Magda was born in Molde, More og Romsdal Co., Norway to Arnt OLSEN and Dorothea Jorgine IMSVIG. She married Hans Melsom Nilsen about 1885 in Norway. Died in brooklyn.
Her granddaughter Barbra MELSOM wrote in a paper (1958):
"Magda, like so many other Norwegians, had the wanderlust take hold and she wanted desperately to see things and do things….and when her oldest brother, Peter, was ordained as a minister and offered a position [at] the Norwegian Seamen's Institute in Quebec, she eagerly accepted a position as an assistant and left Norway.
While in Quebec she was sort of a missionary. Here she met many good Christian people who said grace for their meals, read their Bibles – and for this she was always thankful. She loved to help those who needed help and found her greatest joy in working with the Norwegian seamen. She spent about three years there and then Peter was transferred to the Institute in Pensacola, Florida.
It was here that she met her husband, Hans Melsom. This was natural as she was at the time sort of librarian, organist, postmistress and man of all chores and met practically every Norwegian seamen that came into Pensacola. At the time Hans was captain of a three-masted barque and traveled between Pensacola and India……..Since they had came from an influential shipping family it was not too difficult to arrange for them to return to Norway for their marriage. At about that time Magda inherited a hotel in Molde and after the marriage she stayed on to run that…..
As the children grew older it became evident that the hotel was a losing business…Magda decided to sell out and travel the seven seas with Hans. She returned to Pensacola, met his ship there and made several trips with him to all the corners of the world.
It was during one of these trips that Dordi, her next born, came into being. At the time they were in the middle of the Atlantic on a trip from Rangoon to Pensacola. The first mate of the ship acted as doctor and all went well. On a later trip Dordi contracted double pneumonia and was an asthmatic from then on. She passed away during the early years of her life.
This trip became pretty rough for Magda for she had contracted a fever in India and it looked like [she might die].…..
About this time Hans…fell off a yard arm of the ship. His leg was completely fractured and the doctors decide to amputate. But Magda decided [they should]..go back to Norway and let her oldest brother Olaf, who had become a famous doctor, look at it. It was a long drawn out affair and Hans came out of it with a silver bone in his leg from the knee to the ankle.
This accident kept them in Norway for some years and that why May and Bartho were born there…in Sandefjord……
About 1901, Hans' ship was wrecked on the Florida Keys and all hands were lost. At the time he was fortunately not on board as he had gone to New York to negotiate with the insurance companies. He was part owner of this ship – a three-masted barque named the Argentina. He was completely broken up and decided that he would give up the sea. As he had no desire to return to Norway, he decided that from then on the United States would be the home for him and his family. He sent for his wife but the children were left temporarily with [his wife's sister] Anna in Molde. In 1906 they finally came over – five years [ed. prob. two years] after their parents.
Hans passed away at age 67 and it was because of his broken heart. He never got over the loss of his ship and the men that went down on the rocks in Florida.
When he died in 1916 [ed. Probably 2 Dec. 1917] things became a bit rough and Magda picked up her work again with the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Here she worked until she was pensioned at 70 years of age.
The remaining years of her life were spent at the Norwegian Old People's Home in Brooklyn where she lived to be 92."
According to the 1900 Norway census, Hans and Magda lived in Molde, More og Romsdal Co. in 1886, Sandlefjord in 1895, and Sandar, Vestfold Co. in 1899-1900.
She emigrated from Norway on the Cedric, arriving in New York 15 Apr. 1904.
Her granddaughter Barbra MELSOM wrote in a paper (1958):
"Magda, like so many other Norwegians, had the wanderlust take hold and she wanted desperately to see things and do things….and when her oldest brother, Peter, was ordained as a minister and offered a position [at] the Norwegian Seamen's Institute in Quebec, she eagerly accepted a position as an assistant and left Norway.
While in Quebec she was sort of a missionary. Here she met many good Christian people who said grace for their meals, read their Bibles – and for this she was always thankful. She loved to help those who needed help and found her greatest joy in working with the Norwegian seamen. She spent about three years there and then Peter was transferred to the Institute in Pensacola, Florida.
It was here that she met her husband, Hans Melsom. This was natural as she was at the time sort of librarian, organist, postmistress and man of all chores and met practically every Norwegian seamen that came into Pensacola. At the time Hans was captain of a three-masted barque and traveled between Pensacola and India……..Since they had came from an influential shipping family it was not too difficult to arrange for them to return to Norway for their marriage. At about that time Magda inherited a hotel in Molde and after the marriage she stayed on to run that…..
As the children grew older it became evident that the hotel was a losing business…Magda decided to sell out and travel the seven seas with Hans. She returned to Pensacola, met his ship there and made several trips with him to all the corners of the world.
It was during one of these trips that Dordi, her next born, came into being. At the time they were in the middle of the Atlantic on a trip from Rangoon to Pensacola. The first mate of the ship acted as doctor and all went well. On a later trip Dordi contracted double pneumonia and was an asthmatic from then on. She passed away during the early years of her life.
This trip became pretty rough for Magda for she had contracted a fever in India and it looked like [she might die].…..
About this time Hans…fell off a yard arm of the ship. His leg was completely fractured and the doctors decide to amputate. But Magda decided [they should]..go back to Norway and let her oldest brother Olaf, who had become a famous doctor, look at it. It was a long drawn out affair and Hans came out of it with a silver bone in his leg from the knee to the ankle.
This accident kept them in Norway for some years and that why May and Bartho were born there…in Sandefjord……
About 1901, Hans' ship was wrecked on the Florida Keys and all hands were lost. At the time he was fortunately not on board as he had gone to New York to negotiate with the insurance companies. He was part owner of this ship – a three-masted barque named the Argentina. He was completely broken up and decided that he would give up the sea. As he had no desire to return to Norway, he decided that from then on the United States would be the home for him and his family. He sent for his wife but the children were left temporarily with [his wife's sister] Anna in Molde. In 1906 they finally came over – five years [ed. prob. two years] after their parents.
Hans passed away at age 67 and it was because of his broken heart. He never got over the loss of his ship and the men that went down on the rocks in Florida.
When he died in 1916 [ed. Probably 2 Dec. 1917] things became a bit rough and Magda picked up her work again with the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Here she worked until she was pensioned at 70 years of age.
The remaining years of her life were spent at the Norwegian Old People's Home in Brooklyn where she lived to be 92."
According to the 1900 Norway census, Hans and Magda lived in Molde, More og Romsdal Co. in 1886, Sandlefjord in 1895, and Sandar, Vestfold Co. in 1899-1900.
She emigrated from Norway on the Cedric, arriving in New York 15 Apr. 1904.
Magda was born in Molde, More og Romsdal Co., Norway to Arnt OLSEN and Dorothea Jorgine IMSVIG. She married Hans Melsom Nilsen about 1885 in Norway. Died in brooklyn.
Her granddaughter Barbra MELSOM wrote in a paper (1958):
"Magda, like so many other Norwegians, had the wanderlust take hold and she wanted desperately to see things and do things….and when her oldest brother, Peter, was ordained as a minister and offered a position [at] the Norwegian Seamen's Institute in Quebec, she eagerly accepted a position as an assistant and left Norway.
While in Quebec she was sort of a missionary. Here she met many good Christian people who said grace for their meals, read their Bibles – and for this she was always thankful. She loved to help those who needed help and found her greatest joy in working with the Norwegian seamen. She spent about three years there and then Peter was transferred to the Institute in Pensacola, Florida.
It was here that she met her husband, Hans Melsom. This was natural as she was at the time sort of librarian, organist, postmistress and man of all chores and met practically every Norwegian seamen that came into Pensacola. At the time Hans was captain of a three-masted barque and traveled between Pensacola and India……..Since they had came from an influential shipping family it was not too difficult to arrange for them to return to Norway for their marriage. At about that time Magda inherited a hotel in Molde and after the marriage she stayed on to run that…..
As the children grew older it became evident that the hotel was a losing business…Magda decided to sell out and travel the seven seas with Hans. She returned to Pensacola, met his ship there and made several trips with him to all the corners of the world.
It was during one of these trips that Dordi, her next born, came into being. At the time they were in the middle of the Atlantic on a trip from Rangoon to Pensacola. The first mate of the ship acted as doctor and all went well. On a later trip Dordi contracted double pneumonia and was an asthmatic from then on. She passed away during the early years of her life.
This trip became pretty rough for Magda for she had contracted a fever in India and it looked like [she might die].…..
About this time Hans…fell off a yard arm of the ship. His leg was completely fractured and the doctors decide to amputate. But Magda decided [they should]..go back to Norway and let her oldest brother Olaf, who had become a famous doctor, look at it. It was a long drawn out affair and Hans came out of it with a silver bone in his leg from the knee to the ankle.
This accident kept them in Norway for some years and that why May and Bartho were born there…in Sandefjord……
About 1901, Hans' ship was wrecked on the Florida Keys and all hands were lost. At the time he was fortunately not on board as he had gone to New York to negotiate with the insurance companies. He was part owner of this ship – a three-masted barque named the Argentina. He was completely broken up and decided that he would give up the sea. As he had no desire to return to Norway, he decided that from then on the United States would be the home for him and his family. He sent for his wife but the children were left temporarily with [his wife's sister] Anna in Molde. In 1906 they finally came over – five years [ed. prob. two years] after their parents.
Hans passed away at age 67 and it was because of his broken heart. He never got over the loss of his ship and the men that went down on the rocks in Florida.
When he died in 1916 [ed. Probably 2 Dec. 1917] things became a bit rough and Magda picked up her work again with the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Here she worked until she was pensioned at 70 years of age.
The remaining years of her life were spent at the Norwegian Old People's Home in Brooklyn where she lived to be 92."
According to the 1900 Norway census, Hans and Magda lived in Molde, More og Romsdal Co. in 1886, Sandlefjord in 1895, and Sandar, Vestfold Co. in 1899-1900.
She emigrated from Norway on the Cedric, arriving in New York 15 Apr. 1904.
Her granddaughter Barbra MELSOM wrote in a paper (1958):
"Magda, like so many other Norwegians, had the wanderlust take hold and she wanted desperately to see things and do things….and when her oldest brother, Peter, was ordained as a minister and offered a position [at] the Norwegian Seamen's Institute in Quebec, she eagerly accepted a position as an assistant and left Norway.
While in Quebec she was sort of a missionary. Here she met many good Christian people who said grace for their meals, read their Bibles – and for this she was always thankful. She loved to help those who needed help and found her greatest joy in working with the Norwegian seamen. She spent about three years there and then Peter was transferred to the Institute in Pensacola, Florida.
It was here that she met her husband, Hans Melsom. This was natural as she was at the time sort of librarian, organist, postmistress and man of all chores and met practically every Norwegian seamen that came into Pensacola. At the time Hans was captain of a three-masted barque and traveled between Pensacola and India……..Since they had came from an influential shipping family it was not too difficult to arrange for them to return to Norway for their marriage. At about that time Magda inherited a hotel in Molde and after the marriage she stayed on to run that…..
As the children grew older it became evident that the hotel was a losing business…Magda decided to sell out and travel the seven seas with Hans. She returned to Pensacola, met his ship there and made several trips with him to all the corners of the world.
It was during one of these trips that Dordi, her next born, came into being. At the time they were in the middle of the Atlantic on a trip from Rangoon to Pensacola. The first mate of the ship acted as doctor and all went well. On a later trip Dordi contracted double pneumonia and was an asthmatic from then on. She passed away during the early years of her life.
This trip became pretty rough for Magda for she had contracted a fever in India and it looked like [she might die].…..
About this time Hans…fell off a yard arm of the ship. His leg was completely fractured and the doctors decide to amputate. But Magda decided [they should]..go back to Norway and let her oldest brother Olaf, who had become a famous doctor, look at it. It was a long drawn out affair and Hans came out of it with a silver bone in his leg from the knee to the ankle.
This accident kept them in Norway for some years and that why May and Bartho were born there…in Sandefjord……
About 1901, Hans' ship was wrecked on the Florida Keys and all hands were lost. At the time he was fortunately not on board as he had gone to New York to negotiate with the insurance companies. He was part owner of this ship – a three-masted barque named the Argentina. He was completely broken up and decided that he would give up the sea. As he had no desire to return to Norway, he decided that from then on the United States would be the home for him and his family. He sent for his wife but the children were left temporarily with [his wife's sister] Anna in Molde. In 1906 they finally came over – five years [ed. prob. two years] after their parents.
Hans passed away at age 67 and it was because of his broken heart. He never got over the loss of his ship and the men that went down on the rocks in Florida.
When he died in 1916 [ed. Probably 2 Dec. 1917] things became a bit rough and Magda picked up her work again with the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Here she worked until she was pensioned at 70 years of age.
The remaining years of her life were spent at the Norwegian Old People's Home in Brooklyn where she lived to be 92."
According to the 1900 Norway census, Hans and Magda lived in Molde, More og Romsdal Co. in 1886, Sandlefjord in 1895, and Sandar, Vestfold Co. in 1899-1900.
She emigrated from Norway on the Cedric, arriving in New York 15 Apr. 1904.
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