|
any thanks
to
Ken Benson from California for sharing his family story with
us. His father's parents
immigrated to Waukechon Township, Shawano County, from Norway in
the late 1880's. When Ken sent in the items, I noticed
SHIP COLLIDED... now, this really caught my eye! Seems
when Magnus and his wife Julia and their children left Norway,
they were onboard the SS Thingvalla, a passenger flagship of
the Danish "Thingvalla Line". While the Benjaminsen's were
enroute to the US, their ship was involved in a collision with
its sister ship the SS Geiser in the Atlantic Ocean, 30 miles
south of Sable Island, Newfoundland, early on the
morning of August 14, 1888. This has been listed as one of the
greatest maritime disasters ever... the Thingvalla (outbound to
New York) collided with the
Geiser (home-bound for Copenhagen) and in less than 10 minutes, the Geiser sank, taking 105
souls with her. The Thingvalla was fearfully damaged, but
the crew managed to get her back to the port for
repairs...backing up most of the way. The survivors from
the Geiser and all the passengers of the Thingvalla were taken
onboard the German mail steamer Wieland to continue on to New
York City. As you can see in the pictures below, a LARGE
section of her hull was missing! SS Thingvalla was
eventually
repaired, and then collided with an iceberg 2 years later -- again
she survived! If you would like to
read more, I've put links on the bottom of the page to the
pictures and articles written -- very detailed articles on the
Norway-Heritage site. What a story
Magnus's family would have to share about their voyage to Amerika!
Thanks for sharing this with us, Ken.
Now, back to Magnus and his family...
they lived for 11 years in the
Waukechon area on a farm owned by the husband of Ken's
grandfather's older sister. Ken has put together a
timeline to show the main points in Magnus's life:
MAGNUS ALBERT
BENJAMINSEN
|
1862 |
Born 10 February Meby Farm, Sec. 1, farm 48, Velfjord,
Brønnoysund, Norway |
|
1874 |
Moved to Vassbotn farm to be with sister Mine and husband
when his mother died |
|
1884 |
17 October 1884 married Julie Steffensdtr Naustvik Kirke,
Velfjord, Norway |
|
1885 |
27 January Ivarna (Verna) born |
|
1888 |
23 June Berge (Bert) born |
|
1888 |
Immigration 17 August from Christiana, Norway via
Copenhagen to New York with wife Julie (28 Feb 1862 - 9 Mar 1891)
and children Ivarna and Bert. Ship was “Thingvalla” collided 14 August with steamship
“Geiser” off Cape Race, Sable Island, Halifax, Canada.
Survivors were picked up by German steamship “Weiland”
|
| 1888?
|
Waukechon, Wi. Lived on farm of Rasmus Paulson and
sister Alette |
|
1891 |
9 March Julie died
- buried in the Jerusalem Cemetery, Waukechon, Wisconsin
|
|
1894 |
13 January married Hermina Josephine Iverson |
|
1894 |
9 March Palma (Polly) born
in Waukechon Twp. |
|
1896 |
11 March Carl
born in Waukechon Twp. |
|
1898 |
11 June John born in Waukechon Twp. |
|
1899 |
Moved from Waukechon to
Peshtigo Point, Marinette County, Wisconsin |
|
1900 |
30 September Adolph born in Peshtigo Point, Marinette
County. |
|
1903 |
Viola born
in Peshtigo Point, Marinette County. |
|
1905 |
15 June Henrietta born
in Peshtigo Point, Marinette County. |
|
1908 |
3 April Dewey born
in Peshtigo Point, Marinette County. |
|
1910 |
31 August Roy born in Peshtigo Point, Marinette County. |
|
1921 |
Died 12 November Marinette, Wisconsin |
|
1921 |
Buried 16 November Forest Home Cemetery, Marinette,
Wisconsin |
| |
|
BENJAMINSEN & PAULSON HOME (1888 -
1899)
Waukechon Twp., Shawano County
(click on any picture to see a larger view)
 |
