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Erling Eide


1905 - 1990

Born: 9/21/1905 - Vestre Toten, Norway
Died: 8/16/1990 - Brooklyn Center, MN

By John Kelly, Son of Betty Kelly,
Daughter of Erling Eide
August 6, 2007

He was still out of breath after racing his friend Gilbert Bloomquist to the top of Bloomquist Mountain. It wasn’t really a mountain, but to an eleven year old boy it was as if he was standing atop Mount McKinley overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The endless expanse of water that stretched out before him, to the edge of visible world, was “The Big Lake,” Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world. To a small boy, in 1916, The Big Lake was an ocean waiting to be discovered. The air was fresh, the sky was clear, and the two boys could just make out the mysterious island of Isle Royale located fifty miles from where they sat. It was part of the state of Michigan, which might as well have been another country as far as the two boys were concerned.

Erling Eide imagined what it would be like to be a sea captain, with Gilbert as his first mate, sailing the oceans and discovering exotic places like Isle Royal. His family had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to get here. He tried to imagine what it was like when his parents, Sofie and Kristian, with his sister Margaret and himself, not yet one year old, sailed from Oslo, Norway across the Atlantic Ocean to New Brunswick, Canada (?) in February of 1906.

Gilbert Bloomquist, Erling’s boyhood friend, would later marry Erling’s cousin, Alma Andersen. Alma was the daughter of John Andersen and Alea Furseth. John was Sofie’s brother. He chose to use the name Andersen rather than Guttormsen. His father was Anders Guttormsen. Family records sometimes list Sofie’s last name as Andersen as well as Guttormsen. This is a little confusing since Sofie was a daughter not a son.

How did the Edie family get from the east coast of Canada to far end of Lake Superior in Minnesota? How did a poor family with little money cross the barren lands of Canada to reach Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the western edge of Lake Superior, just twenty miles from the Canadian Boarder? Did they come by water down the St. Lawrence Seaway via the Great Lakes? Did they take a train? Why did they come here? Why not any of the thousands of places in-between? Did Sofie’s brother John live there first and encourage her to come to Minnesota and homestead some of the free land that was available?

Birth

Erling (Childhood Portrait) was born in Vestre Toten, Norway between the towns of Raufoss and Eina on September 21, 1905 to Sofie (Andersen) Guttormsen and Kristian Erickson Eide. He was baptized one month later, October 22, 1905, at the Ås Kirke (Aas Church). See a map of the region and a copy of his baptismal certificate and church. Vestre Toten (West Toten) is a komm (region) in the county (fylke) of Oppland about 55 miles or 88 kilometers north of Oslo.

EideAasKirke.jpg - 33332 Bytes While searching the internet, I found a site “totenlag.org” dedicated to persons with ancestors from the region of Toten. The site contains photos of the churches (kirke) in Toten, from which I was able to confirm then name of the church as Ås Kirke. The name of the church was on the baptismal certificate, but I couldn’t read it. The site also contained a map showing the location of Ås Kirke relative to the towns.

Further searching on the internet uncovered an entry from a police log documenting arrivals and departures from Vestre Toten. Astonishingly there was an entry for Kristian Eide, Erling’s father. Kristian and Sofie arrived in Vestre Toten March 15, 1903 when Kristian was 26 years old. Sofie was pregnant and their first child, Magnhild, who was born August 19, 1903, five months after their arival. Magnhild is feminine Norwegian name derived from old Norse “magn” meaning “mighty, strong" and “hildr” meaning "battle". It was also the name of a novel by the Norwegian author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, published in Norwegian in 1877 and in English in 1882. Later, when they immigrated to the United States, the name Magnhild was changed to Margaret and she was called Maggie.

The police log for Vestre Toten gives Sofie’s maiden name as Andersen, but her name on the baptismal certificate is Guttormsen. I do know from family interviews I did in 1972 that her father was Anders Guttormsen. Sofie’s mother’s maiden name was Marit. I had also made notes in 1972 that Sofie’s sister Mary had been born in Foldalen, Norway, which agrees with the police log as the place where Kristian and Sofie were born.

In my notes from 1972, I recorded that Erling’s next younger sister, Amelia, was born on 9/22/07 in Cameron, WI, so it would seem that they came to the United States directly, not via Canada, as some people have suggested. If they did go to Canada first, why did they end up in the interior of Wisconsin? The fourth child, Richard, was born in Grand Marais, MN ,11/24/09. So we know that some time between 1907 and 1909, the Eide’s made their way to Grand Marais with at least one stop after landing in America.

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Homesteading

Family memory says that the Eide’s homesteaded on eighty acres in Cook County, MN near Grand Maria. This is essentially correct. A search of the Bureau of Land Management records on the internet found a “Patent Title” for 160 acres in Cook County dated 10/29/1914. See enlargement of image. This date coincides well with the above dates of child births. Richard was born in 1909 in Grand Marais. By law, the homesteaders had to live on and develop the land for a period of five years before they could receive a patent title, which would bring the year up to 1914. If the original homestead was 1909, the years of Richard’s birth, all the dates fit.

The Homestead Act of 1862 revolutionized the rural landscape in America by stimulating the development of over 372,000 farms. It was one of those ideas that worked beyond everyone’s wildest imagination. Too many government programs suffer from negative unintended consequences, but is an idea that worked, and Kristian and Sofie Eide participated in the great experiment. The Homestead Act was passed in 1862, after 70 years of haggling in congress. The southern states had blocked the concept of giving away government land to create farms. They were afraid of its impact on slavery. But when the southern states succeeded from the union and withdrew from congress in 1861, the opposition was gone, and the act was passed in 1862.

By 1906, when the Eide’s came to America, the best homestead land was already taken, but there was still land available in rural areas like Cook County in Northern Minnesota. And though the land was cold and rugged, just like their homeland, it was filled with thousands of other Scandinavians. The combination of free land, fellow countrymen, and a familiar landscape, made for an irresistible opportunity to an adventuresome young family with little opportunity at home.

The Eide’s laid claim to 160 acres officially designated as the south-west quadrant in Section 29 of Township 62N and Range 3E in Cook County, Minnesota. The rectangular survey system, now known as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) was established by the Land Ordinance Act of 1785. It was this system that was used to identify and subsequently sell all government land via the Homestead Act. The largest named unit of land was called a Township, not to be confused with the political or city designation of a township. Each township consists of a square shape divided into 36 sections with six sections on a side. A section is one square mile or 640 acres. The 36 sections in a township are numbered in a switchback fashion as illustrated here. Since a section is one mile square, a township is six miles square. A section is further divided into four quadrants of 160 acres. The four quadrants are denoted NW, NE, SW, and SE. The quadrant became the basic unit of land to be given away by the Homestead Act.

School

Erling told his son Roger that he only finished the fifth grade, but that he was fifteen at the time. For a farm boy in rural Minnesota, attending school was a sporadic process. One attended when he could; farm chores took precedence. No doubt a fifth grade education for a fifteen year old meant a lot more in 1920 than it did in 2000.

A historical photo was published in the Cook County News-Harold of Grand Marais in 1996 showing the entire student body of the East Colvill (sp?) School consisting of eleven children , four of whom where Eides: Erling, Maggie, Amelia, and Dick. Dick (Richard) appears to be eight or nine years old so the photo must have been taken around 1917 or 1918. Erling would have been twelve or thirteen. This was a classic one room school house with the Eide’s making up nearly half of the students.

In spite of his limited education, Erling went on to become a successful real-estate appraiser and an associate member of Society of Residential Appraisers. To his credit, Erling was the only member of the Society of Residential Appraisers that did not have a college degree. He clearly had a knack for numbers, as his grandson, Tom Kelly, tells stories of Grandpa Eide being able to multiple three digit numbers in his head.

Family Fire

An often repeated story is told of the Eide homestead lying in the path of raging forest file. With the burning trees in sight and glowing embers in the air, Erling, not yet sixteen, soaked sheets, blankets, and towels in water and passed them to his father Kristian who dragged them up a ladder and draped them on the roof and walls to prevent ashes and ambers from igniting the cabin. The house was spared.

Many years later, in the 1970’s, when Erling was a grand parent himself, he nearly died in another fire when he fell asleep smoking a cigarette. He was living on Orchard Avenue; Mildred his wife was in the hospital. A passing motorist, seeing smoke coming from windows and doors, stopped and called the fire department. The identity of that Good Samaritan was never identified.

Striking Out on His Own

Erling told of visiting Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada in 1913, which eventually merged with Fort William, Ontario and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the City of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Thunder Bay is just north of the US border on Lake Superior.

Erling took his first train ride in 1914 on the Mesaba Railway Company intercity electric trolley, which ran between Gilbert and Hibbing from 1912 to 1927. The Globe Hotel in Eveleth, a site on the National Registrar of Historic Places, was an important stop on the trolley. The trolley served as a commuter train to thousands of passengers daily, reaching as many as ten towns in the area. Shortly after its start, the rail line started receiving competition in 1914 from what would become the first intercity bus line in the country, Greyhound Bus Lines. Besides iron ore, Hibbing is also famous as the birth place of Bob Dylan. Of course, that didn’t happen until 5/24/41.

In July of his sixteenth year, 1922, Erling decided to strike out on his own and headed for Duluth Minnesota. This was no small adventure. Duluth was a big, dangerous city. Located at the western most tip of Lake Superior, Duluth was a major seaport. In the early 1900’s, due to lumber and iron ore, it shipped more tonnage than New York City. Duluth was not the kind of place a mother would want to send her sixteen year old son. Besides a reputation for hard drinking seamen, Duluth had become famous throughout the country for the “Duluth Lynchings” which had taken place June 14, 1920. A circus, The James Robinson Circus, had come to town. Six Negro circus workers were accused or raping a teenage white girl. The workers were arrested and put in jail, but a mob of a thousand or more people stormed the jail and pulled three of the men out and hanged them from a street lamp. It was an appalling example of racial hatred. A photo of the event was turned into a postcard. There never was any evidence that a rape took place. The Minnesota Historical Society web site has an excellent audio-visual presentation on the event.

Military Service

It is not clear if Erling went to Duluth for adventure or work, but on July 20, 1922, at the age of sixteen, he joined the US Army. He wasn’t old enough to join the army, so he had to have lied about his age. Sofie, his mother, was clearly unhappy with the decision. When she found out in October what had happened, she informed the Army and had him discharged. His army career ended at age seventeen after 78 days. His discharge certificate states he was discharged “by reason of minority.” With his army career over, he took numerous odd jobs working at a grain elevator, road construction, and store clerk before eventually heading for the real big city, Minneapolis.

Marriage

The next few years have been cloaked in a vale of secrecy for sixty years, and even in 2007, the exact truth is unknown. Mildred Wentworth, who was to become his wife, had come to Minneapolis about the same time as Erling, and for much the same reason. Both wanted to escape the small towns of their youth, she Willow City, ND, and he Grand Marais, MN. Like Erling, Mildred was also born in 1905. She had come to Minneapolis to live with her older sister, Eunice. Eunice was born in 1900 and was five years older than Mildred. We don’t know exactly when Mildred came to Minneapolis, but we do know that she had her first child, Betty, out of wedlock at the age of 18, on March 4, 1924. She would not turn 19 until July 27. Erling did not marry Mildred until May 11, 1925, fourteen months after Betty was born. See Marriage Certificate. As the years went by, Erling and Mildred lied about their wedding date, and everyone except close family thought they were married in 1923. Betty herself never found out that she was born out of wedlock until she was 58 years old and applied for a passport. That story is told in more detail in her biography. It cannot be said with certainty that Erling was not the father of Betty, but it is unlikely for the following reasons:

  • Erling was a kind man who would have been unlikely not to have married the woman he got pregnant.
  • In the moral standards of the time, it is unlikely that they would have waited two years to marry from the time they discovered that Mildred was pregnant.
  • They were married by a justice of the peace. There was no traditional wedding celebration.
  • Betty was born in "Bethany Home" a residence for unwed mothers.
  • If Erling was the father, it seems likely that he would have had the birth certificate changed after they married.
Once the façade was started, Erling and Mildred were forced to keep it up. They even had a big 50th wedding anniversary in 1973, knowing full well that they were really married in 1925.

The story of how Erling and Mildred met is part of family folklore. He was a wonderful story teller and could mesmerize his children and grandchildren with stories of crossing the country in covered wagons, clearing land in Northern Minnesota, and other fanciful adventures. As he liked to tell it, he met Mildred at the Minnesota State Fair. He was there with two friends waiting in line to ride the ferris wheel. Since the chairs only held two persons, he was forced to ride with the next person in line, who just happened to be Mildred. It is lovely story, but it may be just that, a story. Would Mildred really have been at the State Fair as the mother of an infant? It’s certainly possible, but it just as possible that he fabricated this story to match the story of his wedding which supposedly happened in 1923.

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Career

It took Erling a few years to find his profession feet as a residential real-estate appraiser. He drove both a taxi (see photo at left) and a truck. At that time of his marriage, he worked for Park Construction Company, operating a steam shovel. This job necessitated traveling around Minnesota. They occasionally lived in Worthington and Waseca during this time. Mildred spent a significant amount of time living on her parent's farm in Northern Minnesota, north of Crosby. Mary Lou, their second child, was born in the Wentworth farmhouse in 1927. It is unknown whether Erling was present.

Coming back to Minneapolis, he obtained employment with Gamble Skogmo as a truck driver. While there, he traveled to Detroit Michigan to bring back the companies first semi-truck. He worked at Gambles from the mid 30's until 1942 (Click for Photo).

In 1942 he started work with a real estate agent for his cousin Anton Hanson at Hanson Realty on Lake and Bloomington. Anton was the son of Mary Guttormsen, his mother’s older sister, and Hans Kveberg. Notice that Anton took the name Hanson. Other children took the name Kveberg, making it difficult to track family members. It seems many of the Guttormsen/Andersen's found their way to Minnesota.

In 1948 he went to First Federal Savings and Loan as a mortgage appraiser for 1 ½ years. He then moved to Twin City Federal in 1950 and retired from there in 1970. The photo at the top of this article is from his retirement. The Twin City Federal story has been well told by Doniver Adolph Lund in the book, Billions for homes: The TCF story

Norwegian Heritage

Erling always felt a strong connection to his Norwegian heritage. As a child, his parents would have been more comfortable speaking to him in Norwegian rather than English. He joined and became very active in the Sons-of-Norway, serving as President and Counselor of Nidaros Lodge #1. The Minneapolis Lodge of the Sons-of-Norway was special since it was the founding lodge, dating back to 1895. The name Nidaros was the original name for Trondheim, Norway. In addition, Erling founded the Viking Luncheon Club in 1951. A story about him was featured in the Minneapolis paper. Because of his prominent role in the Norwegian community, Erling was frequently invited to dinners honoring visiting Norwegian dignitaries.

Religious Beliefs

The Eide’s were active in the Fremont Avenue Congregational Church at the south-west corner of Lowry and Fremont in south Minneapolis. The physical church was torn down. In 1957, the Congregational Christian Churches merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ (UCC). The Congregational Churches’ claim to fame is having come to America aboard the Mayflower, and a web search will reveal many churches around the country with the name “Mayflower Congregational Church.” Erling served as a deacon, an usher, and a member of the board of directors. Mildred, also a deaconess, taught Sunday school, and served as Chairwoman of the Women’s Fellowship. Both of his daughters, Betty and Mary Lou, married Catholics and converted to the Catholic faith. His son Roger maintained his protestant affiliation.

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Masonic Membership

Erling was a Mason with the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite. The Masonic Organization itself consists of only three levels of membership or degrees:
  1. Entered Apprentice
  2. Fellowcraft
  3. Master Mason
When one becomes a Master Mason he has received the highest degree in Masonry. The situation becomes confusing; however, because there are many other groups, called concordant groups, which do have higher degrees. But they all have as a prerequisite of membership first attaining the third degree of Masonry. The three best known concordant groups are:
  • Scottish Rite
  • York Rite
  • Shrine
These subgroups have their own levels of membership or degrees, much of which is determined by knowledge, participation, and financial commitment. Both Erling and his son Roger were Masons and they joined the Scottish Rite on the same night some time around 1975. Roger was also a member of the York Rite.

The Masons profess to be non-religious, but there are strong religious overtones to the organization. Basic membership requires a believe (faith) in God or some supreme being. Membership in the York Rite requires a Christian belief. A formal statement on religion is reproduced on this web site.

Three good online sources of information on Masonry can be found at:

Minnesota Lake Home

Erling never lost his love for the Minnesota north woods where he grew up. With the help of his son’s-in-law, Jim Kelly and Donald Oslund, he built a cabin on Ruth Lake near Emily, 20 miles north of Crosby. They bought the lot for $400 in 1951. The Kelly’s and Oslund’s spent many summers at “The Lake.” I vividly remember priming a hand pump in the kitchen for water and cooking on a cast iron wood burning stove. Late night runs to the “outhouse” were always a scary event. In the mid 70’s, Erling and Mildred sold the cabin to their daughter and son-in-law, Marylou and Donny Oslund, for $26,000. The cabin eventually sold for ten times that amount around 2000.

Residences

Years in Parentheses indicate documented years when Erling lived at the given address. They are not move in or move out dates.
  • Vestre Toten, Norway (1905, 1906)
  • Cameron, Wisconsin (1907)
  • Colville, Cook County, near Grand Marais, MN (1909)
  • Betty was born in Bethany Home, Minneapolis. Mildred’s address was Willow City, ND (1924)
  • 2013 4th avenue south - address on marriagle license application (1925)
  • Mary Lou was born on Wentworth farm in Northern Minnesota (1927)
  • 208 24th Avenue North (duplex) House where Roger was born (1933)
  • 1801 10th Avenue South near Franklin and Chicago (1933)
  • 2406 North 3rd (1934, 1936)
  • 3330 Dupont North (1939, 1940, 1941)
  • 1407 18 Avenue North (1958)
  • 5710 Orchard Avenue North, Crystal, MN (1969)
  • Ruth Lake, Emily, MN (1973)
  • 507 70th Avenue North, Apt 208, Brooklyn Center, MN (1978)

Additional Documents and Photos