My grandfather, Nicolai August Andreasen Tangsrød, who chose to be known as Nicolai Tangsrud in the United States. He is holding his eldest son, Carl Norbert, in this picture. Nick was born in Borre, Norway, on March 21st, 1885, and arrived at Ellis Island at age twenty, with $20 in his pocket. He came west to Williams County, North Dakota, and filed for a Homestead claim and American citizenship on the first day that he was eligible, his twenty-first birthday. He earned both. His life in western North Dakota was brutally hard, and I often wonder if he regretted his choices. He died at age fifty-five, with two minor children still at home, and never was fully able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. I think he would be pleased to know his land (now in Divide County, North Dakota) remains in the family, and that he lives on through his twelve grandchildren.
His hair looks different than in this picture: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13744256
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting search for Tangsrud photographs: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?uidh=000&rank=1&new=1&msT=1&gsln=Tangsrud&MSAV=1&cp=0&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&db=mediaphotopublic&sbo=t&gsbco=Sweden&noredir=true&geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=us&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=62817&o_lid=62817&o_sch=Web+Property&gss=angs-d&gl=&gst=&hc=20&fh=40&fsk=BEFpYewIgAAERQITr38-61-
ReplyDeleteWhat was the cause of Nicolai's death? I recall from past conversations with relatives that it was stomach cancer, but it's a vague recollection and I've been unable to substantiate it via written documents.
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