Olive Sarah Albers ^{1 2}

  Birth Notes:

Name: Olive Albers
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 21 May 1894
Event Place: Bridgewater Township, Rice, Minnesota, United States
Event Place (Original): Bridgewater, Rice, Minnesota, United States
Gender: Female
Father's Name: John R.
Mother's Name: Louisa

Citing this Record
"Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDCY-LJL : 5 February 2020), Olive Albers, 1894.
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  Death Notes:

Name: Sarah Ollie Egeland
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 14 Sep 1919
Event Place: Oden, San Patricio, Texas, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 21 May 1894
Birth Year (Estimated): 1894
Birthplace: Northfield, Minnesota
Father's Name: John R Albers
Mother's Name: Louise C Ebling
Record Number: 27860

Citing this Record
"Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K38N-VT7 : 13 March 2018), Sarah Ollie Egeland, 14 Sep 1919; citing certificate number 27860, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,073,673.
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  Noted events in her life were:

• Death Image: 14 Sep 1919, in Odem, TX.

Olive had a relationship with Bartlett Melvin Egeland, son of Bertinius Halvorsen Egeland and Marte Hanson, on 11 Aug 1917 in Northfield, MN. (Bartlett Melvin Egeland was born on 24 Jan 1891 in , Day County, SD,^{3 4 5 6} died on 14 Sep 1919 in Corpus Christi, TX ^{6 7 8} and was buried on 30 Sep 1919 in Rose Hill Memorial Park, Corpus Christi, TX ^{6 7 8}.). The cause of his death was Drowning from hurricane.

  Marriage Notes:

Both Bartlett and his wife, Olive, who were only in their twenties, were drowning victims of the hurricane that hit the Corpus Christi, Texas area on 14 Sep 1919. The storm had come across Florida and warnings were up along the Texas coastline well in advance but some false rumors that the storm had turned northward into Louisiana had prompted officials in Corpus Christi to take down all the warning signs the day before the storm actually hit. As a result of the ill-made preparations approximately 600-900 people were killed.

I'm not exactly sure where Bartlett and his wife lived but the death certificate for Bartlett was issued in Corpus Christi and the informant appears to be "Max P. Dunn, Chairman of the Rescue Committee. Texas death certificates do not have a separate date when the certificate was made out and the only date that appears is the date of death which is when the storm hit on 14 Sep 1919.

What is unique about their deaths is that the death certificate for Olive was issued in San Patrico County and is about 5-10 miles inland and north of Corpus Christi. Actually, the certificate says the place of death was "on Bay, near Odem, Texas." The informant on her certificate was her father who lived in Northfield, Minnesota. Once again there was no date when the certificate was filled out and only a date of death of "about Sept 14th". Her official cause of death was listed in non-medical terminology as "Corpus Christi Storm Victim". There is no medical doctor's signature on her certificate. It would appear that her father traveled from Minnesota to the Texas coast in search of his daughter and fearing the worst after hearing of the devastation in the Corpus Christi area. I can't imagine the time between the storm hitting and the father identifying the body of his daughter to be anything less than several days later.

After the father claimed her body, he directed that her remains were to be buried in Webster, South Dakota. This was accomplished on 1 Nov 1919. I'm not sure if the father even knew that her husband's remains had been found and he probably was just buried in Corpus Christi but for some reason he chose to have her buried in Webster...perhaps to be near her mother-in-law who was still living there. I'm surprised he didn't have her buried back home in Northfield, Minnesota where she was born and where her parents were still living.
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