Researching Erickson’s Family

To find as much information as I can about Lois Maureen Erickson’s Scandinavian family.

Lois was born 16 April 1926 in Seattle, Washington. Her husband is William Dale Heady born 1920 in Seattle and died 1978 in Idaho. Lois’s parents are Carl Emil Erickson 1881-1946 and Martha Anderson 1888-1993, she died in the Seattle area. Lois’s grandparents on her father’s side are John Erickson born around 1850 and Anna Larsen also born around 1850. Lois’s grandparent’s on her mother’s side are Andrew Anderson born around 1859 and Carrie Anderson born around 1858. Lois also had a son who was born 5 August 1950 in Seattle, Washington and who died 20 January 2019.[1]

Census records show us the family dynamics. Therefore, it’s best to start here to see Lois’s family and how they lived in America.

The 1930 Federal census shows Emil as head of household . The record shows his name as Emil C Erickson and not by the known information of Carl Emil Erickson. Name variations are a common practice. This practice is expected on census records. He rented his home; he was 49 years old in 1930. This would put his birth year around 1881. This information matches the known information for his birth year. The record states he was 38 years old when he married; this puts their marriage date around 1919. The record also states that he was born in Norway as well as his parents. All of this information on this record verifies what the client has given me.

His wife is Martha and she is 42 years old in 1930. This puts her birth year around 1888. She was 31 years old when she was married. She was born in Sweden as well as her parents. Again, this coincides with the known information given by the client.

The record shows that they have three children at this time. The oldest is Frank, 9 years old, born around 1921 in Washington. The next oldest is Lawrence, 7 years old, born around 1923 in Washington. The youngest child on this record is Lois, 4 years old, born around 1926 also in Washington. This record gives us new information about Lois’s siblings and matches the information given about her. Therefore, this is the correct ancestor.

In addition, the record gives us some more information about their immigration. Carl and Martha immigrated to America in 1899. It’s unclear on this record whether they immigrated together or separately. Therefore, the timeline for this family looks like this…

The above information is again verified in the 1940 Federal census for this family . The family is living in the same Seattle, Washington area and there are no more children born to this family on this record. The immigration information is not required on this census as it was on the 1930 census.

I then tried to find Carl and his family in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 Federal Censuses because he would have been living in America at that time. These records would ask for different information that would help us fill in the gaps for how Carl lived in America. However, I was unable to locate him on these records at this time.

I then turned my attention to finding an American record that would show me Carl’s last residence in Norway. This would help me search for his birth record in Norway. The immigration records are the usual source for this information. However, an immigration record for Carl Erickson wasn’t found at this time.

However, a WWI Draft Registration Card showed Carl living in Seattle, Washington . He registered in September 1918. The record states his full name of Carl Emil Erickson. His birth date is 21 March 1881. He is from Norway. The record asks for nearest relative, his answer was Hannah Erickson, and her address was Christiania, Norway.

The birth date, birthplace, and residence match the information given in the client information, the 1930, and the 1940 census records. The record implies that Hannah Erickson may be Carl’s mother, Anna Larsen from the client’s information. This would be logical to assume since he wasn’t married yet and he may not have had any other family in America at that time.

A WWII Draft Registration Card shows more information to support what was found in the WWI draft card . It shows Carl Emil Erickson still living in Seattle, Washington with the same birth date of 21 March 1881. He registered in 1942. This record shows his birthplace as Oslo, Norway and not Christiania, Norway from the WWI draft card.

In reality, Oslo and Christiania are the same place. Historically, King Harald III of Norway founded the city in 1048 and called it Oslo. It was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. Then King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway rebuilt the city and renamed it Christiania. Oslo was used during this time, but it was an alternative name. Oslo became the city’s official name in 1925.

Therefore, when Carl registered in 1918, his birthplace was called Christiania. Then when he registered in 1942, his birthplace was called Oslo. Therefore, because there is more than one record stating the same information, it is reasonable to assume that his birthplace is likely Oslo, Norway. Further research into immigration and naturalization records would help prove or disprove his birthplace information.

However, after an extensive search in all of the birth records from Oslo, Norway that are online, there was no birth record found for Carl Emil Erickson at this time. This may be for many reasons. The record hasn’t been scanned yet, I am looking in the wrong place, he went by another name, there wasn’t enough time to search the records, or he didn’t write his actual birthplace on the military records, etc. Further research is required to find his Norwegian birth record.

Conclusion

In this project, census records and military records showed Carl Emil Erickson was born 21 March 1881 in Oslo, Norway. He married Martha around 1919. They had three children Frank born around 1921, Lawrence born around 1923, and Lois born around 1926. The children were all born in Washington, United States. He and Martha immigrated to America around 1899. Carl and his parents were born in Norway. Martha and her parents were born in Sweden. Carl died on 20 September 1946 in Washington, United States.

Although, this project didn’t accomplish the intended goal of obtaining the necessary Scandinavian records, it did create a solid foundation for which to continue the search. Those Scandinavian records are out there. It will just take more time to discover this family’s story.

Recommendation for Future Research

1. Find Carl Erickson’s family in the 1900, 1910, 1920 Federal Census to show their migration and to find any more clues to other records.
2. Order the death certificate of Carl Erickson to verify the index found on Ancestry.
3. Order the Social Security Index record to also verify what’s found on Ancestry. Both of these records might have clues to Carl’s family and life that may lead to other needed records.
4. Locate Carl Erickson in a Passenger List or naturalization record on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org.
5. Locate Carl Erickson’s birth record in Oslo, Norway on the Norwegian Digital Archives website.