Notater:

Note:
Se ytterligere info på Gamle Gjerpen:
https://gamlegjerpen.no/Bygdebok/BoLux/Kaasa.htm

John giftet seg med Mari Thorkildsdatter 16 Feb 1788, Gjerpen, Telemark. Mari ble født 1767. [Gruppeskjema] [Familiediagram]

Notater:

Faddere var Peder Tejens? kone, Maren Engebretsdtr., Ellef Fikan?, Thor Torchilsen.

Note:
Se ytterligere info på Gamle Gjerpen:
https://gamlegjerpen.no/Bygdebok/Aasen/Aasen1.htm

Thorkild giftet seg med Berthe Hansdatter 28 Des 1814, Gjerpen, Telemark. Berthe ble født cirka 1791; døde 31 Jan 1845, Under Tufte, Gjerpen, Telemark. [Gruppeskjema] [Familiediagram]

Andre Hendelser og Egenskaper:

• Note: 1853, Skien, Telemark
• Note: 31 Des 1865, Skien, Telemark
• Note: 1866, Skien, Telemark
• Note: 1878

Notater:

Faddere var Ole Halvorsens Kone Foss, pige Mari Johnsd. ib., Torkel Johnsen Foss, Ole Halvorsen Foss, Hans Jacobsen Berreberg.
Hjemmedøbt af Ole Halvorsen under Foss.

Note:
Han meldte i 1853 at han flyttet i år til Skien fra Larvik som håndverker.

Note:
Folketelling 1865 Skien
Matr. nr. 434, L.nr. 375
Rode 6

John Torkildsen er i 1865 huseier og tømmermann, 38 år gammel fra Gjerpen. Kona Martine Lindberg er 30 år og fra Skien.
Han har fra sitt første ekteskap datteren Mathilde 12 år gammel og Josephine på 6 år. Begge født i Skien.
Med Martine har har datteren Anna Karine på 4 år og sønnen Thorvald på 1 år.

Note:
John emigrerte til Amerika 28 mars 1866 med hele sin familie.
Kone Marthe Sørine og barna Tilda Bertine, Josephine Marie, Anna Karine, Thorvald.
De seilte ut fra Skien på skipet «Tamworth» 7 apr 1866 for Montreal, Canada. De ankom Montreal 17 juni.

Note:
John kalte seg John Thompson i USA. I 1878 var han formann for firma Knapp, Stoub & Co., da de bygde veier nær Rice Lake i Barron Co., og var den som sto for utbetaling av lønninger til arbeiderne.
Han var også en av de tidligste medlemmene av Odd Fellow i Barron i 1887.

Død:
Han døde av lungebetennelse.

John giftet seg med Cecilie Marie Halvorsdatter 21 Jan 1853, Larvik, Vestfold. Cecilie (datter av Halvor Corneliussen Lerskallen og Gunnild Svendsdatter Trageton) ble født 08 Des 1827 , Lerskallen, Modum; ble døpt 26 Des 1827 , Modum; døde 28 Mai 1860, Skien, Telemark; ble begravet 02 Jun 1860, Skien, Telemark. [Gruppeskjema] [Familiediagram]

John giftet seg med Marthe Sørine Nilsdatter Lindberg 15 Nov 1861, Skien, Telemark. Marthe (datter av Nils Jensen Lindberg og Anne Karine Pedersdatter) ble født 15 Jan 1835 , Skien, Telemark; ble døpt 22 Mar 1835 , Skien, Telemark; døde 09 Feb 1908; ble begravet 12 Feb 1908, Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery, Barron, Barron County, Wisconsin, USA. [Gruppeskjema] [Familiediagram]

Andre Hendelser og Egenskaper:

• Note: 31 Des 1865, Skien, Telemark
• Note: 1866, Skien, Telemark

Notater:

Note:
Han var i 1865 tjenestekar hos apoteker Ernst Peter Wellerop i Skien. Han var 33 år gammel fra Skien.

Note:
Han er 4 april meldt som utflyttet til Amerika.

Han reiste ut med skipet «Tamworth» Capt H. Hansen den 7de April 1866.

Andre Hendelser og Egenskaper:

• Note: 1866, Skien, Telemark

Notater:

Faddere var Saugm. Nils Jansen, Snedk. Peter Andersen, Halvor Torkildsen, K. Maren Dorothea Gundersdatter, P. Gjertrud Torkildsdatter.

Note:
Emigrerte med foreldrene i 1866 til USA

Notater:

Faddere var Saugm. Nils Jansen, Snedk. Peter Olsen, Amund Torkildsen, K. Karen Marie Hansdatter, P. Maren Torkildsen

Andre Hendelser og Egenskaper:

• Note: 1866, Skien, Telemark

Notater:

Faddere var saugm. Nils Jensen, Snedker Peter Andersen, Søm. Johannes Olsen, Anne Kirstine Abrahamsdatter, marie Anne Gregersdatter.

Note:
Emigrerte med foreldrene i 1866 til USA

Notater:

Faddere var Nils Lindberg, Jørgen Paus, Nils Jansen, Moderen, Jensine Lindberg.

Moren blir oppgitt å være Martine Lindberg i klokkerboka og i ministerialboka som Jensine Martine Lindberg.

Anna giftet seg med Edward Carl Gilstad 23 Jul 1882. Edward ble født 01 Mar 1857 , Larvik, Vestfold; døde 03 Apr 1935, St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA. [Gruppeskjema] [Familiediagram]

Notater:

Faddere var Johan Nilsen, Nils Nilsen Lindberg, Isak Pedersen, Moderen, Jensine Lindberg.

Notater:

Note:
Han gifter seg 20 sep 1905 i Sumner, Barron Co., Wisconsin med Sarah Catherine Worman Chappell, f. 1959 I Indiana. De bor I 1910 I Weyerhaeuser, Rusk Co., Wisconsin, men er I 1920 flyttet til Ladysmith, Rusk Co., Wisconsin, hvor de blir boende. Nels er gårdbruker. Sarah hadde datteren Zion Chappell Thompson, f. febr 1895, som ble adoptert av Nels. Hun levde i 1930 i Ladysmith.

Notater:

Død:
Han døde etter å ha fått indre skader av å slepe på en tømmerstokk. Han bodde sammen med foreldrene i Barron og giftet seg ikke.

Notater:

Note:
Martin M. Thompson, f. 18 sept 1872 på foreldrenes gård. Han giftet seg tidlig, men det er ukjent med hvem. Han oppføres som enkemann i folketellingen for Wisconsin 1900. Han bor 2 jun 1900 på gården hos sin bror Nels i Barron, men 20 juni leier han seg inn på gården hos Ole N. Olson og kona Bertha i byen Blanchard, Lafayette Co., Wisconsin. Han er oppført som snekker. Ca 1905 kjøper han land ved Sturgeon River, Minnesota og vi finner ham i juni samme år boende i Itasca, Itasca Co., Minnesota som gårdbruker. 13 febr 1913 fikk han tillatelse til å kjøpe land ved Vavenby, Yale Co., British Columbia, Canada og i 1914, den 11 febr giftet han seg med Emma Skhal (1897-1968), datter av Ole Olsen Skahl jr og Ingeborg. Emma og Martin fik barna: Martha Isabella (1914-2005), Jenny Ottilla (1916-2009), Walter Norris (1918-1981), Linda Marie (1923-2005).
Martin dør 9 sept 1968 i LaVerendrye hospital, Fort Francis, Ontario, Canada. Emma døde litt tidligere same året, den 16 januar I Hopkins, Hennepin Co., Minnesota.

Note:
Martin Thompson was born on a farm in the area of Little Elk Creek, Dunn County, Wisconsin. While he was a young child, his family moved to a 160 acre homestead (80 acres of which was sold by a descendant of his parents) located just north of the town of Barron, Barron Township, Barron County, Wisconsin. Martin told his grandson David that he picked up the habit of chewing tobacco and using snuff when he was young, after starting with black licorice, and warned David not to acquire the habit. It is not known when he left Wisconsin, but it was probably about 1900. Martin is listed in the 1910 census as a widower, but no one later living was aware of this marriage, which would have occurred before he left Wisconsin.  He also had a twin brother, which none of his children knew until decades after Martin's death. He said he first went to Blackduck, Minnesota, then walked with a packsack to Oregon and Washington.
 The brothers were much alike, except for Nels, and Martin did not like Nels for some reason, though Nels was a likeable fellow. Martin had lived at Nel's home for a time, so they may have had a falling out then.
 Martin didn't like hot weather. He would get up early in the summer to do work. Martha said she never saw him doing the haying in the hot afternoon as others did. He also worked as a logger. Martin Thompson adopted the middle initial "M" while he was working at logging camps to distinguish himself from another Martin Thompson working at the camps.
 Martin prefered to walk or use a boat to travel. He didn't like horses, didn't like to care for them and said he could out walk a horse, "I made better time than those who rode horseback", since he usually walked at a lope. He used a canoe to cross the rivers, usually with Indians giving him a ride, but if no Indians were available, he would make a canoe or raft to cross the river.
 Martin said he spent 1906 and 1907 in Oregon and Washington; he loved the area, the water, fish, animals and woods, but he was very allergic to cedar. He recalled that Seattle was a relatively small town at that time and he was surprised when it grew to a major city.
 Martin said that walked to Florida, but he did not like the heat, and he said there weren't many trees. He then walked to Texas, but didn't like it there, either, so he went back north.
 Martin and some men from Norway, Lars Legard, Ole Odegard, and Lars Swedback, were the first settlers in Upper Sturgeon Township, Koochiching County, Minnesota arriving on February 14, 1903 (some have 1913, an error). There was three feet of snow on the day they arrived. Martin showed the other men how to make a teepee out of birchbark; they lived in the teepee until they were able help each other to build cabins on land they selected to homestead, using logs, with blue clay for chinking and for plaster, with sod roofs. There were no roads, so the only means of transportations was by foot or river. Martin preferred to carry supplies by packsack because transporting supplies upstream was difficult. The land was upstream to their land from where they picked up supplies near Big Falls. In the fall, enough supplies were brought in to last through the winter.
 This area of Minnesota was very cold in the winter, sometimes getting down to 30 below zero, with several feet of snow. The nearby town of International Falls often is in weather reports as the coldest spot in the nation during the winter. Snow shoes were usually a must for these early settlers. 
 Martin selected 160 acres of land through which the Sturgeon River meandered, deeming it to have potential as farmland, surrounded by wilderness at the time; and in later decades the land became even more isolated after most of the settlers left the area.  The homestead is described in the Deed as "the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter and southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 28, Township 155, Range 27, west of the 5th Principal Meridian (the land is in the center of section 28, now surrounded by state forest). Martin filed for the homestead, application 1286.
 All the materials to build these log cabins came from the land except for window glass and the few nails they used, which Martin made. . Martin built a blackmith shop where he made nails and other materials for other settlers moving into the area. At this time, the forests were full of animals and partidges were abundant; the Sturgeon River ran with piccerell, walleye pike, suckers and red horse. Most of their food consisted of meat, fish, nuts, and berries. Martin maintained this type of diet though most of his life. Martin said two Swedes and an Englishman settled in the area for a short time, but soon moved away. Some Swedish men later moved into the area, but most of those who came were Norwegians who had emigrated from Norway. 
 Martin then left the homestead for awhile, saying it was too cold to live there. Martin had to clear five acres of land to prove the land. He disliked logging almost as much as he hated farming. He told of how he would have to work hard to take care of the cows to get milk and venison, whereas all he had to do to get venison was to shoot a deer.
 Martin was not at all suited for farming, certainly he hated the drudgery of subsistence farming (who could blame him for that?), and farming in that area was of that nature. Most of the "farmers" had to do other work, such as logging to earn money. Most of the farms were intended only for family use, not selling produce for market.  Martin was a woodsman, a real "Daniel Boone" character who generally trapped for a living and hunted game for meat, made clothes from buckskin, made most of his own guns.  Martin tended to be a loner.  He was a "man's man", who, according to old timers, was greatly respected by men and was renowned for his hunting, trapping, woodsman abilities, and was described as such in the "History of Koochching County".  A nephew, Carl Gilstead, a taciturn man whose respect was not easilty gained, greatly admired Martin. . Martin subscribed to "Fur, Fish & Game" magazine, as did and do many others who hunt and fish. Trapping paid much more than farming.
 He mentioned later that he should have married a squaw rather than a white woman, since they would be more compatible with his lifestyle. Martin was there in June, 1903, when the August and Matilda Lungren family of six children arrived at his home. August had been a stage driver between Bemidji and Turtle River and Northome. Matilda was the midwife who later helped deliver Martin and Emma's children and those of many other families. 
 The Lungren's had made their way to Ripple (original name for Big Falls), then by boat up the Sturgeon, pestered on the way by flies and mosquitos, to the land where Martin had settled. Matilda was the first "little woman" to come that far from Ripple (now Big Falls), Minnesota. For a month, they lived there on moose meat without salt. Martin showed August how to build a cabin, which was located not far from the Thompson homestead, and how to make a smoke house in which they smoked meat and fish so it would keep through the hot summer weather. The floor of the cabin was earthen; later a board floor would be laid.
 Mail was first obtained from Big Fork, Canada, then from Ripple [later called Big Falls], all of which was packed from 20-40 miles. After that, the mail was obtained by a carrier, who worked free of charge to show that the post office, which had been set up by Mr. Lundgren and so was called "Lundgren," had enough cancellations to pay the government, and so later the Lundgren home was part of the route sustained by the U.S. Post Office until too many people had left the area in succeeding years.
 In 1906, Martin walked to Oregon, where he made good money sawing trees. He wound up in a hospital in Oregon, perhaps for an injury while employed as a logger.  Martin like the water, woods, fish and animals in the northwest, but he was allegic to pine and cedar, as well as other vegetation of the Oregon woods, so he walked to Seattle. Martin said Seattle was not much of a town at the time, but he loved the area - the Puget Sound, the fishing, animals, the nearby woods, and considered commercial fishing.Martin said he was surprised when that little town on the bay grew up to become a major city. But the woods west of the Cascades had lots of cedar among the Douglas Fir, and he was allergic to cedar. 
 So, in 1907, he went on and walked to British Columbia, arriving on May 25th, 1907 in Kamloops, which he liked. He walked up the Thompson River and chose a homestead not far from the farms of Knut and Edward (Elias) Skahl, uncles of his wife-to-be, Emma Skhal and that of Albert Skahl, Emma's brother. Martin returned to Minnesota and applied for a patent on the homestead he had chosen near Big Falls, filed on September 3, 1908, recorded on March 8, 1909, receiving Homestead Certificate No. 1422.
Soon after, he went back to his homestead on the Thompson River north of Kamloops. Since these are different countries, in those days a person could have homesteads in both, likely due to poor record keeping. A picture taken of him on his homestead on the Thompson River, near Vavenby, north of Kamloops in British Columbia is signed by Martin and dated 1910. Martin took out Canadian naturalization papers on September 3,1913. Some say he spent 24 years in British Colombia, but that is  exaggerated. He may have kept his B.C. homestead in his name for years, but he left shortly after a forest fire burned his homestead there.
 Martin may have gotten to know the Skhal family well at that time. Martin's land near Vavenby may be reached by taking Highway 5 to Vavenby, turn off to Vavenby and travel east to Bridge Road, which runs along the west side of Vavenby. Continue on Bridge Road for about one block, then turn right (east) to Lost Creek Road, which travels northeast long the Thompson River. Continue until you get to Christie Creek Road (formerly Lost Creek Road) Martin's homestead was at the junction of Lost Road and Lost Creek Road (now Christie Creek Road). His land lies where Skoowmchuck Creek,running south to north, joins the Thompson River, taking an "S" turn through his land. On April 19, 1911, the date of October 1, 1911, was set for completion of a ditch for the creek in the middle of Martin's land.
 Brothers Knut, Edward, and Albert Skahl, uncles of Martin's future wife, Emma Skhal, came with Martin to the Thompson River area from the Sturgion River farm of their father. They pre-empted land to the east and north, across a bridge over a creek that ran by Martin's homestead. Knut's place was just on the other side of the bridge (on the right side), along the river, and Edward Skahl's land was located alongside Knut's, on the east side. Emma's brother, Albert Skahl, also pre-empted land nearby. Martin built a frame house on his land along the Thompson River and cleared the land and trapped beaver. But a fire destroyed his house and and some of the forest in the area. As people moved into the area, hunting, trapping, and fishing suffered, so he finally left, walking back to the United States. Martin was living close to the Ole Skhal farm in 1910. Martin was a friend of the Skahl family. He courted and married Emma Skahl. According to her sisters and daughter Martha, Emma had another suitor. He was closer to her age, had his own farm, and was known as a nice, stable, hard working fellow. But Emma chose Martin, and Emma's sisters and daughter Martha believe she was attracted by his more exciting lifestyle and personality. 
 After his marriage to Emma Skhal, Martin added onto the log house he had built on his homestead located about 17 miles west along the Sturgeon River from Big Falls, Minnesota, just past Bate's Corner. He also removed some of the hunter type "decorations" such as antlers from the outside. Martin was well-known to be the best log man around, and helped other farmers build homes and barns.   Martin and Emma were definitely not religious, but, mainly to please Emma's very religeous mother, their children were baptised Lutheran at the Lungren house on the Sturgeon River by Reverend Belsas on September 16, 1914 and was later confirmed. Emma said she had her fill of religion during her upbringing. During WWI, Martin was drafted by the Army, but the war ended before he was taken. Martin was too rebellious to be a soldier anyway.
 During the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 which killed millions of people worldwide, Martin and the family attended the funeral of two uncles (one died of TB - if you could walk, you were fit for service, the other died of pleurisy) and one cousin (Nora, who died of the flu) at the cemetery on the grounds of the Sturgeon River school. Many people in the area died in the epidemic. Martin went back home, but his family stayed a few days at their grandparents and caught the flu from relatives. Jenny almost died and never seemed to have really recovered. The earliest memory that his daughter Martha has is when she had the flu and their friends and neighbors, the Noss', left food for them on the Skahl doorstep. They returned home upon recovery. Martin never caught the flu.
 The Sturgeon River runs through Thompson homestead. The cabin had no electricity or plumbing. Water was taken from a well near the house. The family had a garden from which they got their vegetables. A separate low log building near the house was set in the soil and was used as a root cellar. They had a large frame barn. According to Martha Thompson, they had three cows, all of which like to run away. Martha told of one cow who was very smart - she would tuck her head so that the bell wouldn't make noise, making it very hard to find her.  All they bought was sugar, flour, salt, and coffee. In spring, there were fish, which they also canned. In summer, there was partridges and vegetables. Walter used a slingshot to get the partridges. Life was hard and primitive on the homestead. They couldn't afford any luxuries. Martin didn't like to spend money on food. At first their income was from furs that Martin sold, mostly to Indians in Canada. Later, as beaver became scarce, logging became an important source of income, though Martin hated logging. Farming was done mostly to raise food for themselves, except for sheep which produced wool and mutton for sale. They raised chickens and turkeys and sold cream for money. They didn't wear shoes except for school and special occasions. They sewed rags together to make blankets, which were then heavy. The mosquitos may have been worse than anywhere she ever heard of and the no-see-ums required smudge fires, burning grass on wood to cause smoke, to get a night's sleep in the summer.
 Martin had a bit of a temper. His daughter Martha remembers him grabbing her by the hair and throwing her out into the snowbank after she was too slow shutting the door to the cabin as she came in when it was maybe 30 degrees below zero outside. Martha has become more sympathic with Martin's anger nowadays since, after discussing this with her son, Dave, she admits she would have felt like doing the same thing as she always hated drafts herself.
 She says Martin didn't have much patience and didn't like the children running around and told them they should walk quietly. Martin preferred the Indian way, where the children were together with some squaws who watched over them away from the men, so they were not underfoot or a bother. She said he didn't seem to enjoy children much, and seemed to always have something to yell at them about. When his children asked about his parents and his ancestry. Martin, known for his sense of mischief, decided to have a bit of fun, so he told them a romantic tale of his father being Swedish, moving to Stein, Norway for a job at a ship builder.  Martin told his children that his father fell in love with the daughter of the owner of the ship building company. However, her father opposed the marriage, so they eloped, then escaped his wrath by emigrating to the United States. There, they changed their last names to frustrate a search.  Martin's father became a river boat gambler on the Mississippi.  Martin said his father was believed to have had some trouble as he arrived in Barron, Wisconsin, where he paid cash for a farm and would not allow anyone to photograph him.  Martin said that his parents heard that his mother's father had traveled to the United States and searched for them, but never found them. 
 Much later, when his daughters Martha and Linda became interested in researching their family history, they spent years trying in vain to trace Martin's parents while relying on his story, but were unable to find anything. During a trip to Norway, they planned to visit Skein in hopes of locating the name of the ship company owner, but were unable to make it here.  Several years after their deaths, Martha's son David, with the help of Thad Carlson, a descendant of Kristine Skhal, discovered the truth - Martin's story was a complete fabrication except for his parents coming from Stein, Norway. They were both Norwegians, married there, had children, were farmers, emigrated to the United States and settled in Barron, Wisconsin. 
 Martin was not at all suited for farming; he was a woodsman, a real "Daniel Boone" character who generally trapped for a living and hunted game for meat. Martin was not a farmer, and everyone in the area know that he hired men to do what he didn't want to do and what domestic work that Emma was no able to do. He didn't like dealing with farm animals, though they raised some sheep and cows. Martin ate mainly meat and potatos, saying all a person needs is meat and potatos, some root crops and some vegetables, all of which were free as he hunted or they raised them. He was against sweets and could see little use for bread. He watched his pennies and did not like spending money. He complained when the children ate peanut and jelly sandwiches, since it cost money and he saw no use for it, or even when they used butter, which had been made from the milk of their cows, on bread. Martin chewed tobacco, mainly Copenhagen, saying he started early in life with black licorice to imitate the men; in his old age he advised his grandson David never to start. 
 Martin was a very intelligent and resourceful man who preferred to live like the Indians, having learned their ways since a teenager; he had many skills, being a renowned hunter and trapper, a talented taxidermistand blacksmith, a master log builder, gunsmith. He made his own buckskins and accessories, including his own guns. He made a nice beaver jacket for Emma. He liked leather clothes rather than cloth because cloth was too cold. Martin stood about five feet nine inches tall, was slight of build but very strong with awesome endurance. He was a dead shot who fellow hunters said was able to shoot a leaping deer with a snap shot. He provided venison for the farmers when their provisions ran out during hard winters, He was credited with saving some lives as the farmers were not good hunters. Martin's became animated and his eyes shown brightly as he told his grandson David of the plentiful bounty of partidge.
 Martin was a restless, impatient man who tended to be a loner. Martin loved the Indians and emulated their way of life. He always wore clothing made by himself of leather that he tanned. The Indians gave Martin a beautiful beaded dresser scarf. Since he loved being alone in the wilderness, he became restless when large numbers of people moved into the area. "Trees and water, that's the most important," he said.
 During the winter, Martin would hunt and run his trap line on snowshoes. He had used snowshoes since childhood and was very fast on them, literally running on them, shunning skis, which he said were no good in the woods.
 Although many writers of the fur trade era have romanticized the lives of free-roaming trappers, the actual act of trapping beaver was arduous and sometimes dangerous work. To obtain quality pelts, most trapping was carried out during winter months, when the animals’ fur grew thickest. Trappers had to frequently wade thigh-deep into frigid water near beaver dams. They set their traps under water, anchoring the trap’s short chain in place with a stake long enough to be seen above the water line. For bait, trappers used castoreum oil, taken from the musk glands of beaver already unlucky enough to lose their hides.
 Most often, trappers would “clean” their trap and reset it until they had caught all of the beaver in the area, then move on, leaving nothing for their competitors to capitalize.That Native Americans willingly participated in the trade, and helped bring about a radical decrease in the beaver population and its ecology, attests to the lure and the legacy of the beaver trade as well. (Source: "The Beaver Fur Trade", by Ken Mitchel )
 By the middle 1800's the beaver population was almost extinct due to a high demand for high quality hats . within a few decades, the fashion industry changed to silk, and caused the price of beaver pelts to fall. The fashion industry no longer needed the beaver pelts to produce felt hats and the hunt for beavers crashed. This decrease was also due to the lack of beavers in streams of western North America. By 1830, over-hunting had nearly exterminated fur-bearing mammals in Wisconsin, shifting the trade farther west and north. By the 20th century, beavers were almost decimated. Eventually the government realized that the beavers were disappearing from the continent and decided to monitor the trading of their pelts. The federal goverment produced trapping regulations on how many beavers can be hunted a year and the use of a permit became needed in order to do this. (Source: Wisconsin Historical Society.) Between the drop and prices for beaver pelts and the new government regulations, Martin was being put out of the trapping business in the United States.
 Martin told his grandson Dave that trapping became difficult after the US government outlawed trapping for beaver. His way of life was coming to an end in the United States.  Since the Indians were exempt from this law and could trap and sell beaver pelts, Martin sold his pelts to the Indians, but this resulted in a significant loss of income. The area was being logged off commercially and Martin hated logging. Logging was also very difficult and dangerous work, even for a young man. He knew several loggers who had been maimed or killed. The logging companies also charged high prices for food and clothing from the company "stores". Loggers also had to be away from their families while in the camps.
 Martin wanted to return to Canada, but Emma wouldn't leave their homestead in the United States. In retrospect, it would probably have been a better life for Emma in Canada than the drudgery of the life she later led on the homestead with four children to raise by herself. Their marriage had stormy parts, as Martin had a temper and was impatient, and as he grew less able to earn any kind of living at trapping, and being frustrated by the the looming life of the drudgery of homestead life in that area. 
 The days of making a living by trapping were fast disappearing in the US; Martin had to sell his pelts to Indians or smuggle them into Canada.  Since Martin was now doing business in Canada and had Canadian citizenship, he wanted his family to follow him to Canada.  Emma would have none of it. According to her sisters, daughter Martha and son, Walter, and the Gilstead family, and Harold Thompson, Emma was very close to her family, who lived nearby, as well as friends and she had very good relationships with their neighbors. She could not bear the thought of leaving the area and the homestead, which they owned free and clear. Emma was sure they could make it on the farm and very much wanted to keep it. Also, though the area of Fort Francis, Canada was only about 50 miles away, it may as well have been 500 miles away, as they owned no car (no one in the area owned a car until later) and the nearest railroad terminal was in Big Falls. Emma knew that she would have great difficulty visiting her family, so would seldom see them. Emma refused to disrupt her life and move away from her family, and Martin was just as adamant that they make the move to Ontario, Canada, so they separated.  Martin put some money down on land near Fort Francis.  Emma was very bitter about Martin's insistence and determination to move, considered him very selfish and heartless for leaving his family.  Emma divorced Martin while Linda was a baby and the children were still young. She and their children moved in with her parents for two years, after which they returned to the homestead to a life of unrelenting hardship on tne homestead. They managed to stay on the farm, though the sacrifice was great, the living never more than subsistence. Every farmer in the area wound up leaving, except the Noss family, which was much closer to town, on the road to Big Falls, with numerous children to help widow Noss. Emma never even came close to forgiving Martin for forcing her to make such a choice and for leaving her and their children on the homestead. Every time Martin's name came up in conversation, she would refer to him as "a bastard" and go on a tirade, with nothing good to say about him.
 Martin struck off on his own, moving to Finland, Ontario, Canada, a short distance west of Fort Francis, where he lived for a number of years. A friend of Martin owned a plane and wanted to start a guide business in Ontario, Canada, flying rich easterners to remove areas in Canada to hunt and fish. ` Later Martin bought half of Pine Lake, a small lake a few miles NW of Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada about 50 miles from Big Falls, Minnesota, with his guide business partner buying the other half. Their daughter Martha and son Walter said they believe they would have been better off in Canada than eking out a subsistance on the homestead, a life of near constant drudgery and deprivation. Martha did say that they thought they were better off during the Great Depression, since they had food to eat, while they heard of starvation, utter destitution and homelessness in the cities. At least they were able to live, however poorly, off the land.
 Martin first moved to Pine Lake, in Finland, not far from Fort Francis, Ontario, Canada, across the Rainy River from International Falls, Minnesota, where he homesteaded the land. Later, he bought half of a lake.  He took out Canadian naturalization papers, for the second time, on June 2, 1941. He built a log house on the lake. Martin and his friend, who had a pilot's license and who owned an airplane, would fly weathy hunters, fishermen, and tourists into lakes in the untracked wilderness in Ontario. With his Indian clothes and wilderness skills, he was the consummate guide.  They continued until Martin's partner got too old.
He practiced taxidermy for years. Martin had trapped during the winter, but after his partner retired Martin was too old to do much trapping, and beaver were getting scarce even in that part of Canada.  So Martin made his living by working as a security guard for a logging camp. He spent part of the winters visiting his partner and family in Missouri.
 Martin lived on Pine Lake, taking care of himself, chopping wood until he was in his mid-eighties, when he sold his half of the lake to his friend in Missouri for $1,000.00. His son Walter mentioned that he would have loved to buy it, but Martha said that Martin tended to think of his friends before his family. But, then, to be fair, Martin is unlikely to have known that his family may have been interested in buying his homestead in Canada and they had never indicated any interest in it.
 The family had kept the homestead near Big Falls, had kept paying the low taxes on it. His son Walter built a small hunting shack near where the log house had stood, hunted on the hometead and, in the late 1960s, started a tree farm on it as that would lower the taxes. Walter later died while taking a nap in his hunting shack, after writing a note to his wife, about a hundred yards from where he was born.
 Martin moved to the Rainy Crest rest home in Fort Frances, Ontario, where he was happy as he was able to come and go as he pleased. When he was finally limited due to infirmities in old age, he was very unhappy. Martin spent 16 years there and died of heart failure and old age at the Laverdendrye Hospital in Fort Francis, Ontario, Canada.
Epilogue
Towards the end of the 19th century beaver became scarce in many areas and extirpated in others. The decline in key species of fur-bearers, due to over-harvesting, and the later emergence of the first regulatory laws marked the end of the heyday of unregulated trapping. By 1920, not only had beaver become scarce, requiring longer trap lines, traveling longer distances, but laws were passed regulating trapping of beaver and other fur bearing animals. In order to continue making a living trapping, Martin had to sell his pelts to the local Indians, who had no restrictions on trapping, or take them into Canada to sell. Martin had been issued Canadian citizenship prior to his marriage.
Martin could trap and sell his pelts in Canada, so he would be able to continue his chosen trade there, but not in the United States. Martin wanted to move to the Fort Francis area of Ontario, the nearest Canadian town, within visiting distance from Emma’s parents and brothers. But Emma loved their homestead and, as she later said, could not bear to leave it. . The homestead, to her, was her security, despite the drudgery and inability to provide a livelihood. Emma was a stubborn and strong willed woman, and Martin was known to have a temper. They reached an impass, and no argument could cause her to change her mind.
Jenny, Martha, and Waller all told this writer of the hardships living on the homestead, both when Martin was still with them and after he left. It had always been a harscrabble life full of drudgery and they hated the life. Each left as soon as they could and did not look back. Linda, the youngest, who had been a baby when Martin left, and Emma were the last to leave, after Linda finished high school in Big Falls, when they left for Minneapolis.
After many arguments, Martin moved to Canada, filing on land near Fort Francis, thinking that once he had land, she would follow him. But Emma wanted to keep the homestead and be closer to her parents. She became very bitter about the separation, eventually refusing to allow Martin to see his children.
In those days, when a couple divorced, child support was virtually unknown. And when the divorce was not amicable, support from the husband was unheard of, being unable to see the children compounded the problem, lessening the chances that the children would receive any direct money or even gifts.
Emma’s bitterness over the divorce ensured the likelihood that neither she nor the children would get any support from Martin. Much later, after Emma and Martin had died, some relatives said that they believed Martin had sent some money and gifts, but infrequently. His grandson, the writer, and his mother, Martha, occasionally received gifts for Christmas, sent to Seattle by Martin. The gifts were always very practical, such as a hat with ear flaps for protect for David.
A short time after moving to the Fort Francis area, Martin got together with a partner who had an airplane and started a guide service. They would fly wealthy sportsmen in the wilds of southern Ontario to fish and hunt in season.
From visits decades later from Martha, his oldest daughter, she said it was clear Martin never did make much money, just enough to live on, little more, for many years. But he was living a life he truly enjoyed. Martha said Martin felt very badly about the divorce and blamed himself for his inability to support his family on the homestead and for incurring the hatred of his wife for leaving her and the children on the homestead. He told her those failures and inability to have any relationship with his children were his life’s only real regrets. In later years, Martin expressed these same regrets to his daughter Jenny, his son, Walter, and grandson David.
After Matin died, Carl Gilstead took care of funeral arrangements, and had Martin buried near Black Duck. During visits, Carl and Rena Gilstead, Clarence Gilstread, Vernon Treat, and other relatives and some “old timers” expressed great admiration for Martin. Carl told of Martin’s ability to hit a running deer and running a trip line. Some mentioned that Martin had saved the lives of some farmers in the area during a hard winter, when they ran out of food and were starving. Martin would shoot a deer, carry the deer on his shoulders, and dump it on the farm’s doorstep and leave. His daughter Martha said Martin could run on those old style snowshoes. They said Martin had some mishief, a good sense of humor and a good story teller.
None of the relatives or friends had a bad thing to say about Martin other that he tended to have a temper. Martha came up with a single complaint – that Martin had thrown here from the porch into a snowbank after she had left the cabin door open several times in minus 30 degree weather. Martha also resented Martin’s failure to provide support for the family after the divorce, but she said no one did back then. We had a neighbor in Seattle who divorced her husband. She had three children to support, but never received any support from their father, which was the norm in those days. No one blamed him for leaving as she made Joan Crawford appear a dainty flower in comparison. She had to get a job, just as did any divorcee, until remarrying. And there were few jobs available for women, and limited to sales, phone operator, teacher, nurse, maid, launderer for the most part.