If the famous story teller’s description of the shy Norwegian bachelor farmer is correct we probably have the urban counterpart in Ole. While it would not have been all together unusual in the old country to wait until after 30 to marry, it was here. At 39, he was pretty lucky to get the 24 year old, beautiful Margaret. This triumph made him more confident than ever because the ad in the Minneapolis city directory for his bicycle business got much bigger than Enoch’s carriage ad.
   Not everyone thought it was a good idea. The Benton family which had provided some support for Margaret broke their connection with her. Perhaps they didn’t see a suitable match that fulfilled their expectations for Margaret. There is ample evidence that Margaret saw in Ole’s mechanical skills an intellectual equal to her somewhat more cultured and educated up-bringing.

     [p205] Margaret portrait by Ole                                                             [p56] Ole by Lee Bros.

   The wedding took place at Margaret’s house at 2343 Thomas Ave. North with engraved invitations. The official was Rev. Leavitt H. Hallock of Plymouth Congregational Church. With Ole’s mother, they set up house keeping at 2326 Washington Avenue North.
   The bicycle company became the Hoiby Automobile Company in about 1907, the first Ford dealership west of the Mississippi ( by about ½ mile ). Ole was high-tech! This lasted 7 or 8 years until Ford required a larger financial and space commitment which Ole was not willing to provide. He continued in auto repair until he retired. Son Henry continued the business.

[p104r] Hoiby Automobile Co. about 1907
Photo reconstruced by Karen O. DeCarli

   Margaret maintained her intellectual stimulation with reading and participation in the Cosmopolitan Study Club. Monthly meetings were held at the homes of members, one of which would be prepared to give a dissertation. Subjects ranged from each of the South American countries in 1930-1931 to famous individuals in 1940-1941. Margaret was the recording Secretary for the season 1930-1931. In her minutes of March 17 she wrote, "The program was opened by Mrs. Hoiby with a review of Nino Diableo taken from Tales of the Pampas written by W. H. Hudson. Extreme modesty forbids doing justice to her remarkably brilliant, glowing and scintillating performance."

     [p119] family 1914 with Molly                 [p32p29a] Betty, Jim, Ole Margaret, Henry

   From the very beginning of their life together, camping was the summer activity. Ole suffered from hay fever and although some of their locations would not indicate it, they hoped for relief of his symptoms by getting further north. This was a serious enterprise. The site and equipment expanded with the family and included more and more amenities. When they were accompanied by friends Besse and Tilden Smith, two tents were set up either side of a central kitchen fly.

                  [p134p31]   Island Lake 1928                                                     [p33p22c] Hoiby and Smith camp together

    [p134p82] A rare photo of Margaret with her hair down                             [p134p14]   Not much for dinner, Ole

   In 1917 the family was going to visit "the homesteaders" in North Dakota and had a roll over accident near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Margaret received a broken back and spent several months recovering at the home of a family named Ronnigan. I don’t know much more that that except that Margaret referred to her in writing as Mrs. Ronnigan and Betty maintained a life long relationship with her daughter, Eunice. (I believe that relationship included finding some domestic help for Betty during the 1940’s)
   The collapsible canoe which Ole invented in 1891 continued to be part of the family camping experience. It was built of wood, metal and canvas but without fasteners. Ash ribs fit into an oak keel and gunwales. Planking stretched from bow to stern over the ribs and was covered with painted canvas. Overall length was about 12 feet. There were about 70 parts and it was seldom seen collapsed. It was given to the Minnesota Historical Society in May 1970.

                                           [p134p58]   Ole, Henry and Betty in the collapsible boat

   The natural extension of the camp idea was to find a more permanent location really away from ragweed causing hay fever. After camping at Lake Vermilion , Echo and Myrtle, they settled on Crane Lake; pretty much the end of the road. If they went across to the north side of the lake, Ole would be totally away from any hay fever causing pollen. In January 1932 Ole entered into an agreement with Josiah Chase to purchase approximately 6 acres on Crane Lake for $250. An Island at extreme high water, it is connected to the mainland by a swamp. It included two smaller islands to the west.
   The primary building site was a twenty foot high rocky point at the south end and included a projecting string of rocks towards the east that made a small natural harbor. The view south was two miles to the nearest civilization (end of the road). This was picturesque, solitude and no hay fever. That same year Ole and Margaret began building. The first year saw a 16’ by 16’ building completed. The second year a similar sized addition to the south which included a stone fire place and chimney. Soon followed a wood shed, tool shed, outhouse, and gazebo by the dock.
   Footings were set on bed rock. He used full dimension lumber. Siding was 4 inch tongue and grove seated tightly together. There were no roof trusses, cables held the walls together between the gable ends. His construction was simple but first class. Twenty five years later the building was as tight, straight and true as the day he built it. Even though snow completely drifted over it in the winter, there was no leakage or change in dimensions.

   [p58p21]  Rocky point, small islands visible at left, breakwater at right          [p58p1] First year construction, one room cabin

             [p20p54b] Grandma and I relax on "front lawn"                                                      [p58p7] Margaret and Ole

The flavor of Crane Lake life is best expressed in her letters to Betty. It is a large file and will take a couple minutes to load, but it contains two fine photographs, one of Margaret in color.

Click here to read the letters.

   Here is the saddest part of the story. I don’t know if Margaret and Ole had any inkling of what was coming. There is no indications from her letters. Two pieces of paper in an envelop addressed to Betty contain Margaret’s wishes on the disposition of their personal property with a date of 1939. On January 29, 1940, Margaret wrote Mabel Nelson, a friend of Betty’s, thanking her for sending an Azalea plant. Margaret wrote, "Now that the little imps of Satan have let up prodding me in the back, I want to send you a few lines of thanks. One of the compensations for being sick is that you discover how many friends you have". On March 21 she wrote Mrs. Peterson, a sick friend, that the doctor had put her in a plaster body cast and she looked like a "hump back old lady". Whether the spinal cancer was caused by an injury is an unanswered question. She and Betty believed it was. Margaret had a lot of poorly controlled pain. In her last weeks she needed restraint and ate little. She died at home. It wasn’t fair.

[p340p1] Margaret’s last birthday.  L->R, Bud, David, Sarah, Betty, Margaret, Julia, Dorothy holding Sally, Henry, Jim. In the back yard at Washington Avenue.

How about making some of what we went to grandmas for.

   There were other things to remember too. She let me play in the sink. I got hammer and nails from grandpa and pounded them into their bread board. They cleaned the wall paper with a pink spongy stuff that came in a can. Thanksgivings were a big event. Lots of bowls of food set out on the side board. Rutabagas, mashed potatoes, squash, turkey, dressing, gravy, peas, carrots, string beans. Ole carved and Henry ate the most. Ole came home from work at noon and put his stocking feet in the oven to warm them. The house had "central heating" with gratings in the ceilings so warm air could get to the upper floors. One bathroom. The shed behind the kitchen was dark dirty. An old garage out back held Betty’s Ford model T. It was called the "show case" because it had so much glass. Ole’s model A always parked on 24^th street. The streetcar barns were there. The grass in the back yard really wasn’t too good. Ole had a push mower with cast iron wheels. It pushed too hard for me except on the bare spots. Grandma Margaret sometimes was at our house when I came home from school. Once when I knew she was there but could not get her to answer I got mad and broke a window pane in the back door. She didn’t get mad. Ole sprinkled sugar on his sliced tomatoes and schlurped burning hot coffee through a sugar cube in his lower lip. I saw him use a forge, hammer and anvil to make frames for fire place screens at Deephaven. With bad eyesight he mistakenly put Val-Oil, varnish, instead of lubricating oil in his car. That was the last of his driving. The pine box he made for my clothes at Crane Lake is now a blanket box at home. His bulbous nose was a thing of wonder. I didn’t like sitting on his lap because he bounced me too hard. He walked a little stooped and shuffled but never lost his hair.

                                                                        [p206p1r]                                                                                [p25p1r]

Margaret and Ole as they saw eachother