Overview of the Collection
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Repository Name:
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Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library
Scandinavian Immigrant Experience
Collection
Archives and Special
Collections Department
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA, 98447
253-535-7586
Email:archives@plu.edu
http://www.plu.edu/archives
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Collection Number:
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t189
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Creator:
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Nielsen,
Einer
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Title:
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Einer Nielsen Oral History
Interview
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Dates:
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1982 (inclusive)
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Quantity:
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3 file folders
2 photographs
1
sound cassette
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Languages:
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English
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Summary:
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An oral
history interview with Einer Nielsen, a Danish immigrant.
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Biographical Note
Einer Nielsen was born on February 14, 1897
in Henne, Denmark to Sern Christian Brun and Anna Nielsen. Einer's parents were
farmers, raising some grain and potatoes, and Sern also worked part-time for a
house-builder. Einer was the youngest of eight children, all of which
immigrated to America except the eldest two. After Einer was confirmed, he
began working on local farms but did not see a future for himself in Denmark.
In 1914, he decided to immigrate with two other boys who were going to
homestead in Canada. They took the Lusitania to Ellis Island and from there,
took the train to Toronto, Ontario. In Toronto, they met a man who arranged for
them to do farm work in Tavistock, Ontario. Einer farmed until the crops were
in and then went to live with his brother in Seattle, WA. His brother owned a
boarding house, and Einer got a room there. He worked shoveling snow and
filling bakery orders for the drivers. Einer's brother Viktor, who was also
selling bakery goods, wanted to farm and convinced Einer to join him. They
began working on a 1700-acre farm, where they lassoed wild cows, milked them,
and made butter. They had four cows, which gave them enough to live on, but
soon found a farm more suitable for dairy farming in Roy, WA. After working
with Viktor for awhile, Einer went to Alaska, where his brother Kris had a
bunkhouse near a mine. Einer's job was to keep water out of the mine when the
tides came in. Eventually, Einer returned to Seattle and went into the milk
business with his brother-in-law. Around 1921, Einer returned to Denmark and
brought back Hilda Dungaar, whom he had known from grade school. They were
married in Seattle and had two children, Viktor and Esther (Temple). Einer
continued with the milk industry and built a Danish brick house for his family.
When he retired, he moved into an apartment complex and met his second wife,
Helen Bogardis, who was born in Seattle.
Lineage
Full Name: Einer Marinus Nielsen. Father: Sern Christian Brun. Mother: Anna
Nielsen. Brothers and Sisters: Martin Nielsen, Matilda Nielsen, Sigfrid
Nielsen, Kris Nielsen, Viktor Nielsen, Margrethe Nielsen, Edith Hansen. Spouse:
Hilda Dungaar, Helen Bogardis. Children: Viktor, Esther Temple.
Content Description
This interview was conducted with Einer Nielsen on October 6, 1982 at the
Norse Home in Seattle, Washington. It provides information on family
background, emigration, occupations, and marriage and family. The interview
also includes two photographs of Einer at the time of the interview. The
interview was conducted in English with some Danish towards the end of the
interview.
Administrative Information
Custodial History The Oral History collection
project was started during an experimental course on Scandinavian Women in the
Pacific Northwest. Students in the course were encouraged to interview women
and learn about their experiences as immigrants to the United States. The
project was continued and expanded with support from the president's office and
by grants from the L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, from the Joel E.
Ferris Foundation and the Norwegian Emigration Fund of the Royal Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project was directed by Dr. Janet E.
Rasmussen. The collection was transferred to the Archives and Special
Collections Department.
Processing Note The interview was conducted by
Inger Nygaard Carr using a cassette recorder. A research copy was also prepared
from the original. To further preserve the content of the interview, it is now
being transferred to compact disc. We deliberately did not transcribe the
entire interview because we want the researchers to listen to the interviewee's
own voice. The transcription index highlights important aspects of the
interview and the tape counter numbers noted on the Partial Interview
Transcription are meant as approximate finding guides and refer to the location
of a subject on the cassette/CD. The recording quality is good
The
collection was transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access The oral history collection is open to all users.
Restrictions on Use There are no restrictions on use.
Related Information
Bibliography
Rasmussen, Janet Elaine. New Land
New Lives: Scandinavian Immigrants to the Pacific NorthwestTacoma, WashingtonUniversity of Washington
Press1993
Additional Reference Guides
Subjects
This collection is indexed under
the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials
about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these
headings.
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| Bogardis, Helen |
| Brun, Sern Christian |
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Dungaar, Hilda |
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Nielsen, Anna |
| Nielsen,
Einer--Interviews (creator) |
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Nielsen, Viktor |
| Temple, Esther |
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Bogardis family |
| Brun
family |
| Dungar
family |
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Nielsen family |
| Lusitania
(Steamship) |
| Henne
(Denmark) |
| Roy
(Wash.) |
| Seattle (Wash.) |
| Danish-Americans--, Interviews |
| Danish-Americans--Northwest, Pacific--Social life and
customs |
| Emigration and
immigration |
| Ocean
travel |
| Railroad
travel |
| Oral
histories |
| Farmers |
Detailed Description of the Collection
The partial interview transcription
highlights important aspects of the interview. Numbers may be used as guides to
important subjects. Two numbers separated by a slash indicate that the first
number is for cassette and the second for CD.
Cassette Counter
023:
PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Name - Einer Marinus Nielsen. Born in Henne, Denmark,
which is on the west coast near Varde on February 14, 1897.
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Cassette Counter
080:
PARENTS: His father was known as Sern Christian Brun. Brun was an old
family name. Einer was called the Burn's son. He's not sure where Nielsen came
from, but it was his mother's name. Her name was Anna. They were farmers and he
worked part time for a house builder. They raised some grain and potatoes. His
father worked out quite a bit and might stay where he was working.
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Cassette Counter
158:
BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Martin was a farmer and stayed in Denmark as did
Matilda. Sigfrid was in this country for many years and worked as a sewer
contractor in Seattle, Washington. He got some arthritis and got a boarding
house where workers from Alaska would come to stay for the winter. They would
always pay even if they didn't have the money at the time. After this he went
into the apartment house business. Following Sigfrid to the US came Kris,
Viktor, Margrethe, and Edith who married a farmer in Snohomish, Washington.
Kris went to Alaska, worked in a mine and later started raising foxes. He fed
the foxes with the fish he caught. Viktor was a farmer between Enumclaw and
Tacoma. He died young from Bright's disease. Margrethe married a farmer in
Seattle. Edith married Chris Hansen.
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Cassette Counter
360:
GRANDPARENTS: Had met his paternal grandparents Brun.
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Cassette Counter
370:
CHRISTMAS IN DENMARK: They always had a tree and decorated it. They ate
either rabbit or ducks or geese with red cabbage. They made their own bread,
pumpernickel.
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Cassette Counter
424:
SCHOOL IN DENMARK: It took about 25 minutes to walk and/or run there.
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Cassette Counter
430:
CONFIRMATION: Went to the minister with four girls. They met with the
pastor on Saturday. They had to go about three Danish miles.
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Cassette Counter
458:
CHURCH IN DENMARK: They didn't always go because it was too far to walk and
they didn't have horses.
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Cassette Counter
470:
FARM WORK: That was all there was to do. He lived with the people he worked
for. They would hire out for a year. After one year he went to another place
where he stayed until he came to America. They wouldn't let him go because his
time wasn't up.
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Cassette Counter
505:
REASONS FOR COMING TO AMERICA: His brothers and sisters were here and doing
well. Most thought they would go to America and make some money and come back
and but a place. It was a loss for the parents to lose their children. He
promised his parents that he would try to save and come back, but no one ever
came back. Einer did come back to visit.
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Cassette Counter
545:
PREPARING FOR THE U.S. TRIP: He didn't have enough money to some and he
never asked his brother because they didn't want him to come because they
wanted to the youngest to stay home with the family. He couldn't see any future
in Denmark. This was the start of WWI.
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Cassette Counter
570:
TRIP TO US: He got the money from the grocery man that he was working for
in his spare time. He borrowed 300-400 Dkr. They left from Copenhagen and went
to England. This was in 1914. They didn't know when they would leave England in
the Lusitania because they were afraid of the U-boats. They were ordered to
sleep in their clothes and come on call. There was a battle ship that escorted
them out. This ship was sunk on the way back. There were movies and dances on
board. He came with two other boys that were going to homestead in Canada. They
were supposed to go to Canada but they couldn't land because of the war so they
came to New York. The trip took about ten days from England to New York. They
had waited several days in England and waited in a boarding house. The food was
bad.
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Cassette Counter
695:
TRIP FROM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK TO LONDON, ENGLAND: They were in a small boat
and it was rough and he was sick.
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Cassette Counter
705:
LUSITANIA: The food was good and he wasn't sick.
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Cassette Counter
712:
ELLIS ISLAND: They had to go through but they didn't have enough money. $5
was required so Einer went through first and handed the money back to the next
guy to get through. They were going to send him back because the address that
he said he was going to didn't exist. The ticket agent in Denmark made up the
place. Some Danish people helped them explain that they were going to work on
farms up there because they knew that farm help was needed.
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Cassette Counter
750:
TRAIN TRAVEL: Took the train to Toronto, Canada. They bought food to take
on the train.
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Cassette Counter
760:
TORONTO, CANADA: There was lots of snow so they thought that they would go
and stay with one boy's brother in Detroit, Michigan, but his brother refused
him when they called from the border because he didn't know that his brother
was coming and thought that it was someone playing a trick. The people at the
border wouldn't even try to call Einer's brother after that, but sent them back
to Toronto. When they got back they stayed at the RR station until it was time
for them to close and a person came that took in travelers and took them to a
boarding house.
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Cassette Counter
850:
BOARDING HOUSE: The man gave them a nice room and fixed them a big
breakfast. He helped was the dishes to pay for the food. This man took him to
the Norwegian immigration man.
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Cassette Counter
877:
IMMIGRATION MAN: He told them that the railway had to refund their ticket
to the US because they didn't have the papers for passage. They got their money
back. This man arranged for them to go to Tavistock, Ontario where there was a
Danish man that could find them a job.
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Cassette Counter
915:
Worked on farms until they got enough money to send the one guy to his
brother. The third boy in their party couldn't land because he was engaged to a
German girl and they had to marry before he entry would be allowed. They never
saw him again. His last name was Petersen.
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Cassette Counter
945:
FARM WORK: Einer stayed at the farm. His friend repaid the money he had
borrowed. Einer asked for a raise and got it. He stayed until the crops were in
and then he was ready to head for Seattle. The farmer was German and spoke
German so he had a hard time learning English.
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Cassette Counter
980:
TRAIN TRAVEL: Knew enough English that he didn't have any trouble
traveling. The trip took a couple of days. Other immigrants were cooking food
on the pot-bellied stove on the train. He had contacted his brother and his
brother met him at the train.
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Cassette Counter
1010:
BROTHER: He had a boarding house at this time and he was
also responsible for taking care of the Danish Brotherhood Hall. Einer helped
him until he got settled himself.
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Cassette Counter
1025:
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: This was the year of the big snow. They
got 4'. He worked shoveling snow because buildings weren't made for this much
snow. Einer had a room in his brother's boarding house.
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Cassette Counter
1050:
BAKERY WORK: He filled orders for the drivers that went out
the next morning. This was a night job. His neighbor would play violin in the
day when he was trying to sleep. He learned a lot the language there.
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Cassette Counter
1077:
ENGLISH SCHOOL: Didn't learn more than conversational.
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Cassette Counter
1090:
Brother Viktor was also selling bakery goods, but he got
tired of it and wanted to farm. They went and worked on a 1700-acre farm. His
brother wanted him to go into partnership with him. They lassoed wild cows and
milked them and sold the butter.
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Cassette Counter
SIDE
II:
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Cassette Counter
015:
He continues talking about the wild cows and how they broke them. They used
a separator to get the cream. They had about four cows and that was enough to
live on.
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Cassette Counter
070:
ROY, WASHINGTON: They found a better farm that was suitable for dairy
farming and that's what this brother had done before.
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Cassette Counter
095:
ALASKA: His other brother went to Alaska and found a job for Einer too. The
brother had a bunkhouse near a mine. When the tide was coming in it was Einer's
job to keep the water out of the mine by means of a dyke and a wood powered
pump.
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Cassette Counter
160:
ENTERTAINMENT: Were dances every week. There weren't any white women there.
There wasn't a lot to spend your money on.
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Cassette Counter
192:
SEATTLE MILK BUSINESS: He bought out a man that had a milk route and a few
cows. Einer's brother-in-law got the cows and Einer took the route. He
delivered the milk in truck. The milk was in bottles.
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Cassette Counter
260:
MEETING SPOUSE: They met in grade school in Denmark. She had become a nurse
in Denmark. Her name was Hilda Dungaar (?). He had to go back to Denmark and
get her in 1921 or '22. Had someone take his milk route. She came back with
him.
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Cassette Counter
305:
VISIT TO DENMARK: Visited old friends.
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Cassette Counter
315:
WEDDING: Married in Seattle. His brother, Sigfrid, and his wife had the
wedding for them. They had a dinner and a dance. They played tricks on him so
that he couldn't get away in his car. They had a house to move into.
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Cassette Counter
380:
TRIP: They took a trip with his brother and went and stayed in a cabin by
the river.
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Cassette Counter
430:
HOUSING: They lived in their first house until they decided that it would
be better to move into town closer to his business. They rented there.
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Cassette Counter
450:
KRISTOFERSON'S DAIRY: They were a large dairy with 30-40 delivery wagons.
He got a job there and liked it, but had a chance to buy a route. The previous
owner was being sued for selling milk which carried undulant fever. He got the
milk to sell from a farmer out in Renton Junction.
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Cassette Counter
530:
CHILDREN: His wife stayed home after they were married. Viktor graduated
from Washington State and was a teacher. They live in Springfield, Oregon. They
have great grandchildren. Esther Temple (?) was a navy nurse and has now
started an old people's home in Hawaii. Her husband worked for the government.
They have four girls.
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Cassette Counter
620:
APARTMENT HOUSES: Sold the milk route and the Danish brick house he had
built and moved into the apartment houses where he stayed until he moved to
where he is now.
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Cassette Counter
645:
SECOND WIFE: She was one of his tenants. Her name was Helen Bogardis (?).
She had been taking care of her old mother and her cancer ill brother who died
within a week of each other. At this time he had sold the apartment but stayed
on as its care taker. Helen was born on Capitol Hill in Seattle.
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Cassette Counter
715:
VISITS TO DENMARK: Had a trip down through Europe with a Danish minister's
tour. They went all the way to Italy. The old home is gone. Before his mother
died she was living with her daughter who was a baker in Copenhagen.
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Cassette Counter
755:
ORGANIZATIONS: He wasn't very active in the Danish Brotherhood because his
wife didn't like the drinking. They were active in the Church.
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Cassette Counter
775:
SPOKEN DANISH: He tells about his second trip to Denmark in Danish.
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