So for the second time this month, I can't resist doing a twofer for this prompt, because both of these stories are just too lovely not to share for it. I actually have a third, but it's a different generation, so I'll hold onto that for something else.
1) Daniel and Bessie (born Eliza) were both born in Wales, less than five hours walk from each other, as I posted in the Maps post.
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| Bessie (Eliza) Jones Nee Howells |
When Bessie was young, she and her family moved away from the mining town she was born in, and to Canada, where her uncle lived, running his own farm. The family eventually settled in Winnipeg, as her father wasn't interested in farming. As her brothers and sisters grew up and married, they all, in their turns, felt the need to move away from the snow of Manitoba, and so they all moved west, eventually settling in and around Vancouver, BC. I'm not sure when Eliza moved there, but I do know that she was here in Seattle for the Alaskan Yukon Goldrush Exposition, which took place in 1909. I'm not sure if she was living in Vancouver at that time, but if not, it was probably around the time she decided to settle there. I do know that she was married and living there in 1911, so it probably wasn't much later.
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| Daniel Thomas Jones |
Daniel lived with his family in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales until he was a young man. Then he and his friends decided to take a trip to Canada, just to experience life before settling down. By the time they got about halfway across Canada, they knew they needed to make a choice. Either continue on, and stay in Canada for another year, or start back to the east coast. They chose by flipping a coin--and moved on west. When they got to Vancouver, Daniel met Bessie. According to stories my grandfather told, Daniel said he remembered seeing her before, when he was in Winnipeg, though Bessie disagreed that could have happened. But either way, Daniel decided this lovely girl was the girl for him. By 1911, they were married, and Daniel only returned home with family in tow to introduce them to his family back in Wales.
2) My other lovely romance of my great-grandparents is the story of how my other grandmother's parents met and married.
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| Oline Hansen |
Oline Hansen was born on the island of Sealand, Denmark, right in the center. She was the third of six children born to a farmer and his second wife. When she was nine, her father died. She and her older siblings attempted to take up the slack. But from what I have been told, she didn't enjoy farming. So she ended up going to work for a neighbor, becoming their cook and seamstress. That neighbor was Ole Hansen (no relation, I believe), who was already involved in local politics when she began working for him. Eventually he became the first non-noble to act as a minister in Denmark. See
this post for more info. His family moved to the outskirts of Copenhagen during his time in office, and Oline moved with them. Eventually, she decided to use her good fortune working for the family to move to the United States, to see if she could make a better living there. We know that she moved to Chicago, but not much of her time there, though we believe she again worked for other families as a cook and seamstress.
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| Holger Skov Hansen |
Holger Hansen was born in Jutland, Denmark, also in a farming town. The family was not well off, and I have been told a story (which I have since proven using a census record) that when Holger got sick with pneumonia, the family had to walk with him to town because they had no cart they could use to transport him, and so afterwards, he stayed with his grandmother until he was well enough to walk home. As a young man, his father taught him bricklaying, and they made extra money around their town doing bricklaying for the people around town. When they got the chance to work on the train station that was finally being built in their area, Holger and his father (and I believe a brother or two as well) quickly joined in. This was how Holger earned the money to come here to the US. His mother had a sister in the US, and so he traveled and stayed with his aunt and uncle until he could make his own way doing brickwork in the New York area.
In 1916 or so, both Holger and Oline decided to go visit their families in Denmark, and ended up on the same boat together. Holger found himself drawn to this young woman, and spent most of his time on the boat with her. Shortly after they landed, the Germans imposed a blockade on the US, so they were not able to return to the US for a time. Holger, being the enterprising young man he was, decided to take a chance and visit the lovely young lady he'd met on the boat. Looking at Google maps, these days the trip is 2-3 hours. Back then, it was probably a little longer, given technology. Either way, that's a long trip, but Holger did it. I don't know how long he stayed, or if he just visited often, but either way, when the couple returned to the US, they were absolutely a couple. They made plans to move to a new city together, choosing Cleveland, Ohio, where they lived and raised three children together before Oline died in 1929. They had just over ten years together, but they lived a lifetime in those years.
So there are the stories of how two sets of my great-grandparents met and married.
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