe, no kettle, and at times, no shoes. Their clothing is what they are wearing on their backs. Many times they are starving. For most of the first winter, their food consists of grain, ground in a coffee grinder, and water. Once they are saved, when during a blizzard, a neighbor's ox falls through the barn roof (deep snow!) and is killed. Though the neighbor is happy to share, AL doesn't feel right about charity. AL borrows an axe and cuts and splits a cord of wood in exchange for a 1/4 of the beef. Their clothing becomes so thread bare it can no longer be patched.
That is as far as Wing is in the manuscript at this time. If there is any interest in hearing more - I will post as she relates what she's read.
PG
