Although there are no Canadian passenger records from the time period when my Norwegian ancestors arrived, their naturalization documents confirmed they entered the United States from Canada, and thus very likely made first landfall at Quebec. My GG-grandfather entered at Milwaukee, WI, in 1856, and his future wife entered at Detroit, MI, in 1858. He was from Oppland and she was from Hedmark, but within two years they crossed paths in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, and married in 1860. I was able to find those documents because at different times, both of them had applied for land under the Homestead Act and thus had to submit proof of citizenship.

Austin’s service in the Civil War rendered him deaf, a condition which was believed to be responsible for his accidental death when he was hit by a train. Although Congress granted Olina a pension on the grounds of this indirect war-related death, the local newspaper account of his death [149] made no reference to his deafness, placing the blame for the accident on the train engineer. Seaver E. Olson provided an affidavit as to Austin’s deafness. [211]

At the time of his death, Grove City, MN was known as Acton [need further documentation on this; ‘Acton’ may have simply been a reference to the township in which Grove City is located].

From several documents it appears that Austin could not write; an ‘X’ appears near his name and it is annotated, “his mark.” [50], [1157]

In 1872, 1875-6, he was the Director of School District No.3, Harrison Twp., Kandiyohi Co., MN, where his children attended classes. [974]

The land he obtained as a Homested property in 1873, is located on the northwest corner of the intersection marked by these coordinates: 45.1968021, -94.7777718 [1602]


Østen Hansen Kleppen ("Kleppen" being the farm name) was from Sør-Fron, Oppland, Norway. He left there on February 13, 1856 (at age 21), along with his older brother, Iver (age 29). It is believed that they landed first at Quebec, Canada, which was the main port of arrival for Norwegian immigrants at that time. Unfortunately there are no passenger records in Canada prior to 1865, so their arrival and ship name cannot be determined. They officially entered the U.S. at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July of 1856. Østen changed his name to Austin Hanson and settled in the now nonexistent village of Neshonoc, Wisconsin, near present day West Salem. Their brothers, Ole and Peder left Norway at different times, also ending up in La Crosse County. Two years later, in a different part of Norway, Oline Ingebrettsdatter emigrated from the Stigen farm in the parish of Ringsaker, Hedmark, Norway, with her parents, two brothers and two sisters. They departed on April 27, 1858. The details of the family's passage from Norway to Quebec is uncertain, but if they were able to make it to Christiania [Oslo], by April 29, 1858, they could have boarded the brig ship Wilhelm Tell which departed that day, arriving in Quebec, June 28, 1858. What is known is that the family entered the U.S. at Detroit, Michigan, in July of that year. From there they made their way to La Crosse County, Wisconsin, where they homesteaded on 40 acres of government land about four miles north of West Salem (technically the Homestead Act didn't start until 1862, but Oline's father began efforts to qualify as soon as he could, though the final Homestead Certificate was not issued until 1872). Oline changed her name to Olina Olson. At some point she met Austin Hanson and they were married, January 12, 1860, at Coon Prairie, Bad Ax (now Vernon) County, Wisconsin.

Civil War service: volunteered 29-FEB-1864 at La Crosse, WI. "This soldier has Blue eyes, Light hair, Sandy complexion, is 6 feet high." [50]
Was a Private in Co. E, 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry [218]. He was reported as being 29 years old in muster rolls of March, 1864. The records indicate he was from Neshonoc, Wisconsin. Neshonoc vanished after the railroad put its tracks through nearby West Salem. Austin moved to Minnesota (Monongalia County, which later merged with Kandiyohi Co.) at least by 1867 [116]

The following cemeteries in Kandiyohi Co., MN, have been searched for Austin’s grave but without finding it:
• Calvary Lutheran. This one was not an exhaustive search, only examining the group of Hanson graves already documented by others.
• Oak Side. Complete search.
• St. John’s Lutheran. Complete search. Noted that one stone had been broken off its base and was completely gone.
Also have examined “A Guide to Graves in Kandiyohi County Cemeteries” (Kandiyohi County Historical Society, 1981) and did not find any listing for Austin HANSON in the entire county.

1860 census: not found in Neshonoc [became Hamilton Twp. in 1866], WI. not found in Onalaska (HeritageQuest labels it “Malaska” in their browse mode). not found in Holland Twp. not found in Farmington Twp. not found in Barre Twp. Also tried Ancestry Library Edition and could not find any relevant HANSON/HANSEN families in La Crosse Co. or Bad Ax Co.

27-JUN-2019: Minnesota Historical Society Gale Family Library has Meeker County Coroner's inquest records, but only for 1885-1913.