Family History - Person Sheet
Family History - Person Sheet
DeathNovember 21, 1940, Denver, Colorado32
OccupationHemmansägare (farmer, freeholder) in Sweden; carpenter, cabinetmaker, inventor in America12,34,35,36,37,38
ReligionThe 1890 Swedish census describes him as “odöpt,” that is “unchristened.” This is a bit unusual, and would fit with my father’s reports of strong secular feelings in his Swedish family.39
FatherGustaf Adolf Nordberg (Norberg) (1844-)
MotherJohanna Maria Henriksdotter (1842-1902)
Spouses
DeathSeptember 13, 1929, Denver, Colorado41
BurialSeptember 17, 1929, Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Colorado41
OccupationLärarinna (schoolmistress), småskollär (= Små + skollär, i.e. she taught small children) in Sweden; housewife in America39,40,41,12
ReligionSwedish Lutheran9
FatherJohan Ulrik Åhrström (1837-)
MotherKajsa (“Karin”) Magdalena Larsdotter (1834-1910)
MarriageAugust 7, 189734
ChildrenSelma Augusta (1898-1919)
Elin Wilhelmina (1899-1973)
George Gustav (Gustaf, Gustave) (1901-1946)
Notes for Olaf Gustaf Nordberg
The county of Norrbotten is in northern Sweden, on the Bothnian Sea, facing Finland, to the east. It lies close to the Arctic Circle, abutting Lappland. From topographical maps and photographs, it is a marshy, forested place with a cold, desolate beauty in winter, a pleasant though humble place in summer.
In 1890, Råneå, one of twenty-five parishes of Norrbotten, had 7,411 inhabitants. Though only a small portion of the land is cleared, farming was the most common occupation. Olof came from a family of farmers in Prästholm, a community of some five hundred, and was a farmer there himself.12
He is listed in the 1890 census of Prästholm as Olof Gustaf, one of the children of Gustaf Norberg and Johanna. Prästholm is down the river from Årbyn, the home of the wife he would marry later that decade.
Olof emigrated from Råneå in 1903 with his family. He and his family left Råneå on June 1112 and sailed on June 22 from Göteborg, on the Atlantic coast of Sweden, with a destination of Norton, Kansas.42 They crossed the Atlantic in the ship New England, which left from Liverpool on June 25 and landed in Boston on July 4.43 It’s not clear what led them toward Norton, or indeed if they ever got there. Perhaps Norton was part of a one-way tour package. I have not been able to find any traces of him for the ten years after arrival in America. Olof and the family became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1916.35 He is listed in the 1913 Denver, Colorado Directory44 and other records35 as a carpenter, sometimes a cabinetmaker. I have a small piano (or organ) bench that he made. My Aunt Betty reports that he liked to invent things, and managed to get paid for some of his inventions.15 The story my father recounted to me of him having invented an air brake system turns out to have some truth in it: a patent application dated December 30, 1932 describes a hydraulic brake system, which was assigned to Bendix Aviation Systems.36
My father writes, “Whether my grandfather could not find work or did not try very hand is not entirely clear. He was different from all of my relatives on both sides of the family. If an intellectual is one who values ideas for their own sake, he was the only intellectual in the bunch – until I came along. He wrote occasional letters to the newspapers, for example, about topics such as the League of Nations… How much formal education he had, I do not know.”9 (According to the 1940 census, Olof completed the second year of high school,45 or its Swedish equivalent.)
In 1890, Råneå, one of twenty-five parishes of Norrbotten, had 7,411 inhabitants. Though only a small portion of the land is cleared, farming was the most common occupation. Olof came from a family of farmers in Prästholm, a community of some five hundred, and was a farmer there himself.12
He is listed in the 1890 census of Prästholm as Olof Gustaf, one of the children of Gustaf Norberg and Johanna. Prästholm is down the river from Årbyn, the home of the wife he would marry later that decade.
Olof emigrated from Råneå in 1903 with his family. He and his family left Råneå on June 1112 and sailed on June 22 from Göteborg, on the Atlantic coast of Sweden, with a destination of Norton, Kansas.42 They crossed the Atlantic in the ship New England, which left from Liverpool on June 25 and landed in Boston on July 4.43 It’s not clear what led them toward Norton, or indeed if they ever got there. Perhaps Norton was part of a one-way tour package. I have not been able to find any traces of him for the ten years after arrival in America. Olof and the family became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1916.35 He is listed in the 1913 Denver, Colorado Directory44 and other records35 as a carpenter, sometimes a cabinetmaker. I have a small piano (or organ) bench that he made. My Aunt Betty reports that he liked to invent things, and managed to get paid for some of his inventions.15 The story my father recounted to me of him having invented an air brake system turns out to have some truth in it: a patent application dated December 30, 1932 describes a hydraulic brake system, which was assigned to Bendix Aviation Systems.36
My father writes, “Whether my grandfather could not find work or did not try very hand is not entirely clear. He was different from all of my relatives on both sides of the family. If an intellectual is one who values ideas for their own sake, he was the only intellectual in the bunch – until I came along. He wrote occasional letters to the newspapers, for example, about topics such as the League of Nations… How much formal education he had, I do not know.”9 (According to the 1940 census, Olof completed the second year of high school,45 or its Swedish equivalent.)