Notes for Torger Pederson Hagen: (From a letter dated April 16, 1985 to Margie Peterson from Ruth Hagen O'Donnell, the daughter of Torger)
Dear Margie, What a nice family you have! It was so nice to hear about you all. I am fine -- busier now than when I was working.
Now, as to Norway, I wish I had more time -- there are so many things I could say. I went to Norway last year and visited the place where my father was born and went inside the church in which he was baptised in 1870. The church was built in 1623, and is beautiful! There were some people we met who would be your third cousins. They treated us royally -- were farmers and didn't speak English. A school teacher with whom I correspond traced our ancestry back to the 1600's. He speaks English so we appreciated him. I took some Norwegian (I still am) but the dialect is different where my dad lived. The little town was called Skabu (skaw-boo) and is the beautiful Gubbrensdalen (Gubbrens valley), hills and valleys. My dad's ancestors were called Skabo because there was this huge farm by that name. The farm was divided and the lower farm was called "nedre" -- the upper "ovre." Dad was from the richer "ovre" which became "Graupe" hagen, hagen meaning garden or farm so Hagen means "the garden." Graupe was the name of my Grandma Hagen so therefore our name would have been Graupe-Hagen, had they followed tradition when they came to America. My grandfather, Per Hagen, moved to the Graupe farm so he took the name - Graupe and the name Hagen, which literally meant the farm of the Graupe's. Make sense?
My father had three much older sisters who came to America first. Two of them were married in Norway. Then my grandfather Per Hagen and grandmother Karen, my father Torger Pederson (son of Peder) and Torval Pederson Hagen came over in 1833. They had a "buttikk" (store) in Graupe - Skabu, so were pretty well off with their farm but came to the promised land, America, and settled in Minnesota. The sisters settled in Wisconsin. It's interesting to note that names changed with each generation; there you'll notice that the son of Erland Torgerson Kvalen became Torger Erlandson and his sons became Erland Torgerson, Iver Torgerson, Torger Torgerson, Hans Torgerson and my grandfather became Per Torgerson. Then my father became Torger Person or Pederson. Of course, as I mentioned, my grandfather moved to the Graupe farm and took that name! This is why ancestry is hard to trace, yet Norway and Sweden have the best records in the world becaus of church records, census, etc., according to my schoolteacher friend.
I don't know much about their trip here but they finally settled in northern Minnesota where my dad met mother and were married. My dad (your grandfather) started out as a thresher engineer, then manager of lumber yards in Greenbush, Minnesota and Middle River, Minn. He tried farming for just a couple of years but was no farmer (as were his parents) so became bookkeeper and clerk at a general store in Middle River before coming west.
I have tried to trace my mother's family but am having a time of it because they must have changed their name. My cousin says she remembers her dad saying they originated in the Alsace-Lorraine area and that there name may have a "Von" before it. I do know Grandpa Willer was German, Dane and Norwegian. A couple of his uncles, named Motsveldt served in Parliament and their pictures are hanging in the Parliament building in Oslo. Aunt Lydia (Atlanta) was born on their first trip to America, which was around 1871. They settled near Minneapolis, where my mother was born -- they then moved to Argyle, Minn. where they had a boarding house.
They had another experience on their first trip -- while Grandma was still in bed with her new baby the ship they were on ran into another boat. They held the other boat up until all passengers were moved to their boat, then backed out and let the other boat sink!
If you come to Auburn for the reunion you'll have to come and see pictures, etc.
Must get this in the mail so bye for now! Hope your son can use some of this.
Love, Aunt Ruth
Mr. Hernas and your 3rd cousin Torger Risedal made these graphs for me.
More About Torger Pederson Hagen: Baptised: April 16, 1968, Buried Washington Memorial Cemetary, Seattle WA.. Ethnicity/Relig.: Lutheran. Occupation: Bookkeeper, steam engine operator, lumber yard and mercantils store manager.
More About Torger Pederson Hagen and Amalie Elise Willer: Marriage: March 1, 1898, Warren, Minnesota.
Children of Torger Pederson Hagen and Amalie Elise Willer are:
+Edith Adelia Hagen, b. October 28, 1898, Argyle, Minnesota, d. September 5, 1971, Auburn, Washington.
Carl Percival Hagen, b. July 4, 1900, Argyle, Minnesota, d. December 31, 1954, Seattle, Washington.
+Gladstone Everett Hagen, b. July 1, 1901, Argyle, Minnesota, d. November 16, 1983, Tacoma, Washington.
+Walton Torval Carol Hagen, b. July 22, 1903, Argyle, Minnesota, d. February 20, 1982, Auburn, Washington.
+Lawrence Sanford Hagen, b. August 14, 1905, Grand Forks, North Dakota, d. 1961, California.
+Harold Charles Oswald Hagen, b. June 23, 1906, Middle River, Minnesota, d. June 14, 1969, Snohomish, Washington.
Torger Pederson Hagen (b. April 26, 1871, d. April 13, 1968)
Notes for Torger Pederson Hagen: