Individual Details

Emelia's mother was Grampa Jenson's sister, Jensine. Her father was Peder Andreas Pedersen. Her parents were not married. Both resided at Nordbostad in Nesna at the time of her birth, April 1884. She was christened, Barbro Emilie Hind Petersen, on 22 May 1884, at Nesna.

Her mother, Jensine, married Grandma Jenson's brother, Konrad Martin Petruson on July 14, 1889. They had one son, Anders Nicolai, before Jensine's death in May 1891. Konrad then married Vertine Eline Abrahamson on April 3, 1893. The record shows this to be a second marriage for Konrad, the first for Vertine. We know of at least seven children born to this marriage: Jensine Henriette, born 1895, Peder Olaus, born 1897, Anna Kristine, born 1899, Kristian Andreas, born 1904, Alfred Eldor, born 1906, and Vilhelm Johan and Kaare Pareli, born 1909.



Emelia told of a difficult relationship with her stepmother, Vertine, who would throw her right and left, using her long hair braid. She had an uncle close by who was in touch with the Hudson Jensons. The uncle, who likely was Ludvig, wrote about Emelia wanting to go to America and she was offered a ticket in return for helping the family here. It sounded good to her, and at the age of 16 in early summer 1900, she got off the boat, and became Emelia Barbro Eng. . In her first years, as is evidenced in early family letters, she continued to use Barbro but later used Emelia as her preferred name.

She became a real member of the family here and was a great help to Jensine, particularly when Grandpa Jenson was away working, helping with the heavy chores, milking, etc.

Letter, Ludvik Petrusen to Jensine, dated Anfiskvandet, the 5th [no month or year], translated for Helen Bethel, ca 1986, by Else Bigton. [I think this is late 1891 or 1892, Konrad’s wife Jensine died in May 1891 leaving children Anders and Barbro.]

Dear Sister,
Thank you for your letter. We are all living well here at the home up to this date. It is best for us here as long as we have our health. I have to tell you what is happening at home. Our harvest this summer went well with exception of that we got little of hay and grain so there won’t be a lot of food. Besides we have had hired help this summer but don’t have any now. So Olava is way too busy. She is now too old. It can’t be expected that a person shall serve two times because you know that little Anders haven’t got any other mama than grandmother. He is a big and healthy little boy.
Yes, we had company here too, and it was unexpected. It is people from Solhaug and it is Anne Jensdatter and her oldest daughter, Sakarine. Today is Monday and they came late Saturday night. Anne left today and Sakarine will stay till Wednesday. Anne said to greet you, and from Sakarine too. They didn’t know you left for America and thought they could meet you. But they came in vain, you are gone never to return again. Yes, we will miss you. When we go to Mo we think it is stunting (?) when you are not there. I don’t have time to write more tonight. Tomorrow morning we are going to Sjonnes on Silverking. Konrad, Hans Hansen and me.
You talk in your letter that you wish I could be there, but I don’t feel like going or not going. It is like you say that we can’t all abandon old dad for you know there is so much in so many ways, and nobody knows what I will do some day.
You are greeted from all your friends here and Odes (?), Olava, Konrad and little Anders and Barbro but most of all on the most friendly, loving are you greeted from your brother, Ludvik Petrussen.


There is no envelope and the letter is not dated. It is written to Jensine and Nels from her father. It is in Norwegian and was translated in 1988 by Else Bigton of Barronett, Wisconsin.

I received the gift you sent me a few days ago and give you my heartfelt thanks. It makes me feel good to know you remember us up here in the cold north. We have had lots of snow and bad weather. And now it is the Holidays, we should be happy on the day our Savior was born.
Greet Hans your brother, and Karen and your small boys from their grandfather and Ludvik. He is in Finnmark, he has been in Vardo all winter. I don’t have a lot of news to tell about. The boys in the woods are dead and Jacob Jager died at Advent.
Little Anders greets his mother’s brother and their kids. I wish they didn’t live so far away, then I think you would have a little concern for him and his upbringing. It is bad for him for there are no one who has the sense to bring him up properly. It is bad for him both with food and clothing.
It is bad for Konrad too. He can’t go to Lofoten. They have only one cow and two calves. He has to watch them as much as she does. I have moved to Lars’ house and Konrad have moved in to the old one. The worst for him is to feed everybody.
I have to end for this time. I wish for you the Lord’s blessing both in health and mind in the new year. Please be nice and write to Olava and Peter Jacobsen for me and tell them I live well to this day both in mind and body. Give them the Lord’s blessing and mercy both for mind and body. Be greeted from all of us. Grandma greets Karin and the small boys.
We haven’t had any herring this year. Herring fishing has not been good here.
We haven’t heard from Barbo since she left Andfiskvand.
Be greeted from your old father,
Petrus Pedersen, Andfiskvand

Letter to Mr. Niels J. Jenson, Fort Calhoun, Nebraska.
March 13, 1901
Dear Pa:-
Ma asked me to write you tonight and have it already when we got a letter from you so we could send it at once, so here goes a few lines.
We had our Good Templar’s Socialable last Saturday night and we had quite a nice crowd. We cleared ten dollars and 30 cents. And Niels was down there and he helped me carry home the coffee sacks and some stuff that was left down there.
We went to Sunday School and I went to Church on Sunday night. Mr. and Mrs. Frear, Mr. Gatchell, Mr. McIver, Mr. Danielson, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, Mrs. and Judge Arnquist were among the most prominent ones there and I must not forget to tell you that the Methodist Minister was also there and four or five others whom I do not know, also Mr. Ross.
I suppose you will be sorry to hear that Miss Laura Ross is lying in the very last stages of consumption. She was taken from the Sanatorium last Saturday.
Say, don’t faint now, if you get a little astonished, but just think of it, can you imagine anything more surprising to Niels and I, when we came home from school Monday, of course we said, “Where’s Ma?” and it nearly knocked us flat, when Barbro says, “Down to Roising’s.” Mind you she walked down there on her own two feet.
Josie has been sick now for nearly two weeks with tonsilitus, and she is now well with that, but do you remember that kind of sickness that the Meyer’s girl has? Well Josie has gotten the same kind in her hip, but Dr. Brauti says she thinks she can cure her in about five weeks because it was just started. The first things she did, instead of experimenting on her for three weeks like King & Johnson did to that Meyer’s girl, was to send right to St. Paul after a Specialist. He said the very same about it that Dr. Brauti said, and she has got her leg tied down now with a seven pound weight so it won’t get shorter than the other one.
Sunday we had a hard wind but no snow. Monday, half rain and half snow, Tuesday it snowed nearly seven inches. Today it snowed all day. J.P. Nelson came to the front sidewalk with the snow plow. He didn’t know you were gone or I bet he wouldn’t have taken that bother.
Spoet and Pearl are as well as ever, but I think, especially Pearl misses you.
We got a letter from Olaf Monday night, and he says, he thinks they will be home in about two weeks. Today I saw eight horses, that just came from the woods some place. Nearly all the boys that went to the woods are home now.
I saw Mrs. Deighton today and she has heard from Julia. She is in Minnesota now, visiting, then she is coming right to Hudson, to Bunker’s. Say Pa, do you want us to get the Arena [?] and Review every month? We got it for this month to be sure, but we did not know about later on.
Last week there came two letters to you, one from Hjlmer, and one from Einar. We opened the one from Einar and I wrote and told him we received it, but I didn’t read the other one cause I thought perhaps it was all of “slaro”.
Niels has started to take bookkeeping now in school.
I bought one of those fuzzy caps tonight cause my other one was all wore out, and I payed 75 cents for it and Ma said it wasn’t worth 30 cents.
It has been so slippery that Niels could hardly get the horse to walk up to the well house. He slipped worse than a drunken man. Mrs. Siverson was up here last Sunday and she brought some fish with her, enough for one meal. When she came in she said, “Nei, develu hau ramila, men da var kalt uta.” Then we fired up the drum stove and she sat by that for a few minutes and said, “Ja, Ne ska eg seja, da varrt heit som faam sjol.”
I sleep with Ma now nights and I’ll tell you it’s nice and warm but she never tells me that my feet are warm though.
I hope you’ve gotten a better bed now than you had the first night.
I was down and payed the box and it came to $7.98. He said you had made a little mistake, you had numbered (Jen’s I think it was), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and it should be 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc.
There have been at least nine different people asked for the 7th street house already, but I suggest that you rent to Christ Jenson, engineer at the Sanitorium, at $9 a month, cause all those that asked me the rent I said $9 and they were awfully willing to get the house if they could.
Mrs. Fischer is not gone yet, and I don’t know for sure when she will go.
Good night. This is all I can write now. I remain as ever your daughter, Karine.

This letter is in poor shape with pieces missing. The envelope is addressed to Mrs. John Staberg, Hammond, Wis. And is postmarked from Spring Valley, Wis. on Dec. 21, 1906, 1 p.m.
Dec. 20, 1906
Spring Valley
Dear Niece Karine,
Received your welcome letter a few days ago and was glad to hear that you are well. First I must thank you for baby’s picture. She is just as sweet and . . . Markus can wear them. The children are going to . . . at school tomorrow.
You said in your letter if you had lots of money you would buy lots of presents. Well I never have any presents to send to you so I am sure that is alright. We are going to have a little tree at home . . . and popcorn . . . I think my little half brother comes down, his father Hendrik is gone to Washington to make his fortunate on his old age I suppose. I had a letter from my sister, Jalmar is going into lumber business with two men 9 miles from Bonners Ferry, start after New Years. Richard is also going from Bonner’s Ferry after New Year.
Little Aagotte has been sick a few days with a bad cold but today she is better. We also had a pair of new twins come to town. I am glad they did not come to my house . . . must tell Emelia . . . poor girl . . . glad she got a home of her own. I suppose you will go home for Christmas. Tell your mother and father and brothers we wish them all a happy Christmas, then after New Years write to me and tell me you had a pleasant time. Best regard to John and yourself and a happy Christmas from us all,
Thea Jenson


Letter to Mrs. J.A. Staberg, 1221-7th St., Hudson, Wis. Postmarked from Roberts, Aug. 8, 1917.

Dear Karine,

Ain’t this a glorius morning after the rain. Makes me feel like a colt. How’s Nettie, is she over her sickness or she still suffering. Why in the dickens can’t such things catch people that afford it and has the time to be sick instead of poor people. Well what I was going to say was this. Bake up enuf for a week and take the kids and come out before school starts.
It seems so lonesome now after Teddy went that I’d like some body to talk to.
I haven’t much to offer but I have bread and butter and coffee and cream and a chicken when I can get Olaf to chop the head off. If Nettie isn’t well enuff to come along send her down to Grandma’s for awhile.
I wouldn’t promise to meet you at Burkhardt, but don’t take any more clothes than necessary and take it in a bundle and you could walk over, would do you good even if the kids get tired. Well will have to quit cause I’m afraid it is pretty near mail time.
Emelia certainly spring a surprise on us didn’t she?
I suppose you will be next? Well “what goes up must come down” and I suppose that can be used in another expression too. Nels told me I’d have a calf before he came back. It was quite a surprise to me but I suppose he knows something about it. If you can come soon maybe you will have some raw milk ost. The chickens are taking my tomatoes faster than they get ripe so I’m afraid I won’t have any to can. So far they have not left me a decent one to eat. I’m so disgusted. I’ll never have a garden without a fence again. I’ve spent so much time on my garden this year and the only things I’ll get is what grows under the ground.
Tell Nels to get me 25 cts worth of brown sugar. I’m going to pickle some string beans and I’m going to salt some down too. I’ve canned eleven qts and am going to can more. The chickens don’t like them thank goodness.
Haven’t I got a dandy pen. I wish it was where I wish the chickens every day.
Well so long. Write soon and let Nettie take care of John if she isn’t able to come along.
Yours, Gurina


St.Croix County Forum, Hudson, 25Aug1927
Mrs. B.S. Anderson, her son Roy, and daughter Marion, drove over from Minneapolis on Saturday to help N.J. Jenson, Sr., and Mrs. J.A. Stayberg celebrate their birthdays. Marion is spending the week at the N.J. Jenson, Jr. home.

HSO, 2Nov1933, p5, c3
Mrs. Birger Anderson and son, LeRoy, motored from Minneapolis on Sunday and visited the N. J. Jenson, Jr. family and other relatives.

The Nels and Jensine Jenson family of Hudson held a family reunion in 1993 and created a cookbook of some of their favorite family recipes.
Emelia’s Mock Drumsticks
by Marion (Anderson) Lillie

From the time I was very little, my mother, Emelia Petersdatter Eng Anderson, belonged to a birthday club, which started with twelve members and dwindled to three. It says something for that day and age, that even with only those three (one on a diet of water and toast, and another falling asleep at the table), the amenities were kept, with a small glass of wine (never touched by any of them), a tall goblet of ice water, the handmade lace tablecloth and a centerpiece of florist flowers.
The menu never varied all those years. It started with a trip to Emelia’s favorite butcher, and she demanded the very best pork and veal. Preceding this, however, was the soul-searing Spring Housecleaning, one of my unfunny memories...just in time for her birthday in April. The last “Birthday Group Party” was the year she was 76.
This is a simplified recipe, but tastes pretty much the same, given the difference in the pork flavor over the years.

Mock Drumsticks
Equal amounts of pork and veal, cut in one inch squares.

Thread alternately on wooden skewers, leaving one end bare for two inches as a holder. Her butcher was seriously instructed to keep the squares the same size.

Season flour with salt, pepper, paprika and a bit of nutmeg. Roll the drumsticks in the flour and brown in butter. Sprinkle with minced onion. Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees until fork tender (about 45 minutes or so).

For gravy with drippings, add butter to drippings to make 2 tablespoons, add 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk. Season to taste.




Norway Baptisms, 1634-1927
name: Barbro Emilie Hind Petersen
gender: Female
baptism/christening date: 22 May 1884
baptism/christening place: NESNA, NORDLAND, NORWAY
birth date: Apr 1884
father's name: Peder A. Petersen
mother's name: Jensine Jensdr
[FHL #125,215, indexing project (batch) number C42750-6]

Birth	30 Apr 1884	Nesna, Nordland, Norway
Christen	22 May 1884	Nesna, Nordland, Norway
Marriage	27 Oct 1906	Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota - Birger Samuel Anderson
Death	15 Oct 1967	Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
Burial		Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota

Spouse	Birger Samuel Anderson (1876 - )
Child	Alice Anderson (1908 - )
Child	Leroy Edward Anderson ( - 1986)
Child	Marion Eleanor Anderson

Father	Peder Andreas Petersen (1859 - )
Mother	Jensine Helene Jensdtr. (1856 - 1891)

Notes