Gunnild Maria Hanson ^{3 4}

   Other names for Gunnild were "Ellen" Hanson ² and "Nellie" Hanson.^{1 5 6}

  Baptism Notes:

Name: Gunhild Maria Syversdatter
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 12 Sep 1848
Christening Date: 04 Feb 1849
Christening Place: Vinger, Hedmark, Norway
Father's Name: Syver Hansen
Mother's Name: Sigri Larsdatter
Reference ID: B33 P40 E25
System Origin: Norway-EASy
GS Film Number: 307233
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C01994-8

Citing this Record:
"Norway Baptisms, 1634-1927," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWNV-66Y : accessed 17 May 2016), Syver Hansen in entry for Gunhild Maria Syversdatter, 12 Sep 1848; citing ; FHL microfilm 307,233.
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  Burial Notes:

In the Trempealeau Cemetery in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, there is one tall monument gravestone with the name of Nellie on one side and the name of Mabel on the other:

MABEL HORTON
Daughter of W. F. Horton and Nellie M. Horton
Died: August 14, 1890
Age: 7 years, 2 months, 28 days

NELLIE M. HORTON
Wife of W. F. Horton
Died: August 14, 1890
Age: 41 years

Find A Grave Memorial #109676251
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  Noted events in her life were:

1. Alt. Birth, 1855, Norway. ^{6 7} This birth year was referenced by her age of 25 on the 1880 US Census. It was also referenced by her age of 30 on the 1885 Minnesota State Census.

2. 1865 Norway Census, 1 January 1865, Eidskog, Hedmark, Norway. ⁴ 1865 Norway Census
District 001 Syver Nilsen, Family 01, House 0088
Farm Number: 7aI, 7cI, 7aIIII, 7cIIII
Eidskog, Hedmark, Norway
Gunnild Syversdatter..Daughter..18..Eidskogs

(Living with parents.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 12 Sep 1848, then her age should have been 16 or 17 instead of 18.

3. Immigration, 1867.

4. 1880 US Census, 15 June 1880, Waubay, Day, Dakota Territory, United States. ² 1880 US Census
Page 482A, District 84, Family 118, Roll 112
Waubay, Day County, Dakota Territory
Ellen Horton..Wife..25..NOR..Keeps House

(Living with husband.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 12 Sep 1848, then her age should have been 31 instead of 25.

5. 1885 Minnesota State Census, 9 May 1885, Crow Wing Township, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States. ⁶ 1885 Minnesota State Census
Page 4, Family 34
Crow Wing Township, Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Nellie Horton..30..NOR

(Living with husband and 2 children.)

NOTE - If her birth date was 12 Sep 1848, then her age should have been 36 instead of 30.

Gunnild married Walter F. Horton, son of William T. Horton and Mary Ann Allen, on 31 July 1879 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, United States.^{1 2} (Walter F. Horton was born in 1858 in Hamilton, Fillmore, Minnesota, United States ^{2 6} and died on 4 May 1939 in Salem, Marion, Oregon, United States.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

1. 1880 US Census, 15 June 1880, Waubay, Day, Dakota Territory, United States. ² 1880 US Census
Page 482A, District 84, Family 118, Roll 112
Waubay, Day County, Dakota Territory
Walter Horton..Head..22..MN..Farming
Ellen Horton..Wife..25..NOR..Keeps House

2. 1885 Minnesota State Census, 9 May 1885, Crow Wing Township, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States. ⁶ 1885 Minnesota State Census
Page 4, Family 34
Crow Wing Township, Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Walter Horton..26..MN
Nellie Horton..30..NOR
C. W. Horton..5..DAKOTA
Mabel Horton..1..WI

  Marriage Notes:

Name: Walter Horton
Birthplace: Hamilton, Minn.
Spouse's Name: Nellie Hanson
Event Date: 31 Jul 1879
Event Place: Trempealeau Co., Wisconsin
Father's Name: William Horton
Mother's Name: Mary Horton
Spouse's Father's Name: Sever Hanson
Spouse's Mother's Name: Sarah Hanson
Race: White
Spouse's Race: White
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00331-0
System Origin: Wisconsin-EASy
GS Film number: 1275576
Reference ID: Marr. 1878 - 1892

Citing this Record:
"Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRKT-M88 : accessed 27 April 2015), Walter Horton and Nellie Hanson, 31 Jul 1879; citing reference Marr. 1878 - 1892; FHL microfilm 1,275,576.
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Marriage Record Details
Marriage Record ID: 2230833
Last Name: Horton
First Name: Walter
Day: 31
Month: July
Year: 1879
County: Trempealeau
Volume: 1
Page: 318
Marriage Record ID: 2394437
Last Name: Hanson
First Name: Nellie
Day: 31
Month: July
Year: 1879
County: Trempealeau
Volume: 1
Page: 318
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Gunnild "Nellie" Hanson married a traveling salesman, then called a "drummer", named W. F. Horton. One evening when their daughter, Mabel Horton, who was seven years old, her father insisted that they all go for a boat ride even though his wife, Nellie was afraid of water. Both the daughter and the wife drowned but there were no witnesses. A son, Walter, age 5, did not go along. W. F. Horton was tried for murder and set free due to a lack of evidence or witnesses.
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I don't know exactly what Walter Horton sold but his travels with his family were extensive. And if the 1880 census record shown below is accurate, Walter Horton was initially a farmer who may have tried his luck in the Dakota Territory and eventually moved back east to Minnesota and Wisconsin where he became a salesman. Using the information from the 1885 Minnesota State Census as the most accurate along with data from other sources, the following chart can be shown:

1879.............Walter and Nellie married in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
1880.............son Walter born in Dakota Territory
1884.............daughter Mabel born in Wisconsin
May 1885.....CENSUS in Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Aug 1890......Nellie and daughter Mabel drown in Trempealeau, Wisconsin
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Nellie's sister, Marthe, who moved to Day County, Dakota Territory with her husband Bertinius Halvorson Egeland sometime around 1875 where he purchased a feed company in Fargo. Moving with them were Bertinius's parents. The family was so well known that Egeland Township of Day County was named in their honor. When the father of Bertinius Egeland died there in the Dakota Territory about 1878, Marthe and Bertinius Egeland moved back to Trempealeau, Wisconsin where they still owned their farm. When Marthe and Bertinius moved back to Wisconsin about 1878, they became close friends with Walter Horton and Nellie's sister, Marthe both of whom were still in the Trempealeau area. In 1879, Nellie Hanson and Walter Horton were married in Trempealeau, Wisconsin and within a year they were both living in the same exact area where Marthe and Bertinius Egeland had just vacated for their move back to Wisconsin.

I suspect that Nellie and Walter Horton may have been sent to the Dakota Territory to take over the feed company operations that Bertinius Egeland and his father had already established. Nellie and Walter Horton were enumerated in the 1880 census in Day County, Dakota Territory. That 1880 census shows only the husband and wife with no son yet born so it would have to be assumed that Nellie was pregnant with Walter who was born later in 1880.

In the meanwhile, Bertinius Egeland must have completed rebuilding his farmhouse and by 1882, he moved his entire family back to Day County, Dakota where they remained until his death in 1898. With Bertinius and Marthe back in Day County, it would appear that Walter and Nellie Horton had been "relieved" of their temporary assistance and they moved with their new son back eastward into Crow Wing County, Minnesota where they were enumerated in the 1885 Minnesota State Census. In the midst of their moves, their daughter, Mabel, was born in 1882, supposed in Trempealeau, Wisconsin but I have not seen any source citations for her birth location. Perhaps Nellie returned to her home town just for the purpose of giving birth to Mabel.

By 1890, Walter and Nellie Horton and their two children were living back in Trempealeau, Wisconsin when tragedy stuck with the drowning of Nellie and daughter Mabel in August. Within one year, Walter was remarried to Mary Van Wie.
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