My grandfather´s second cousin Viktor Elg was born in 1879 in Gustavsström, a small iron mill
village between Liljendal and Gravendal. Victor´s father Lars Fredrik Elg worked there as a blacksmith.
In 1891, Victor´s family moves to Hagge, Norrbärke, another small
iron mill. At the time, my great-grandfather was a blacksmith at the same mill,
so for the next two years, Victor´s father and my ggf may have been working
side by side.
In April, 1893, Viktor´s
family moves to Yttre Forssa, Stora Tuna parish. These were the final years of
the traditional small, wood-fired iron mills. Strora Tuna was the location for
one of Sweden´s largest new Bessemer steel mills. Several of
my grandfather´s brothers also moved here.
In 1903, Viktor emigrates to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, part of the
large steelmaking complex around Pittsburgh, and changes his name to Victor
Elge. He decides to move on, and at some point we find him in Helena, Montana,
where he is employed by the Western Clay Manufacturing Co. This is mentioned in
his obituary but no dates are mentioned and I have found no census records. Victor´s
older brother August Elge was living in Helena, Montana, since 1888, along with
several uncles and their families, involved in gold mining.
Victor moves again, and in a couple of records I find him listed
in logging camps around Seattle. Most interesting is the 1930 census, which
lists his occupation as logger, but his current address as the Skagit County
Jail, Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington.
I have no idea what incident sent Victor to jail, but a few years
later, the 1935 Seattle City
Directory puts him at 925 Railroad Ave S hse 22 C.
In the 1939 City
Directory, Victor´s address is listed as “nr e end Lincoln av bridge, Tacoma”.
In the 1940 US census
Victor Elge, logger, is listed in Ward 4
Township 20 North, Range 3 East, street
block 179, of Tacoma, Washington. The same address lists 100 unrelated
residents, so possibly a boardinghouse or log camp?
Victor Elge dies in a
car accident in Tacoma, Pierce County, at the age of 63 on September 28, 1941. He
was fatally injured when he was struck by a car as he was crossing a street in
Tacoma. Victor is buried at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Tacoma. His passing is
noted in an obituary in the Oct 10, 1941 issue of the Helena Independent. The
obituary mentions that brother August Elge will travel to Tacoma for the
funeral.
In 1957, brother August Elge, age 87, visits Sweden, accompanied
by his daughter Ms. Frances Caroline
Elge. SAS passenger records show that they returned on flight 911, Stockholm -
New York, June 28, 1957.
