Brick wall finding father of my great-grandfather Verner J Olson (18 Jan 1905 in Colfax, WI)

Question

I basically don't know too much about his father other than a potential name: Halfdan Fjeld.

If you have an Ancestry account, this is Verner's profile on my Ancestry tree which has more information (and links/images of these records) at the moment.

He went by Verner J Olson all his life, but a few recent documents suggest he was born Werner Juel. His mother Anna Constance Johnson was born in Norway, and was included on a 1900 Norway census. The first records of her in Wisconsin that I've found were Verner's birth in Dunn County in Jan 1905, and then her inclusion in the June 1905 Wisconsin census. So, I'm not sure when she actually immigrated between 1900-1905. Anna's mother and brother both were listed on a passenger manifest in Canada in 1902, but it's not clear whether Anna also moved at that time.

Recent DNA tests have essentially confirmed that Arthur Olson (who married Anna in 1907) was not Verner's biological father as our family history claimed.

Verner's registration of birth from the Wisconsin Historical Society which I'd found after this DNA test lists his father as "Unknown"

Verner was baptised in April 1905 at Holden Lutheran Church in Colfax, and the church records list his parents to be Halfdan Fjeld and Anna Johnson (and specifies that they are unmarried). This record is the only evidence I have found that this "Halfdan Fjeld" exists at all.

My grandmother (Verner's daughter) is awaiting AncestryDNA results currently. I've done AncestryDNA and 23andMe, but so far haven't seen anyone likely to be related to this guy, or anyone with the last name Fjeld/Field/Fjeldstad. There were Fields/Fjeldstads in the Colfax area at the time, but none of their families seem to include a "Halfdan", and Fjeld seems like a very common Norwegian last name at this time.

Any assistance finding out who this Halfdan guy could be would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

I think I've found it!

It turned out Anna Constance Johnson did indeed arrive in the US in 1902, between that and some other things I discovered about the Halfdan Martin Fjeld we'd been looking at, it seemed very unlikely to me that this Halfdan was the one I was looking for.

So, I started looking into another Halfdan: Halfdan Hugo Fjeld, and discovered he had an uncle Julius Field who was living in Sand Creek, Dunn County, WI in 1900-1905. Halfdan wasn't on either the 1900 (he arrived after this census) or (June) 1905 censuses of Dunn County, although in June 1905 his older brother Otto was living with their uncle Julius. Was Halfdan living there during those years as well, but left before June 1905 (possibly because of Verner's birth)? Who's to say.

Anyways, it was enough of a coincidence for me to look into him further, so I found all his descendants. Luckily this Halfdan Hugo has been researched by others already, so finding the rest of his family was easy. He had a granddaughter (who changed her surname after marriage, which is why I couldn't find her) who I found in my list of 23andMe matches.

23andMe estimates we are 3rd cousins. If all of this is true we would actually be half 1st cousins 2x removed. That's pretty distant, but about the same DNA match as a 3rd cousin would be, which makes me fairly confident about this story lining up.

Answer 2

Findagrave ID 218772549

Halfdan M Fjeld b-1884 d-1970

Comments

Thank you, that is a possibility. I had come across that person in a recent search, I was a bit caught up on the fact that he's essentially only ever lived in Illinois since moving to the US in about February 1905.

However, I am not sure when Anna emigrated from Norway. If it was in 1902 then he Martin Halfdan couldn't be a match, if it was after Spring 1904ish, it's possible...

I'll look into him a bit more and see if I find anything. I'll also keep looking for Anna's travel records. She's in Bjalsford, Norway on their 1900 census, but I can't find record of her ever leaving in their church's departure/arrival records.

Answer 3

The "M" apparently stands for Martin, so you may want to look using that, also.

Martin Halfdan Fjeld

Military • United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:74J7-MFZM

Comments

Found this Naturalization Record:

"Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKLP-TVZ : 2 March 2021), Martin Haloden Magnus Fjeld, 1910; citing Illinois, NARA microfilm publication M1285 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 54; FHL microfilm 1,432,054.

And this with "M" for Morten.

The National Archives of Norway-Arkivverket; Norway; Church Books 1815-1960; Reference Number: SAO/A-10872/F/Fa/L0001 Norway, Church Records, 1812-1938 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2020.

Morten Halfdan Magnus

Gender: Mannlig (Male)

Baptism Age: 0

Record Type: dåp (Baptism)

Birth Date:16 nov 1884

Baptism Date: 4 jan 1885

Baptism Place: Petrus, Oslo, Norge (Norway)

Baptism Municipality: Oslo

Father: Peder Pedersen Fjeld

Mother: Olava Bredine Hansen

https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/25211868?h=a24e4b&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url   This url does not need an Ancestry subscription.

Norway Census

"Norway, Oslo Census, 1901", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DMMF-Q1W2 : 11 November 2020), Halfdan Fjeld in entry for Ragna M. B. Fjeld, 1901, Kristiania, Norge

And New York Arrivals Passenger List

Martin Fjeld

Gender: Male

Ethnicity/ Nationality: Scandinavian

Age: 19

Birth Date: abt 1884

Departure Port: Christiania

Arrival Date: 16 Jun 1903

Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA

Ship Name: United States

https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/25211993?h=dac2c0&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url   No subscription needed.

Note: His Naturalization record states he arrived 1905 after Verner's birth, but seems he was wrong. Departure was from Christiania/Kristiania where he was residing in 1901.

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Thanks Dina & LJ! I don't know if that arrival record is correct, however. Last night I found this arrival record in NY, dated March 6th 1905. The second line lists Halfdan Fjeld as arriving, and his destination as New Hampshire. However, I do not think this is true...

The line directly above his says that person's destination is a Mr Christian Carlsen, some place (I can't discern) in Wisconsin. Chris Carlsen was Anna's stepfather whom she was living with in 1905(!!)

Was this a clerical error and actually meant to refer to Halfdan? I do not know, but it seems like a massive coincidence to me. This record also has his correct age (the one you linked I believe is a year off) and beginning of March is a lot closer to the "about the end of February" date on his Naturalization record.

This could also possibly explain why the father is listed as unknown in Wisconsin county records (he would not have been present), but he is listed on Verner's baptismal record.

Either one of these records could be correct assuming some clerical errors with both of them, but this one seems to be the most compelling evidence yet to me.

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That place on the arrival record is likely Stoughton WI, known for its Norwegian heritage, but several hundred miles from Colfax.  It's possible that "Christian Carlsen" was a common name & not the same as Anna's stepfather.  But still possible that Halfdan & Jurgen, lacking a ticket to their destination, teamed up with John Johnson.

Also possible they may have spoken w/other Norwegian on the list: Oscar Sorenson #14 going to Chetek, only 26 miles from Colfax.   If the opportunity in NH didn't last or didn't pan out, he might have moved on.

also suggest researching Jurgen Kristiansen.  since they were both electricians, maybe they travelled to the same area?