Thursday, September 27, 2007

Hans Eldor Morck


Hans Eldor Mork was born on January 24, 1875 in Tjotta, Helgeland, Norway. His father was Anders Olai Mork Qvalnes, who was assumed to be a man of the sea, because he is referred to as “skipper” on the birth record of Hans, and in the record of his marriage to Hansine Tanke Hansdatter. He was 45 years old when Hans was born, and his mother was 30 years old at that time. Hans appears to have been the second of 4 children in his family, along with brothers Kristian and Nels, and sister Kristina. Norwegian tradition is that the second son is named after his maternal grandfather, and Han’s grandfather on his mother’s side is Hans Chr. Nilsen. Some six months after his birth, Hans was baptized in Leirfjord Church.
Little is known of Hans’ early life. Hans apparently served in the Norwegian Navy in the 1890s. A letter to his future wife, Jorgine, has been preserved from this time. This letter describes life in the military as very difficult and dreary. In later years, Hans recalled “accepting the Lord as his Savior” at the age of 20 (? 1895).
He married Jorgine Emilie Pedersen on October 12, 1898. In May 1902, at the age of 27, Hans journeyed from Helgeland to England, and traveled on the steamship RMS Lake Champlain from Liverpool to Quebec, Canada, in hopes of starting a new life with his family. He then went by train to a Norwegian community in North Dakota, in Mandan, where his three sisters-in-law had already settled. He arrived with a total of $5 to his name. After being convinced that they could make a go of this new life, he sent for his wife and their two children, who arrived later that year. During Jorgine’s voyage, their youngest son, Harold, died. Hans and his family lived in North Dakota for some 17 years. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 21, 1912. By that time he had changed the spelling of his last name to Morck, the reason unknown. He was a carpenter by trade. In 1918, he listed his occupation as a hedge carpenter. Nowadays, a hedge carpenter is considered to be a person who uses wood that is reclaimed or sourced from environments such as a botanical garden or coppiced woodland. They make handcrafted mirrors, wands, staves and rustic furniture. They usually have minimal training and apprenticeship experience. It is unknown why he described his carpentry profession in this way in 1918. In 1919, he and his family moved to Seattle, Washington, where some of Jorgine’s relatives lived.
While in Seattle, Hans continued his carpentry work, and began working as a contractor in the construction of buildings. He was an accomplished woodworker. One of his woodworking gifts, a soap holder, is still in the possession of Nancy Jeffrey, his grand-daughter-in-law. He was very active in his home church in Seattle, the Salem Evangelical Free Church.
Hans is remembered as a quiet, godly, hard-working man. His daughter, Agnes, remembers often hearing him in prayer as he spent time with his God in the basement in his house. He passed away from a heart attack on August 23, 1942 in Seattle, at the age of 67, and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. His newspaper obituary contained these words:
“Hans Morck accepted the Lord as his Savior at the age of 20, and remained steadfast in his faith in the Savior ever afterwards. He had a clear ringing testimony to the reality of salvation and the blessedness of the Christian life. His life and example was a source of encouragement to others. Blessed be his memory!”

1 comment:

Kate said...

Dad, this was interesting! I really want to see that soap box Nana has. I'll have to ask her next time we go down there.