Memories

 

I would rather spend four or five days in Los Angeles showing Judah and Levi around rather than visiting Disneyland.

Kristine Or Christine?

By the way, a huge "thank you" to Richard Oksol for alerting me to Kristine Tangvald's name in the Ellis Island archives. In the big scheme of things, this is truly amazing.

Ellis Island, log in: link here for "Tangvald."

Ship manifest, link here:

Text passenger list, link here:

And it gets more interesting. From the manifest, we learn that Kristine's home of record, in Norway is: Stjørdshalsen. Wiki here. Stjørd: wiki here.

Where is Stjørdshalsen in Norway and where is it located in reference to where Paul was from?

It turns out both Paul and Kristine lived in the same "county" or certainly very close to each other -- Kristine was just a mile or so north of Trondheim, while Paul was a few miles farther north, across the fjiord from Trondheim. They very easily could have passed each other on the street if they ever visited Trondheim on market day. Isn't that a hoot?

In 1997, the municipal council declared Stjørdalshalsen to have town status. Stjørdal is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Trøndelag due to its proximity to the city of Trondheim and also to Statoil's presence (it controls a large part of the petroleum activity in the Norwegian Sea from Stjørdal). 

On our trip up to visit Paul's homestead, we would have driven right through the Stjørd municipality!

Now, back to Kristine / Christine: 

In the United States data banks, the United States records Kristie Tangvald as Christine Tangvald.

That appears in Paul Oksol's obituary when it is clearly stated Paul married Christine Tangvald.

In addition, the Paul Oksol - Christine Oksol gravestone is clearly Christine.

The ship manifest is very, very clear, and there are no "strange" Norwegian letters in Kristine's name, so it is unlikely that the bureaucrat at Ellis Island changed the spelling of her name.

The question now becomes, how / when did this change?

Records suggest that after Paul emigrated to America, at a later date, he submitted his information to the United States State Department (?) to request US citizenship, which was granted. Somewhere on the blog I have a copy of that typewritten document.

One can assume Kristine followed a similar process shortly after arriving in the states when she went to work as a house-servant in Minnesota. At that time, it is very likely, she, her employer, or the bureaucrat completing the form, "Americanized" Kristine to Christine.

Oil activity:

Equinor has an office in Stjørdal that serves as a key operational hub for its activities in the Norwegian Sea . The office focuses on managing fields and projects in the region, including the important Åsgard field. 

• Key aspects of Equinor's presence in Stjørdal: 
• Operational hub: Since the 2007 merger that created StatoilHydro (now Equinor), the company has maintained its "Operations North" division in Stjørdal.
• Åsgard field management: The Stjørdal office is central to managing the Åsgard field, including its Smørbukk North satellite. This operation helps extend the field's lifespan and ensures continued profitable production.
• Wessels veg office: The office is located at Wessels veg 41 in Stjørdal.
• Local activity: By managing key offshore fields from Stjørdal, Equinor and its partners ensure ongoing operational activity in the region. The company's presence also supports the local energy industry through collaborations with other firms, such as Aibel, which also has a Stjørdal office and works on Equinor projects.