More Cousins than I Thought: 52 Ancestors 2022 Favorite Find

Discovery Adds Significance to Photo

George Wee: 1888-?
Ole Wee: 1878-1927
Willie Wee: 1898-1981
 

When I first ran across this charming photo on Facebook, I was delighted because it featured an ancestor of mine, cousin Sam Joramo, seated in the middle with the big smile. I had to re-evaluate the photo when I discovered that I am also related to three more of the young men. George Wee (far left), Ole Wee, and Willie Wee (the two gents at the right) are also my cousins. This photo has become one of my favorite finds as a result.

As I described in my previous post, I discovered that my great-grandmother Ragnhild Olsdatter Ve Syverson had two nephews who also immigrated to the same area of southern Minnesota in the 1870s and 1880s. One of these nephews was Anders Olesson Vee.

Anders and his wife Sigrid Olsdatter Hoseter Skaar took the surname “Wee” when they settled in the Hanska, Minnesota area, while Anders’ brother’s family spelled the name “Vee”. Anders and Sigrid had a large family—possibly as many as seven sons and three daughters. Sigrid states in both the 1900 and 1910 census that she has given birth to ten children and all ten are still living. Living or not, some of the sons just disappear: Ingvald, Nils and Henry just don’t appear on census or draft registrations after 1900 so I can’t determine what happened to them.

However, I have found records for the three sons that appear in this photo. Ole was the eldest son, born in 1878. George Wee, christened Karl Jorgen but called George, was the fifth child in the family, born in 1888. Willie Wee, christened Wilhelm, was the youngest in the family, born in 1898. Given that Willie appears to be in his late teens in the photo, I would guess it was taken around 1913 or so, when Willie was about 15, George 25 and Ole, quite the old man at 35 despite his youthful appearance.  The three are all my second cousins once removed.

From the records I’ve found so far, it doesn’t appear that any of the three men had any children. Ole and George don’t appear to have married, although Willie married. I will have to do more research to find out more information about this newly discovered branch of my tree.

In the meantime, I will enjoy this wonderful photo of five young farmers from southern Minnesota mugging for the camera in an auto they may not have been able to drive—it was probably just a photographer’s prop. I wish I knew the story behind the photo. What prompted them to dress up and get their photo taken? I also wonder if the fifth man in the photo, Ole Asleson, will turn out to also be a distant cousin. I’m so happy I stumbled on this photo—a true favorite find!