A continuation from The Life Story of Harold Hansen.
"Then we sailed to Gothenburg, Sweden. It had taken us 21 days for the voyage.....
We went ashore to a hotel. My room was near theirs. We got up early the next day to get the train to Oslo, Norway. We had breakfast on the train, a steam train. Soon we passed over the border to Norway. I was in my father's native land. It was beautiful farm lands in summer time. Clean white houses with red barns, dairies, hay fields and lots of forests around the farms.
We went to the family house in Oslo. There I met my father's family. His sister, Aunt Hulda and Aunt Emma married to Harald Klemmetsen. Their son, Ralph, a ship captain was at sea so didn't meet him. Christian, a farmer had a farm at Ski. Aunt Emma had studied Norwegian history at university. Mia, too.
Their house was two story with a basement. That is where my room was. It had feather mattress, no blanket, yet sometimes too warm. There was a 'dumbwaiter from the kitchen. Upstairs was the parlor and dining room. The family put on a Norwegian style birthday party Oct. 11, 1930, the year I turned 21. That was a memorable moment for me. Many parts of the family arrived for it and we all sat down in the drawing room before dinner where we sang and talked. I was able to meet many relatives from my Dad's family. Of course, I sang and played the piano for them. The highlight of the dinner was the toast of my birthday and the cake made in layers with candies and lots of decorations, made by cousin Mia."
"I learned some of the language, some words I haven't forgotten either. I went on a walking tour around the city of Oslo. I learned about the place where my Dad was born. I visited the house where the Bishop lived near the cathedral, and the palace of the King. The ship of Amundsen who went to the Arctic was there.
My Aunt and Uncle took me to their farm at Ski where their son, Christian operated it. He raised potatoes, blueberries, cranberries, and other berries. When the produce was ready for market, they were put on a wagon train of small carts to be taken to Ski where they were auctioned off. That was quite a site. Another trip that was impressive was around the country. Aunt Emma and Uncle Harald took me on a trip around the fjords and up the coast partly by ferries and partly by train to the Tronheim Cathedral for the 900 year anniversary celebration of when King Olav Helvev accepted Christianity. I was able to get into the celebration service because my aunt told them I was a University student. We also saw the place (Edesball) where Norwegians and Swedes worked out the settlement so that Norway could be independent. Another trip they took me on was up a mountain area to a lake resort area. It was beautiful. We caught fish and my uncle went hunting, but as that's not my sport, ' I went hiking around the forests and lake. I got lost and a goatherd took me into his cabin, then helped me get back on the right trail. I even became interested in a young lady while I was there. But, at last I needed to return home, as jobs were scarce in the depression. Besides my girlfriend Louise was waiting for me. So, I decided to leave Norway and work my way back home.
I worked on a ship of the Johnson lines "Bueno Aires". I was a deck hand this time to get added experience. My aunt and uncle took me to docks where they prayed with me for my safety and then we said "good-bye". The ship left the Oslo Fjord. This was the port my father sailed from in his youth. We were heading out of the Northern Sea when a terrific storm came up in the winter sea. We had to be careful not to be knocked overboard by lashing waves.
We answered the SOS of a disabled lumber schooner, but a bigger ship had already given them aid, so we sailed on down the coast to Antwerp, Belgium. After Belgium, we headed to South America and Porto Columbo, Venezuela. The rest of the trip across the Atlantic Ocean was uneventful. We passed the Azores again when storms came up. We had to control the rolls of pulp to keep the ship upright.
The, we headed up back through the Panama Canal again to the Pacific up the coast of Central America. We got to Point Arena to let off cement and were headed up to San Francisco where my trip to Norway came to an end. I got back to Grass Valley just before Christmas and was happy to celebrate with my brothers and parents. There were lots of exciting stories to tell, and I had the pictures from my Brownie printed to show them beautiful Norway and our family there."
 |
| Possibly crew mates? I love the accordion!
"The young lady that I had thought I was in love with had gotten married while I was gone. I lost interest in being a sailor, as it was hard work and not as exciting as I had expected. So I went to work at the Idaho-Maryland Mine."
And so the story of Harold Hansen will continue through these blog posts. His name was originally spelled Harald, but was recorded on his birth certificate as Harold.
*********************************************************************************
John Hartwig Hansen born 2 Feb. 1865 Christiana, Norway died 10 April 1945 Grass Valley, California
married 3 July 1904
Clara Vere Burrows born 25 Sept. 1882 Grass Valley died 17 Oct. 1974 Grass Valley, California
(They are my Great Grandparents)
Children
1. Hulda Hansen (born and died 1905 Grass Valley)
2. Jack Clemmet Hansen b. 6 Oct. 1906 d. 10 Aug. 1986 Grass Valley CA (Uncle Jack)
3. Robley Evans Hansen b. 23 Jan. 1909 Grass Valley d. 1 Oct. 1985 Reno, NV married Alma Goins 17 Oct. 1931 in Reno, NV (Uncle Bob and Aunt Alma)
4. Harold Lloyd Hansen b. 11 Oct. 1910 Oakland, CA d. Oct. 21 1993 Grass Valley, CA married Margaret Elizabeth Hayes 2 July 1939 Grass Valley, CA (Grandpa and Grandma).
|
No comments:
Post a Comment