Andrea Hanson
Tragedy on Horseshoe Island
Andrea Tjøstolfsdatter was born in Brunlanes, Norway in 1806. She married Hans Hanson in 1829 and the couple immigrated to Wisconsin with their children and other family members in 1854, one year after the founding of Ephraim. They stayed with Ole Larsen on Horseshoe Island. That same year, tragedy struck when Hans Hanson and six others died of Asiatic cholera. They are buried on Horseshoe Island, though the exact location is unknown. A bronze marker on the island notes the tragedy. After the death of her husband, Andrea supported her family by nursing community members, and midwifery. Her grown sons also contributed to the family income.
Hanson Daughters Marry the Anderson Brothers
In 1858, Aslag and Halvor Anderson arrived in Ephraim to build a dock at the request of Reverend Andrew Iverson. Aslag later built the Anderson Store while Halvor established a farm to the north. In 1861, the Anderson brothers married two of Andrea’s daughters. Aslag married Anna Margareta “Greta” Hanson and Halvor married Anna Tonetta “Nettie” Hanson. They had 25 children between them, with 19 surviving to adulthood. Visit the Anderson Store Museum to hear stories of the Andersons.
A Drowning
As Andrea entered her seventh decade, her health began decline so she lived with her various children. She began to wander and had to be constantly watched. On July 21, 1885, Ephraim Moravian Pastor Anders Petterson wrote that Andrea was staying with daughter Greta and her husband Aslag Anderson. “[Mrs. Hanson] ran away around midday on Saturday, July 18, 1885, and in spite of the fact that one immediately started searching for her, she was not to be found. It was first on Sunday morning, July 19th, that her body was found two miles from Ephraim, by the beach. She had walked along the shore the whole night and was found, drowned in the water …”
Some speculated that Andrea Hanson was trying to reach her husband Hans, buried on Horseshoe Island.
Andrea Tjøstolfsdatter Hanson is buried in the Ephraim Moravian Cemetery. Her descendants still reside in Ephraim, 165 years after the Hanson family immigrated from Norway, seeking a better life in America.
Submitted by EHF Curator and Marketing Coordinator Emily Irwin in 2019. Revised in 2024 by EHF Educator Kathleen Harris.
