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Sigrid Helen Sivertsen Stene Hartwig

b. December 10, 1888 d. September 18, 1967

Sigrid Helen and Husband Frank Hartwig - Married 25 Years

Sigrid Helen's Family Tree

Sigrid Helen Travels to America

According to details found on Norway Emigration Records and New York Arriving Passenger Lists, Sigrid Sivertsen left Norway to come to America when she was 20 years old. At the time she was 5’ 2-1/2” tall with black hair and brown eyes. She had $5 in her possession – likely given to her by her father Johan (John) Sivertsen. Her co-traveler was Elvine Johansen (aka Johnsen), who was 25 years old, and 5’ 2” with brown hair and blue eyes. Like Sigrid, she also had $5 in her possession.

Sigrid and Elvine boarded the ship “Skandin” and sailed out of Trondheim on 29 June 1909. They arrived at the southern port of Kristiania (now known as Oslo) and boarded the ship “United States” to sail across the Atlantic to New York, where they docked on 14 July 1909.

Sigrid and Elvine stated to New York immigration officials that their final destination was to be “Chicago Indianapolis, Illinois”, and that their USA contact was a friend, Hans Ekeberg. If Hans had been a relative of either of the young ladies they probably would’ve stated as such. We know that Hans lived the rest of his life in Chicago, but for some odd reason there is little information about his life prior to leaving Norway.

One mystery that still remains is Sigrid’s whereabouts between the day she landed in America on 14 July 1909 up until the time she married Frank Hartwig on 10 December 1910. It’s likely that her movement between New York to Chicago (and possibly Indianapolis) to Milwaukee didn’t provide an adequate window for officials to capture an address for the City Directories or the 1910 Federal Census.

Frank Hartwig and Sigrid Helen Wedding Picture - 1910

Harriet Hartwig Ahles told this story about Sigrid Helen ...

In 1967, Sigrid Helen Hartwig was very ill, and had recently lost her home in the Peplin area of Mosinee, Wisconsin due to construction of the Central Wisconsin Airport. She ended up staying for a short time with her daughter Harriet Ahles (among others) and on one particular day, Sigrid and Harriet they were both in the kitchen as Harriet finished up drying the dishes. Harriet's kitchen was very small and narrow, with a little dinette table that sat against the wall underneath a window. As Harriet walked over to her Mother she saw that a couple of tears were flowing down her cheek. She asked what was wrong? Sigrid replied that she was just thinking of Norway. It was something she saw ... a tree, a bird, a twig, or perhaps the snow (it may possibly have been early Spring) ... something sparked a memory from nearly 60 years earlier. Shortly thereafter, Harriet escorted Sigrid Helen Sivertsen Stene Hartwig home to see her Sisters Ingeborg, Aslaug and Aagot. Unfortunately, her older Sister Jonette had died two years earlier. However, it was only a couple months later, after returning home that she passed away in September of 1967. One doubts that it could have ended any better for her, after having seen her sisters one last time ... on the soil of her homeland.