Agnes Melby - Where did she go?
Berta	Hello! I am looking for Agnes Kathinka Melby. She is sister of Sophie, Harold and Zakkarias, mentioned in this topic: http://www.norwayheritage.com/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1584&whichpage=2&SearchTerms=%2C In may 1891 she leaves Kristiania for USA. In 1900 she lives with her sisters family, in Minneapolis. After this date, I know nothing about her destiny. Agnes Kathinka Melby was born on November 1872 in Skjeberg, Norway. Her parents were: Magnus Zachariassen Melby and Karen Thorine Olsdatter. Between 1900 and 1910 Agnes may well have married. So finding her could be even more difficult. But, are there anybody who has access to the 1910 census, and can maybe find her? On the basis of her birthdate and her immigrationdate? I would be very glad, as always for any help! Berta
Berta	I am trying to bring this to the top. I hope that someone with access to the 1910 census (or later) maybe could help me out! My guess is that is fully possible that she stayed in Minneapolis if she stayed put in the US, but of course, she can have moved toghether with someone else. I presume that she at least would use the name "Agnes" as this is more easy to pronounce in english than Kathinka. Maybe "Agnes K.?". These are just suggestions. She was born in on November 29th 1872, in Skjeberg, baptised on January 12th 1873. in Skjeberg, Norway Her parents were both norwegian, and their names were: Magnus Zachariassen Melby (Melleby) and Karen Thorine Olsdatter. She immigratede in may/june 1891 ( I have not located her excat arrival in the US). on the 1900 Census: 1900 US census, Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, MN ED 66, Page 14A, Ward 3 she is listed as follows: "Melby, Agnes, Sister-In-Law, born Nov 1842, age 27, single, b. Norway, Imm 1891 " I do not have the censusrecord on a digital picture. ( as I can find now) so if someone has a picture of this record too, I would be really glad if someone could send me this also. I hope there is someone "out there" who can try an locate this for me! I am very glad and happy for help! Sincerely, Berta Berta
Berta	I just wanted to mention that it says that Agnes is travelling with the "Thingvalla" according to this: http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=thing she must have travelled on april 30th ( I thought i was may 1st) and arrived in New York on May 17th 1891. ( which is Norways National day) Here is a link to the inscription: http://www.digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=EMIOSLO&gardpostnr=83374&merk=83374#ovre Sincerely, Berta
Jo Anne Sadler	Agnes did sail on the Thingvalla arriving New York Harbor on May 18, 1891, 18, girl, destination Minneapolis. No other information. She would have been processed for immigration at Castle Garden at the tip of Battery Park, ferried over to the train depots on the New Jersey side and would have taken a train to Minneapolis, probably changing more than once. Could not locate her in the 1910 census, it is difficult to search, only a head of household index and most of the time no place of birth in the index so one can't search by name, birthdate and place of birth. There are a few Agnes Melbys in the MN death index, one that died on September 4, 1918.
Berta	Thank you for your information, Joanne! It was nice to get the information on her arrival to the Caste Garden. Why can you only search for head of household? That must be very difficult to locate any in the 1910 census? In the death-index does it say any more than listed online, of her birth and so forth? I guess that if she died in 1918 as Agnes Melby, she would have been name this in 1910. Maybe there are no more to do to find her. Maybe it is a "dead-end"? But thank you again, Joanne! I am a little more famlliar with Minnesota geogrphy now. Do you have avccess to the 1900 census-sheet ( where the family is listed?) It would be nice to see wheter or not there are any information about Agens there which I have missed out on. Berta
Jo Anne Sadler	We have to be grateful for Ancestry.com for even putting the 1910 census online with only a head of household index, before that they was very limited indexes to the census, you had to go backwards, find their address, then their emuneration district, then scroll through the films to find the record. Only a few Southern states had indexes. Every person in the Ancestry.com index had to be entered into the program and they have to pay people to do this very tedious work so they are very justified in charging for their databases. Not like Norway Heritage where all the work is done by volunteers and is free.[:)] In the 1900 census, it only says she is a sister in law, born November 1872, immigrated 1891, no occupation listed.
Berta	Jo Anne! Thank you for looking up! I understand now more how it is all laid up. I guess I should try and find this death-cert. It could be her. One more thing. Citydirectories. I have seen one from 1909. But further on, are there more people added? Or is it just the head of household there also? Since she is a young woman, maybe she could be listed there? I have not seen anyone online, so I am sure that I have to find a familysenter.. No, this is difficult stuff! Any ideas are mostly welcome! Sincerely Berta
Berta	Hello Jo Anne, and everybody else! I have now, recieved infomation that say that Agnes in 1910 lived in Minneapolis and in 1930 in Bayport Washington., MN. Whether this information is correct, I am having difficult to say. The reason for my concern is that on these plavces at these times, Agnes had relatives who lived there. So it can maybe be a confusion. an mix of information. But .. in the 1930 cenus, are there some Agnes Melby ( or maybe "Agnes"(with all the details correct.. she can be married) ) who is living in Bayport, Washington, MN? I am trying to verify if the information is correct, but I have not yet got any information on this. Berta
Jo Anne Sadler	I could not find anyone in the 1930 census in that would fit Agnes. It could be that her name was mispelled or she went by a nickname. As far as the City Directories, they are/were issued either by the companies selling advertising and when telephones came along by the telephone company and the contents would vary greatly. Big cities like Minneapolis had more than one directory. Some even had a reverse directory in the back listing everyone living at a specific apartment building. Generally, an employed adult of a household would be listed in the directory. If you want to really take some time to research, you could check the Hennepin County marriage microfilms: [url="http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnhennep/marriagefilms.htm"] Hennepin County[/url]
Berta	Thank you for your input, Jo Anne. And thank you for the link. Berta
SaintOlaf	This is a long shot but there is a dormitory at Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota that is named Agnes Melby. It would make sense to make an all girl dormatory if Agnes Melby never married. It used to be just for women. Then around 1985 they cleared out the basement to make room for some men. After the men moved in they realized they had no bathroom/shower facilities. It was quite a riot when they had to let the men take over one of the bathrooms on the floor above them.
Jo Anne Sadler	Here is a link about St. Olaf ghost stories and referenced Agnes Melby, in 1995 it is the 100th anniversary of her birth so I don't think it is the same Agnes Melby. Another link said she was a teacher there. http://www.ghosts.org/stories/tales/stolaf-college.html
Berta	Hello Jo Anne and "Saint Olaf". Thank you for the reflections concerning the "Agnes Melby Hall" at St. Olafs College. I have also got this link, when I googled Agnes Melby. And it was very interesting. But as Jo Anne points out, the birthday is 1895, and therefore I have excluded "my" Agnes from this. It would have been a wonderful story though! Thank you for all help, it is very nice! Berta
SaintOlaf	I forgot about Agnes Melby Hall having paranormal events. The basement used to be a storage area for students. They changed the lock because of reports of a suitcase or box being moved around. When that did not work they assumed a student must have a locksmith for a parent that taught them the trade. I have a faint memory of voices being heard coming from a meeting room and when someone checked it out there was no one there. In New Dorm (now called Rand Hall) a student complained of crickets. He could only hear them at night. He throw down poison yet he kept hearing crickets. Just long enough to wake him up. He shared a bathroom with a neighbor. We entered his unit and taped a walkie talkie inside his radiator. We took turns replacing batteries and playing a tape on cricket sounds for 2-3 seconds in the middle of the night. We stopped when he injured himself leaping off the loft to try to find the cricket. We were Norwegian-Americans. He was Swedish-American.
Borge	Those who can read Norwegian might notice the strange fact that Agnes spelled backwards reads "senga" which in Norwegian means bed. A very suitable name for a dormitory [:D]
Berta	Thank you Saint Olaf. although this was a story.. with no relation to my Agnes.. Funny though. Good that noone got really hurt. To Børge: I have never thought about this.. But you are of course right! More excat it would be "The" bed. Thank you for your postings! Berta