Interviewed August 23, 1986
New Perspectives in Concord's History
Concord Oral History Program
William Bailey, Interviewer.
Ola – I was born in Norway in 1904 I believe it was and I went
to school there. We were a big family. I guess there were 8 or
10 in the family. We had a small place there but we had to go out
and take the boat and row out to get some fish to keep ourselves
going. It was poorly over there, you know, potatoes and fish was
a lot of it and we had to go and get it too.
...What were your parents names?
Ola – My father was Iver and my mother had two or three names, one was Ellen.
...Tell me the name of the town and what part of Norway was it in?
Ola – It was outside of Bergen, Norway a few Norwegian miles. And we didn't have any town. We had Bergen as the city and when you got out of the city you got into a place and that wasn't a town or anything. Mongstad was about ten or twelve families who had some rotten places because there wasn't too much to eat.
...But Mongstad refers to the area where you lived because one of the most interesting things about all the Norwegians so often their name is Andersen or Petersen or Hansen because they take the name as son of - or the alternative seems to be to take the name of the town or little village or even part of a village that they came from. When I interviewed Oscar Olsen and his wife Olga, she was Olga Hoff and her name from her father Anton Hoff, comes from the fact that they were from a little part of Loiten named Hoff and he took that name because he was an orphan. He was about two years old when his parents died and so instead of just adding on the sen, he took that. And I think the Helshers are the same way. They are probably from a little section outside of Hamar or Loiten where almost all Norwegian families from Concord are from.
But what I would like to ask you is almost all the Norwegians that came to Concord came because they knew of other families here. How come you chose Concord?
Ola – Because there were people around us that went. My aunt, my mother's sister went over to England and she wrote back, I was just a kid then, that she had a wonderful place. She worked for a minister and she came back and gave me some money so that I could make it to America.
...How old were you at the time?
Ola – Oh, I would say about 16 years old.
...And then what led you to chose Concord when you decided to come to America?
Ola – Well, there wasn't much for us, you know, and we always heard something about America. That was something so nicely heard, America, so not only me but when I got on that boat from Bergen, Norway to come over here with all those young girls and young boys. I almost thought I was going to die when I got to the dock because it was a hell of a time, excuse my English. But I got over from Bergen to America and we got in there and there were so many girls and boys on the boat that cried, 15, 16, 17 years old, and where they all went to I don't know but I know where I went.
...Tell me a couple things about the boat? Did you come over in steerage? Is that how you traveled? You didn't have a cabin did you?
Ola – Well, we had cabins but not private. There would be four people in that cabin. Well, we made it. We landed at New York and the next day we had to go to Ellis Island. That was the biggest, damndest place you ever could get into.
...How, tell me why it was so awful?
Ola – Well, we couldn't get off. All the rest of them who had been there could go out but we had to be called down and just as if we were nothing. I don't know if you understand. And then they sent me over and there were quite a few of us, they sent us over to Ellis Island and that was the damnest place I've ever been in my life. It was crowded. It was too much. It was French, Norwegian, Danish boats coming in there, German and there was eight or ten boats anchored that evening to come in the next morning so that we could get a meal in the morning.
...Do you know how much it cost you to come across or how many days it took to come across?
Ola – My aunt who went over to England and worked there, I think she gave me about $50 to get over to America. It took seven or eight days from Bergen to America.
And then in the morning the fellow that worked there in the place where we were eating says "Here," he says "it's going to be a long day for you! Here take it because you're going to need it." It was sandwiches and some eggs. It wasn't just me, it was others too. Then I went up and I got into a building and there was a guy who was an American soldier but more than a soldier and he called me over and put me in the place there and says "Take your pants off." So I did and then he went all over me and I had to take everything else off. He looked me all over and he slapped me on the face and he says "Good!" And that was one of the only things I knew. This guy was a real nice guy. I wish I could remember more of it.
...What did you do when you left Ellis Island? Did you go into New York City?
Ola – No, we were picked up. We got our papers done and there
was a big guy coming along and he shouted to come on and I had to
follow him and they put me someplace else and I was to take the
steamer to Fall River. I didn't even know where I was going and I
wasn't even scared. Then a big fellow came through there on the
boat with some papers and he gave me the paper and I couldn't
figure out what the hell he wanted me to do and he kept on going
here, and naturally I didn't even know. So I got kind of scared,
I couldn't figure out what was going on and this big guy he didn't
help me whatsoever, a Norwegian that couldn't talk English.
Well, I thought I could talk English when I left Norway. I could
say SOB and all that and when I came over here I found out that
that was too little.
...So when you were on the boat you must have been told that you were going to Fall River? And you were with other Norwegian boys?]
Ola – No, the only help I had was three or four young fellows and they came from Ireland. What part of Ireland I don't know? I didn't ask them and they didn't tell me. But they came over and they had a big box with crackers. We slept in the hole of the ship. Gee, whilikers, I could sit down and cry! But anyway this big guy, he came over with the papers and he wanted me to do something and I couldn't figure out what the hell he wanted me to do. So he gave me a pencil and some paper so one of the Irish fellows he was showing me something and he helped me that I should sign this paper. Anyway I found out that that guy who gave me the papers to sign and there was another guy from Norway who worked on the boat and he came over to me later and said in Norwegian, "Do you know who that guy was? That fellow works on the boat and he's from Norway too." And that guy wouldn't even tell me?
...How do you explain that?
Ola – Well, I don't know but I've often sat down and thought about it and I could sit and cry, you know, how cheap it was.
...And mean.
Ola – And then evening come and we were going to Fall River on this doggoned boat. It was awful! One guy had a big can and he had something to eat in there. I couldn't talk to him and he couldn't talk to me. It was probably crackers in there and there were four of us hanging in beds in the boat and he gave me some. These three other fellows were Irish I finally found that out. They were talking to me and they were trying so damn hard to find out what I was, where I came from, and where I was going but they were really nice. I had cans of sardines from Norway and so I went over there and I gave them a can. They saw it was from Norway and they started talking about Norway and they had been in Bergen on a ship. Well, I could sit here for three years and talk about this. But it was awful until I could get to talk to a fellow who was working on that boat. He was a Norwegian and he could talk English but he told me those Irish fellows would help me all they could.
...Tell me what happened in Fall River. What did you do there?
Ola – You know something - it was wonderful. I got off the boat and those three Irish fellows and they helped me get off the boat. They even took my suitcase and they took me up to the train. Each one shook hands with me and it was so wonderful. They knew that I was going someplace but we couldn't talk to one another. I hated to see them go because they were a nice bunch, giving me crackers and I gave them sardines but I haven't seen them since.
...Then did you take a train right away from Fall River to Boston?
Ola – Yes. They had girls helping us and they helped me to get into Boston and what money I had to pay.
...Why were you going to Boston?
Ola – Because that was where I was to go.
Ellen – You were going to your uncles.
...That's what I was trying to figure out, you must have had a relative to come and see. And who was that?
Ola – That was my uncle who had a place right up here (Westford Road). They had these girls in Boston to help all these young fellows coming through from all countries.
...So they were aid societies to help you?
Ola – That's exactly it and they come up to me and helped me. They wanted to find out where I was going, to Concord. It was wonderful. They helped you out. Now there wouldn't be any.
...Did you take a train out to Concord also? What's your uncle's name?
Ola – My uncle Mons Olsen lived right here and he was sitting down by the station because they told the conductor that I was to get off at Concord. When I got to Concord, my uncle was sitting there in an old Maxwell. This was a long time ago you know.
...Now Mons Olsen was he from Bergen also?
Ola – He was from the same place where I came from in Norway.
...Was he a farmer out here by then?
Ola – Yes. He had a place. Not only him but there were quite a few Norwegians around the whole place here.
...Yes, I gather the Edwardsens were out here and other Olsens and a number of Norwegians.
Ola – And then all of a sudden the whole doggone place is gone, there isn't any of them now.
...Now what did you do, did you live on your uncle's farm?
Ola – I stayed with him. I didn't care too much for him but I stayed with him milking cows and cutting asparagus, doing things I'd never done before in my life and by cracky it was tough. And then I had to milk twelve or thirteen cows.
...Did he have other help besides you?
Ola – Later on he had another one of my friends that came later.
...And who was that?
Ola – That was Engle Hoff but he came in on 2nd class instead of me coming in on 3rd class.
...Was your uncle married here or had he come with his wife from Norway?
Ola – They lived in the United States for quite some time but I guess they all went back. My aunt came for a visit from England.
Ellen – She then came over here to Concord because she got a job with Mrs. Curtis on Lowell Road and she was taking care of two young girls. It was Mrs. Mary Curtis which is the name of the store downtown today, the Mary Curtis Shop.
...Mons Olsen, did he move back to Norway to live or did hestay here?
Ola – No, he stayed here and died here. His wife died early. I think she had cancer. He was awfully depressed because he had only his wife and she was an awful nice wife. It wasn't the same.
...He didn't have children?
Ellen – Yes, he did. He had two daughters.
Ola – But they went out.
Ellen – Olga Robertson and Sigrid.
Ola – Olga went to France during the first world war. I think she was a nurse.
...What about your brothers and sisters? Did any of them come here?
Ola – They didn't come to stay only to visit.
...You were the only one who came here? Because so often in Norway whole families came one right after the other, younger brothers and sisters. Now you came and lived on the farm with your uncle and then when did you look around for other work?
Ellen – He went to night school to learn how to read and write English. That was down in Concord.
Ola – In Concord at the big school. I can't remember the teacher's name and she was so nice to me because I couldn't talk.
...Was is Emma Clahane?
Ola – No, but she was there. Why can't I remember that? I left my uncle because I didn't like the cows.
...So did you go right from the farm to work at Vanderhoofs?
Ola – Yes, I guess I was there for about a year. I shouldn't have been there, I couldn't talk.
Ellen – But you learned.
Ola – How could I talk when I didn't talk English? I could only say "go to hell" and this stuff here you know.
...Mons Olsen and his wife didn't teach you how to speak English?
Ola – No.
...So you only spoke Norwegian to them when you were at the farm. So you were only at the farm about a year or so, were you?
Ola – A couple of years.
...What did you do at Vanderhoofs?
Ola – I tried to be a clerk.
...How long were you there?
Ellen – Quite a few years really.
...Ellen, why don't we stop for a second and talk a little bit about you and your family and how you happen to come to Concord. Where were your parents from?
Ellen – Well, my mother and father lived in Nova Scotia and she had eight children.
...What were your mother and father's names?
Ellen – My mother was Laura Jane Comeau and my father was Thomas Isaiah Amereault.
...And they married in Nova Scotia?
Ellen – They came up from Nova Scotia when my father was fifteen years old. He got a job in Sudbury and then he got my mother up here after that. They both worked.
...You don't know what kind of work they did in Sudbury?
Ellen – Yes, they worked for some ladies doing housework. My father got a job on a farm with all the cows and horses and doing the planting in the spring and bringing in the hay in the summer and for some years we lived there. They had a sale and got rid of all the cows and things and then my mother and father came up to Concord.
...About when was that?
Ellen – Well, I was probably about eight or nine years old.
...So we're talking about 1915 or '16?
Ellen – Yes, and I went to school in West Concord and then I went to high school in Concord.
...Where in West Concord did you live?
Ellen – We lived on Derby Street.
...And what kind of work did your dad do in Concord?
Ellen – Well, there was the harness shop in West Concord and they had leather things that they worked on and he worked there for some time.
... Your mother was a Comeau but was she related to Charlie Comeau?
Ellen – Yes, they were related. Mr. Ed Comeau was related to my mother at some point.
...Now how did you and Ola meet?
Ellen – I was working for a lady, Mrs. Ham and I did the cooking and sort of cleaned the place. This particular day they had gone down to Sakonnet, Rhode Island for a few weeks and I had to stay in the house and keep the dog. I was there all by myself and this particular day I was doing some laundry and this man came in and he said he had an iron from Vanderhoof Hardware that Mrs. Ham had ordered. So I said fine I would take the order and leave it in the kitchen. It was a boiling hot day and he looked so tired I said "Wouldn't you like a cold glass of something?", and he said he would. So he sat down and he had a glass of something and thenhe finally decided he'd better be going back to Vanderhoofs. Then about two nights later I got a phone call and he wanted to know if I wanted to go to a movie. I said I didn't know him well enough so I said no. The next night he did the same thing so I said to myself "Why not; it's only going to be a movie."
...When would this have been, about 1925 or '26?
Ellen – Well, it was after I was through high school and I graduated in 1926.
...Ola, were you still living with your uncle even though you were working at the hardware store?
Ola – Yes. That was the only place I had. I can remember one time you [Ellen] worked for somebody, I can't remember their name, but I went up to see you to take you out and there was a lightning that struck right in front of us. I never saw anything like it. I don't think she ever wanted to get into a car with me after that.
...When you got married Ola, were you still working at Vanderhoofs?
Ellen – No, he wasn't. You had left Vanderhoofs and you got a job as a chauffeur in Bedford. He worked for a lady there and I don't know for how long it was. I remember one Christmas Eve you had to go to Boston with her.
...And were you still working for the Ham family?
Ellen – Yes.
...When you were a young man, did you have as friends other Norwegian young men or just a whole lot of different people?
Ola – We had a quite of few Norwegians but the Norwegians were not always the best ones. I had a lot of nonNorwegians that was just as good if not better. There were three or four of them from Norway that I liked but then again you didn't like them because they were different. I used to have fights with the Irish and a lot of others.
...What I'm told as I talk to Norwegians is that drinking was a real problem among a lot of the Norwegians and as a result there were some Norwegians that were very active in the temperance society at the Congregational Church at Trinitarian and also at the Lang Street Church and Edie Christiansen and Oscar Olsen told me that there were lots of parties. I was thinking that Oscar mentioned parties at Mons Olsens but it might have been somebody else. But he talked about parties out this way and inevitably there would a fight of young Norwegian men who would go at it outside, knock down drag out fights and Edie remembers this. Do you remember this?
Ola – Yes, I know them but they were here before me. You remember them.
Ellen – I don't seem to remember. The Helshers maybe.
Ola – The Helshers and the one that worked, well I forgot his name now. But there was quite a bit of drinking going on and they would be big shots. Some of them were carpenters in fact quite a few of them were carpenters and then they had a few Irish with them from in back of the depot and they got together in Concord and they were sitting there drinking till I don't know how long. I had to take some of them up in the car.
...Were you ever active in the Sons of Norway or the Sick Benefit Society?
Ola – No. But I was in the company, the national guard.
...So that gave you an opportunity to mix and get to know lots of other people besides the Norwegians.
Ola – My wife and I and Jack Donnell or Donald, a Scotsman, and his wife all wanted to go and help during the fighting wherever they needed us.
Ellen – This was during World War II. They wanted to enlist in the army and Ola and I were going to see what we could do. But they didn't want them because they were too old so we didn't bother after that.
...Did you have any children, Ola?
Ola – No children.
...Were you still chauffeuring at that time?
Ola – No, I was just taking the place of a fellow that had been sick.
...So what kind of job did you ultimately find? Where have you spent most of your years working?
Ola – Oh, gosh. Ellen, where did I work?
Ellen – Louis Shepherd.
Ola – Louis Shepherd in Watertown.
Ellen – He was there for twenty some years.
Ola – We worked with these machines that they had doing drilling.
Ellen – It was some kind of cart or wagon. He worked for twenty years down there, I'm just not sure when it was.
...And did you continue working Ellen too?
Ellen – Oh, sure I've been working all my life. A little bit of everything.
...What was it like for you as a Norwegian and you as a Canadian-American to get married? Was that an issue with your families?
Ellen – My family was dead and gone.
...And of course your family was in Norway.
Ola – They couldn't come across and tell me what they thought.
...Now Ellen's family was probably Catholic or not?
Ola – They were all Catholic.
...So that was also another bridge crossing. Did you get married in the Catholic church?
Ola – No, Ellen and I were married in a church in West Concord and that was it.
Ellen – We just got married one night in a protestant church but I still go to the Catholic church every Sunday. [Ola had been married and divorced.]
Ola – I've gone with her many times and if I don't want to go I don't go. But we've lived very well and it's all worked out.
Ellen – We went back to Norway to the Bergen's fiord, it was a beautiful ship. We were one week on the ocean.
...Did you go back to your little village?
Ola – Yes, and we found that that whole place where I grew up was taken over by the government and they made a big place out of it with oil. They had taken oil out of the North Sea and they set it up there where my father's place was and mother's and the government took it and they just didn't give a damn. So much money for it and all those farmers, they had to quit and get away.
...Now when you went back did you see your brothers and sisters? Are any of them still alive? Do you write to them?
Ola – Yes, we try to write to them. My younger brother and five
or six other guys in Norway during the war, they got a boat with a
motor in it and they had to get out of the country because they
talked too much. Just a little bit of talk and when the Germans
got in there, they nearly killed them all. The poor guy that gave
them the boat had to hide away too or else he would have been
killed if they found out. They went to England. Luck was with
them because it was so foggy that the Germans couldn't see them
and they were out there with the planes. They drifted right up to
the Orkney Islands and the boat got smashed up and they had to
jump into the water and wade in to shore in very cold water. He
told me a little bit about it and he said the people were so nice
there in Scotland. My brother wrote a book about it.
...Did he go back to Norway after the war?
Ellen – Yes.
...So Norway really suffered as all Europe did under German occupation.
Ola – I was talking to my brother and he didn't like to talk too much about that but they went through hell I guess.