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Title: Tullberg (Tulberg) Family
Dates: ca. 1897-1957
Collection Number: 2013-P-042
Quantity: 22 digital items
Abstract: Consists of digital portraits of members of the Tullberg, Tulberg, and Klein family, including photographs of Carl J. Tullberg in uniform while serving with the U.S. Army in France and in the Mott Pioneers’ Day parade, Einar Tulberg’s construction company, Carl Tullberg’s grocery store (Bismarck, N.D.), and a photograph of Shirley Ann Tulberg in the North Dakota Jubilee celebration, 1939.
Provenance: The collection was donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota by Gale Boetius Perez, daughter of Shirley Ann (Tulberg) Boetius, on September 17, 2013 .
Property Rights: The donor, and her family retain property rights to the collection, but the State Historical Society of North Dakota can use the collection and make it available to the public.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, EINAR LOUIS TULBERG
By Gale Perez, from the Find A Grave website
(additional biographies are also available on the site)
Einer was born in 1887 in Elverum, Hedmark, Norway, to 27 year old Oline Engebretsdatter Gammelmoen (Gammelmoen being her family's farm) and 20 year old Ole Johnsen Houm (Houm was his family's farm).
Einer's full given names were Einar Louis Løken. Løken was the name of Oline's residence at the time, where she was working as a maidservant. His names Einar Louis were known to his family in America, but not Løken, which is shown on the church record of his birth. Einar changed the spelling of his first name to Einer as an adult.
Einer's parents were not married, and three months after Einar's birth, Oline emigrated to the United States in the company of her brother Oluf Engebretsen and her infant child. Oluf had already come to the United States in 1882 and had attained citizenship.
Oline, Einer and Oluf traveled on the SS Geiser, which sailed from Copenhagen and arrived in New York on October 14, 1887. In the passenger list, Oline's surname was entered as Engebretsen (the same as her brother's). Einer's name was also noted as Engebretsen. In the United States, Oline went by her father's surname, which was Olsen, but Americanized to Olson, until she married Lars Olof Tullberg on January 6, 1891.
Oline and Lars lived in Morris, Shawano County, Wisconsin, and had three children together - Carl John Tullberg, Alfred Florenteen Tullberg, and Hadda O. Tullberg (named after Lars' first wife Hadda Johnsdatter). In 1900, Lars, Oline, Einer, Carl, Hadda, Alfred and Harry (one of Lars' sons with Hadda) lived in Morris, Wisconsin. Lars' occupation was farmer, and Einer and Carl attended school. Harry was a day laborer.
Einer's little sister Hadda died later that year, and his mother Oline died in March 1901, when Einer was 14. By this time, Einer's biological father in Norway, Ole Johnsen Houm, had married and was living at his farm Houm in Elverum, Norway, with wife Anne Pedersdatter and children Ingrid and John.
In 1905, at about 18, Einer was lodging with Christian and Vere Hansen and Fred and Elnora Boldig in Morris. The Hansens and Boldigs were relatives of his stepfather Lars' sister Johanna Tullberg Hansen. Fred and Einer worked at a mill.
In 1910, 22 year old Einer and his 69 year old stepfather Lars were living in Adams County, North Dakota and working as housing carpenters. On May 23, 1912, Lars obtained a 160 acre land patent (Accession No. 269046) in North Dakota, which was finalized in 1916 (Accession No. 518735).
Einer became a US citizen on February 4, 1913, in papers filed in Hettinger, North Dakota. In his 1909 declaration of intention, he is described as 5'5", 148 lbs., with light complexion, light brown hair and blue eyes.
In June 1915, Einer was working as a carpenter in Miles City, Custer County, Montana as stated on his draft registration card.
On June 14, 1919 Einer was granted three homestead patents in Garfield County, South Dakota (240 acres, 44.37 acres and 44.25 acres).
In 1920, 33 year old Einer was lodging with the Hiers family at 111 South Center Ave., in Miles City, working as a building carpenter. His stepfather Lars Olaf, who had returned to Morris, Wisconsin, died in 1923. Lars' obituary reported that Einer was at that time living in Long Beach, California.
Einer liked southern California and on January 21, 1927, the Bismarck Tribune reported that he went to Los Angeles to accept a job there, perhaps a temporary construction job (see article below).
On Christmas Day, 1929, Einer married Amelia Klein in Bismarck (see article below). Einer and Amelia initially lived with Einer's half-brother Carl John Tullberg and Carl's wife Ella Bohn Tullberg, at 1021 Fourth Street, but later moved next door to 1017 Fourth Street. Their home was (and still is) very close to the State Capitol. They had two children - Ellsworth Eugene, born September 13, 1930, and Shirley Ann, born March 3, 1933.
Einer continued working as a carpenter, and had his own construction company. Some of the photos we have posted show his truck with "EL Tulberg Builder Phone 1924" painted on the side. Einer's son Ellsworth recalls visiting the work sites now and then "and Dad would give me something to do to get me out of his hair such as: Go get me a 'board stretcher'. Obviously I would get frustrated after a while and leave."
Amelia continued working as a checker at the Capital Steam Laundry with her cousin Bertha Steinert.
Einer also worked on the new 21-story, Art Deco-style Bismarck State Capitol, which was completed in 1934 during the Great Depression and replaced the earlier capitol which had burned to the ground December 28, 1930. In April 1933, shortly after the birth of his second child, he suffered a 34 foot fall from the main floor to the basement of the Capitol, breaking several bones in the process (see article below). His injuries left one leg shorter than the other, although that is not evident in photos.
In 1942, Einer, Amelia and their two children moved to Santa Paula, California, where Einer continued to work as a carpenter and later worked for the Navy at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme.
In 1955, the Navy awarded him a Certificate of Award for a suggestion he had made to accelerate the task of opening shipping crates. Einer's invention was a pry bar that made it easier to take the crates apart. Port Hueneme was very important to the War effort and many crates were shipped to the far East. Any idea that could make the job faster and easier was welcomed. Einer's half-brother Carl John Tullberg had served with "extreme bravery and gallantry" in the trenches of France in World War I, earning the right to wear the Silver Star. Einer wasn't able to serve in the military because he had flat feet, and he probably felt that he didn't do his share during that war. Therefore, he was justifiably proud to have contributed to the WWII war effort, and Einer's family was also very proud of him.
In the late 1940s / early 1950s, Einer and Amelia, along with Einer's step-nephew Carl Henry Tullberg and wife Ethel, investigated homesteading in 29 Palms, in the southern California desert. Amelia of course did not want to live in the desert (!), and their claim was never finalized, but Ethel and Carl did obtain a homestead which was in Ethel's name. Some of the pictures we have posted here show the four of them out surveying their claims.
Amelia and Einer lived in an adorable one bedroom duplex at 228 South 4th Street, across from Isbell School. For a time Einer's step-nephew Arthur Tullberg and wife Adelyne and their children lived on the other side. When you walked in the front door, you first noticed the lush red and green flowered wallpaper and wall to wall gray carpet of large leaf fronds. To the left (on the wall shared with the other side of the duplex) was a fake fireplace with tan tiles. A gilt mirror hung above the fireplace, with sconce lights on either side. They had a heater in the fireplace niche that Amelia painted silver, and which had a strong smell and smoked when turned on. Opposite the front door was a Murphy bed elegantly concealed behind glassed French doors with shirred sheer curtains secured at top and bottom with a pocket rod. On the same wall were three scalloped, interlocking knick-knack shelves which held, among other things, a miniature glass menagerie. The walls had to be washed regularly due to the soot from the smudge pots in the citrus orchards. The television set was opposite the fireplace between two windows that looked out over the driveway. The kitchen door, opposite the front door, was one of those heavy older swinging doors, thick with many coats of glossy white paint. The refrigerator was an "icebox," the stove was of course gas which you had to light, and there was a cute Formica dinette. The laundry, just off the kitchen with a window to the driveway, consisted of what we would call a vintage washer – a round tub with a wringer attached – and a solar dryer (clothesline out back). Some of us can remember getting our hands stuck in the wringer as children. In the front, by the painted brick-red porch, Amelia used to plant geraniums (which she said "grew like weeds") but in later years, we saw plastic flowers planted in their place.
Einer was a typical father of the period, a taciturn man on the quiet side, and a hard worker to whom family was most important. Like many of his generation, his formal education didn't go beyond the fifth grade or so, but he was very intelligent – his son remembers Einer helping him with Algebra in high school; Einer could figure out the answers (although not the way the teacher wanted). He was a loving and caring father and husband. He also a fun-loving side, with a good sense of humor and a mischievous streak – witness the tree-hugging picture. He and Amelia loved to play cards with friends, and they enjoyed many picnics at Steckel Park with step-nephew Carl and wife Ethel, with his half-brother Carl John Tullberg and wife Ella, with Clara and Doris Tullberg, with step-nephew Art Tullberg and his wife Adelyne, and of course all the children. He also loved driving to Castaic to get small pancakes for Sunday breakfast, and trips around the "triangle" – Santa Paula, Ojai, and Ventura – were quite often an entertainment.
Einer died on January 12, 1959, in Santa Paula, and is dearly missed by his family.
PHOTOGRAPHS INVENTORY
2013-P-042-01 Einer Tulberg and Alfred Tullberg with unidentified infant and girl, ca. 1897-1898
2013-P-042-02 Carl John (b 8-26-1891), Alfred and Hadda (b 3-12-1894) Tullberg pose together in a grassy and treed area in Morris, Wisc.
2013-P-042-03 Hadda O. Tullberg with flag, ca. 1900
2013-P-042-04 Einer Tulberg, ca. 1905
2013-P-042-05 Carl Tullberg, Alfred Tullberg, Einer Tulberg and Lars Olof Tullberg, Mott (ND), 1913
2013-P-042-06 Carl John Tullberg kneeling far right, U.S. Army France under T. Roosevelt Jr., ca. 1917-1918
2013-P-042-07 Carl John Tullberg (left), U.S. Army France under T. Roosevelt Jr., ca. 1917-1918
2013-P-042-08 Carl John Tullberg (upper right), U.S. Army France under T. Roosevelt Jr., ca. 1917-1918
2013-P-042-09 Carl John Tullberg with rake, U.S. Army France under T. Roosevelt Jr., ca.
1917-1918
2013-P-042-10 Carl John Tullberg (back center) U.S. Army France under T. Roosevelt Jr., 1917-1918
2013-P-042-11 Carl John Tullberg and Ella Bohn Tullberg, ca. 1923
2013-P-042-12 Einer Tullberg, builder, with company truck, Bismarck (Risem), ca. 1930
2013-P-042-13 Einer Tullberg working a construction job (on right) Bismarck, ca. 1930s
2013-P-042-14 Back row: Lydia (Klein) Wagner, Amelia (Klein) Tulberg, Julia (Stolz) Klein, front row: Ellsworth and Shirley Tulberg stand in front of a reconstructed earthlodge, likely at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park near Mandan, N.D.
2013-P-042-15 Julia (Stolz) Klein, Amelia (Klein) Tulberg, Friedrich (Fred) Klein, Santa Paula (Cal.), 1940s
2013-P-042-16 Friedrich (Fred) Klein, ca. 1941
2013-P-042-17 Carl John Tullberg, Mott (ND) pioneers’ day parade, 07-04-1957
2013-P-042-18 Carl Tullberg rides again, Mott (ND) pioneers’ day parade, 07-04-1957
2013-P-042-19 Carl Tullberg rides again, Mott (ND) pioneers’ day parade, 07-04-1957
2013-P-042-20 Julia (Stolz) Klein portrait
2013-P-042-21 Girls in ND Golden Jubilee celebration Mitzie Burbage (front left) and Shirley Ann Tulberg (front right), 1939
2013-P-042 News article about Einar Tulberg’s fall from capitol, 04-15-1933
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