What happened to Johan and Ingeborg?

Question

This is what I have:

Census-1865 for the Solem farm in Orkdal, Sør-Trøndelag.

--------------------------------------...

Emigration on the bark Franklin on 28 Apr 1870. Destination Quebec, Canada:

Arnt Torgersen Solem (54)

Berit Jørgensdatter (46)

Thomas Arntsen (16)

Johan Arntsen (12.5)

Ingeborg Arntsdatter (9.5)

Anne Arntsdatter (4)

and then when they homesteaded in 1870 in South Dakota:

Census-1880 for Spink, Union, Dakota Territory

--------------------------------------...

Name: Solem

Home in 1880: Spink, Union, Dakota Territory

Age: 68

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1812

Birthplace: Nor

Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head)

Spouse's Name: Dorthea J. Scott (I'm not sure why this is in the census record. I think it should be Beret)

Father's birthplace: Nor

Mother's birthplace: Nor

Neighbors: View others on page

Occupation: Farmer

Marital Status: Married

Race: White

Gender: Male

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:

Subscribe now to see this information.

Household Members:

Name Age

Solem 68

Dorthea J. Scott Solem 56

Thomas Solem 26

Anna Solem 13

Ole Oleson 22

Andrew Oleson 22

Emma Oleson 35

Thomas Oleson 28

Knud Oleson 22

The only ones that my family know are Arnt and Beret (Dorothy J Scott is wrong) and son Thomas and daughter Anna. But no where can I find a Johan or Ingeborg. Not in the cemetery or census. So what happened?

Answer 1

It looks to me like the English surname system and the Scandinavian one clashed. The kids in the1880 wanted to be "Arntson" and "Arntdatter", like proper people. They got "Oleson" for some reason and their parents got scrawled.

I'm on dial-up or I would try to read the 1.5 MB image for you. You might go to a Family History Center and read the image itself.

As to Johan and Ingeborg, the obvious possibilities are

1) Ingeborg got married. This might be her:

Jens JACOBSON   Self   M   Male   W   24   NOR   Farmer   NOR   NOR  

Ingeborg JACOBSON   Wife   M   Female   W   24   NOR   Keeping House   NOR   NOR  

Johan JACOBSON   Son   S   Male   W   4M   DAK      NOR   NOR  

--------------------------------------...

Source Information:

  Census Place Brule, Union, Dakota Territory

Given the age of her son, she was married 0 - 4 years before 1880.

2) They died at sea.

3) They died somewhere between Quebec and the cold plains of Dakota

4) Johan said "Hey Dad, I'm tired of snow. I'm moving to Florida / Caifornia / Arizona".

5) They hid out in the barn, giggling like first-graders, when the enumerator came by. I find a child or two missing in about 3% of the census entries I look at.