His story
A childhood at Thorshaug
Olaus entered the Vestre Aker baptism register as Olaves. Born on February 8, 1877, he was baptized on March 11. His mother, Marie Olsen, lived at Thorshaug, the area now known as Torshov in Oslo. The register names his father as Johan Magnussen and records that his parents were unmarried. A note says Johan was said to have gone to Sweden; it leaves his later life and nationality uncertain. [record]
When Olaus was two, Marie married Johan Marius Johnsen. The distinction matters: Johan Magnussen was his recorded father, while Johan Marius became his stepfather. The family appears together in Kristiania’s childhood census records, first at Normansgade 37 and later at Vaalerengsgaden 21. Younger children joined the household. [record]
A smith and a young family
Metalwork runs through the records of Olaus’s life. His stepfather was a journeyman smith. An Olaves Johnsen, very likely Olaus, was described as an opslager—a smith’s striker—when he witnessed Arthur’s baptism in 1897. By his own wedding he was a smith, and the 1900 census describes his trade as smed (vogne), work associated with wagons or carriages. No particular workshop or apprenticeship has yet been identified. [record]
On March 29, 1899, Olaus married Emma Olsen at Kampen church. Emma was born in Sweden in 1879; the family also knows her as Emma Olsson. Her work in the marriage record concerns tailoring or sewing. They lived at Magnus gate 8, and their children Alf Emanuel, Aslaug Magnhild and Borgny Kristine were born between 1899 and 1905. [record]
Looking for work across the Atlantic
In August 1906, Olaus registered to leave Norway aboard Montebello, with Minnesota as his destination. The record gives his exact birth date, his trade as smith and an address at Toftes gate 43. His stated reason, translated, was a lack of opportunity to obtain remunerative work. The entry records his intended journey, not a complete account of his arrival or American residence. [record]
Family recollection says Emma left him and that he later returned to Norway. The original record of his next marriage says that his earlier marriage was dissolved by royal resolution on July 14, 1911. The circumstances of the separation remain uncertain. His 1920 census form gives 1913 as his return year. Nor has the family’s possible Seattle connection been established for Olaus. [Civil marriage and divorce reference]
From Kristiania toward Minnesota
The Atlantic crossing becomes clearer in a passenger list for Ottawa, which arrived at Quebec on September 6, 1906. Olaus Jonsen is listed as a married, twenty-nine-year-old smith from Christiania, bound for Eveleth, Minnesota. His age, trade and circumstances closely match Olaus’s Norwegian departure. The contact is described as a brother-in-law, with the name tentatively read as “Aug. Karlsen.” Neither that man’s identity nor the relationship has yet been established. Eveleth was his stated destination, not a confirmed home address. Arrival record.
Olaus’s own 1920 census form supplies an important later recollection: he reported leaving Norway for America in 1906 and returning in 1913. This gives a return year, rather than an exact voyage or date. His American homes and employers remain unidentified, and the possible Seattle connection is still unconfirmed. 1920 census return-year answer.
Emma and the children in Sweden
While Olaus was abroad, Emma’s household appears in Arvika church records with Aslaug Magnhild and Borgny Kristine. Matching marriage and birth dates connect this household to the Norwegian family. Emma is recorded as born January 22, 1879, in Älgå. A later household record names her husband Daniel Persson Haglund and gives their marriage as April 27, 1912. It includes Aslaug, Borgny and Olie Mirjam Ingegärd, born March 26, 1914. Earlier household · Later household.
In December 1923, Borgny crossed to New York aboard Frederik VIII, naming her mother Emma Haglund in Arvika and giving Meriden, Connecticut, as her destination. Her Swedish departure registration was dated October 23; that was a church-record entry, not the ship’s sailing date. The records help follow the first branch of Olaus’s family without confusing Daniel’s household role with biological parentage. Borgny’s passenger record.
Marie Sofie and a second home
Marie Sofie Anstensen had also known marriage, motherhood and loss. Her infant son Sigurd, whose father was Johan Gustavsen, died in 1894. She married Gustav Albert Hansen in 1902; their daughter Bergljot Signora Helene was born that March. Gustav died on January 31, 1907. Marie registered to travel to Wisconsin that October and was back in Kristiania by the 1910 census. Bergljot died on July 16, 1911, aged nine. There is no record here showing that Marie and Olaus met in America. [Gustav’s death notification] [Bergljot’s death record]
Her mother was Sofie Gurine Anstensen. Church records establish her siblings Anton, Jacob Andreas Gunvald and Gundeste Cesilie Anstensen, Auntie Cecilia. Cecilia and Paul were Alfhild’s baptismal sponsors in December 1914. John Harjo is remembered as saying that Cecilia helped care for Marie’s children; the details remain uncertain.
Olaus and Marie married before the Kristiania notary on February 21, 1914. The civil register describes him as a divorced blacksmith and her as a widowed cleaner; they intended to live at Oslogate 4. Alfhild was born that November, followed by Ruth in 1916, Alf in 1918 and Ragna in 1920. The family lived in Kristiania in 1914–1916, with Lakkegata 64 clearly recorded in Ruth’s 1916 birth register; Alf’s baptism places the parents at Halsen in 1918. By the 1920 census they were at Skjønheim in Strømm, with all four children at home and Olaus still working as a smith. [Civil marriage, 1914] [Ruth’s birth, 1916] [1920 household]
The family he left behind
A strongly matching death notice places Marie and Olaus at Stub in Sandar in 1947. Published in Sandefjords Blad, it is dated May 23 and names Marie Johnsen, Olaus and their family. The Sandar death index independently lists Marie Sofie Johnsen that year; the detailed entry remains unexamined. [Marie’s death notice] Read more about Marie’s later life.
Olaus’s funeral notice begins with his trade: Smed, smith. It says that their beloved father died peacefully on July 18, having come to faith in Jesus. Beneath are Alfhild and Kristian Harjø, Ruth, Alf and Rønnaug Johnsen, and Ragna and Arne Jørgensen. It announces a funeral from Sandar chapel on Wednesday at one o’clock.
The family tree places his death in 1950. The surviving clipping supports the day and month, the occupation and those family relationships, but does not print the year. It brings his story back from the records of work and travel to the children who remembered him. Read the notice in English.
