Descendants of Andreas Herman Andersen Stapnes (Herman Anderson) and Anne Gurine Berentsdatter Nodland

Genealogical information, pictures of Anders (Andy) and family, Andy Anderson’s baptism record and cow pox vaccination certificate, “Anders Anderson – the first 86 years of my life,” pictures of Bernt (Ben) Anderson and family, Ben’s baptism record, “Ben Anderson” biography, pictures of Severin Anderson and family, Severin’s baptism record, “Severin Anderson” autobiography, “Audrey Anderson Fisher” autobiography, “Stella Anderson Nieman” biography, pictures of Hanna Anderson Fredrickson and family, “Hanna Anderson Fredrickson” autobiography, pictures of Harold Anderson and family, “Harold Anderson” biography, pictures of Albert Anderson and family, “Albert Anderson” autobiography, pictures of Simon N. Anderson and family, “Simon Anderson” biography, pictures of Selma Anderson Bergstrom and family, “Selma Anderson Bergstrom – 1988” autobiography, “Anne Marie Bergstrom Curran” autobiography, pictures of Nina Anderson Larson and family, “Nina Anderson Larson” autobiography, pictures of Gustaf (Gus) Anderson and family, “Gus Anderson – Autobiography – December 1988,” pictures of Anna Anderson Hoiland and family, “Anna Anderson Hoiland” autobiography.

Biographical Information

Anders Anderson

Anders Anderson was born 17 August 1902 at Stapnes, Egersund, Norway. He lived in Norway for four years before his family immigrated to the United States. He, his parents, his brothers Bernt and Severin, his grandpa Anders and grandma Hanne, his Uncle Soren, and Elisabeth Mong Reed left Egersund on 26 July 1906 and landed on Ellis Island on 5 August 1906. From New York they took a train to Bow, Washington, where Anders’s Uncle Nels was living. His father built their one-room house in the spring of 1907. Two additions were later added to the house.

Anders started the first grade at age eight. He knew very little English. After the 8th grade he worked to save money for a year to go to Columbia College in Everett in 1918. He had earned money through several jobs while at Columbia, such as operating the water pump and firing the heating plant. He went to Edison High for a year, as he could not continue to afford Columbia. He then entered Spokane College the fall of 1920. He played football and was involved in other activities. He met Hjordes Sylten here, and married her in Absarokee, Montana, on 7 November 1929. Before his marriage, he had several jobs: selling farm books, farm work, fireman in 1928 on board the SS “President Jackson,” fisherman in Alaska. He and Hjordes lived in Edison for two or three years. He worked for Sam Bernet in a grocery story and on different farms during the 30s. Hjordes boarded several teachers for the evening meal for several months. The spring of 1935 Anders got a job with Libby McNeil at George Inlet near Ketchikan. They moved back to Montana that fall to help Hjordes’s father on the farm. Her father died shortly after, so Anders and Hjordes ran the ranch for over a year before it sold. They returned to Alaska from 1937 to 1941. In 1942 they bought a house in Absarokee, Montana. Over the years he worked on ranches, he wired houses for an electric contractor, he worked at a chrome mine, and as a construction contractor. In 1951, he got a job at Yellowstone Park as a relief operator. Hjordes worked in the kitchen of the Hamilton store. He returned to the chrome mines in 1953 until 1962. From 1963 to 1968 he worked for the county. Hjordes died in June of 1964. He remarried in 1966 to his neighbor, Cleone. They traveled often including trips to Alaska, Mexico, Texas, Norway, and Canada.

Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson (baptized Bernt) was born on 6 October 1904 at Stapnes, Egersund, Norway. He was the second child of Herman Anderson and Anne Gurine Anderson. He was two years old when his family left Norway. He died on 25 August 1967 at age 63. Ben worked for a time on local farms and in the 1920s he built a couple of chicken houses and started a chicken business. He liked to hunt and fish. Around the 1930s he started going to Alaska for the summers to work in a cannery and then on fishing boats for Libby McNeil. He also worked at George Inlet, where his brothers were, and in the engine room on one of the “President Line” ships that traveled to Japan and China.

Severin Anderson

Severin Anderson (known as Sivers) was born on 15 February 1906 at Stapnes, Egersund, Norway. He was five months old when his family left Norway. He attended school in the Conn School then at Edison and graduated from Edison High School. He enjoyed playing basketball. After graduation he spent three summers in Alaska on fishing boats in the Aleutian Islands and Ketchikan. He was also on boats for three summers on the Sound. He met his wife, Ane Olive Haaland, at a Luther League party. They were married on 10 September 1931 in Burlington, Washington. They lived on a farm in Edison where they grew strawberries and then blueberries. He also had a mink business before World War II. Sivers then worked in the shipyard at Anacortes. Later he grew golden seal, which were used as medicine. He retired in 1972 on his farm in Edison.

Audrey Anderson Fisher

Audrey Anderson Fisher was born on 12 June 1932 to Severin Anderson and Ane Haaland Anderson. She remembers visiting her grandma and grandpa Anderson and the family gatherings the Anderson’s had. Christmas was a time of family and celebrating with a lot of food. Church was a big part of her family. She married Marvin Nordahl Fisher and they had four children. She attended Skagit Valley Jr. College for two years. She got a job as a bookkeeper and then went to work at the Buick garage. She started selling real estate in 1974. She visited Norway in 1986.

Stella Anderson Nieman

Stella Anderson Nieman was born on 30 January 1935 in Bellingham, Washington, to Severin and Ane Anderson. She lived with her grandma and grandpa Haaland for a time. She talks of her father’s blueberry growing business, which was featured in an article in the Skagit Farmer newspaper. They never picked berries on Sundays. Stella started school in 1941 at Bow School. That year she got whooping cough and almost died. Beginning in second grade she went to Edison Grade School and then to Burlington-Edison High School. She was involved in piano lessons, 4-H, FHA, and played French horn in the band. She graduated in 1953 as co-salutatorian. Church was an important part of the family’s life. They went to Luther League meetings. She also went to the Lake Samish Bible Camp almost every year through high school. She entered Pacific Lutheran College in 1953 in the nursing program. She met Dick Nieman (Richard Gustav) and they were married on 1 June 1957. They moved to Dubuque, Iowa and Dick entered Wartburg Theological Seminary. They moved around from parish to parish after that. They had three children. Stella returned to school in Spokane to retrain for nursing. She worked for Spokane Head Start for two years and the Kent School District for over eight years.

Hanna Anderson Fredrickson

Hanna Anderson Fredrickson was born in Bow, Washington, on 23 February 1908. She was the first of Herman Anderson and Anne Gurine Anderson’s children to be born in America. She married Adolph A. Fredrickson in 1934. Adolph was born in Osage City, Kansas, on 7 January 1908. She graduated from Edison High School in 1926, then went to Pacific Lutheran College and majored in education. She taught for three years at Sterling and then went to Petersburg, Alaska, to teach. She moved south and married Adolph. They rented a small farm. Then they bought her father’s home when he retired. Adolph died in 1980. They had two sons, Stanley Allen and Marvin Dale. Hanna taught Sunday school for several years and played the organ. She was a member of the Hospital Guild as well. She lived at Mountain Glen Retirement Center in Mount Vernon, WA after selling her father’s farm.

Harold Anderson

Harold Anderson was born on 28 January 1910 in Bow, Washington. He was the fifth child of Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson. After high school graduation from Edison High, he went to sea. He first worked on the SS “President Jefferson” that went to Yokohama, Japan. Then he went to Alaska and worked for Skinner-Eddy on the “Chacon.” Harold met Norma Hendrix at a Luther League convention and they were married on 29 November 1935. They had a son, Rodney, in 1939. Harold operated a dairy herd and raised laying chickens on the farm. He retired in 1975 and spent much of his time trout fishing. He suffered a heart attack and died on 29 November 1978.

Albert Anderson

Albert Anderson was born on 22 September 1911 in Bow, Washington. He is the sixth child of Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson. He married Jean Halladay in 1938. They had two children. He graduated from high school in 1929. He also attended the Adcox Trade School in Portland, Oregon--a diesel, electric, automotive, repair, and maintenance school. He helped out a lot on the family farm when he was little. He thinned and weeded the sugar beets, picked raspberries, and harvested hay. After high school he worked in the Edison General Merchandise store for Sam Bernet from 1929 to 1934. Later he went to work summers in Alaska. He was a marine engineer in the fishing industry for Libby McNeil and Libby. After his marriage he worked for Boeing as a supervisor, then for Pacific Car and Foundry. Later he worked for the navy at the Sandpoint Naval Station doing overhaul and repair. He traveled and vacationed often. He enjoyed sport fishing and photography. He was a member of the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle and participated in the building and grounds committee.

Simon Anderson

Simon Anderson, the seventh child of Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson, was born on 9 October 1913 in Bow, Washington. He attended grade and high school at Edison and graduated in 1932. He then attended Pacific Lutheran College where he met Gertrude. They were married in 1939. During college he would spend summers fishing. He also helped out on his brother’s berry farm. Simon and Gertrude built a small house near his brother Severin’s property. He worked on the farm as well as for the drainage district and trapping. They later moved to Bellingham, Washington. They bought cattle and horses. Simon worked at various jobs until they moved to Seattle around 1942. There he worked at Boeing. The next summer he got a better job at the shipyards in Tacoma, so the family moved in with Gertrude’s dad. Simon enlisted in the Navy as a MM3C. They had a daughter, Peggy. When she was one year old, the family moved to San Diego for about six months. Simon left from here to go overseas. He was assigned to the SS Burius. While stationed in Hawaii his work was in repair on the ships that came from Saipan. After the war, Simon’s arm began hurting. They found out it was cancer of the bone. Simon worked at Trinity Lutheran in Parkland, Washington on the board and as a janitor. Gertrude got a job teaching third grade at Collins Grade School. Simon checked into the VA hospital in Portland, Oregon, and stayed for a year. He was one of the first patients to receive Nitrogen Mustard or Stillbesterol for bone cancer. Gradually, he lapsed into a coma. He died on 11 August 1950.

Margaret Louise Anderson Johnson

Margaret Louise Anderson Johnson was born on 28 June 1943 in Tacoma, Washington, to Simon and Gertrude Anderson. She was about four years old when her father became sick with cancer of the bone. Her grandfather, Gustav Stenberg, took care of her and her brother while her mother was teaching school. Margaret graduated from Franklin Pierce High School in 1961. She graduated from PLU in 1965 and got a job teaching physical education and health at Olympic Junior high in Auburn, Washington. She married Richard B. Johnson in 1970. They lived on Lake Tapps. They had a daughter, Lisa Ann, born 1974. Margaret later worked for the Rhododendron Species Foundation and then for Puget Sound Therapy Services. The spring of 1990 she and Nina Larson spent five weeks touring Sweden and Norway.

Kenneth Paul Anderson

Kenneth Paul Anderson was born on 25 October 1946 to Simon and Gertrude Anderson in Tacoma, Washington. He attended grade school at Collins and Parkland Elementary, Ford Junior High, and Franklin Pierce High School, graduating in 1965. He spent summers working on his uncle Severin’s berry farm. He graduated from PLU with a degree in general sciences and a teaching certificate. He taught school at Clover Park School District. Kenneth married Nancy Kuhnau on 18 June 1983. They had a daughter, Melissa Ann, in 1985, and a son, Eric Simon, in 1988.

Selma Anderson Bergstrom

Selma Anderson Bergstrom is the eighth child of Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson. She was born on 17 December 1916. She attended school at Edison and then went to Metropolitan Business College in Seattle. She worked for the Seattle Post Intelligencer and then for the Washington Co-op at Mount Vernon. She married Edward Frederick Bergstrom in 1939. They had four children: Ann Marie, Fredrick Edward, John Leslie, and James Milton. Selma and Ed belonged to Salem Lutheran Church and were active members.

Ann Marie Bergstrom Curran

Ann Marie Bergstrom Curran was born on 6 December 1940 to Ed and Selma Bergstrom. She graduated from Washington State University in 1962 with a home economics degree. She went to the University of Washington for a year, pursuing a Social Work degree, but left that and ended up in Baltimore, Maryland, as a food service supervisor for ARA Services. She married Dennis George Curran in 1973. In 1980 she returned to USF&G Insurance for ten years. She and her husband retired in Sequim, Washington.

Nina Anderson Larson

Nina Anderson Larson was born on 19 May 1920 as the ninth child to Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson. She married Paul V. Larson in 1943 in Parkland, Washington. Paul taught for 30 years in Parkland. They had two children, Larry Paul, born 1944, and Bruce Edgar, born 1958. She remembers many of her grade school teachers. Growing up, Nina had Sunday School every Saturday. Church was very important in their lives. She graduated from high school as co-salutatorian. She shares many childhood memories. She entered Pacific Lutheran College the fall of 1938. She received a teaching certificate three years later. At PLC she was active in intramural women’s sports and sang for two years in the Choir of the West. Her first teaching job was at Parkland School. She taught for 30 years and earned her Master’s Degree during this time as well. After retirement she became an avid golfer and was involved in the quilting program and other women’s organizations at church. She took a trip to Norway in 1970. A second trip was taken in 1987.

Gus Anderson

Gus Anderson was born on 13 November 1922 in Bow, Washington. He remembers helping with the chicken operation, cleaning chicken houses in the evening. Gus went to grade school in Edison. He entered high school at Edison in 1936. He played basketball at both schools. He also played football. He graduated in 1940 as Salutatorian. He enrolled at PLC in 1941 where he met his future wife, Dottie. He earned money by tending the furnace for the college. He turned out for football, but decided he’d be better in the choir under the direction of Gunnar Malmin. Gus remembers the day Pearl Harbor was bombed 7 December 1941. He continued school, but enrolled in the Navy V-5 program. His sophomore year he took his exams early and went to the College Civilian Pilot training program in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. They trained for six weeks starting in May. He worked on the farm that summer and returned to PLC the fall of 1942. On 4 March 1943 he was called to duty. He was trained and went for intermediate and advanced flight training in Corpus, Christi, Texas. He got his wings in September 1944 and was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to Jacksonville, Florida for advanced PBY training. In 1945 he had more training and right before he was assigned to Europe, the war ended over there. He went to Hawaii to Kanehoe Naval Air Station in September 1945 and did mainly patrol checking for Japanese ships since the war with Japan was now over. He was sent home late December in time for Christmas. Gus re-enrolled again at PLC in 1946 and graduated with an Education degree in 1948. Dottie and Gus were married July 1946 in Walla Walla. Their first son, Jerry, was born June 1947. The family moved to Spokane where Gus got a teaching position. Donald was born February 1950. Gus resigned from teaching to join Dottie’s father, Gus Nieman, at Inland Motor Freight in Spokane in 1953. Two more sons, Richard and David, were born in 1954 and then in 1959. The family moved to Mercer Island when he was transferred to Seattle as terminal Manager. On 1 January 1972 they left Seattle and took over the blueberry farm from Severin and Ane in Bow, Washington. They farmed there for over seventeen years. Gus and Dottie traveled to Germany and Norway in 1979.

Anna Anderson Hoiland

Anna Anderson Hoiland, the youngest child of Herman and Anne Gurine Anderson, was born on 19 November 1924 in Bow, Washington. She helped on the farm as a child and enjoyed exploring the farm. She had twelve years of public schooling at Edison grade and high schools. After graduation in 1942 she attended Business College to train for secretarial work. She quit business school after two and a half months to go to Pacific Lutheran College and also got a typist job at the Tacoma Shipyards in the purchasing department. She met Theol Hoiland at PLC. She started teaching after her third year in college. She and Theol were married 16 August 1947. They lived in Parkland and she taught in Tacoma until she had kids. Theol graduated from Luther Seminar in 1952 and served in parishes over the years in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Frankfurt, Germany. Anna and Theol retired in Burien, Washington. They had five children.

Genealogical Information

This covers family information for Andreas Herman Anderson Stapnes, born 1877 (son of Anders Sorenson Stapnes and Hanne Nilsdatter Mong) and Anne Gurine Berentsdatter Nodland, born 1879 in Nodland i Neset, Egersund, Rogaland, Norway (daughter of Berent Johannes Olsen Nodland and Sorine Elizabet Jorgensdatter Hadland). They had eleven children, three born in Stapnes, Egersund, Rogaland, Norway, the rest born in Washington State. The youngest child was born in 1924. There are 24 grandchildren, 41 great grandchildren and 8 great great grandchildren.