Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1981-10-30 (Creation)
Extent
3 file folders
9 photographs
1 sound cassette
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The interview was conducted with Gertrude Simonseth on October 30, 1981 in Stanwood, Washington. It provides information on family background, emigration, marriage and family, and Norwegian heritage. The interview also contains photographs of Gertrude's mother and father, the Rindal Church, Gertrude and a friend at work, the Simonseth barn and house at a funeral, Gertrude and her husband Nels on the Atlantic Ocean, and Gertrude and Nels at the time of the interview. See also Nels Simonseth for his interview as well as a personal recording provided by the couple. The interview was conducted in English.
Also see Nels Simonseth and Nels and Gertrude Simonseth's personal recording.
Folder Contents
Box 5, File 9 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background, and Tape Index
Box 5, File 9A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background
Box 5, File 9B Photographs
Nine photographs
System of arrangement
Interviewed by Inger Nygaard Carr
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good
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Finding aids
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Notes element
General note
Biographical Note
Gertrude Simonseth was born on January 9, 1904 in Rindal, Norway, which is located south of Trondheim. Her parents were John and Eli Sinnes, and she had three younger siblings: Torval, Ellen, and Johanna. Gertrude's father worked in the mines during the winters and Gertrude's mother stayed home to work on their small farm. The family made money by selling milk, and Gertrude helped her mother with the farm work. She loved to work in the barn.
Gertrude continued to work at home after her confirmation, and then met her husband, Nels Simonseth, in 1922. The young couple decided to emigrate to America and left on September 10, 1922. It took them 8-10 days to reach Ellis Island, and they then had to stay there for 3-4 days because it was so full. When they were finally through customs, Gertrude and Nels took the train to Madison, Minnesota, which was mostly a Norwegian community.
In Madison, the couple got married and had two children, Marie and Esther. Gertrude and Nels then moved to Washington and had five more children: Edmund, Norman, Grace, John, and Agnes. Gertrude did cooking and cleaning for fifteen years in Washington, including working at the Cedar Inn Restaurant and Josephine's Sunset Home in Stanwood, Washington.
Through the years, they have also lived in Milltown, Montana and Freeborn, Minnesota. Gertrude maintained many Norwegian traditions in her home, including speaking mostly in Norwegian and cooking flatbrød and lefse. She has also taken four trips back to Norway.
Lineage
Full Name: Gertrude Sinnes Simonseth
Maiden Name: Gertrude Sinnes
Father: John Sinnes
Mother: Eli Dalseg
Paternal Grandfather: Tore Sinnes. Paternal Grandmother: Ellen Sinnes. Maternal Grandfather: Rolf Dalseg
Maternal Grandmother: Gertrude Bolme
Brothers and Sisters: Torval Sinnes, Elen Sinnes, Johanna Sinnes
Spouse: Nels Simonseth
Children: Marie Simonseth, Esther Simonseth, Edmund Simonseth, Norman Simonseth, Grace Simonseth, John Simonseth, Agnes Simonseth.