The Family of Oscar & Frances Berlin/Hagen
Section I Chapter1
Oscar Melvin Hagen and Frances Louise Berlin
Birth to Marriage
Oscar M. Hagen
If
you take State
Highway 27 out
of Sparta, WI
and go
approximately
three miles
south you will
arrive in the
small village of
Leon, WI. In the
1800's the area
around Leon
consisted of
small dairy
farms. Southwest
of the town of
Leon is an area
named Pleasant 
Valley. Highway
27 runs
southeast out of
Leon toward
Melvina.
Three-fourths of
a mile outside
of Leon a county
road intersects
with highway 27
and goes
directly west
for
approximately
one quarter
mile, and then
it meanders
southwest for
another two and
a half
miles. The road
at this point
forks with one
fork going
south, and the
other fork turns
directly west.
Years ago it was
at this fork
that the
Pleasant Valley
schoolhouse
stood. This is
where my father,
Oscar M. Hagen,
went to school.
Today it is a
home. It was
purchased some
years back and
remodeled for
living quarters.
Following the
western fork for
another mile
will bring you
to a little
green sided
house that sits
about 150 feet
up from the road
at the base of a
hill which rises
sharply to the
south of the
property.
This
is the house
where Dad was
born. Even
though they're
probably have
been many
improvements
over the years
the basic
structure
remains the same
as when Dad was
living there in
the late 1880's.
Oscar Melvin
Hagen was born
in this house
January 20,
1886. He was the
seventh child in
a family in
which there was
to be a total of
nine, but he was
the first child
in the family to
be born in this
house. Mildred
Christopherson
daughter of
Clara Hagen and
Clyde
Richardson,
stated that her
mother told her
that she (Clara)
was not born on
what they
referred to as
the
"homeplace".
Clara was nearly
two years old
when Dad was
born, so his
parents must
have moved there
sometime in late
1884 or during
the year of
1885. There were
six children and
two adults
living in this
house after Dad
was born and it
looks as if it
could hold four
people at the
most. He told me
sometime later
in life that
there was a loft
in the home, and
all of the kids
climbed a ladder
and slept in the
loft. There were
no beds, just
straw mattresses
on the
floor.
The
church that my
father's parents
attended was the
Fish Creek Ridge
Norwegian
Lutheran Church.
Just past the
"homeplace"
the road went up
an extremely
steep hill that
took one to the
top of Fish
Creek Ridge.
This hill is
one-half mile
long or, at
least, that's
what it seems.
The church is
about one and
one-quarter
miles from the
farm as the crow
flies and
probably two
miles by road.
Because of the
hill it must
have been quite
a walk to church
or very tiring
for the horse
that had to take
them there. 
The church had
been organized
in 1863 by some
of the first
Norwegian
immigrants to
the area and
still holds
services. Dad
was baptized in
the church
February 28,
1886. His
parents are
listed as Ole O.
and Marit
Toftehagen. (We
will get to the
parents names
and try to
clarify this in
Section II.) His
sponsors (what
we call
Godparents
today) were Ole
Larsen, a
cousin; Lars
Olsen, his
uncle; Goro
Olsen and Dina
or Gina Svensen.
I do not know
the relationship
of the last two
sponsors to the
family, but they
were probably
neighbors.
We
never knew very
much about my
father as he was
growing up as a
boy in Pleasant
Valley. He never
talked about his
young life much
and we never
asked. He had
plenty of
brothers and
sisters to
associate with
and there were
probably several
other Norwegian
children in the
neighborhood.
His cousin, Ole
Larsen, lived
just a short
distance away on
his own farm. He
was already
married and had
children of his
own that were
the same age as
my father. I
imagine that
they had good
times together
on the farm and
in school.
People of
Norwegian
descent occupied
nearly all of
the farms in
this part of the
valley by this
time, and
Norwegian was
the everyday
language. All of
the church
services and
church classes
for young people
were conducted
in the Norwegian
language. School
was the only
place that
English was
spoken. He told
me one time that
he only went to
the fifth or
sixth grade and
he told Virginia
Snowberger Hagen
the following
story in
1952. They
were talking
about schooling
and he said,
"I went to the Pleasant Valley School. It was a one-room schoolhouse with one teacher. When I went back to the sixth grade the teacher turned out to be a classmate of mine from the previous year. I knew that I knew as much as she did so I never went back."
The 1900 Federal Census is the first census in which we find Oscar Hagen listed. The 1890 Federal Census was not available. It was destroyed by fire in Washington D. C. and only about 10 % of it is usable. He was living at home and was 14 years of age. It also gives the month of his birth as January, and the year of birth as 1886.
"In 1900 the 11th day of November, Oscar Malvin (sic) Hagen was Konfirmerede (confirmed) in Fish Creek Norwegian Lutheran Church."
That is how it appeared in the church records. This confirmation was the conclusion of a couple of years of study in Martin Luther's Catechism. His parents' names were listed as "Ole and Marit Hagen". I do not know who was responsible for the instruction, but the authority that tested them was probably the local pastor, A. H. Eikjarud. The rating, which my father received, was "excellent, very good". Whether they had some doubts or whether they were rated in two different areas is not known.
Where Dad worked after confirmation, (he was now considered an adult), is unknown. He may have worked for his father on the farm but probably was a hired hand for some other farmer in the valley. I do remember one of the stories he told me about himself and his brother, Anton (Tony) during this time:
"An old man in the community had died and the widow asked Tony and me if we would prepare him for burial. This involved, among other things, shaving him. He was laid out on a table and we went in and got the shaving soap and razor. I told Tony that I would take his shoulders and lift him up to a sitting position and then he would be able to shave him easier. I grabbed the man by the shoulders and started to raise him. He apparently still had some gas on his stomach because as I raised him his mouth fell open and he let out a moan. Tony threw the soap and razor and bolted out the door. I had an awful time explaining to him what happened before he would come back in and finish the job."
In 1909, during the month of August, he was in Sacred Heart, Minnesota. He was there either working or trying to find work, probably at threshing grain of some sort. He sent the following postcard to his brother, Anton. I have copied it just as Dad wrote it.
Hellow Anton This country is the hottest place on earth, 99 in the shade. We can get a rig hear if I can get license. About $4.00 a day and 40 days. If I cant get licens I am comming home soon. Oscar Sacred Herth Min
The front of the postcard is not the writing of my father but a prepared card --it reads like this.
You should hear her sing "Love me and the world is mine." This is Little Soubritte, friend of mine, who is certainly the carney. Haven't seen the show, but says she is Leading Lady. Certainly been leading me. P. S. Tell my wife I sprained my wrist and cannot write. Yours Truly
I expect that the card was some of the humor of the day, and not too bad, either.
There was no Oscar Hagen listed on the 1910 Federal Census for Leon Township. Adeline Hagen Gilner remembers he may have been in one of the Dakota's during this time. She stated that Dad told her when she was young that they had bowling alleys in the Dakota's and that he went bowling when he was there. Eventually he came back to the Leon area.
Sometime in 1911 Oscar met Frances Louise Berlin. Frances had come to Leon from Ludington, Eau Claire County, WI, with her brother, Louie, in either 1909 or early in 1910. Louie rented a farm, and Frances was his housekeeper. A younger brother, Archie, was also a member of the family. They all appear on the 1910 Federal Census for Leon Township, Monroe County, WI. Dad told the following story to Virginia Snowberger/Hagen in 1952.
"I took a girl to a dance in Leon and Frankie was there. I dumped the other girl and took Frankie home that night (to her home not his), and never let her out of my sight again".
Oscar Melvin Hagen and Frances Louise Berlin were married April 3, 1912.
Frances L. Berlin
Frances
Louise Berlin
was born
December 5, 1885
in the township
of Ludington,
Eau Claire
County,
Wisconsin.
Frances Louise
was named after
her maternal
grandmother,
Frances Darrow
Webber and
Louise Berlin.
Louise was a
sister of her 
father. She died
in 1864 at the
age of 15 in
Stillwater,
Minnesota. When
mother was born
and during the
first five years
of her life the
family lived in
a log cabin. Her
grandfather and
father built
this cabin
sometime between
1860 and 1870 on
the farm they
acquired when
they came to Eau
Claire County..
How they
acquired this
farm is unknown.
It is on State
Highway 27 about
half of a mile
south of
Ludington,
Wisconsin and is
now owned by a
nephew of
mother's, Milton
(Choppy)
Berlin.
In 1890 there were eight people living in her grandparents' log cabin. These included her grandparents, parents and their four children. About 1890 her father decided that the time had come to build another house. A picture of the house as it looked in 1913 is shown below. The people in the picture are her brother, Albert (Joe) Berlin and his wife, Carrie. There is a baby in a wagon or cart who is their son, Arlo. Arlo lives in Eau Claire as of this writing and gave me a great deal of information about the Berlin Family.
Mother told a story that happened after they moved into their new home. It was a family story about when she was very young. I can remember hearing it, and I can remember Adeline Hagen/Gilner telling it to me. Mother also told it to Virginia Snowberger/Hagen in 1952. The versions of these stories were somewhat different and since Adeline probably heard her version first, I will use hers. This is what mother told her:
"When
I was a young
child, I became
very sick with
some kind of
sickness. My dad
was working in
the woods and
only came home
on weekends if
he could get
off work. My
mother sent
someone for the
Doctor. He came,
said there was
nothing he could
do and
pronounced me
dead. I was
placed in a room
that was built
off the house.
This room had no
heat and I was
placed there
until my dad
could come home.
He came home
that night and
my mother told
him what had
happened. He
came into the
room and as he
was standing
there he knew
that I was
breathing
because he could
see my breath in
this cold room.
He picked me up
and carried me
into the house.
My mother told
me that he fed
me some whiskey
from a spoon and
from that moment
I started to get
better. I guess
it wasn't my
time to
go".
Of course, none of us thought about asking her how old she was when this happened nor did any of us question her about the type of sickness.
The
1900 Federal
Census, (95 % of
the 1890 Census
is unavailable
because it was
burned), for
Ludington, Eau
Claire, WI
indicates that
Frances was born
in 1884, and her
age at the time
of the census
was fifteen
years. This is
in error. She
was born in 1885
and would not be
fifteen until
December of
1900. In my
research there
are several
instances where
it was found
that there were
errors on the
census reports.
This came about
because of how
the information
was received.
The census
workers would
take information
about members of
a family from
whomever was
available to
give it. This
might be from
one of the
children if the
parents were not
home when the
census taker
came to call or,
in some cases,
even close
friends or
neighbors. In
many cases they
were dealing
with people who
could not read
or write and who
knew very little
English. It is
not surprising
that errors
showed up in the
reports. The
1900 census also
showed that
Frances had
spent seven
months in school
during the past
year. In 1903,
Adeline Webber
Berlin the
mother of 
Frances died
suddenly.
Frances was
seventeen at the
time, the oldest
daughter, and
the second
oldest in the
family. She
became the
homemaker for
the family. It
must have been a
very busy time
for her just
after her mother
died. There were
ten people in
the family
counting
herself, her
father,
grandfather, and
seven children.
The youngest
child at the
time of her
mother's death
was four years
old.
Mother told the following story about a happening just after her mother died:
"It was shortly after the funeral. I was the oldest girl in the family and took on the responsibility of housekeeper. I was walking home from the neighbors just at dark. A white figure came out of the woods and walked ahead of me down the road. If I slowed down the figure slowed, if I went faster the figure went faster. Just before I got to the house the white figure turned off into the woods. I ran into the house to see if it was one of my brothers who was playing a trick on me but they were all there in the house. As I thought about it seemed like the figure was trying to tell me that every thing was going to be all right".
Mother was superstitious and believed that dreams meant something about life. She had a dream book that she consulted whenever she had a dream that bothered her.
How long she remained as a homemaker in her father's household is unknown, but by 1910 she had moved to Pleasant Valley, Leon Township, Monroe County, Wisconsin where she was a housekeeper for her older brother, Louis Berlin. He was renting a farm in the same Pleasant Valley where Dad lived. It has not been determined when her brother actually moved there but it must have been between the time period of 1903 and 1910. Archie Berlin, a younger brother of Frances and Louis, was also a member of the family living on the farm. It was while working on this farm for her brother that mother met her future husband, Oscar Hagen. That story is told above and will not be repeated here. Frances Louise Berlin and Oscar Melvin Hagen were married April 3, 1912.
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