    
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Administrative
Information
Scope and Content Note
Biographical Information
Lineage
Selected Search Terms
Partial Interview Transcript
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Information
Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific
Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu
New Land
New Lives Oral History Collection
Sam (Søren Kristian) Fredricksen
A Guide to His Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Fredricksen, Sam (Søren Kristian)
Collection Nr: t218
File Content:
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3 file folders
2 photographs
1 sound cassette
0 compact discs
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Processing Information:
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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: Good
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Restrictions:
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The
collection is available for research.
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Preferred Citation:
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[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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This
interview was conducted with Sam Fredricksen on January 10,
1983 in Seattle, Washington. It contains information on family
background, marriage, emigration, occupation, and Danish heritage.
The interview also includes two photographs of Sam at the time
of the interview. The interview was conducted in English.
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Sam
Fredricksen was born on September 23, 1885 in Auning, Jutland,
Denmark to Jens Kristian Fredricksen and Kristine Rasmussen.
He was one of ten children, and the family lived on a farm,
where they grew rye and potatoes. The church was eight blocks
away from Sam's house, and the family attended often. After
Sam was confirmed at age fourteen, he began to learn how to
bake from his uncle who owned a bakery. He worked there until
his uncle passed away two years later. Sam then began farming
and met his wife, Margaret Petersen, on one of the farms he
worked for. Margaret was a cook. They were married April 28,
1923 and left for America on May 1. To avoid the quota in the
United States, Sam and Margaret got papers for both Canada and
the United States, settling in Calgary, Alberta first. In Calgary,
Sam continued farming and later got in touch with his uncle
in Granite Falls, WA. Sam's uncle had a threshing outfit, and
Sam began working for him. Sam's uncle eventually went back
to Denmark, and Sam began working in the woods at that time.
He did this for two years, earning enough money to buy a house
for himself and Margaret. Sam also worked on a dairy farm for
six months in the Seattle area but later returned to Granite
Falls, as did his uncle. Upon his return, Sam's uncle bought
back a bakery he had once owned, and Sam began working for him
once again. In 1934, Sam got the bakery after his uncle passed
away and ran the business successfully until 1941. He and Margaret
then moved to Everett, WA, where Sam owned the Colby Bakery
until 1954 and a wholesale bakery in Granite Falls. After he
sold his bakery, he worked for a friend's landscaping operation
for twelve years and then did landscaping on his own. Sam finally
retired when he was eighty-five years old. In addition to work,
Sam has been very active in church and Danish organizations,
including the Danish Brotherhood, the Eagles, Danish Club, the
Danish drama club "Harmonien," and the Danish folkdance group.
Sam has also served as the Washington correspondent for Bien,
a Danish newspaper printed twice a week in Los Angeles. Sam's
heritage has been very important to him. He has made five trips
back to Denmark, and he and Margaret have maintained Danish
traditions within their household. Their only child, Ann, speaks
Danish.
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Full Name: |
Sam Fredricksen
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Baptized Name: |
Søren Kristian Fredricksen
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Father: |
Jens Kristian Fredricksen
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Mother: |
Kristine Rasmussen
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Paternal Grandfather: |
Nils Christiansen
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Paternal Grandmother: |
Anne Christiansen
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Maternal Grandfather: |
Søren Rasmussen
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Mina Haugaard
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Mina Fredricksen
Karl Fredricksen
Petra Fredricksen
Hjerolf (?) Fredricksen
Evind Fredricksen
Dagny Fredricksen
Ester Fredricksen
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Spouse: |
Margaret Petersen
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Children: |
Anne Fredricksen
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Fredricksen, Sam
Fredricksen, Jens Kristian
Rasmussen, Kristine
Petersen, Margaret
Fredricksen, Ann
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Family Names |
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Fredricksen family
Rasmussen family
Christiansen family
Haugaard family
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Geographical Names |
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Auning, Jutland (Denmark)
Calgary (Canada)
Granite Falls (Wash.)
Everett (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Denmark
Denmark -- Emigration and immigration
Railroad travel
Canadian Pacific (Steamship)
Denmark -- Social conditions -- 1945-
Christmas -- Denmark
Ocean travel
Harmonien (Danish drama club)
Danish Brotherhood (Seattle, Wash.)
Bien (Danish newspaper)
Danish Heritage
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Occupations |
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Bakers and bakeries -- Denmark
Bakers and bakeries -- Granite Falls (Wash.)
Landscape gardening (Seattle, Wash.)
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Genre/Form |
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Oral history
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Institution |
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Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience
Collection
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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.
018 Soren Kristian Fredricksen. Changed his name to "Sam" when
he took out his citizenship papers. He's known as "Uncle Sam."
Born in Auning, Jutland (Jylland) Denmark.
090 PARENTS: Jens Kristian Fredricksen and Kristine Rasmussen.
They were both from Auning. Had a farm there. That farm had
been part of a big estate at one time. The people who ran the
small farms in the area then were sharecroppers. Sam's family
grew rye and potatoes. Had some grazing land for cattle. Sold
milk to the creamery in town. Milked about 6-7 cows. Had a team
of horses, hogs, chickens. Grew almost everything they needed,
fruit trees, vegetables.
169 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Ten children in the family. Mina,
Karl, died when 17 from the Spanish flu, Petra lives in Aarhus.
Has visited Sam six times. Her four children have also visited.
Mina lives in Copenhagen. Hjernolf (?) lives in Helsingør across
from Helsingborg, Sweden. Had three trucks for transporting
goods before he retired. Evind had a little farm outside of
Aarhus. Sister born after Petra died in early '62. Dagny passed
away in 1979. She was a foot doctor in Copenhagen. The last
two were twins. One died when three months old. The other, Sam's
baby sister is still living in Aarhus. He was a machinist. Sister's
name is Ester.
294 GRANDPARENTS: Maternal - Soeren Rasmussen and Mina Haugaard.
They were farmers. Paternal - Nils and Anne Christiansen. They
had a farm in the area too. Doesn't remember paternal grandparents.
Grandfather died when Sam was young. Grandmother lived in the
town where Sam was born. She was 92 when she passed away. That
was long after Sam had come to America.
373 CHILDHOOD: Started working on the family farm when seven
years old. Fed the cattle.
380 SCHOOL: Different then than now. Were only four grades when
he went to school. The first two grades went to school two days
per week during the winter and four during the summer. The last
two grades went to school four days during the winter and two
days during the summer. The older kids were of more use during
the summer.
409 CHURCH: Was about eight blocks from Sam's house. Was a beautiful
church. His family went to church often. Grandmother insisted
on it.
423 CHRISTMAS: Wasn't always easy for his mother to go to church
because she had to do all of the cooking. She did go on Christmas
Day. They had a big meal on Christmas Eve. Had pork roast, ribs
from the hog, sausage (medisterpoelse), red cabbage and brown
potatoes. Had rice pudding afterwards. Put an almond in the
pudding. There was a prize for the one who got the almond. Mother
wold always have a present for each child. She could knit quite
well.
499 BAKING: After Confirmation, Sam began to learn to bake.
Had an uncle who had a bakery. Started when fourteen. Baked
a lot of pumpernickel bread. Had a big oven for baking. When
done baking at night, filled the oven with peat. Used a piece
of paper to get the fire going in the morning. When the peat
burned down, the bread was ready to go in. Went through 800-1200
pounds of rye meal a day. Couldn't pound it by hand. Had horses
that drove the shaft of the "round machine." Put the horses
in the barn when the meal was ground. Working the rough bread
"took the hide out of your hands." Couldn't work with shoes
or socks on. Wore wooden shoes when hauling fuel to the oven,
otherwise barefoot. The uncle who ran the bakery died two years
after Sam started working there. Sam's uncle, who had only two
years left before he would become a building contractor, said
he was going to America and would send for Sam when he had the
money. He died of the Spanish flu before he left for America.
This was in 1911.
693 FARMING: Had to quit in the bakery. Started working at different
farms. Liked farming. Managed a 600-acre farm just before he
came to America.
710 MEETING SPOUSE: Met her on one of the farms. She was a cook
there. Had to cook for 30-40 people on a farm in those days.
She had a few helpers. She was a good cook. Her name was Margaret
Petersen.
733 MARRIAGE: They wanted to go to America. Sam still had it
on his mind. Another uncle of his went over, promising to send
for Sam. But then WWI started and he couldn't go over. Got married
in the church on April 28, 1923. Left for America on May 1,
1923. Got married in the church in Skanderborg, about 20 kilometers
south of Aarhus. Had the wedding party at the home of his wife's
parents.
784 LEAVING FOR AMERICA: Had tickets to go to Canada. There
was a quota in the US when Sam and his wife left Denmark. In
order to beat it, they got papers to get them into both the
US and Canada. Settled first in Calgary, Canada where there
was no quota, then went to the US from there.
823 TRIP OVER: Some complications. Came on the Canadian Pacific.
Started from Liverpool, England. Had just crossed the Irish
Sea when a steam pipe broke. Went back to Belfast, Ireland.
There were three other Canadian Pacific Liners in Belfast.,
The 1200 passengers on their boat were transferred to the other
three boats. Ran into a storm on first night at sea. Moved slowly.
Were going to Quebec. Ran into fog as they approached Newfoundland.
Ship didn't move for forty-eight hours. Icebergs all around
when fog lifted. Went up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. The first
class passengers went on to Montreal. The others got off in
Quebec. Had to go through immigration. Had to have $20 to come
into Canada.
896 FEELINGS ABOUT LEAVING DENMARK: Didn't feel good. Had the
feeling that it might be the last time he would see his parents.
Took time to get over it. Neither he or his wife saw their parents
again. His mother died in 1939. Father died in 1925 right after
they had left. Wife father's passed away in 193. Her mother
died in 1948. Sam and his wife didn't get back to Denmark until
1962.
941 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF CANADA: Eastern Canada is quite rocky,
The good land is quite a ways inland. Only rocks, woods, and
lakes in Quebec. They were a little more satisfied when they
moved to the prairie.
965 WORK: Had a job working on a farm. Got the job from Denmark.
Worked 100 miles east of Calgary.
974 TRAIN RIDE TO ALBERTA: Immigration train was no good. No
sleeping places. Had to sleep on benches. Not enough benches
for everyone. Trains were dirty but there were facilities to
wash up. No place to eat on the train. Trip lasted seven days.
Had to buy provisions in Montreal. When the train stopped, one
could get off and buy a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. Nothing
to cook on the train except for a pot-bellied stove at the end
of the car. Sam's wife used the silver coffeepot they got at
their wedding for cooking coffee, tea, and eggs for herself,
Sam, and the other twelve boys in the car. Sam still has the
coffeepot. They were going to a town called Brooks. Someone
was supposed to meet them but they came in the middle of the
night. The depot engineer turned off the kerosene lamps and
told them they could sleep on the benches. They were tired of
sleeping on benches. Sam decided to go into town to find a place
to spend the night. There were a lot of Orientals in Canada
at that time. Saw only Chinamen, cowboys, and Indians. Sam was
surprised to run into a Norwegian in the town. They had their
luggage locked up at the station and the Norwegian helped them
find a room. They slept for 14 hours. The lady at this place
made them pancakes, potatoes, bacon, etc. Found a Swede who
could talk to Sam and his wife. (Tape ends abruptly.)
SIDE II
065 FARMING IN CANADA: Swede said farm they're looking for was
40 miles away. They could get a ride with the mailman the next
day. Sam didn't have much money. The lady at the hotel said
they could eat and sleep there for two nights for $4.00. They
got to the farm at the beginning of June and left for the US
in the latter part of December. His wife cleaned the big farmhouse
and Sam worked on the farm. They earned $50 a month and room
and board. The farmer grew a lot of alfalfa. Many people from
Tacoma and Seattle settled in that area. Met a farmhand on the
neighboring farm who was an America. He asked Sam how much he
was earning. He told Sam that he should earning $5 per day during
the harvest season. Sam talked to his employer, Mr. Bend (?).
He and his wife ended up getting $5.00 per day.
306 COMING TO THE US: Got in touch with his uncle in Granite
Falls, Washington, east of Everett. Took a train from Brooks,
Alberta to Sumas, Washington. From there took a stage (a car
with about six seats) to Everett and another stage to Granite
Falls. Cost less than $10 for them to go from Sumas to Granite
Falls.
386 LEARNING ENGLISH: Learned quickly. Wife had more trouble
because she didn't get out of the house as much. Uncle had a
"threshing outfit." Threshed for other people. Sam met a lot
of people doing this. Would ask them what different things were
called in English.
416 GRANITE FALLS, WASHINGTON: Lived with uncle for three weeks.
Then rented an "old shack." Uncle had a bakery. Wanted to go
back to Denmark. At first wanted Sam to run it for him. Then
decided to sell it. Said he could buy it back when he returned.
Sam found work in the woods. Hard work. Helped get the logs
on the trains, which would bring them to Snohomish where they
would be dumped in the river. Did this for two years. Made good
money. Bought a house within a year and a half. Paid $500 for
it. Two houses on the property. A small house where a Swedish
bachelor had lived and a larger house which he had rented out.
Sam rented out the small shack to a moonshiner. Sam bought three
more city lots for $7. Cleared the lots. Was going to raise
chickens there.
547 MOONSHINE: While clearing the land, noticed a group of evergreens
that had died. He cleared them out and discovered a big hole.
There was a pipe running from the hole to the small shack. The
renter had moved from the shack. Sam found several gallons of
moonshine. The still wasn't there, but there were pipes for
piping water in and pumps for pumping water out. Wrote about
this in a Christmas issue of the Danish newspaper.
608 SEATTLE: Had heard about a Danish dairy farm in Seattle
from Mr. Pallesen, a dairy farmer in Calgary, Canada. Pallesen
had three hundred cows. Had about fifty horse-drawn wagons for
delivering milk. Told Sam he could stay with Mikelsen (?), a
dairy farmer in Seattle. Sam happened to know Mikelsen (?) from
Denmark. Saw in an issue of the Danish newspaper that Mikelsen
(?) was advertising for a milker. Sam wrote to him. Mikelsen
(?) told Sam to come see him. Sam started milking for him. Had
about sixty cows. Worked for about six months.
710 BAKING BUSINESS: Went back to Granite Falls. Worked in the
woods for a while. Uncle bought back his bakery. Sam started
working in the bakery. He wanted Sam to have the bakery. Sam
got it in 1934, when his uncle passed away. Sam did pretty well
for a few years. Had difficulties when WWII started. He needed
three bags of sugar per month. Only got one and half. Closed
the shop in Granite Falls. Moved to Everett, Washington in 1941.
Baked in Everett and had an outlet in Granite Falls until 1954.
Had a wholesale bakery. Had four trucks that would bring baked
goods to the store. Earned commission. It was a good operation
but too much work. Never worked less than eighteen hours a day.
Got emphysema. Sold his baking business.
812 LANDSCAPING: Had a friend who did landscaping. Got a job
from him. Worked for him for twelve years. Had a crew of four.
His wife told him he was getting too old to work. It wasn't
good for him to be outside during the winter.
835 Did landscaping on his own for a couple of big estates in
Highland (in Seattle?). The people there told him not to work
himself to death. He could get help if he needed it. He had
a man come and mow the lawn. Sam quit working there when he
was 85.
870 FAMILY: Wife died in 1977. He has one daughter, Ann. She's
married to Melvin Hallestad(?). They live in Seattle now. Have
five children. He works for Time Oil Company now. Ann works
in the eye clinic at Swedish Hospital.
911 CHURCH: Both Sam and his wife have been active. Sam has
served on the church council several times. Was treasurer once.
Helped build two Danish churches. In 1925, when he was working
for the Danish man (dairy farmer?) he helped build St. Johannes
Church. In 1955, when they moved back to Seattle, they built
a new church on Finney Ave. across from Woodland Park.
944 DANISH ORGANIZATIONS: Joined the Danish Brotherhood in 1925.
Joined the Eagles in 1924. Has been president for the Danish
lodge twice. President for the district lodge. Belongs to the
Danish Club. Belongs to the Danish drama club, Harmonien and
the Danish folkdance group.
972 TRIPS BACK TO DENMARK: Five trips. Has seen many changes
in Denmark. Returned after thirty-nine years. There was nothing
but dirt roads when he left. The country itself hasn't changed.
990 DANISH LANGUAGE AND FOOD: They spoke Danish at home. Daughter
learned it too. Sam still cooks a lot of Danish food. He had
his family over for Christmas Eve this year (1982) cooked traditional
Danish food for his family. Has only been away from home at
Christmas four times since his daughter was born. Went to daughter's
house after his wife died.
1013 DANISH NEWSPAPER: Sam is correspondent from Washington
for the Danish newspaper, Bien, printed once a week in Los Angeles.
It's one hundred years old.
1032 Speaks Danish.
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