Publisher's Synopsis
Previously Published as Settlers in America from Norway & Sweden: Eleanor Thompson Asphyxiation & Marie Wick Murder & Gummer Trial by Eileen Tronnes Nelson on July 28, 2023. This book is the fifth book in the series of eight books. Settlers in America from Norway & Sweden: Eleanor Thompson Asphyxiation & Marie Wick Murder & Gummer Trial. The first book of the series, My Genealogy Techniques May Assist You, is the family history of my Norwegian & Swedish ancestors found through genealogy research. My hope is you will learn something from my experience & research to assist with your family history research. The second, third, & fourth books in the series are eBooks on Amazon, A Customized Itinerary Independent Travel & Photographs of Traveling in Norway & Sweden. In 2018, my granddaughter, Jasmine M. Nelson, before studying in Europe, wanting to travel for eleven days near where the Tronnes/Møgedal families lived in Norway & the Johnson/Jansson families in Sweden. My close relatives all deceased including my parents, Edna Mae Johnson Tronnes & Elmer Tronnes (Nielsville Minnesota); my grandparents, Olga Victoria Johnson & Henning W. Johnson (Buxton North Dakota); Bertha Møgedal Tronnes & Andrew Tronnes (Nielsville Minnesota). I had no one to interview about family history & did not even know the names of great grandparents & other relatives. Thus, I did extensive research on my own in Norway, Sweden, Minnesota, & North Dakota for records. Read about how I felt compelled to attend a Ghost Tour at Bonanzaville, West Fargo North Dakota, & a miracle occurring by discovering Marie Wick.
Doris Teigland Smeby, Grygla Minnesota & Larry D. Haugen, Fargo North Dakota, both now deceased, were valuable resources. Larry D. Haugen is a son of Corinne Thompson Haugen & Larry is a cousin to Eleanor Thompson & my cousin, once removed. Doris Teigland Smeby was the Sexton of the Valle Cemetery, Grygla Minnesota & she found my great grandmother, Johanna Knutsdatter Møgedal/Thompson, her sons, Kornelius Thompson & Andrew Møgedal. Doris had written on a large cloth the names & locations where everyone is buried in the Valle Cemetery, this is where I found Eleanor Thompson (16), who was asphyxiated & Marie Wick (18), brutually murdered in the Prescott Hotel in Fargo. Family history is genealogy plus much more. Genealogy is not about just doing research; it is about telling the stories & ensuring your ancestors' legacies live on for generations to come. William Gummer (22) of Mayville North Dakota, was the clerk in the Prescott Hotel the night Marie Wick was brutally assaulted, raped, & murdered. This book covers the Gummer trial, guilty verdict, & more on the surprising events in the case.
