Ole K Tangen married Ella Mae Nelsdotter Dokken in 1877. And this good looking, intelligent and otherwise phenomenal family is the connection that all of us have. Oline died at 10 years of age and Nels -- on the far right -- also died young (20), but he made it into the family photograph. Sadly they left no direct descendants to join us, but remain important members of the family. My young grandfather is on the far left and all the other members of the family are identified at the bottom of the photo.
The parents of Ole K Tangen were, if my information is correct, Knutsen Olsen Tangen and Guri Johnsdtr Avestrud. Beyond that I have no knowledge and hope to some day learn more about them. Ella Mae's parents were Nels Olson Dokken and Christina G (Gulesdtr?) Trustem.
Christina G Trustem Dokken
Nels Olson Dokken
In going through the family letters I came across a photocopied letter. The original is likely in the possession of someone else in the family, but since I came across it today I thought that I would pass it on in hopes that if there is anyone who knows more about the Trustem family that they might come across this and add to our general knowledge. This letter was written by the wife of Gule E Trustem. Gule was the son of Erick Trustem who was a brother of our Christina Trustem Dokken, The motivation for the letter was an appeal by Thea Tangen Kaasa and Anna Tangen Allen, (our well-known family members and past participants and organizers of our reunions) for any information that Gule Trustem might have had about their shared ancestors.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sept. 24, 1971
Dear Anna,
Thea Kaasa
and her sister, Anna, were here one evening recently and she wanted me to write
to you concerning your ancestors. I really
don’t know what to write about as Gule doesn’t know too much about them either,
only what he can remember as a child of his father [Erick Trustem, Chrstina's brother] telling him. I have had
this information written some years ago and will give you this much. Gule’s father was Erick Trustem and his father
was also named Gule Trustem and his mother, Randy Trustem [These two would be Christina's parents as well].
Their children were:
- Erick Trustem – born Aug 3, 1831 (in
- Ole Trustem –
- Michael Trustem –
- Corbeen Trustem –
- Christian Trustem – Worth Co, Northwood. He has one son also named Gule still living in Northwood.
- Mrs. Erik Overstrude –
- Mrs. Nels (Christie) Dokken – Worth Co, Hanlontown [this is our family line]
I can tell you something about Gule’s father [Erick] but don’t have
much about the others. When in Norway Norway
for the time and if he was, I imagine all the children had a fairly good education
as his parents were considered well to do in Norway Norway Norway and came to America
Your
great-grandmother, Christie, of course married Nels Dokken when they were still
in Norway [He was 19, she was 16]
It would be
fun to see you again, if you ever come back to Iowa
Gule is 89
years old now. Keeps well, although after
breaking his hip some years ago, has difficulty in walking and his eyesight and
hearing is bad. I am 75 years and have
been lucky to have good health.
Hope this
finds you well and happy with best wishes from both of us.
Sincerely,
Gule
and Anna (Mrs. Gule) Trustem
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
My mother is the third from the right and her sister Marjorie is next to her. Near the left side front is Marolyn with Bruce in the middle front. There are supposed to be some grownup Trustem's in this photo taken around 1935, but they are unknown to me! On the lookout for Trustem family descendants who might know more!
Almost forgot!
Already looking forward to the next reunion in 2016!
No comments:
Post a Comment