First generation; children of Haldo and Segri Hoiby
Spouses are included when the line of information ends. You may want to visit the FGR (Family Group Record) indicated with each name. Click on a name below.
Beaver Hoiby and Joanna
Hanna
Henry Hoiby and Lulu
Enoch Hoiby and Sophie
Anna
Sarah
Ole
Beaver and Joanna (Jennie)
FGR 50
Beaver was a partner with his brother Enoch in the wagon business, E. Hoiby Carriage Co.
[p344, Beaver Hoiby ] [p54, Joanna and Beaver]
Hanna Hoiby
FGR 50
The Hoiby family, and many families of the day, were not new to tragedy, but Hanna’s story may be one of the most intriguing. This is partly because no complete story was handed down, and because some of it was so public.
[p334p1] Hanna Hoiby 1907
1906, a newspaper article
"A Soprano Discovered"
The first public appearance of the Treble Clef club, an organization consisting of lady teacher only, will occur next Wednesday evening at the East High School auditorium. Not only will this be the first appearance of the club, but will serve to introduce to the public Miss Hanna Hoiby, a miss of only 16 years, but whose voice is of such beautiful crystalline quality and yet so true and sweet that those who have heard her have been predicting great things for her if only her musical studies can be prosecuted. Practically all the training she has ever had was secured in the public schools."
Letterhead:
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
[a hand written letter]
"Jan 12th 07
My dear Miss Hoiby,
Mrs O. wants me to tell you that on account of sicknes she can’t give you a lesson do-day. I have left the book for the Midsummer Nights Dream and marked your part there. 2nd soprano or 2nd Fairy. Study it and come on Monday at 5 o’clock here and sing it for me. If you cannot come Monday come sure on Tuesday noon.
I believe I’ve told you that Mrs. Jones is alright again.
Sincerely,
[signed] E. Oberhoffer
undated: "LOCAL SOPRANOS ENGAGED
Solo Parts of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Capable Hands.
The engagement of the two popular sopranos, Misses Frances Vincent and Hannah Hoiby, for
the solo parts in the fairy musical written my Mendelssohn for A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, completes the arrangements for the presentation of these beautiful compositions
at the Auditorium Friday evening. The fairy music will be played but the entire
Minneapolis Symphony orchestra, the two fairy choruses being sang by the women’s
chorus to the Philharmonic club, numbering 170."
1912: "News comes from Chicago that young talented Miss Hoiby, pupil of Mrs. Oberhoffer, is doing rapid progress in dramatic part coaching under the guidance of Mme. Dove Boetti. Mme. Boetti, retired famous opera singer, at present devotes her time to prepare for the operatic stage advanced students of vocalism."
5 Dec 1912: announcement card: Mme. Dove Boetti’s pupils’ recital, Handel Hall, Randolph Street, Chicago
Undated: "Miss Hanna Hoiby will leave for the east in a few days intending to study soprano repertory with Oscar Sanger of New York this winter."
12 Feb 1913: Soloist Addison Street Congregational Church.
2 May 1915: Soloist: Twin City Quartet Club Male Spring Concert.
4 Apr 1915: Soloist Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under Emil Oberhoffer, director.
13 Jun 1916: Hoiby Concert, Lyceum Theatre, Minneapolis.
Summer 1917: Northland College, Ashland Wisconsin announcement: "Miss Hanna Hoiby has been secured as head of the Voice Department in the School of Music. Miss Hoiby is a talented musician both professionally and technically. She is a public singer of unusual ability and her personality and experience make her a strong teacher. Both the regular voice work and the work of the Oratorio Club should develop splendidly under Miss Hoiby’s direction."
10 Mar 1919: Benefit Concert of Miss Hannah Hoiby, First Baptist Church, Minneapolis.
The last reference I have comes from a small notebook kept by Margaret Hoiby in which she made a contemporary note, "Hanna died, July 29, 1937, 19 years in sanitarium".
Henry and Lulu
FGR53
The earliest and one of his few records is the Minneapolis City Directory for 1878 indicating Henry was a bookbinder at Johnson, Smith and Harrison. This continues until 1887 when the references disappear. It is known that Henry went to Washington DC and became a bookbinder for the United States Printing Office.
| [p330p2] Lulu and Henry Hoiby at their home in Washington, DC about 1940 | [p111] Lulu Hoiby Hayworth |
Note: In 1901 a Harry Hoiby is listed as living at 2326 Washington (Ole’s address) and moved to Osakis [MN] in the next year. There is no possibility that Harry and Henry could be the same. Harry Hoiby turns up again in Malta, Montana in 1958 as the addressee of a copy of Sarah Hoiby’s will. The identity of Harry Hoiby is not determined as of December 1997.
Enoch and Sophie
FGR 52
[p27] Enoch Hoiby [p336] Enoch and Sophie wedding picture about 1890
A handsome man, and although Enoch looks a little stiff in his wedding picture, a dashing couple. The young Sophie seems to have a pretty face and a demure manor holding her bouquet.
From outward appearances at this late date it would seem Enoch was the most aggressive business man of the family. He ran the wagon company that bore his name and employed two of his brothers, Beaver and Ole at one time or another. He made hearses, commercial and specialty wagons. (The business continued on under his name after his death, into the 1980’s.)
[p345] A police department personnel wagon about 1895 by Enoch Hoiby
They left little of their personal lives. In July 1895 they adopted the minor child of Elna Tunnell. This date is close to the birth date of the boy, Hiram Roy, who has been described as physically deformed. The inscription on his tomb stone reads "Our Beloved Son", and the inscription on the Hoiby monument at Lakewood Cemetery says, "Weep not father and mother for me, I am waiting in glory for thee". Hiram is the first buried in the cemetery lot Enoch bought in May 1909.
Anna L.
FGR 49
[p51] Anna, seated with sister Sarah in a very
stylish setting by Opsahl of Minneapolis
Except for a fine photograph with her sister Sarah, we have little more than is in the City Directory. She worked as a book binder for Harrison and Smith in 1899 and went to the Munson Shorthand Institute in 1902, from whence she became a stenographer in 1904 and worked for Enoch. It must have suited her well, she died unmarried at age 88. If oral history is reliable, she was a "heller".
Sarah
FGR 49
[p327p3] Sarah Hoiby
Unlike most of her siblings, Sarah is a person I knew because she was invited to the family events given by Margaret and Ole and my mother. I knew her in her relative old age, after she had a professional career as a seamstress.
From 1890 "Miss Sadie" is listed as a dressmaker. In 1923, 1926 and 1930 she traveled to Europe with the Harrison family as their personal dressmaker, or perhaps to get ideas for the clothes she would make for them back home.
In 1918 and 1921 she took grants of government land near Malta Montana of 320 and 40 acres respectively. There is some evidence she visited there, but did not live there, and the motive is unknown. The property was subsequently sold in 1928.
It may be that she never became as citizen, as did others in the family. Her 1923 passport lists here date and place of birth as 1872, Minneapolis. This is consistent with their immigration in 1871. However, in an affidavit by Enoch in 1914, he states, "…make this affidavit in support of an application of his sister, Sarah Hoiby, for her second papers of citizenship, she having been born in Norway and being of the age of about three or four years at the time of her arrival in this country with her said father, Henry Hoiby , in the year 1871". The passport information, then, was contrived for convenience. Further, she was issued an Aliens Registration Receipt Card in 1943. I’m not bringing this up to pass any personal judgement, but it takes more proof of citizenship now to get a drivers license than a passport in 1923!
To get in touch with what some of her life was like we can go to her photo album for examples of what she thought memorable. This book of about 70 snapshots was rigidly bound with pictures pasted on the page. My dating of subjects assumes the album is in chronological order.
[p23p1a] [p23p7b] [p23p22a] [p23p22b]
[p23p1a] Booth steamship America which carried
passengers and packaged freight along the Minnesota north shore and to Isle Royale.
[p23p7b] A summer day as passenger aboard a Laker.
[p23p22a] Duluth harbor entry and aerial bridge shuttle.
[p23p35b] Girls in Lake Superior surf.
[p23p50a] [p23p61] [p23p64b]
[p23p50a] Little house on the Montana prairie.
[p23p61] Gathering for a Montana picnic.
[p23p64b] Yellowstone Park
[p23p67a] Time to move the house in Montana onto a new foundation.
As much as she loved me, she had a hairy upper lip and it was hard for me to kiss her. She was also "very old".
Ole
FGR 49
[P25p2r] Ole Hoiby by Bishop
A trip across the north Atlantic in a sailing vessel at age seven, the death of his father at age thirteen; left in a house with his pregnant mother and three sisters, requires a lot of maturing in a hurry. Now he must learn a trade and help support the family.
It appears that mother and the unmarried children lived at 2411 North 4th Street and later in a house Ole bought at 2326 Washington Avenue North where they all lived until he married. On March 4, 1902 Ole became a citizen of the United States of America.
| [p103p3] The house at 2326 Washington Avenue North , corner of Washington and 24th, which Ole bought in 1900 and lived in with his mother and sisters until he was married. Then with his mother and Margaret. |
By 1889 Ole had his own shop, complete with a forge. It was located at 2020 Washington Avenue North, a few doors from Enoch's carriage company. Ole built light-weight bicycles, and used his blacksmith abilities to build specialized metal parts. His iron work was the art metal of the day. It was fabricated entirely with a forge, anvil and hammer. The designs were his own but with an unmistakable influence of the old country. The showed grace and utility done with great crafting skill. Splits, curls, twists and inlays were combined into forms of usefulness from bicycles and fancy carriage hinges and latch hardware to fire place tools. Final finishing was done to a bright luster with a file.
[hoibymon] Ole's trademark
[p134p63] [p128]
Door knockers and fireplace screen for Mrs. Earle Brown
[p134p81] Fireplace tools [m76] bicycle tool for Margaret
Ole’s skills were not limited to small work. Here is an example of a house remodeling from Sadie’s photo book of a before and after situation. We do not know who owned the house, there’s Ole on the roof with the rest of the family in the after picture. Note the new fireplace, chimeys, roof, windows, trim and clapboards.
[p23p24a] Before [p23p24b] After
Photography became a hobby sometime during Ole’s bachelor days. He used a 5 inch by 7 inch folding camera with glass plates. He enjoyed being in his own pictures. With a bulb in his hand and a rubber tube running to the shutter, he could set the shutter off while in the group picture. Although only a few of his pictures remain, he was capable of some quite nice work which was both sensitive and technically proficient.
[p102] Ole's fishing days at Lake Independence abt 1900 by Ole Hoiby
| [p353] Ole and friends having fun. | [p322] Are we having fun? Ole, the Peterson sisters and sister Annie at far right. Ole was always afraid he would be hooked by one of the Peterson sisters. |
[p311p2] The bachelor swain. [p311p1] Courting Margaret by bicycle.
At Margaret’s death in June 1940, Ole was 76, getting frail and loosing his eyesight. He stayed in the house on Washington for a while and continued to make trips to Crane Lake. The last year was 1942, accompanied by a housekeeper, Eileen Bandrud.
We have some of his letters from Crane Lake. Press here to read the letters.
In about 1945 he moved in with Betty and Bud Onan and their family at the house on Ferndale Avenue in Wayzata. He lived the last two years of his life in a nursing home in Robbinsdale.
What Ole represents is an example of what we all like to think we can become. He lived a long and remarkable life. He started poor enough. He struggled with upward mobility which by his own effort moved him from an immigrant status to the middle class. He brought up a family that was successful and prosperous.
[p105p1] abt 1945 at Ferndale Avenue [p263] A familiar chair at Crane Lake on one of his last visits
end hoibyfir.htm