Census Mystery Cleared Up Through Research
Maria Torbjornsdatter Sorheim: 1872-1944
Census records can occasionally be misleading. There is far
more information on them than many new genealogists realize, so these records
deserve a closer analysis. Relationships that appear simple and straightforward
on the Ancestry’s transcriptions can become far murkier if you look at the
original, handwritten census record. That’s what happened when I was tracing
the life of my second cousin once removed Maria Torbjornsdatter Sorheim. The
Ancestry transcription showed me what I expected to see, and what every other
public tree had accepted at face value: a husband and wife with four children.
But looking at the photo of the actual census form led to some significant
revisions to my tree.
The transcription of the 1910 census record shows Albert
Dallmann as the head of household, age 44, his wife Mary (my ancestor Maria
Sorheim), age 38, and four young people, presumably their children: Henry, age
17, John Sorheim, age 13, Martin, age 6, and Anna, age 4. This seems quite
simple, quite easy to interpret.
But when you look at the actual written record, some bizarre
pieces of information are immediately obvious. First, son John Sorheim is
listed as “stepson”, not son. While I might have assumed “Sorheim” was his
middle name, it is now obvious that it is his legal surname. But this was John’s
mother Maria’s maiden name—this seems to indicate John was born out of wedlock
so had her surname.
Second, look at the “Years Married” box: Maria and Albert
have only been married for eight years. This means both son Henry and son John
were born before the date of this marriage. So who is Henry’s mother? In
addition, Maria/Mary states she has borne five children, but only three
survive. So only John, Martin and Anna are her children.
We get some clues about the parentage of both young men from
the columns asking where their parents were born. Henry’s father and mother
were born in Germany. Since Maria was born in Norway, obviously Henry had a
different mother. Next, we see that the entry for John shows that his father
was born in the United States—so his father isn’t Albert, who was born in
Germany, nor was he someone who accompanied Maria when she immigrated from
Norway.
By the time John Sorheim fills out his World War I draft
card, he is using Dallmann as his surname, and from then on is referred to as
Albert Dallmann’s son. This is probably what confused all the other people who
have John on their family tree: he eventually became part of the Dallmann
family so that’s how they recorded him. It also led several people to record
Albert and Maria’s marriage incorrectly—they listed it as 1886 so that it would
match the birth year of Henry Dallman. There was a significant problem with
that date, however. Maria was still living in Norway at the time of the 1891
Norwegian census. She states on the 1910 and 1920 census that she arrived in
the United States in 1892, speaking only Norwegian. There was no way she could
have married the German-speaking Albert in 1886.
I wanted to try to make my tree as correct as possible and
not perpetuate the errors of others, so I decided to check out the records,
looking for John and Henry’s birth records.
Maria Torbjornsdatter Sorheim was born to Torbjorn
Hermandsen Sorheim and AnnaMaria Olsdatter Ve in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
on April 7, 1872. She was their oldest daughter. She was only twenty years old
when she immigrated in 1892. It seems unlikely that she would have travelled
alone. Several of her brothers immigrated, but all arrived at least two to six
years after her. Her sister Bertha supposedly immigrated in either 1891 or 1893
depending on what census record you check—I am speculating that Maria and
Bertha actually travelled together in 1892.
The first record I have discovered showing Maria in her new
country is the 1900 federal census. Maria is living with and working for a 68
year old carpenter named Philo Brewer. She states that she is 28 and single.
Her son, John Sorheim, age three, also lives at the Brewer residence. Here his
father’s place of birth is listed as Norway. Maria is obviously a single
mother. Given Mr. Brewer’s age, I doubt he was the father, especially since he
hadn’t been born in Norway.
According to his World War I draft card, John was born June
17, 1896 in Mankato, Minnesota. So what happened to Maria between her arrival
in the United States and John’s conception and birth? It is hard to know. Maria
and her sister were faced with the need to learn a new language and support
themselves in a strange land. While they had some cousins in the area, it is
hard to tell how much assistance those relatives could or did provide.
Maria’s younger sister Brita/Bertha married quite quickly
after they arrived in Minnesota. On November 1, 1894, 19-year-old Bertha married
a 33-year-old second or third generation American named Allen Weymouth. Perhaps
this age gap provides some clues to the risks the young women faced. Were young
immigrant girls seen as easy marks by older men? Was Bertha more fortunate in
her choice of beau than Maria in that he chose to marry her? Whatever the circumstances,
Maria was left alone after Bertha’s marriage, and it appears that within a year
after her sister moved out, Maria got pregnant and was left to struggle to
support herself and her son alone. She must have been so frightened and
probably ashamed. I am sure there was plenty of whispered criticism and
finger-pointing among the other Norwegian immigrants that probably left her
feeling desperate.
Fortunately, she met Albert Dallmann. Records show that
Albert was a German-speaking farmer who married another German immigrant,
Regina Huhle, in November, 1889. They had two children, Henry, born in 1893,
and Mary, who was born in 1895 and died shortly after. Tragically, Regina died five
years later on March 13, 1900. As a lonely widower with a seven-year-old child,
Albert was probably eager to find a new wife and ready to overlook the slightly
scandalous nature of Maria’s single-motherhood.
Albert and Maria married April 14, 1902. He was 36, and Maria
was 30 years old. They went on to have three children together, Martin, Anna
and Oletta, while raising Henry and John. They farmed in the Nicollet area of
Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Albert died in 1933, and my cousin Maria died
June 13, 1944.
 |
| 1930 Federal Census showing John Sorheim Dallmann living with Dallmanns and half-brother Martin. John is listed as Albert's son. |
Although I was never able to identify John Sorheim Dallmann’s
birth father, checking out the information provided on the 1910 census form
helped to clarify his relationship to his half-siblings and his step-brother.
It also revealed an interesting chapter in my ancestors’ immigration
experiences. Maria must have had a challenging life for several years, but she
seems to have moved past her early struggles to build a secure life for herself
and her first-born son.
