Poulsbo AYPE Viking #4: Nels Sonju

Nels Sonju,  Norwegian immigrant, was part of the "Viking" contingent to represent the community of Poulsbo, Washington in the Norway Day parade at the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in Seattle.  See the explanatory blog entry for this series:  Poulsbo Vikings at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, 1909.


Nels Sonju, dressed as a 5th Century
 Viking in 1909 (Rangvald Kvelstad,
 Poulsbo:  Its First Hundred Years).

I first became interested in Nels Sonju (1864-1923), a Norwegian-American businessman, entrepreneur, and adventurer, while searching for information about one of his daughters. I learned that the Sonju family from Poulsbo, Washington came from a Norwegian background, and discovered Sonju's activities relating to the AYPE.

Nels Sonju immigrated from Norway in 1879, first residing in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and then Troy, Wisconsin.  He married Petra A. Soli in Pierce County, Wisconsin, on March 20, 1884.  The couple had four children:  Annie M., born in about 1897, in Wisconsin; Sarah, born on April 6, 1891, at Washburn, Bayfield, Wisconsin; Howard Melvin, born on January 1, 1898, also at Washburn; and Norman Rudolph, born on June 6, 1902, at Hudson, St. Croix, Wisconsin.

Several years before the 1909 AYPE, Nels and Petra Sonju moved their family to the Seattle area in Washington State, accompanied by other family members from the Bayfield, Wisconsin area.

Nels Sonju built the Grand View Hotel along the Poulsbo waterfront, which served as the main source of income for his family.  He maintained a horse drawn taxi service as a sideline, and starting in 1918, operated an auto taxi service, the Vinland-Poulsbo mail and stage line.  He brought the mail from the steamer in Poulsbo to the post office in Vinland, and then transported passengers, mail, and freight back to Poulsbo.

The Grand View Hotel was torn down in about 1970 in order to provide a site for the new Sons of Norway Grieg Hall.  As an individual who was interested in the development of his community, Sonju served as a director for the area's first telephone company, the Poulsbo Rural Telephone Company, incorporated in 1907.  Along with the other original stockholders, Sonju was responsible for the maintenance and line work.  He was also a charter member of the Poulsbo Lodge #44, Sons of Norway, organized in 1916.  The stated objective of the order was to foster and promote "all that is good in the Norwegian heritage."

Old postcard of the Grand View Hotel in Poulsbo, ca. 1910.

Advertisement from the front page of the Kitsap County Herald, April 12, 1918.

Nels Sonju had other adventures.  He figured prominently in George C. Teien's recounting of his Klondike adventures in the Teien Tales:  I Enter the Alaska Fur Trade.

The Sonjus' second daughter, Sarah, worked as a color artist for various Seattle photographers, including well-known Asahel Curtis. Curtis was known for documenting Washington's natural resources and related industries, as well as early historic events. While working at the Curtis studio, Sarah met Lawrence Denny Lindsley, nature photographer and grandson of Seattle founding pioneers David and Louisa Denny.  At age 53, Sarah married Lindsley in 1944.

Norman Sonju, youngest son of Nels and Petra, made a name for himself on the rowing team at the University of Washington, where he attended in the late 1920s. Norman studied business administration, and was also a member of Sigma Phy Epsilon fraternity, the Oval Club, Varsity Boat Club, and Captain Crew. As a graduating senior, he was a student assistant to Coach Rusty Callow. After graduation, he then served on the faculty for a couple of years, and coached the crew at Cornell University from 1936-1946. He found national recognition as a rowing coach for the University of Wisconsin, and for his career success at home and at an Olympic meet in London. After his retirement in 1946, Norman Sonju returned to the Poulsbo, Washington, where he had spent his childhood years.



Nels Sonju (1864-1923), grave marker at the First Lutheran
 Church Cemetery in Poulsbo, Kitsap County, Washington
(Find a Grave)

After Nels Sonju died in 1923, his widow, Petra, moved to Seattle and lived at 1625 E. Madison while their youngest son, Norman, attended the University of Washington.  By 1932, she was living with her daughter, Sarah, a photography color artist, at 6553 Palatine Avenue.  Petra Sonju passed away on August 6, 1943, at the age of eighty.


Sources:

--"Can you heareth me now? Poulsbo at the --Turn of the Century Pushed Hard for Telephone Service." Kitsap Sun, Nov. 2, 2009:  http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/nov/02/can-you-heareth-me-now/?print=1
--Driscoll, Judy and Sherry White.  Poulsbo, Images of America Series (Arcadia Publishing:  Charleston, South Carolina, 2013).
--Evergreen/Washelli Cemetery Records; Seattle, Washington.
--Findagrave.com
--Kitsap County Herald, April 12, 1918; p.1 (Grand View Hotel advertisement)
--Kitsap County Historical Society Book Committee.  Kitsap County History.  Kitsap County Historical Society:  Seattle, Washington, 1977).
--Rangvald Kvelstad.  Poulsbo:  Its First Hundred Years (Poulsbo Centennial Book Committee:  Silverton, Washington, 1986).
--U. S. City Directories, 1821-1989;  Seattle and Bremerton, Washington
 --U. S. Federal Census, 1900,  for Troy, Saint Croix County, Wisconsin
--U. S. Federal Census, 1910-1920,  for Poulsbo, Kitsap County, Washington
--U. S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907
--Washington Death Index, 1940-1996
--Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907
--Wisconsin State Census, 1895

articled revised 6/3/2016
________________________
Chery Kinnick

The Sámi-Americans of Poulsbo

Many of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are familiar with Kitsap County’s historic town of Poulsbo, Washington. Perched on the shore of Liberty Bay (once know as Dogfish Bay) with a population of just under 10,000, Poulsbo is known as "Little Norway on the Fjord."

Norwegians came to this area in the 1880s, drawn by water and mountain vistas that reminded them of their homeland, and abundant timber and fishing resources to support familiar industries they knew well.  Their first name for the community was “Paulsbo”, meaning Paul’s place, after a village in Norway.



Looking back at Poulsbo, Washington from Fjord Drive (Photo by Luci Baker Johnson)

In the mid to late 1890s, hundreds of Sámi immigrated to Alaska from northern Norway and Sweden. They were recruited by the US Department of Education and commissioned to teach the Inuit people of Alaska to herd reindeer. Many Sámi families lived and worked in Alaska until Congress passed the Reindeer Industry Act of 1937, which restricted ownership of reindeer in Alaska to the Inuit, and placed the management of reindeer herding under the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  After this, many Sámi left Alaska and settled in Poulsbo.

In her book “We Stopped Forgetting”: Stories from Sámi Americans, Ellen Marie Jensen shares firsthand accounts from the descendants of the Sámi who came to North America. She writes, “The title is intended to be a window into the ways that life stories reverse the process of assimilation through memory because assimilation depends greatly on forgetting. To stop forgetting is to remember the importance of all our cultural ancestors in our lived lives, which leads us to a better understanding of contemporary selves.” (p. 9).

What a novel concept!  



Ellen Marie Jensen (Photo by Luci Baker Johnson)

I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Jensen at an event sponsored by the Poulsbo Historical Society on Tuesday, January 8, 2013. (She was there to promote another book published by ČálliidLágádus, but that’s a story for a separate posting.)  I purchased a copy of her book, and have been reading it with fascination. Teacher, freelance writer and translator, Ms. Jensen was born and raised in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, but now lives and works in Deatnu/Tana, Norway. The book is an offshoot from her master’s thesis in Indigenous Studies at the University of Tromsø (2005). The Sámi-American experience is not widely known, and Ms. Jensen’s book provides valuable insight into it.

I encourage all to read her book, and learn more about this Pacific Northwest immigrant community. You can purchase a copy at the Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo or directly from the author on her web site: We Stopped Forgetting.
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+ There is a big event at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) this coming week: Sami People's Day, which is celebrated throughout Sápmi, the land of Indigenous Sámi in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The celebration commemorates the first international, pan-Sámi organizational meeting held in Trondheim in 1917, making the beginning of the Sámi rights movement. There are several events that will take place at PLU on Wednesday, February 6, 2013.

+ If you find yourself near Decorah, Iowa between now and November 10, 2012, you must check out the exhibition:  The Sámi Reindeer People of Alaska.  The exhibition is sponsored by Owen and Naomi Bekkum, was coordinated by the Sami Cultural Center of North America and Báiki: the International Sami Journal. The exhibition includes enlarged historic photographs, poems and family stories, and duodji.

_________________________

Luci Baker Johnson

Yulefest 2012 is Coming

Yule Nissen

The Nordic Heritage Museum in the Ballard District of Seattle will present its annual Yulefest in November.  This is a fun cultural event that is not to be missed, and a perfect opportunity to snap up some unique Christmas gifts and goodies!


 

YULEFEST
Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

"Begin the holiday season at this year’s Yulefest on Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18. This popular Nordic Christmas celebration offers hundreds of hand-crafted gifts, Scandinavian musical performances, and Nordic treats to inspire holiday cheer.

Enjoy traditional Scandinavian entertainment featuring fiddlers, singers, and folk dancers. Shop for hand-crafted gifts from our many Nordic-inspired vendors, and finish your gift shopping early this year!

Take a break to enjoy Nordic specialty treats available at several locations in the Museum, including open-face Scandinavian sandwiches at the Nordic Café; krumkake and lefse in the Kaffestuga; and, in the Bodega, glögg and a selection of Nordic beers.

You can even stock up for your holiday get-togethers at Goodies to Go where Nordic sweets are available for take-home purchase.

Yulefest is perfect for the entire family, with crafts for kids and Santa Claus will even appear for photos!"

Learn more at the Nordic Heritage Museum's event page.

Poulsbo Vikings at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, 1909

During the summer and early autumn of 1909, Seattle sponsored Washington State's first World's Fair on the current site of the University of Washington campus.  The fair was called the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE), and it celebrated twelve years of local prosperity following the 1897 Alaska Gold Rush.   Many days at the fair had special themes that honored ethnic communities, organizations, or professions.  As a nod to the area's large Norwegian-American population, "Norway Day" was held on August 30.

Poulsbo, Washington was one of the Puget Sound localities most heavily populated by Scandinavians:

On a sunny slope slowly rising from the merry sheet of golden water, stands the town of Poulsbo, in Kitsap County, about 25 miles northwest from Seattle.  Here and there a green nose is pushing itself into the brine as trying to contest with the elements of the deep.  Sweet melodies spring from the laughing ripples, and sail on the wings of lazy zephyrs to cheer the ears of the village.  This muscial bay is a natural abode for Scandinavians who are wont for the songs of happy fjords... [Kitsap County History, Book II--North Kitsap, p.34.]

The town of Poulsbo sent twelve prominent citizens (one for each year of prosperity) to participate in a 500-plus person Norway Day parade representing nine periods of Norwegian history at the Exposition.

Images:  Poulsbo Centennial Book Committee, Poulsbo: Its First Hundred Years, compiled and edited by Rangval Kvelstad (Centennial Book Committee:  Poulsbo, Washington, 1986).

Many years after the AYPE, in preparation for the publication of a local history, a member of the Kitsap County Historical Society sent a worn set of photographs of the twelve 1909 Poulsbo Vikings to a photography studio for refurbishing.  The bill that was returned with the refurbished photographs of the men, who had posed wielding clubs and wearing bear skins and leather sandals,, read:  "Reconditioned:  12 Cave Men." [Kvelstad. Poulsbo, Its First Hundred Years, p.67]

Judging by the appearance of the Viking costumes, it is likely that the twleve men represented the first period of Norwegian history while carrying the Poulsbo banner in the AYPE Norway Day parade.  Their pre-historic appearing costumes were meant to showcase the "warriors of the fifth century, clad in sandals and sporting long hair and beards, representing Norsemen and Visigoths capturing Roman soldiers." [HistoryLink.org]

I became interested in finding out more about these twelve intriguing Poulsbo cave men, er... I mean "Vikings," so I decided to research them for a series of blog articles.  The fearless twelve are:  Stener Thorsen, Peter Iverson, George Teien, Nels Sonju, Carl Breivig, Halvor Holte, Christian Garthe, John Twedt, Chris Lakeness, Tenander Iversen, Ole Hanson, and Ole Ellefson Espelund.  First up will be Viking #4:  Nels Sonju.  Stay tuned!


See also:

Poulsbo AYPE Viking #1:  Stener Thorsen
Poulsbo AYPE Viking #2:  Peter Iverson
Poulsbo AYPE Viking #4:  Nels Sonju
Poulsbo AYPE Viking #6:  Halvor Holte
Poulsbo AYPE Viking #8:  John Twedt

Sources:

--HistoryLink.org, Essay 8923: "Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle celebrates Norway Day on August 30, 1909."
--Kitsap County Historical Society.  Kitsap County History.  Seattle:  Kitsap County Historical Society, 1977.
--Kvelstad, Rangvald.  Poulsbo:  Its First Hundred Years.  Silverdate, Washington:  Poulsbo Centennial Book Committee,
1986.

_________________________
Chery Kinnick

Book Review: “Counterfeiter: How a Norwegian Jew survived the Holocaust”

When this book was first published in English in 2008, I purchased a copy for my personal library. I’ve never been one to read in the genre of "military books." I’m not much for graphic and detailed chronicles of battles, for statistics of heroic maneuvers and strategic moves, or for anecdotal narratives of military wins and losses. It’s just not for me. I’m more of a lover than a hater.

That said, I do enjoy a good book by a skilled narrator. I’ve recently become interested in how Norwegians were affected by this massive and drawn-out gruesome war:  a catastrophe that ravaged hundreds of thousands – an entire generation.
            
All three of my mother’s brothers, my father, and three of his five brothers served our country in World War II. Their personal stories of "time spent in service" remain unwritten and are passed along only via oral narration. Only one of my uncles, who recently turned 95, is still alive to share a first-person account of what life was like, fighting a battle across an ocean.

But – what about the civilians, the men, women and children who were innocent victims of the whims of a brutal dictator?  How does one survive a genocide? Who are the heroes, the people who came to the aid of the targets of a cruel and inhumane militia that was driven to unthinkable measures of cruelty and punishment? What are their stories?

Moritz Nachtstern (1902-1969) was a Norwegian-Jewish typographer who was deported from Oslo in 1942. He was a survivor, one Norwegian who was not killed by the National Socialist German Workers’ party – the Nazis. He was, however, tortured physically, emotionally and mentally. After his release in 1945, he married and ultimately narrated his experiences to his new wife, who wrote them down. This personal memoir was then edited by journalist Ragnar Arntzen, and published in Norwegian in 1949 with the title Falskmynter I blokk 19.

The book chronicles three horrific years. It begins with vivid stories of what it was like to be a civilian in a country that had been invaded and occupied by the Nazi regime. As the story unfolds, Moritz shares with the reader a first-person account of arrest and transportation to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. It was here that he was "plucked out of the gas chamber line" and driven to Sachsehausen, where he became a member of a secret Nazi project: Operation Bernhard.

This scheme’s goal was to destabilize the British government by creating millions of counterfeit banknotes and putting them into circulation. Moritz was one of over 170 prisoners who were pressed into creating exquisite forgeries of the British pound note. These forced laborers worked as slowly as possible, both to frustrate the Nazi plan and to ensure that they never became expendable. Moritz Nachtstern was the only Norwegian among the operation’s many Czech, Polish, German, Slovakian, and Austrian workers.

Mr. Nachtstern does an amazing job, allowing the reader into an insider’s view of his personal journey. It’s well told and easy to follow. As a follow-up, one might also read Krueger’s Men: The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot and the Prisoners of Block 19, written by Lawrence Malkin and published in 2006. The latter is also quite scholarly and presents details of the entire operation, with supporting documentation.

_________________________

Luci Baker Johnson

Coffee Table Norwegian

The universe has aligned itself such that I'm considering taking Norwegian language classes this fall at the Scandinavian Language Institute in Ballard (Seattle), Washington. The Institute, which was begun 30 years ago by Ed Egerdahl, has been attended by hundreds throughout the Puget Sound and beyond. Below is a piece that I wrote in 2004 when I first encountered Ed and his talent for making the language come alive. - Luci 

Coffee Table Norwegian

An airline flight attendant from Mesa, Arizona makes a weekly junket to Seattle. Her harried schedule involves flying to SeaTac Airport every Tuesday, then taking a city bus to the Scandinavian neighborhood known as Ballard in order to take a two-hour Norwegian language class. That same evening she returns to SeaTac in time for the last flight back home to Mesa. She’s made this junket for past six months in order to learn from the best, Ed Egerdahl, Director of the Scandinavian Language Institute.

Ed, a 45-year old first generation Norwegian-American, who comes to class dressed comfortably in blue jeans and tennis shoes, has slightly graying hair. He’s a 1978 graduate of the University of Washington’s College of Education with a degree in Norwegian. He remarks, with a glimmer in his eye, that he is the first and only student to have ever graduated with this degree from the UW.  He began his career by teaching Norwegian at Seattle’s Ballard and Lincoln high schools, then went on to establish the Scandinavian Language Institute in 1981. Over the past 22 years, his journey has touched the lives of over 2000 people.

“What’s interesting to me is that students that I’ve met along the way, I’ve met them where they are, not on their way to something else. In all the years that I’ve been doing this, I have several dozen students who have been with me the entire 20 years. We’ve simply grown old together.” Ed reminisces. “I’ve been with students as they’ve gotten married, had their babies, buried their spouses, and married off their children. I’m now into second and third generations with the same families.” He continues, “Together, many of us have buried those who have been students – it’s simply part of real life."

Ed teaches 170 students each quarter in 14 classes, taking each class on, what he calls a ‘wildly interesting ride.’ The ride is his unique style of teaching – different from the traditional classroom instruction at most colleges and universities. “Its been a long time ago now, that I decided the only way I could keep doing this was if I could be learning something at the same time that I’m teaching.”

His week begins with the advanced class ‘talking about what Norwegians are talking about.’ For example this fall his students discussed the Norwegian Women’s Soccer team who won the Gold at the 2000 Olympics and the talk of the Norwegian Crown Prince who is contemplating marriage to a woman who has a child from a previous marriage. As the week progresses Ed continues this dialog with the other 13 classes. This helps his students to build their vocabulary and develop their understanding of Norway and Norwegians – today, not just a snap shot in history.

“That’s where you end up with your best kind of conversational thing. It’s not standing at the ticket window asking directions. It’s sitting around the coffee table, where second cousins get to know each other,” says Ed. “It’s the most practical things that can be used in all kinds of situations.”

Ed starts his beginners class with a simple question – why are you here? The responses are as varied as his students. One woman responds, “I’m taking a trip to Norway and want to learn a few words.” A 20-year-old man says, “I just landed a job with a fishing company in Ballard and all of the correspondence is in Norwegian – I need help!” An older gentleman says, “My grandfather came from Norway, but I don’t know from where – I want to be able to read the Norwegian census records.” A shy young woman says with a twinkle in her eye, “I just got engaged to a gorgeous Norwegian guy—we’re taking our honeymoon to Olso to meet his parents.”

And so it goes around the room, each one answering Ed’s question. The last student, a mature woman in her early fifties, shares. “My immigrant father was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.” Her eyes brim with tears as she continues. “His doctor recommended that I take a language class to help him when he begins to revert to his native tongue, Norwegian.” Every student has their own reason for coming each week to learn Norwegian from this fun loving expert.

In addition to his rigorous teaching schedule, beginning on Monday with the advanced class and ends on Saturday morning with the kids’ class, Ed also accepts translating assignments. For the past two and a half years he has worked with a Seattle-based architectural firm who won the bid for a very large reconstruction job in Oslo, Norway. He has been translating all of their bylaws, articles of incorporation, job specifications and other business items into Norwegian for them.

One of his most memorable experiences was 10 years ago when he received a phone call from a casting company that wanted to know if he did Norwegian translations. He said yes. And when he went to Pioneer Square to meet the caller he learned that they were looking for a Norwegian interpreter for a role in a movie directed by David Lynch. He interviewed with Mr. Lynch, who cast him as the Norwegian interpreter in the pilot show for “Twin Peaks.” It was two days worth of shooting, the pilot for the TV series. “So I’m in the video stores – I’ve been typed cast as a Norwegian Interpreter,” Ed laughs.

As Ed reflects on his life to this point, he says, “It both amazes me and amuses me that I’ve been able to sustain the momentum for so long. After 22 years I can say that I’m still teaching my thing – my way. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather work for.” When asked where things go from here, Ed says, “I’ll keep doing it as long as I keep having fun doing it.”

As for the woman whose father has Alzheimer’s? Ed recalled that she was in class later in the quarter asking, “Ed, how do I say swallow? I can’t get my dad to swallow his food.” Ed smiles as he remarks, “That’s what it’s all about. If I teach no anything else, if I can teach her how to tell her dad to swallow, then I’ve made a difference in that one person’s life.”

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Luci Baker Johnson

Book Review: "The Mountains Wait"

Out-of-Norway via
 Japan-Oregonian,
4-3-1941

Summer, for me, is a time to read, and read, and then to do some more reading. I have a long list of Norwegian and Norwegian-American historical fiction and non-fiction on this summer’s book list.

The Mountains Wait, published by Webb Book Publishing Co. in 1942, is an authentic first person account of life in a northern Norway just prior to and during World War II. It’s an eyewitness account of actual events that took place in Narvik on the fateful morning of April 9, 1940 and the months that followed.

The author, Theodor Broch, was a 36-year-old lawyer and the newly elected Mayor of Narvik. He had been educated in Oslo, and in 1930 he and his wife had moved to Narvik, a community inland (east) of the Lofoten Islands, three hours south of Tromso. Narvik, a city of about 10,000 people at that time, is located on the shores of the Ofotijorden (Narvik Fjord), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea located 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

In the first 100 pages or so, the author vividly describes how he and his wife came to live in Narvik, what the people were like, how the city was structured, what kinds of legal issues were brought before the courts, and how he established himself as a qualified young lawyer and community leader. Chapter eight, titled The Ninth of April, begins with “The ninth of April [1939] was a Tuesday. That day lightning struck and our world broke in pieces.” He goes on to say “Afterwards we often talked of the day before the catastrophe.…Perhaps we recalled the day only because it was the last in a normal world.” The remaining 207 pages provide a glimpse into what it was like to have your life, and the life of those you love, invaded and occupied by the Germans. He outlines a life under the cold and watchful eyes of occupation troops, of sea fighting and land fighting, and of vigorous sabotage and resistance.

The book is easily read in a couple of days, but leaves a lasting image of what it is like to have your life completely disrupted by war. It’s not your typical ‘war’ novel, in that it doesn’t go into the minute details of guns, machinery, and battles won and lost. Instead, it paints a vivid first-person account of the civilian lives impacted by the invasion. The book actually ends in about 1942, prior to the end of the war, and leaves the reader with a sense of anxiety over whether (and if so, how) the people will ever return to a life of normalcy.

I highly recommend this book. You might have to check it out from your local library, as it is out of print; however, a few used copies may be available online or at a used bookstore.   _________________________

Luci Baker Johnson