Oscar Thoresen Grue ²⁸⁴

  Research Notes:

1. Source: Oscar Thoreson Grue, booklet, "The Life Story and Pioneer Life in Armena, Alberta" [written 1965-1972]
[scanned 15 Oct 2022 - currently in Oscar's folder]


- baptized in the Nes congregation, Elbow Lake, MN 1892
- lived in Herford MN, 1892-1893
- emigrated to AB, 1894
- page 2 and 2 of pdf - train trip across, etc
... Oscar doesn't remember but was told by Simon [Oscar would have been about 5 years old, grandpa about 7, and Simon about 9]
- every once in awhile would stop and shoot prairie chickens ... some places the track was so bad that they had to get off and walk
- the seats in the train were made out of slats with no cushions, but could be made into a bed.
- stayed in a big tent at Wetaskiwin
- "our family was father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother, Simon, Lars, Oscar, Bella, Theodore, 17 months. 4 coss, 1 horse about 20 years old and 1 horse 2 years old. I remember well when Father said, "Now we are home" and he made a lov hytte, a house made out of trees with leaves on and that was our bedroom for the first few nights." ... Ole Movold and Oscar's father started on a log house; one room about 16 by 18 after a short while they moved into the new house.


- page 15: in 1916 traded the homestead quarter for a quarter of land in Holden [traded land with G Erickkson - this mentioned in the "Echoes along the Ribstone" book, page
BUT this land was too much to clear, and so, Oscar was offered to buy 240 acres from his father in law [pastor Olof Lindgren] - in the 1926 Canada prairies census, their residence was on Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6. The specific quarter is not noted, but this is the same section as Oscar's homestead. This likely was land that pastor Olof Lindgren had first homesteaded

- Oscar doesn't say what land he bought from Olof Lindgren.
- build a frame house in 1917
- he also isn't clear, but he says that he rented out the land or at least some of the land in 1927-1928 to Oscar Lindgren [page19/ page 11 of PDF]; Oscar started building roads, and for awhile he was a mail carrier, starting in 1937 until 1944; he also said he broke some land in 1928 and planted wheat.

- in 1944, sold farm and moved to Armena. Lived at the old Movold farm until 1947
- 1947 moved the the "skating rink in Armena" ??? [page 21/p 12 of PDF]. Then bought the old Pool Elvator house, put in a foundation, and basement with rooms and a room upstairs. This house he had sold to John Paulson and he had built a new house - ---- this would be the house I remember as Oscar's; and I remember John Paulson's house
- Oscar started building - house for Everet and then Ed; and in 1953 for my dad, which was our new house and the one that I grew up in [this house still looks to be in good shape - in 2015 and a brief glimpse in 2022. In 2022 it was then 69 yrs old]


see point 3 below

see my photo document, "Czar, Alberta", 10 Oct 2022 [located in Oscar's folder]

see: family photos - currently saved on flash drive, Lexar 64 gb, dark grey, Grue Family History .. Oscar


1. source: Echoes along the Ribstone (Czar and District Community History book), 1978 [index, image 1058]
pages 403-405; images 407-409 [submission by Doris Peterson [nee Grue, Oscar's daughter]
https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/archive/Echoes-Along-the-Ribstone-2R3BF1O1ADL8G.html
- doesn't add any new information


2. Source: Nels Thoreson Grue, booklet, "Historical Record of the Thore Grue Family" (written about 1978)
- date of marriage

3. Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kellycol1&id=I7087; contact: Colleen Kelly; kelycol@mac.com; 8 Dec 2007 [last viewed, 11 Oct 2022]

- includes a copy of the family history from Echos Along the Ribstone, 1978 (write up by Doris Peterson, nee Grue)
[ see file folder ; ... Echos .. index starts on image 1058 ]
- gives dates of birth of children and their marriage in 1911, etc
- Bethora, first marriage to Ed Moore
- children's schooling at Custer School; mail at Czar Post Office
- no information on Oscar's children - all marked "private"

In 1909 he cancelled on a quarter section (SW¼ of Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6, W4) at Czar and six months later was able to file on this land, making it his first homestead. In 1910 he built a 12 foot by 12 foot shack and broke five acres, I would imagine this was with oxen, and gradually broke more.


Directions: at the junction of Hwy 13 and 41 [41 going south to the village of Czar], continue traveling west, rounding a curve, there is a "small farmer's road" on the left to the south. This should be the SW ¼ - note that when I was in the area on 1 July, I had the land location to the west of the village of Czar, and across the road from the trail to the Czar Cemetery. See google earth map

3. a. a. AB Homestead records

Oscar Grue, AB Homestead, SW¼ Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6, W4th; images, 392-398; reel 2815

- entry 11 Feb 1910, signed at Red Deer; address as Camrose; built house 26 Jul 1910
- residence: 28 Jul 1910 to 30 Aug 1910
26 Nov 1910 to 24 Feb 1911
22 Jun 1911 to 21 Sep 1911
24 Jan 1912 to 4 Sep 1913 [date of appl for patent]
- otherwise in Camrose, but with wife and child from 15 Aug 1911 onwards
19107 acres0 crop
1911185.5
1912525
19132032

1910-1911 no cattle
191214
191318

- 18 by 18 [kitchen]??; 12 by 16 frame house, value $400
- log and fram barn, value $75
- frame granary, valus $75
- sod chicken coop, value $10
- 8 ft well, $10
- 2.5 miles of 1 and 2 wire fence, value $100

- image 396; supplement: 6 horses, 5 cattle, 10 pigs, 2 sheep; log hog pen, value $20

letter of patent, 16 Jun 1914



3. b....
Emmanuel Lutheran Church records - Czar, Alberta; ;;; image 166
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61584/images/47830_554784-00352?pId=30260124
- names and births of children

3. c.....
Echoes along the Ribstone, 1978 - mostly the Lindgrens and pastor Olof
UofC digital collection
https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/archive/Echoes-Along-the-Ribstone-2R3BF1O1ADL8G.html ; [12 Oct 2022]



4. a. 1916 Census of AB, SK, MB - Battle River, RM of Hillcrest; Twp 40, Range 6

- name recorded as Gruey
- immigration - 1906 ?????
- wife Anna, born in Sweden
- daughter Tora, age 4 (Bethora)
- daughter Matilda, age 2 months (Doris)

- next family is Oscar Lindgren - Bella Grue

b. 1921 Canada, Battle River, sub # 17; Hillcrest Municipality; Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6

- name indexed on ancestry as Oscar Grace

- Oscar, age 32 born in US; farmer
- Annie, age 29 born in US
- Evert, age 2; Edwin, age 5/12 months
- Bethora, age 8, ; Doris age 5


c. 1926 Canada, Prairie Provinces, Alberta, Battle River (41), sub-district, 9; page 9, dw/fam 931/95; line 14
Oscar Grue [indexed as Grae]; age 37 b in US; Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6, W4th
wife Annie, age 33, b in US
dau, Bethora, age 13, b in AB
dau, Doris, age 10 b in AB
son Everet, age 7 b in AB
son, Edwin, age 5, b in AB

d. 1931 Canada Census, Alberta, Battle River, ED [sub-dis] 7, Hillcrest Municipality 362, page 3, dw/fam 26/26
[line 13] Sec 32-40-6-4

Oscar Grue, age 42 b in US; em 1894, na 1898; own home, wood, 4 rooms, value $2000
wife Christina Anna, age 39, b in US; em 1900?, an 1898; parents born in Swd
dau Bethora Leanna, age 18 b in AB
dau Josephine Doras, age 15 b in AB
son Theodore Evert, age 12 b in AB
son Nelius Edwin, age 10 b in AB
son Emanul Marvin, age 3 b in AB

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62640/images/1931_213-e011745298?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=5950911




5. see Ancestry family tree 'Jeffery Peterson family Tree' for data information;
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/58370684/person/38033966375
Adolph Peterson
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/58370684/person/38033919487/facts ; access 16 Jun 2022
- some additional photos of Adolph and Doris




6. Olaf and Anna Lindgren family album [Karen Hansen Grue pdf] ; Oscar and Annie Grue, page 12 pdf

- after their marriage in 1911, they lived in the Armena and/or Czar districts
- in 1916 bought 240 acres from Olof Lindgren; 2 miles north of Czar [ likely just south of hwy 13, along the Czar road ]
- Annie had developed an infection in her ankle that developed into TB; in 1944 she had to have her amputate and later used an artificial leg
- 1944 they sold the farm at Czar and moved to Armena - Oscar farmed and did carpentry work
- Annie died in 1957 at Armena
- retired in 1958, but continued with odd jobs, including placing of tombstones
- Oscar sold his home in Armena in 1969, moved to Camrose, and then in 1972 at Bethany
- Oscar married Amanda Lee in 1973 and in 1974 he died

Note: in one of Karen's album there is a handwritten 1.5 page biography written by Ed Grue - it seems as though it is the same as the typewritten page above; one error in the handwritten pages is 1910 as their marriage ^{76,282,283,288,289}

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Birth/Baptism - 1889, 1889, Elbow Lake, Grant Co, Minnesota, United States. ²⁸⁵ Birth, 13 Mar 1889. Baptism, 5 May 1889. Parents, Thore S and Beret S Grue. Witnesses, Marie O and Ole Franzen [?], Johan J Grue og Sophia Eriksen

2. Residence - 1916, 1916, Czar, Alberta, Canada. ²⁹⁰ Hillcrest Municipality; Twp 40, Range 6

3. Residence - 1921, 1921, Czar, Alberta, Canada. ²⁹¹ Hillcrest Muncipality; Sec 32, Twp 40, Range 6, W 4th;

Oscar married Annie Christina Lindgren on 13 Aug 1911 in Czar, Alberta, Canada ²⁸².^,283 (Annie Christina Lindgren was born on 27 Mar 1892 in Svea, Kandiyohi Co, Minnesota, United States, died on 12 Aug 1957 in Armena, Alberta, Canada and was buried in Scandia Lutheran Cemetery, Armena, Alberta, Canada ^287,292.)

Oscar next married Amanda Lee on 19 Sep 1973. (Amanda Lee was born in 1895,²⁹³ died on 28 Sep 1979 in Camrose, Alberta, Canada ²⁹³ and was buried in Golden Valley Lutheran Cemetery, Viking, Alberta, Canada ²⁹³.)