Memorial Day

It is a week past Memorial Day but I was rather busy last weekend. I wanted to recognize two of my great-uncles who fought in the World Wars.

The first one is actually my half-great-uncle Edward Larson, who would have been the son of my great-grandfather Jonas with his first wife Ragnhild. Below is his draft card.


Some interesting information from this page is that he was born while the family is living in South Dakota. The family lived in South Dakota until just after 1900 when they moved to Wisconsin for a few years before moving back to Fillmore County, Minnesota. As listed Edward is living in Harmony, Minnesota.


This page gives an interesting physical description of Edward. Medium, stout, blue eyed, brown hair is a fairly accurate description of myself. Also the date puts things in context because in 1917 his father Jonas Larson was running the hardware store in the neighboring town of Mabel.


This is a page of the listings for all veterans from Minnesota who died during World War I. Midway down the third column you will see Edward J. Larson's name from Mabel. Edward is buried in Somme American Cemetery, Bony, France.

This is my great-uncle's, Floyd Eldon Scheevel, obituary from 2008. He was also a veteran but of World War II serving the in Army in the Pacific Theater. I remember my grandfather showing me old black and white photos of Floyd in his Army uniform. I only knew Floyd well after his time in the Army so my impression of him was just of a great man.

It's great to honor those veterans who died and returned from protecting our country. Hopefully someday we will not have any new wartime veterans.

Goodbye Grandpa

The person who introduced me to genealogy passed away last week, May 18th, 2009. My grandpa Melvin Scheevel used to show me this red three ring binder which his brother Theodore put together chronicling our family lineage from Holland. Ever since then the exploration of my family tree has been my passionate hobby. He was my last living grandparent. I have posted the obituary from the local News-Record newspaper. Melvin will be greatly missed.

Newspaper in Canada

I found a newspaper article referencing the accidental death of Peter Tollefson while searching the newspaperarchive.com this weekend. The unusual thing is that it comes from a newspaper in Manitoba, Canada. It is a couple weeks after the accident.


They did get part of the incident incorrect because Peter's wife was not fatally injured during the accident even though she was severely hurt. It does not provide any new information but interesting how a report of a death in the countryside of Minnesota can make it's way into a Canada newspaper back in 1905.

Peter Tollefson's Death Card, Obituary & Tombstone

Below I have included photos of Peter Tollefson's Obituary, Death Card and Tombstone. I have transcribed the obituary because it can be hard to read in spots. It tells the story of how such a small incident can lead to a tragic accident.

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tollefson of Black Hammer, while returning home from Caledonia, Thursday evening had a runaway, which caused almost instant death to Mr. Tollefson, and severe injuries to his wife.

While in town the horses broke the buggy pole, having been frightened by an automobile. A new pole was replaced but as this was of a different type than the old one, it being too small for the neckyoke ring, which probably the main cause of the accident. As they were crossing a grade in the road near the county poor farm the neckyoke slipped over the pole, throwing the buggy onto the horses who at once started off on a mad gallop. For half a mile the couple clung to the buggy when suddenly they were dashed to the ground, Mr. Tollefson striking a stone breaking his neck and in about two hours he expired. Mrs. Tollefson escaped with three broken ribs, an injured arm and several bruises, she also was knocked unconscious, but recovered sufficiently so that she was able to go to a house in the neighborhood for assistance. Mr. Tollefson leaves a wife and eight small children to mourn the loss of a kind husband and father. Funeral was held Saturday at Black Hammer.


Peter Tollefson was 49 at the time as stated in his death card. The obituary does not give any clues to who is parents were or where he was born. The death card does list his birth location as Norway which narrows it down a more than the information provided on his Naturalization papers. It is able to tell us that he had 8 children and that his wife survived the accident. She would live about another six years.