Ed's Day Wednesday
In an effort to continue telling family stories sharing the life stories of those that lived before, in this article I want to branch away from telling of a direct ancestor. I instead I will tell of an uncle's life that was intriguing to learn about. In recent articles, I have been leading up to this individual and early portions of his life we have already told.
Today, I am sharing the later life of John G. Paulson whose birth name was John Gunnuldsen. John was my late cousin Ed Ostrom's 2x great-uncle (my 3x great-uncle). Our connection to John is that he was an older brother to our 2x (my 3x) great-grandmother, Toline G. Paulson (1846-1934). John was born on 08 December 1841 near Bø, Telemark, Norway at what is known as the Lunde farm and he was the son of Gunnuld Paulsen and Gunnild Johnsdatter.
John Paulson married Anne Mikkelsdatter, a local girl from the Aasen farm. Their marriage was held on 23 May 1864 in Bø and they began their family. When John's father (Gunnuld) died in 1875. This left John in charge of the family farm, now the Traskjær farm, and it was John's responsibility to see to it his mother (Gunnild) was cared for.
During June and July 1880, John along with his wife, his mother and all the children, packed up the little they could carry and began their journey leaving Norway and headed to America, specifically Waseca, Minnesota. There have been two previous articles about their travels that summer. If you would like to read these, click here and here.
When they arrived in America they were greeted by John's brother, Paul G. Paulson and his sister, Toline G. Paulson Ostrom. It was good to see family after a long separation. John and his family settled on a farm near Hankinson in Richland County, North Dakota. It was here that John's mother passed away on 30 March 1890. Then on 06 June 1905, John's wife Anne also died, leaving him a widower with three surviving children that were now adults.
John's three remaining children were Lena, Gilbert and Charles. By 1905, when their mother died, all three were married and had families.
Lena Paulson, whose birth name was Gunnild Paulene Johnsdatter had married August F. Peterson (b. Norway 1869). They were married in 1892 and had five children: Lily Alma (b. March 1894), Roy Alfred (b. March 1896), John Albin (b. March 1898), Gilbert Melvin (b. August 1900) and Albert McCarl (b. December 1901). They too were farming, very close to John's place.
Gilbert Paulson, whose birth name was Gunnuld Johnsen, had married Julia Larsdatter Sando (b. Iowa, 1868). They were married November 1891 in Hankinson., North Dakota and had eight children: Lily Josephine (b. September 1893), Alma Gurina (b. January 1896), Pauline (b. November 1899), Emma (b. April 1903), John Lawrence (b. July 1904), Gillian Nicoli (b. October 1906), Walter Julian Goodwin (b. April 1909) and Clarice Adeline (b. Jan 1913). Gilbert's history would place him and his family in South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho and eventually Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon.
The third, Charles Paulson, whose birth name was Halvor Mikkel Johnsen, had married Emma Schroeder (b. Wisconsin, 1876). They were married on 27 November 1899 in Wahpeton, Richland County, North Dakota, not far from Hankinson. Charles and Emma would have five sons: Williard "Billy" (b. October 1900), George (b. October 1901), Hulvar "Hud" (b. August 1904), Albert Carl "Skeeter" (b. August 1906), Reinhold Gustor "Ryner" (b. April 1908). Charles also farmed and his family lived next door to his father, John.
By 1906, the Paulsons and Petersons were looking to move. They were hearing good reports about the land that was available in Canada to homestead. They were looking at Saskatchewan in an area near the west-southwestern corner, bordering Alberta to the west. In particular, they were looking at District Number 8. Even the railways were helping to encourage homesteaders by offering major discounts for travel expenses. Even freight and livestock rates were discounted. The first Dominion Lands Act provided for a free homestead of 160 acres for new settlers. The fee was ten dollars and a three-year residency.
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| IMAGE: Saskatchewan, Canada, with Census Division Number 8 highlighted with black text. From Wikimedia Commons. |
The history books are unclear, but the Petersons, August and Emma may have traveled to Saskatchewan first, leading the way for the others. The date mentioned for their arrival was 1906. The history books where I have found much of this information are "A Link to Our Heritage, Lacadena, Darwin, Pleasant, Saltburn, Clytha, Fundale, Opal" published by the Lacadena (Saskatchewan) Histocial Committee in 1989 and "The Tyner District," published in 1992 by the Tyner History Book Committee, Tyner, Saskatchewan, Canada. These books are fine examples of a group of local individuals working together to tell the stories of the area they live in. The committees receive their information from the local folks they contact and request a submitted story from. In this case, because of using two books, there is overlap in some small details, especially dates.There are found to be slightly different. I have tried to sort it out.
Traveling along with the Paulsons and Petersons families was John's nephew, John Gabriel Ostrom (b. 26 December 1875). Known soon in Saskatchewan as "Happy Jack", he was the son of Olaus and Toline Ostrom.
It is likely that Charles' family might have been delayed in making the move as their youngest child, Ryner was born in 1908 in North Dakota. Possibly daughter-in-law, Emma stayed behind with her other children while she waited for Ryner's birth.
Listed the first white person in this part of Canada was a Mr. Dudley, who helped homesteaders that began arriving, telling them where to find wood and water. Swift Current was the nearest town at the time. Names of these early homesteaders include Bill and Charlie Phoenix in the spring of 1906, and soon after the John Paulson family, Jack Ostrom, the Peterson family, the Thrush family, Collins, Freschetts, Forstadieous, Walen and McIntyre. Many, like our family, came from North Dakota, another good many were early settlers from Ontario, Canada.
The first couple to marry in this area was Jack Ostrom and Esther Thrush. They were married in the warm months of 1907, traveling to Moosejaw where the ceremony was held. The first time they went to Moosejaw they were told the marriage bans had not been called. So, they had to return three weeks later. Esther was the daughter of widower Peter Thrush who had also arrived in 1906, from Ontario, with his son and two daughters.
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| IMAGE: Showing Range 18 and part of 17, Sask. Land Map published by O.F. Cummins Map Co., 12 Cooperative Bld, Regina, Sask. Believed to have been printed in 1915. The rail line through Tyner has not been surveyed. Highlighted in yellow, homesteads of J.G. Paulson, C. Paulson, J. Ostram [sic] and Mrs. A.F. Peterson. From the 1992 book "The Tyner District," by the Tyner History Book Committee. |
From the map, we see that John G. Paulson, Charles Paulson, August F. Peterson and Jack Ostrom were all close neighbors. I am sure they were glad to have family nearby.
The winter of 1907 was very difficult and extremely cold for the new arrivals. In one instance, told over and over through the years is how John G. Paulson froze his feet. He had gone to get fodder for one of his neighbor's cattle that were dying. The weather had turned so cold while he was about this task that both John's feet froze so badly that some of the toes became gangrenous and needed to be amputated. There was no doctor closer than the seventy miles to Swift Current. John was afraid that horses pulling a wagon would play out only part way there and all would die from the cold. With no improvement to his feet, John did what was necessary and he removed his toes with a pair of hoof trimmers, stitching the wounds with silk thread and a needle. Only a tough, resolved person could do that.
John's daughter-in-law, Emma Schroeder Paulson, wife of Charles became sick with consumption, today it is known as tuberculosis. Emma would die on 04 February 1912. Surviving her was Charles and their children. Charles was with five small boys and little means to provide for them. Leaving the older boys with his father and the younger one with his sister, Charles left for find work. He never returned—his sons never knew if that was by choice or if he had died somewhere along his way.
On 06 December 1913, John's son-in-law, August F. Peterson, husband of Lena Paulson Peterson died. Their children ranged in ages from 19 to 12, old enough to do the work and continue their homestead. I am sure their Grandpa John was a good source of information for these young farmers. The 1916 Canadian Census shows that August and Lena's oldest boy Roy is the head of the household and living with them are Lena's nephews Albert and Ryner. The land is still owned and worked today by members of the Peterson family.
The census taker found that John G. Paulson's household held, in addition to John, his grandsons, Willard, George and Hulvor. It was tough at times with John of advancing age. But they did the best they could.
John G. Paulson, would pass away 25 March 1921, at the age of 79. His death occurred at home with family around his bed, including his son Gilbert who had traveled from North Dakota to be there when his father died.
John was a man of adventure, as tough as you can get. He wasn't afraid to move into areas that had few neighbors as he apparently liked to depend on himself. From Norway to Minnesota, North Dakota and then Saskatchewan, he was quite the wanderer. Yet, too he knew of family responsibility as he finished raising grandsons who would have a similar love of adventure as some would leave Saskatchewan for Alberta and others would continue onto British Columbia, before they found they could go no further west. The same holds true for the offspring of August and Emma Peterson and Jack and Esther Ostrom, they too have descendants throughout western Canada.
And so goes the members of this branch of the family who are proud Canadian citizens today. Eh!
I want to thank, fellow Canadian researchers for their help with the background for today's article. Namely, L. Ostrom and D. Berg. Thank you for your help with the history books. To all my readers, thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed today's article.
I hope too, your week is going great. Have a great day everyone!
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