52 Ancestors – Week
Blanchard-Utterstrom Project 2018
By Don Taylor

Sometimes census records can be confusing.  Such was the case for me regarding Olaf Utterstrom.  In 1910 and 1920 he was at 24 Olympia Street and in 1930 he was living at 44 Olympia Street. Could he have moved literally next door or did they renumber the street? Much like an accountant follows the money, a genealogist can follow the property. Luckily the Cumberland County, Maine, Real Estate Property Records are available on line.[i] A quick search found several deeds. Olaf Utterstrom owned three different properties (six lots) between 1901 and 1931. Two were adjoining and one was across the street. So, yes, it appears that he latterly moved next door.

Research Family 2017 – Ancestor #BU12

List of Grandparents

• Grandfather: Albert Thomas Utterstrom
• 1^st Great-grandfather: Olaf A Utterstrom
• 2^nd Great-grandfather: Anders O Utterstrom

Olaf A. Utterstrom (1866-1931)

Immigrant Ancestor – Norway

Olaf[ii] A. Utterstrom was born in Christiania, Norway on 10 January 1866 to Anders O. and Karen (Hansen) Utterstrom. Christiania was a village that merged with other villages, including Oslo, in 1924 to become the modern city of Oslo.

Immigration

Nothing is known about Olaf’s life before he immigrated with this parents, at the age of 17, to Portland, Maine, arriving on 23 November 1883. I know he had siblings, but further research is needed about his parents in order to put some of that information together in a coherent fashion. I do know he worked as a laborer and as a mill hand during the 1880s and 1890s.

Marriage

Olaf married Hannah M Halverson on 30 June 1897 in a ceremony officiated by Rev. P. V. Hineby (?), a Falmouth minister. Olaf was 31 and Hannah was 30 and it was the first marriage for both of them. The couple had settled in at 49 Anderson Street when Hannah had the first of seven children.

The Seven Children of Olaf and Hannah (Halverson) Utterstrom

Adulthood

Olaf and Hannah were living at 49 Anderson Street, Portland when both Albert and Oscar were born. That home was on Anderson Street between Oxford and Munroe, across Munroe Street (Monroe Street today) from the old city jail. It is also about two blocks from the Eastern Cemetery. The building is no longer there.

Olaf Utterstrom’s property.

In November 1901, Olaf purchased lots 27 and 28 on Olympia St. and moved his family to the recently annexed East Deering neighborhood of Portland. Many family members moved on to and out of Olympia Street over the years. Olaf’s children started a family business, The Utterstrom Trucking Company, on Olympia Street.

In May 1904, Olaf purchased lots 23 and 24 from Llewellyn Laughton.

In September 1904, Olaf “Renounced allegiance to Oscar II, King of Norway and Sweden” and became a United States Citizen. His next-door neighbor, Warren E. Bickford of 26 Olympia Street, was one of his witnesses.

1909 was a terrible year for the Utterstroms.  They lost two children that year. Both as infants. John F. Utterstrom died on 17 January 1909 and an unnamed son died shortly after his birth on 10 September 1909. I have been unsuccessful in finding death records or the cause of death for either of them.

The 1910 Census finds the Olaf Utterstrom family living at 24 Olympia Street. He was a wood worker working for at a mill. The family consisted of Olaf, his wife Hannah, and their five oldest children, Albert, Oscar, Frank, Harold, and Dorothea.

In July 1911, Olaf purchased lots 25 and 26, also along Olympia Street.  And in July 1915 Olaf sold his lots 23 and 24 to Harold Halverson. (Note: Halverson is his wife’s maiden name, so I suspect that Harold Halverson is likely a close relative of Olaf’s wife, Hannah.)

The 1920 Census finds Olaf and family still at 24 Olympia Street, he was still a woodworker working for wages at Sereen Co.

The 1930 Census shows the Utterstroms living along Olympia. Oscar lives at 32 Olympia, Harold is at 36 Olympia, and Olaf is at 44 Olympia. Living with him and Hannah is their daughter Dorothea along with her husband, William Cassidy and their daughter Annette Cassidy. The 64-year-old Olaf is working as a laborer at a garage. Later that year, Hannah, Olaf’s wife of 33 years, died.  It appears that Olaf went to live somewhere else after Hannah’s death because he sold all his property, Lots 25, 26, 27, & 28, on 22 June 1931.

Death

Two months later, on 22 August 1931, the sixty-five-year-old Olaf joined his wife, Hannah, in death.  I have not been successful in finding a burial location for either him or Hannah.

————–  Disclaimer  ————–

Sources

•  1900 Census (FS), Family Search, 1900 Census – Olaf Utterstrom – Portland, Cumberland, Maine. “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MML6-YGF : accessed 15 June 2018), Ola Uterstrom, Portland city Ward 2, Cumberland, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 57, sheet 12B, family 265, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,590.
• 1910 Census (NARA), Family Search, 1910 Census – Olaf Utterstrom – Portland, Cumberland, Maine. “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MR3S-ZZD : accessed 15 June 2018), Olaf A Littrestrom, Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 97, sheet 7A, family 159, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 539; FHL microfilm 1,374,552.
• 1920 Census, Numerisation, Olaf Utterstrom – Maine, Cumberland, Portland, ED 62, Sheet 15B, Line 69. Source Citation
Year: 1920; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T625_640; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 62
• 1930 Census (NARA), Family Search, 1930 Census – Utterstrom Families – Oscar, Harold, & Olaf – Portland, Cumberland, Maine. Year: 1930; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0083
• Cumberland Real Property Records, Internet, Deed – Olaf Utterstrom – Lots 23 & 24 Sold to Harold Halverson – 5540_7_21_1915. 5540_7_21_1915.
• Cumberland Real Property Records, Internet, Deed – Olaf Utterstrom – Lots 25 & 26 – 5193_7_24_1911. 5193_7_24_1911.
• Cumberland Real Property Records, Internet, Deed – Olaf Utterstrom – Sold Lots 25, 26, 27, & 28 – 5350_6_25_1931. 5350_6_25_1931.
• Cumberland Real Property Records, Internet, Deed (Contract for) – Olaf Utterstrom – Lots 23 & 24 – 2517_5_27_1904. Record:
• Cumberland Real Property Records, Internet, Deed (Contract for) – Olaf Utterstrom – Lots 27 & 28 – 6407_11_9_1901. 6407_11_9_1901.
• Maine Vital Records, 1670-­1921, Family Search, Marriage – Olaf A Utterstrom & Hannah M Halvorsen – 1897. “Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KC6M-Z3C : 23 September 2017), Olaf A Utterstrom and Hannah M Halvorsen, Marriage 30 Jun 1897; citing Division of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health, Augusta; FHL microfilm 10,054. Accessed: 14 June 2018.
• Maine, Birth Records, 1715-1922 (Augusta, Maine, Maine State Archives), Ancestry, [Oscar William] Utterstrom. Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; Roll Number: 58.
• Maine, Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1952, Ancestry, Olaf A. Utterstrom (A). All Sources Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court, Portland, Maine, 1912-1929. NARA Microfilm Publication M2086, 23 rolls. Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Petitions and Records of Naturalization, 1790 – 11/1945. Textual Records. 36 Boxes and 21 Volumes. NAI: 594499. Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts.
• S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry, Portland, Maine – 1930 – Page 868 – Utterstrom. Ancestry.com.
• S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry, Portland, Maine – 1931 – Page 861 – Utterstrom. Ancestry.Com
• S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry, Portland, Maine – 1932 – Page 890 – Utterstrom.
• United States, New England Petitions for Naturalization Index, 1791-1906, Family Search, Olof A Utterstrom Naturalized 3 Sep 1904. United States, New England Petitions for Naturalization Index, 1791-1906 – Olof Utterstrom.

ENDNOTES

[i] Besides Cumberland County, Maine Landrecords.com has records for Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington Counties in Maine. For Cumberland Records see:  https://i2a.uslandrecords.com/ME/Cumberland/D/Default.aspx

[ii] Note: “Olof” is used in several documents. However, I prefer “Olaf” because that is the name which was used in the City Directories and in his naturalization records.