Ole Johannes Eide

Information Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu

Ole Johannes Eide
A Guide to His Oral History Interview

Administrative Information

Creator: Eide, Ole Johannes

Collection Nr: t192

File Content:
	3 file folders 3 photographs 1 sound cassette 0 compact discs

Processing Information:
	The interview was conducted using a cassette recorder. A research copy was also prepared from the original. To further preserve the content of the interview, it is now being transferred to compact disc. We deliberately did not transcribe the entire interview because we want the researchers to listen to the interviewee's own voice. The transcription index highlights important aspects of the interview and the tape counter numbers noted on the Partial Interview Transcription are meant as approximate finding guides and refer to the location of a subject on the cassette/CD. Interviewed by Inger Nygaard Carr Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler Recording Quality: Generally good except for planes flying overhead and the poor quality of recording done near the end when he sings.
Restrictions:
	The collection is available for research.

Preferred Citation:
	[Collection Number, Collection Title] New Land New Lives Oral History Collection Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447

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Scope and Content Note

This interview was conducted with John Eide on October 15, 1982. It contains information about family background, becoming a Christian, emigration, return to Norway and re-emigration, marriage and family, and church involvement. The interview also contains a paper by John regarding baptism, a photograph of John and his siblings in Norway, and two photographs of John at the time of the interview. Mr. Eide speaks Norwegian fairly often during the interview.

Biographical Information

John Eide was born Ole Johannes Eide on April 20, 1900 in Brathammer, Sørstokke, Karmøy, Norway. Brathammer was his grandfather's home and Karmøy is an island between Stavanger and Haugesund. John's parents were Ole Mandius Eide, also known as Johannes Løberg, and Gertrud Brathammer. John's father immigrated to America before he was born and became an American citizen. Ole then returned to Norway to marry Gertrud, whom he took back to America. However, Gertrud became sickly and lonesome and returned to Norway to care for her family and run a store at Brathammer. Ole continued living in both America and Norway, and he and Gertrud had four children in addition to John: Adolph, Amanda, Carl, and Tom. John went to the Christian school when he was younger, but believes he was truly saved when he was seventeen. He and a neighbor were coming home from a dance on New Year's when "a spirit came upon them." They used to call Karmøy "Hellige Øy," which means Holy Island. In an attempt to make a better living, John immigrated to Anaconda, Montana in 1923. There, he lived with his older brother Adolph and met his first wife Mary Eastman, who was of Swedish descent. They both attended church at the Salvation Army Hall. John originally did not think he was going to marry her and returned to Norway in 1926. He later re-immigrated to the United States, and after staying in Brooklyn, New York for a month, he returned to Anaconda and married Mary. John worked on the smelter in Anaconda, and they bought a small four-room house. The Eide's had four children: Ruth (Nelson), Charles, Kenneth, and David. In Anaconda, John was also very active in the Lutheran Church and started a mission, which later became an Assembly of God Church. In 1968, John and Mary moved to Spokane, Washington, where Mary later passed away. In 1979, John moved further west and met his second wife, Lois, in Des Moines, Washington. John has returned to Norway four times and continues to sing religious songs in Norwegian as well as English.

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Lineage:
Full Name:	Ole Johannes Eide
Father:	Ole Mandius Eide Johannes Løberg (His name in Karmøy)
Mother:	Gertrud Brathammer
Paternal Grandfather:	Tormo Løberg
Paternal Grandmother:	Margaret Løberg
Maternal Grandfather:	Tøres Brathammer
Maternal Grandmother:	Martha Brathammer
Brothers and Sisters:	Adolph Eide Amanda Kvalevag Carl Eide Tom Løberg
Spouse:	Mary Eastman Eide Lois Eide
Children:	Ruth Nelson Charles Eide Kenneth Eide David Eide

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Selected Search Terms This collection is indexed under the following headings
Personal Names
	Eide, John Eide, Ole Mandius Brathammer, Gertrud Løberg, Tormo Løberg, Margaret Brathammer, Toeres Brathammer, Martha Eastman, Mary Nelson, Ruth Eide, Charles Eide, Kenneth Eide, David Eide, Lois
Family Names
	Eide family Løberg family Brathammer family Eastman family
Geographical Names
	Brathammer, Sørstokke, Karmøy (Norway) Anaconda (Mont.) Spokane (Wash.) Des Moines (Wash.)
Subjects
	Family -- Norway Norway -- Emigration and immigration Brathammer ( Norway) -- Emigration and immigration Church attendance -- Norway Bergensfjord (Steamship) Christmas -- Norway Marriage Service Assemblies of God Salvation Army (Anaconda, Mont.) Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945- Return migration -- Norway
Occupations
	Miners and mining
Genre/Form
	Oral history
Institution
	Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection

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Partial Interview Transcription

The partial interview transcription highlights important aspects of the interview. Numbers on the left may be used as guides to important subjects. Two numbers separated by a slash indicate that the first number is for cassette and the second for CD.

020 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Name is Ole Johannes Eide. Born on April 20, 1900 in Brathammer, Sørstokke, Kopervik, Norway. Brathammer was his grandfather's home and his mother had a store on that place. This is now owned by Audun Brathammer (?) who is the boss of the North Sea oil project. Karmøy is the island he was raised on. This is between Stavanger and Haugesund.

195 He talks about drinking and driving in Norway and the stiff fines.

230 PARENTS: Father lived in America and his mother took care of the business in Norway and also helped take care of her father. His father's name was Ole Mandius Eide and his mother's name was Gertrud Brathammer. His father was born at Eide on the same island.

280 PARENTS IN THE U.S.: His father was a citizen of the U.S. before he was born and worked in smelter work and all kinds of jobs. John was a naturalized citizen because of this. His father came to the U.S. and then he returned and married John's mother. Then they returned to the U.S. but she became sickly and lonesome and returned to Norway. They had been living in Illinois. His father said the water was bad there and liked it much better in Montana where he later moved. His mother stayed in Norway and cared for the rest of the family.

340 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: There were four boys and one girl. All the boys were in the U.S. Carl had a dry cleaning shop in Olympia and Bremerton, Washington. Thomas Magnus was the youngest and when their father died while in Norway Tom went back to take care of their mother because John had a wife and family then. He took care of the farm and did some fishing. Adolph was the oldest and worked in Anaconda, Montana, Butte, Montana, and Great Falls, Montana at different types of jobs. This was the brother who sent him the money to come to the U.S. Amanda Kvalevag stayed in Norway.

454 GRANDPARENTS: Maternal grandparents were Toeres Brathammer and Martha. She came from Åkre, which is on the other side of the island. He did some fishing. Brathammer was kind of a poor place.

485 GROCERY STORE: His mother went to Kopervik to get supplies for the store in a horse and buggy.

510 PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: Tormo and Margaret.

530 SCHOOL: They had school on the island. It was a good Christian school.

550 CHURCH: It was in Kopervik. They didn't go to church much but they went to revival meetings. Sometimes these traveling evangelists would be at the church and other times at the Bedehus. There was a Salvation Army at Kopervik too.

575 AUTOMOBILES: He remembers when the first care came to Karmøy, a doctor owned it.

605 KARMØY: A lot of people lived on that island. There were some large towns, Kopervik, Skudenes, and Åkrehamn. They lived about a half hours walk from Kopervik or ten minutes by car. Now it's almost like a little city where he grew up.

635 WATER: Now they get the water to the place from one of the lakes up in the hills. Before they got the water from a well.

657 CHRISTMAS: It was a religious time. They had a Christmas tree party at the Mission House. They would hold hands and sing around the tree. Now Christmas is more Americanized. Went to church on Christmas. There couldn't be any clothes on the clothesline and no work on Sundays there. It was a five-day holiday. He says in Norwegian that Karmoey isn't as Christian as it used to be.

724 CHRISTMAS FOOD: Some would have lutefisk. They would have all different kinds of fish and were healthy.

748 CHILDHOOD: His mother took care of them because his father was gone so much. They started calling him Johannes Gertrud. They bought a little ranch in the middle part of Stokkestrand and they could see out over the water.

783 WORK: He did a little fishing sometimes for some spending money. Otherwise he helped his mother on the farm or in the store.

793 MOTHER'S STORE: It was a little grocery store. They had a girl that worked for them. They used to take the mail.

810 AUDUN BRATHAMMER: He talks about him again. He is the grandson of Toeres Brathammer.

820 REASONS FOR COMING TO AMERICA: Tried to make a living. Didn't really want to come to America. After the war, there was a depression, so he was glad when his brother sent him a ticket.

845 SCHOOL: Went to Bible school in Stavanger otherwise he stayed at home and helped. He would go to dances, but didn't do any dancing after he was saved.

870 TELLS ABOUT BEING SAVED: It happened when he was 17 in Norway on New Years Night 1918. They were coming home from a dance and the spirit came upon them. They used to call Karmøy Hellige Øy (Holy Island). You couldn't buy drinks there. He and a neighbor boy were saved outside that night. In the summertime then he went to Bible school in the wintertime he would sometimes sing with an evangelist.

974 CHURCH LIFE IN NORWAY: There were no Sundays there; you worked everyday.

977 TRIP TO U.S.: About April of 1923 when he was 23. His mother was glad for him to go. He came on the Norwegian-American Line Bergensfjord. There was one stormy day out of the 6-7 day trip. He didn't know that he was a U.S. citizen and took out his first papers. He didn't have to go through Ellis Island. He bought a third class ticket, but it was full so he got to stay with the first class and ate with the second class. He came with his brother's wife's sisters and her husband who escorted him to Montana. Their names were John and Hilda Kohlstad (?).

1065 TRAIN TRAVEL: Took the train from New York to Anaconda, Montana.

1067 ANACONDA, MONTANA: Lived with his brother and had board with his brother's wife's sister. There were a lot of Norwegians there.

1078 LANGUAGE: His wife was a very good teacher and the American language came to him very easily.

1088 FIRST WIFE: Met her at Anaconda, Montana. Her name was Mary Eastman. She was born of Swedish parents. They met at the Salvation Army Hall. They would go to church there. On a return trip to Norway, the Lord told him to marry her, but he didn't think he would ever go to the U.S. and if he didn't he wouldn't go to Montana.

1115 IMMIGRATION SECOND TIME TO THE U.S.: Came to Brooklyn, New York and stayed there for about a month. In 1926, he had returned to Norway.

SIDE II

025 It is difficult to follow at this point, he seems to be talking about his girlfriend in Norway and how their relationship ended.

064 BROOKLYN: Worked for a contractor and it was so hot that people were dying from heatstroke. He could never satisfy this man so he quit.

100 MARRIAGE: It wasn't long before he married Mary Eastman in Anaconda, Montana. The wedding was in the pastor's office. She had been working for ten years.

140 HOUSING: They rented a house for one year and then they bought a small four-room house. Later his son Charlie built an upstairs on it.

158 WORK IN ANACONDA: He was working on the smelter.

166 CHILDREN: Three boys and one girl. Ruth Nelson is the pastor's wife at the Assembly of God church. David, the youngest, is a pastor in Slaten, MN (?), at a Pentecostal. Kenneth is a CPA in Billings, Montana. Two of his grandchildren are going to Northwest Bible College. Charlie has children and has a good Christian wife.

260 CHURCH LIFE: Was active in the Lutheran Church in Montana. Gave $1 a month. He started a mission because Mary's grandfather was a heavy drinker. She went into the saloon and took him out and brought him to the mission and he was saved. He started in an old saloon. Later it became an Assembly of God Church. He didn't preach but he did do some singing. He talks about the institutions in the areas for TB, mentally ill, and a penitentiary. He had played his guitar and sung at these places. His wife plays the piano.

377 ANACONDA: Now they are tearing down the smelter because it costs too much to run it. Now there is nothing there. He worked at the smelter until 1968 when he moved out to Washington because he had three children out here.

412 MOVE: They thought they might move to Salt Lake City, Utah because they have a place out there. They also thought about moving to Everett, Washington but ended up in Spokane, Washington close to their family. His wife died there. He moved to this side of the mountains about three years ago.

466 SECOND WIFE: Met her in Des Moines, Washington. He sang some songs to her. Her name was Lois. They lived together for two years. She gave her place to Ruth's family.

543 VISITS TO NORWAY: He and his daughter went back. He saw how the island has grown. There is an aluminum plant there. John had returned four times. His wife saved her money.

592 ORGANIZATIONS: Only active in church.

605 SPOKEN NORWEGIAN: He sings the song, "I Fell in Love" in both English and Norwegian.

690 RELIGIOUS SINGING: He plays a guitar and sings "Jesus I Love You (?)," "I Fell in Love," and "A Lily." Then he sings a song with a piano accompaniment.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Administrative Information

Scope and Content Note

Biographical Information

Lineage:

Selected Search Terms

Partial Interview Transcription