Ellemine Marie Jacobsdatter [815]

   Other names for Ellemine were Ellevine Marie Hansdatter Kopstad, Elvina Kopstad, Elvine Kopstad, Mary Kopstad, Mary Kopsted, Mary Weaver and May Weaver.

  General Notes:

Ellemine Marie is our Norwegian ancestor. She immigrated with her family in 1892 to the United States - they left Sweden four days after her confirmation; she was 14 years old. Ellemine's dad, Jakob Hansen, was a farmer and a carpenter. He loved to play the violin; however, according to family rumours, he also liked his liquor a bit too much and he and his family were sent to America. Irregardless of the reason, the family spent 1,280 Norwegian crowns for 9 tickets on the ocean liner Hekla 2 which left Kristiania (today's Olso) on August 4th. They sailed to Christiansand and continued to New York where they arrived 13 days later - on August 17th.

It was common in Norway at the end of the 19th century to have 2 surnames: a patronym, in Ellemine's case Jacobsdatter along with the name of the farm you were living on, in this caseKopstad. The "farm name" changed every time you moved; however, the patronym was permanent. All rules are forgotten in Ellemine's family's emigration papers. The family is only registered under Kopstad (the farm name) which would become their permanent family name in the United States. Upon arrival their first names were changed as well, due to pronunciation difficulties in an English speaking population. Ellemine Marie Jacobsdatter became Mary Kopstad.

When she married Delmer Scott Weaver in North Dakota in 1897, her name was registered as Mary Kopsted - a small error on Delmer's part when he filled out the application for the marriage license. Following the marriage she, according to tradition, became known as Mary Weaver.

The family immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1904 where Ellemine was a midwife in Sturgeon Valley - she died there in 1961. On her grave at the Holy Trinity Anglican cemetery in Sturgeon Valley, Saskatchewan her name has been changed one last time. The inscription reads:

In Loving Memory
Alvina Maria Weaver
1878-1961
Rest in Peace

  Birth Notes:

She was born on the Kopstad farm.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Anecdote. According to family legend, Ellemine was a mail order bride from Norway; however, further research shows that she immigrated to North America with her family when she was 14 years old.

2. Residence: Kopstad farm, 1878-1892, Sande Sokn, Sande Prestegjeld, Vestfold Fylke, Norway.

3. Confirmation, 31 Jul 1892, Sande Sokn, Sande Prestegjeld, Vestfold Fylke, Norway.

4. Emigration: with her family, 4 Aug 1892 to 17 Aug 1892, Christiania, Norway. Departed on the 'Hekla' from the port of Kristiania on August 4th, 1892. Route: Christiania - Christiansand - New York. Arrived in New York on August 17th, 1892.

5. Anecdote: Change of name, 1892. Upon emigrating from Norway, Ellemine started using the name Marie or Mary Kopstad. Kopstad was actually the name of the farm she came from in Norway. At the time of her emigration, she would have been known in Norway as Ellemine Marie Jakobsdatter Kopstad; however, the emigration records and Hekla's passenger records indicate that Ellemine and her family started using Kopstad upon boarding the ship on August 4th, 1892.

6. Employment: North Dakota, United States. She was a cook at her father's lumber mill.

7. Residence, 7 Sep 1897, Colfax, Richland County, North Dakota, United States.

8. Occupation: midwife: Sturgeon Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. She also helped in many homes, babysitting and doing housework.

9. Census, Jun 1900, Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota, United States. Living on 2nd street in house number 506.

10. Residence: 20-34-7-W3, Aug 1905, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Canada. The family moved to the area to homestead. Delmer arrived with 4 horses and 4 cows and he started living in a tent on his 120 acres in April 1905. His wife and children arrived in August that same year and the family moved into the newly built 16' x 24' frame house. Along with breaking and cropping the land, Delmer also wire-fenced 40 acres, built a 16' x 24' sod barn and some out-buildings, and in 1907 they had 12 head of cattle, 4 horses, and 10 hogs. The homestead became their's on 24 Oct 1907.

11. Residence: 20-34-7-W3, 24 Oct 1907, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Canada.

12. Census: 34-7-3-W3, 1 Jun 1916, Loganton, Saskatchewan, Canada.

13. Anecdote: She attended a Ladies' Club meeting, 1945, Lone Spruce District, Saskatchewan, Canada.

14. Illness, Jul 1961, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her son, Norman, signed her into the Saskatchewan Hospital (mental hospital) when she had become senile.

Ellemine married Delmer Scott Weaver [814] [MRIN: 230], son of William Weaver [1435] and Mary Jane [1436], on 7 Sep 1897 in Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota, United States. (Delmer Scott Weaver [814] was born on 8 May 1858 in Almond, Allegany, New York, United States, christened on 17 Aug 1913 in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, Canada, died in Sep 1944 in Sturgeon Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada and was buried in 1944 in Sturgeon Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada.)