Lundberg, Part Two

TO PUBLISH TUESDAY, JUNE 19



Today we will talk about Philip Lundberg, his wives and his children.

He is the oldest son of Andrew and Josephine. He was born in Grantsburg, Wisconsin on September 20, 1888 and died on October 19, 1958 in Thief River Falls, MN. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery next to his second wife, Mary Jane, (Mae).

Philip married Clara Jensen in Thief River Falls, MN on November 12, 1912. This bit of information was a three line column in the Thief River Falls Times. Clara was born on November 11, 1894-October 26, 1972. Her parents were Anton Jensen and Synneva Vigoren, both Minnesota born parents.

Anton and Synneva had ten children. They lived in Becker County where they farmed and Anton had a saw mill. The house was a log cabin and later it was added on to and sided. I was the home of Carl and his wife. She didn’t know much about the Jensen’s, as Carl was the youngest child and didn’t have the information I had hoped to glean at our meeting and the letters we shared during the time I knew her. She was not well enough to drag out old picture books. Our letter visits were a joy to both of us. Clara was the oldest child and Carl, her husband, was the youngest, a difference of nearly 20 years. Her name was Viola.

Clara and Philip had four children:

Lloyd C Lundberg July 30, 1913-March 29, 1935
Viola Jeanette November 6, 1915-
Cleve Clifford February 27, 1920- March 1, 1920
Ella Deloris March 22, 1924-November 17, 2002

Lloyd was called “Bootsy“. He was last seen on March 29, 1935. He was found on April 27, 1935 near a haystack north east of Thief River Falls in a decomposed state. The top of his head was blown off by a shot gun. The shot gun lay across his lap. The coroner considered it accidental.

“Bootsy” was twenty one when he died. He has a long list of diagnosis’. They include:
Artheriosclerosis starting in 1915
Iterstitial Nephritis starting in 1921
Gallstones on May 1, 1923
Attacks of epilepsy
Run over by a street car at a week old
Peritonistis
Cerebral hemorrhage July 5, 1927
Gastroenteritis since 1934

Mother didn’t say much about him except he had bright red hair and freckles.

The next child, Viola had a child named Sally Constance, who she gave up for adoption. When Philip died, Stan Ranum, Ella’s husband, hired a detective find her but she elected not to come home for the funeral. When she was pregnant with Connie, Philip would not let her live at home. She did not wish to be found again. Connie has tried numbers of times to find her but she changed her social security number and we do not know if she is living or where she is buried. We do know she was married a couple of times to a Hirschman and Bambia. If anyone has any thoughts about finding her, let me know. Connie would like the closure. Connie Lives in Nevada.

Cleve lived three days. His death certificate states he was born with bronco pneumonia. It states In untero. He died at the Swedenborg Hospital in Thief River Falls which was located on Red Lake Boulevard near Third Street.

Their last child, Ella Deloris, was born in Thief River Falls. We will share pictures of her as we moved along in the history of the families, she married Stanley Ranum from Rosewood, Minnesota.

Mother didn’t say much about her childhood. She did go to school at Northrop, I did find a picture of Viola as a second grader at Northrop. Remember Viola was born seven years before Mother. So Lundberg’s were living in TRF in 1922. Most likely near Northrop which was in the north part of town.

Mother wasn’t in school yet when Clara left the kids with Philip. I had a real problem with this for some time. How could a mother leave her children? It wasn’t until I connected with Connie that I learned that Philip was in bed with the house keeper, Mary Jane , (Mae),Wynkoop when Clara came home from the café where she worked.

We do know that Mary Jane Johnson was previously married to Victor Wynkoop who died in 1927. The Johnson's were living in Akeley, MN at the time of the meeting. According to census records, Victor Wynkoop was born in Illinois. It states he is a widow. One can not tell if the ten year old, Harry, is his son or his brother.

That probably gives us the window of about 2 ½ years, as Mary Jane, known as Mae and Philip were married on April 3, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois.

There is a picture of Philip, Mae, and Ella when Mother is about six. It appears to be taken in Thief River Falls near the Chief Coulee. The house where she lived has long since been torn down and replaced by a warehouse.

Let’s use 1928. That makes Bootsy 15, Viola 13, and Ella 4. Philip was working for the county and certainly had more cash flow than Clara. It appears Clara moved to Hennepin County to live with her sister.


Why did Philip and Mae move to Chicago? There where jobs on the railroad. Philip, of course, had family living there. We know that his youngest brother, Kenneth lived in the Chicago area.

It is not known when the family moved back to Thief River. We do know they were living in Minnesota when Connie was born in August of 1933. We do know that Mother was going to school at Northrop.

I do remember Viola visiting Philip after he had his stroke which happened in 1949. I remember I thought it odd that she had a son named Gregory; my brother's name was also Gregory. Viola gave Philip a picture of her son which hung in a prominent place in his bedroom. The child was dark headed with glasses. He wore a striped tee shirt. We think he was born in 1940. Viola did have another child, Earl Kester who Connie did find. He was born in 1936.

Clara Jensen Lundberg went on to marry Joe Henry. The lived near Barnesville. I remember it being Dent or Downer. They had one child, Joann who was born on February 28, 1932 and died of leukemia at the age of 57. She had no children. After Joe died, Clara married William Chapman in 1966. Once again she would become a widower. Clara is buried at Lake View Cemetery near Pelican Rapids, MN.

Thus ends the introduction of the great grand parents and beyond.

e