Guttorm Hillson Wenaas (1828-1913)

Guttorm Hillson Wenaas was born on 17 Dec 1828 in Nes i Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway, as the third child of Hallstein Nilson Haugveie and Ingerid Torleivsdtr Imré. He had eight siblings, namely: Jorgan, Guttorm, Nels, Jørønd, Jorand, Kari, Kari, and Ingeri. Guttorm was baptized on 18 Jan 1829 in Nes i Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway.

What was his real name? He was sometimes known as Guttorm Hallsteinson Venaas. He was sometimes called Guttorm Hilson. He was sometimes called Guttorm Hillson. Names of our Norwegian ancestors can get confusing. Back in Norway, they used a naming system by which a child took the name of their father as their second name. So, since Guttorm was the son of Hallstein, he was Guttorm Hallsteinson. But, in Norway, they also used the name of the farm upon which they lived as their last name. So, since Guttorm lived on the Venaas farm, he was Guttorm Hallsteinson Venaas. Vs and Ws are often interchanged as Norwegian is converted to English, so Venaas became Wenaas. Names were also altered sometimes as folks crossed the ocean, as in Hallsteinson becoming Hillson. To add to the confusion, when people immigrated to America, they had to pick a surname. They often dropped the farm name and used the patronymic name as the surname to be carried onto future generations. So, for example, Guttorm’s kids took the Hillson surname. Though, some spelled it Hilson and others Hillson. If these kids would have been born in Norway, their last name would have been Guttormson (or Guttormsdtr in the case of girls). To complicate matters further, spelling was not very consistent in the old days, so Guttorm was sometimes spelled Gutturm. Though, his name morphed and changed through the years, we’ll call him Guttorm Hillson Wenaas.

Guttorm immigrated to America in 1853, landing in Quebec and then making his way to Dane County Wisconsin. In 1855, along with other Norwegian settlers, he moved to Minnesota. He was an early settler in Dodge County, Minnesota. He settled there in section 32, Westfield Township, on 16 Jul 1855. He has been documented as the second settler in the township. He lived along the Cedar River, east of Blooming Prairie. The History of Winona, Olmsted and Dodge Counties told of the the settlers of Westfield Township, “It was the same with these settlers as with all others of that day. They built small huts and lived on corn cake and potatoes, did their breaking with cattle. When they raised the first crops of wheat, they hauled it to Winona, camping out at night. This journey usually required six or seven days.”

When he was 28, he married Jorand Christiansdtr Rukke, daughter of Christian Oleson Rukke and Ragnild Bjornsdtr Skolt, on 27 Jul 1857 in St Ansgar, Mitchell, Iowa. They were the first couple married from Westfield Township, Dodge, Minnesota. But, since there was not yet a church established there, they had to go to St. Ansgar, Mitchell, Iowa for the vows. The History of Winona, Olmsted and Dodge Counties noted that in Westfield, Guttorm “was one of the first settlers of the town and experienced much of the romance common to pioneer life. In 1857 he led to alter Jane Christianson.”

Guttorm Hillson Wenaas and Jorand Christiansdtr Rukke had the following children:

1. Inger Randina Hillson was born on 05 Oct 1857 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. She married Ole E Hensrud on 07 Jul 1877 in Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota. She died on 01 Apr 1945 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota.
2. Helena Hilson was born on 31 Oct 1860 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. She married Gustave S. Dahl on 19 Apr 1881 in Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota. She died on 27 Aug 1949 in Steele, Minnesota.
3. Caroline Hilson was born on 04 Mar 1863 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. She married Lars Olson Aldahl on 19 Nov 1885 in Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota. She died on 16 Mar 1940 in Lansing, Mower, Minnesota.
4. Ragnild G Hillson was born on 24 Mar 1865 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. She died on 10 Feb 1954 in Steele, Minnesota.
5. Christian G Hillson was born on 25 Dec 1866 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. He married Emma Carolina Larson on 22 May 1895 in First Lutheran Church, Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota. He died on 06 Jul 1945 in Steele, Minnesota.
6. Henry G Hillson was born on 26 Oct 1872 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. He died on 25 Dec 1953 in Mower, Minnesota.
7. Marie Hillson was born on 08 Jan 1879 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. She died on 14 Apr 1945 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota.
8. Thomas Bennett Hillson was born on 26 Jul 1880 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota. He married Caroline O Knutson on 27 May 1903 in First Lutheran Church, Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota. He died on 20 May 1971 in Blooming Prairie, Steele, Minnesota.

In June 1863, Guttorm was drafted to serve in the Civil War. As was allowed at the time, he paid a fee of $300 to be relieved of service.

Sometime about 1860, his elderly parents immigrated to America to join their children who had previously made the move. They were living with Guttorm at the time of the 1875 Minnesota Census.

Guttorm served as treasurer for Westfield Township and was a stockholder in the creamery, the elevator, and The Farmers and Merchants’ State Bank in Blooming Prairie. He was an early member of the Red Oak Grove congregation. In the early days of the church, there was disagreement about where to build the church building and the church broke into two. More northern residents, such as the Hillsons, attended what because known as the First Lutheran Church in Blooming Prairie. For many years, the church shared a pastor and other things.

Guttorm was widowed on 16 Mar 1906. He spent his last years on his farm living with his three unmarried children.

Guttorm Hilson Wenaas died on 08 Oct 1913 in Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota, at 84-years old. He was buried on 11 Oct 1913 in First Lutheran Church Cemetery, Westfield, Dodge, Minnesota.

Guttorm died intestate (without a will). His estate was settled in Dodge County. As is normal procedure, an inventory was taken of real and personal property, debts were paid, heirs were identified, and things were divided up. When everything was settled, in Nov 1914, each of his eight children received “an undivided one-eighth of all real estate” and a distribution of $710.56 in money.¹ Following are some of the records from his probate file.

Where is he in the tree?

Notes and Selected Sources:

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data – Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Was).

Ancestry.com, Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007).

Ancestry.com, Minnesota, Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1999 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), ancestry.com, Probate case files ca. 1856-1930 ; index 1856-1925; Author: Minnesota. Probate Court (Dodge County); Probate Place: Dodge, Minnesota. Record for Guttorm Hillson.

“Blooming Prairie,” The Mower County Transcript, 28 Jul 1897, page 7, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, Minnesota Historical Society, 12 Dec 2017, https://newspapers.mnhs.org/jsp/viewer.jsp?doc_id=mnhi0031%2F1EME1J59%2F97072801&init_width=600&recoffset=0&collection_filter=All&collection_name=d7b3c68b-6aab-4752-8f5e-177afc1e73dc&sort_col=title&CurSearchNum=-1&recOffset=0.

“Citation for Hearing on Petition for Administration. Estate of Guttorm Hillson,” The Mantorville Express, Mantorville, Minnesota, 12 Dec 1913, p. 4, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, Minnesota Historical Society, Accessed 12 Dec 2017, http://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/lccn/sn89064781/1913-12-12/ed-1/seq-4.

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn, Jewett, and Stephen, History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota (Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr., 1910), p. 747; digital images, Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/historyofriceste01curt : accessed 12 Dec 2017).

H.H. Hill , History of Winona, Olmsted, and Dodge Counties Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. (Chicago: H.H. Hill and Company, Publishers, 1884); digital images, Archive.org, (https://archive.org/details/historyofwinonao00chic : accessed 12 Dec 2017).

New Map of Dodge County, Minnesota, 1894, Minnesota Reflections, Web, 12 Dec 2017, http://cdm16022.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16022coll4/id/196. Permission to use map received from Donald H. Westfall, Executive Director, Dodge County Historical Society on 12 Dec 2017.

SAKO, Nes kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0008: Parish register (official) no. 8, 1824-1834, p. 250-251, Quick link: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20060130010332 (https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/3053/19579/120).

¹Samuel H. Williamson, “Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present,” MeasuringWorth, 2017. A simple Purchasing Power Calculator would say the relative value of $710.56 in 1914 is $17,600.00 in 2016. This answer is obtained by multiplying $710.56 by the percentage increase in the CPI from 1914 to 2016.