Bergliot becomes Belle -- Journey to America

Hands across the sea

 Belle [Bergliot Elida] left Norway in early April of 1911 to come to America.  She was 14 years old traveling with her father, Bertel Ananias Berentsen and her stepmother, Anna.

I asked her if she was excited to come to America.

“Oh yes.  I was.  To begin with I was very excited to get to come to America.  But I had a cat at home called “Munce.”  I didn’t like to leave my cat.  And when we were on the boat coming over here I was crying and you know how kids are.  And my dad said, “What are you crying about?”  “Oh,” I said, “I wish the doctor would find something wrong with me so he would send me back to Norway.”  He said, “Why do you want to go back to Bergen?”  “Well,” I said, “I want to go back to my cat.”  [Belle laughed.]  My cat meant more to me.  He was such a cute cat.  We used to go play hide and seek at home.

“We came on a ferry steamship across the North Sea into Hull, England.  From there we went by train and boat across the Atlantic in through Canada.  We came in to Canada.  But I don’t, you know, when you are 14 years old you don’t pay too much attention when you’re not interested in scenery or anything.  And . . . when we came into Vancouver, Canada, in the late afternoon and we just missed a train to go to Seattle.  So my dad, he went down and he found out there was this boat leaving.  That was a Princess boat, and so we left, he got us on there, and we got in the next morning at 10, no 8 o’clock.  So, we traveled at night.  And they were surprised when we came.  They expected us the night before.  They were down to the train to meet us but we didn’t come.  My brother (Birger) left that morning for Alaska.  So we didn’t get to see him.  He had that job* to go to in Alaska and he had to get going.  So we didn’t see him until he came back, say in October or late in September. 

“We had family in America.  My brother was here, Birger.  Birger Amungus.  Funny names they had back in the old country.  Hmmm, Mrs. Landaas, Karen Landaas, she was here.  She had a sister here, Gurine.  But I never met her.  She passed away before we came over, it seemed like it.  I don’t remember.  But I know they used to go and see him (Gurine’s husband).  Tryg did anyway.  That’s the one they called “Saude.”  They always called him Saude.  It was a funny name.  The Landaas family, they were great for making up names.  I guess you heard that.  They always had names for everybody.  Different names.  They were very nice.  Sigrid . . . she was Taxi or Tax.  That’s what Harry called her.  And then it was Tryg and then Nora.  They were a pretty good-sized family.  Adolf, Cornelius and Harald and Tryg, that was four boys.  Maggie, Klara, Petra, Sigrid, and Nora.  That’s a big family and to all come over.  In those days the fare was very reasonable, but even so, the wages were smaller too.  So it was just about the same as now, we just had to skimp and scrape to get along. 

“I had to learn to read and write in English, you know.  So I went to a school in Ballard.  They put me in with younger children and I didn’t like that.  Now, I can hardly talk Norwegian.  I could if I had Norwegian people to talk to.  It takes a little time to think about it.  I was trying to tell Jack (her husband) every once and a while what they call this and that in Norway.  I always thought I’d like to take a trip back.  And my son, I don’t remember what year that was; it was before I married again.  You see I was a widow for 18 years between Jack and my other husband.  Let’s see, Frank passed away in 1947 and we got married in 1965.  Him and I.  So, you see that was about 18 years.  So I was going to go and take a trip to Norway.  I belonged to the ladies chorus and I thought, well, they had a tour going so I signed up for it.  But I didn’t, I backed out.  I’ve never been back. 

I have a cousin, you know, he was just a little child.  He was about 2 ½ or 3 years old when we left Norway and he is here in the United States.  Otto was his name.  He was my stepmother’s nephew.  And I call him once in a great while, and he said he goes back every so often.  He said, “You wouldn’t even know the place.”  He said, “If you came back to the place where you lived it’s altogether different.”  It’s so different that he doesn’t even enjoy going any more.  But he has a sister living there.  But they were a big family.  I think there were 11 or 12 kids.  And so he, but there’s only one of them left and that’s Klara.  And she was about 4 or 5 years old when we left.  So she’s the only one and she lives in Oslo.  She is a trained nurse.  She married a captain--ships went back and forth.  They don’t have any children, so she is all alone.  She’s the only one who is living, the only one of his family left.  So he used to go back there quite often.  I don’t think he’s gone back lately; he’s not too good either.  He’s about Jack’s age, about 83.  A youngster.  We’re all youngsters.  I’m the old lady.  (Belle was 93 at the time.)

To be continued.

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 Note:

* Birger worked in the canneries in Alaska and later on the ships that went up and down the coast from Alaska to Seattle and further south.  He often shipped out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  

Bergliot Elida Berentsen, Belle -- remembering her early years

Bergen, Norway ca 1900

I visited Auntie Belle several times in her home and on one occasion I took a tape recorder.  Belle was almost 93 years old at that time and lived into her 100th year.  She passed away 14 April 1997.  She was rather proud of her longevity remaining spry and cheerful to the end.  She had lost considerable eyesight but still managed to get around fairly well.  She laughed about how she sometimes was surprised at what she had picked up at the grocery store, as she couldn’t see well enough to read the labels on the cans.  She was great fun to visit. 

Here is a little background to place her in the family.  Belle was born in Bergen, Norway on 28 September 1896.  Her Norwegian name was Bergliot Elida Berentsen however that was changed to Belle when she came to America.  She was the youngest of the three children born to Bertel Ananias Berentsen and Elen Nikoline Ingebrightsen.  Her brothers were Ingvald Kristofer Berentsen, born 8 January 1886, and Birger Amandus (sometimes written as Amungus) Berentsen, born 29 December 1893.  Ingvald remained in Norway but Birger came to America with his aunt Karen Landaas in July 1909.  Not quite two years later in April 1911 Belle left Norway at age 14 with her father, Bertel Ananias (Uncle Nias) and her stepmother, Anna (Tante Anna).  Nias was a half-brother to Karen Landaas being the child of her mother, Kristi Mor, and her mother’s second husband, Berent Berentsen.  I so wished I had a picture of her but Belle had had a facial palsy as an adult so she was self-conscious and would not let me take any photos of her. 

I asked her about her life in Norway. 

“I was born in Bergen.  I was there until my mother passed away.  And I was 2 ½ years old when my mother passed away.  I was born in Bergen and I was baptized in Johannes Kirken in Bergen and I was confirmed for Laksevag.  That’s right across from Bergen.  Then after my dad remarried, then we moved out to the country, you see.  My dad was a seaman.  So he wasn’t even home.  He didn’t come home until about six months after my mother passed away.  Well, we had an aunt living out in that neighborhood of Haakonsalle, and she, she was the one who tried to . . . and I guess my aunt here in America, tried to get us distributed around.  My aunt, Mrs. Landaas, Karen Landaas, she lived in Bergen.  She went over and looked in on my mother when she was sick in bed for a while.  Then she had a little help.  And my oldest brother, he was the one who took care of us kids and the house.  So he wasn’t very old.  He was only 13 years old.

“And I had another brother, younger.  But he was 2 ½ years older than I was.  I was the youngest one of three.  So we were three kids.  So then one was placed in one family.  My oldest brother lived with my aunt out for Haakonsalle.  But I was put over in Alvern (Alvøen) to a lady; she had another little girl my age, a little older than I was.  For about six months until my dad came home.  And then he had to find another place for us kids.  So he had to, he got busy and he met this lady.  That’s where she lived, that’s where her folks lived, out there.  Up for Haakonsalle, that‘s what it’s called now.  Haakonsalle.  That’s about a mile, seven American miles from Bergen.  Like from Ballard to Seattle.

“My dad was the half-brother of Karen Landaas.  My grandmother, she married again.  Her name was Olsen, I think, when Karen Landaas and them were born.  But he is a Berentsen.  And that was my grandmother’s name.  She lived at the Frue Enkehus in Bergen.  All the old women lived there when they got older and couldn’t take care of themselves.  Frue Enkehus in Bergen. 

Kalfaveien, Frue Enkehus,* Bergen, Norway, ca 1900

“My grandfather, I think he drowned.  He was a “fløtmann” they called it in Bergen.  A fløtmann, that’s the same as carrying, as had a boat and carrying people.  A ferryboat, like.  But it was just an ordinary rowboat, I think.  And he drowned; I think that’s the way it happened.  It’s quite a long story.

“Anyway, they didn’t have a place to leave us.  All three kids were in different places when my dad came home.  So then he had to get us together to find somebody who would take care of us, all in one place.  So he found this lady and about a year later, I guess, they married.  They married in 1901, the 15th of January 1901.

Tante Anna,** ca 1910

“Then we lived with another family till after my father came home and they got married and got settled and then they rented a place.  A room, that’s all they could get.  Until they got their house built and moved in.  And so we lived . . . let’s see, her folks owned a big farm up for Lindaastjerne, that was the name of it.  And her folks owned that farm, but he had just turned it over to his son.  You see, the oldest one, back there, was supposed to have the farm and the others just got a little plot for their house.  So she had a sister, another sister, my stepmother, and she got a plot over on the east side where he (the brother) lived.  The grandfather was in the middle and we got a plot over on the west side overlooking the bay.  It was really nice.  We lived in a really nice place there.  That was a very pretty inlet there where we lived.  Very beautiful.  We could stand outside of our window and wave to the ships.  My dad, if he were on the boat coming into Bergen then they always tooted the horn when he came in.   And when he left they did the same thing.  Because if you went south, and he had to go that way to get out to the North Sea across to the other countries.  We lived there until I was 14 years old.  I would be 15 in September.  We came to America in April and I would be 15.  So I was 14 years old when I left Norway. 

“My grandmother, Kristi Mor, she used to come out and visit us.  I always remember that because I was just a youngster, you know, and she used to use, have snuff.  That was supposed to be good for her asthma.  I guess it was asthma she had.  She put a little bit up in her nose, in her nostrils.  And we used to think that was so funny!  But back there, you know, we went to visit some other older, my stepmother’s older relations.  They lived way up by the ocean, up close by the North Sea.  And they used to smoke, that, what do you call them, clay pipes.  And, you know, us kids, when you’re kids you get a kick out of just about anything.  You think that’s so funny.  So that’s the way it was, but I remember my grandmother using that snuff.  But it wasn’t very much. 

“She had a skaut.  That’s what they call it in Norway.  It was wired, I guess, or a frame or something.  I don’t know just how it was.  Oh you know, I wish I had a picture of it so you see it. “

Later I did find this photo of Kristi Mor wearing the skaut and dressed in a traditional everyday type costume.  

Kristi Mor wearing a skaut

To be continued.

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Note:

*  I am not absolutely certain this is the Frue Enkehus but it seems like one of the older relatives told me at some time in the past that it was.  If anyone reading knows more, I would appreciate hearing from you.

**  As a small child I was enchanted and fascinated by Tante Anna.  She was so very tiny, dressed in black, and was 101 years old!  I remember seeing her at Aunt Wilhelmina’s house for some sort of Landaas family gathering.  I was quite young.  My grandmother was not quite 5’ tall, yet Tante Anna was smaller.  Like my grandmother, Tante Anna, liked to wear necklaces and bracelets.  She was an altogether delightful little lady.  She was almost the size of a child.  All the older relatives fussed over her quite a bit too.  It may have been her birthday.

Didrik Andreas Thomsen, Artist

Didrik Andreas Thomsen, ca 1870

Didrik Andreas Thomsen was born on 23 June 1849 the third of the five children born to Thomas Thomassen Kalstø and Anne Didriksdatter. The family was living in Kopervik, Rogaland, Norway at the time of his birth. His brothers and sisters were: Ola Christian born 1844 and died young, Ola Christian born 1846, Jirtrud also spelled Gjertine Lisabeth born 1853, Nils born 1855. This picture was taken when Didrik Andreas was about 21 years old.

Didrik Andreas had an apprenticeship as an artist and then worked in Bergen, Norway. Oral history from his son says that he painted murals in the Bergen area although Dick did not provide locations of said murals. We do have two pencil portrait examples of his work. A self-portrait based on the photograph above and a portrait of his wife, Sigrid Berentine Serene Andersen Dahle also based on a photograph. He and Sigrid had at least four children:

• Anna born 6 April 1875

• Didrik born 3 October 1885

• Alfhild Dorothea born December 1889

• Harriet Alfhild (known as Alfhild) 3 December 1894.

Sigrid Andersen Dahle with two of her daughters.

The photograph is poor quality and has been enhanced but even so it is over exposed and does not show the faces clearly. It suggests that two of the girls were close in age and were alive at the same time. It could be the younger two girls or perhaps a fifth child born between Anna and Didrik since the living children are almost ten years apart in age.

Pencil sketch by Didrik Andreas Thomsen of his wife, Sigrid Andersen Dahle, based on photograph, dated 1900.

While washing windows in an upper apartment Sigrid fell tragically to her death on 29 June 1901. There was a police inquiry that determined it was an accident even though some questioned that verdict.

Didrik Andreas had a liaison with a Malene Dorothea Johansen, possibly one of his models, and they had an illegitimate child, Andrea Judithe who was born 4 September 1902. Oral history stories also indicate that he may have had two other illegitmate sons but no record of these children has been found to date.

I did find a Didrik Andreas Thomsen on the 1910 census for Norway that I am almost positive is the correct man although he is fudging around with his age or the census taker made an error--the day and month (23 June) are correct but the birth year is given as 1854 instead of 1849 and his place of birth is listed as Bergen instead of Kopervik, Rogaland. He is found married or living with yet another woman, Berte Olsen, born 1868 in Haus, with two daughters, Dora, born 30 April 1907, and Ragnhild, born 7 April 1910. His occupation is listed as Maler ved en møbelfabrik or a painter with a furniture maker. Would this be something like Rosemaling? There are two daughters which makes me wonder if the oral history was off a bit and his other children were these two girls instead of two sons. Oral histories can be tricky. They often have a kernel of truth but the facts can become distorted and changed over time and re-telling. Didrik Andreas was a mysterious man. Unfortunately, Grandpa Dick was not overly fond of his father and didn't mention too many details about him. Dick left Norway for America within four years of his mother's death which occurred in 1901 and did not keep in touch with his father although he did write and visit his older sister, Anna.

Didrik Andreas’s father’s family came from Nedstrand and Viksdal in Rogaland but his mother, Anne Didriksdatter was born in Flekkefjord and her family lived in Nes, Vest Agder. Her family can be traced back for many generations in Bygdebok for Nes Herred by Kaare S. Berg. I found that interesting because although it is an entirely different branch of the family, Anne came from very near where Anna Hornnes and her family lived. It is endlessly fascinating to me to unravel these tangles and wonder if perhaps some of these people knew each other when they were living. They might be surprised at the connections today.

Didrik Andreas Thomsen as an older man, ca 1905

I think I prefer the way he looks as an older man without the muttonchops and beard he was wearing as a young man. He looks pretty dapper in this picture. What do you think?