Save ▼ ⎙Print Share▼ Nicholas P Foss in the 1900 United States Federal Census Record Image View ⌹View blank form ✎Add alternate information !Report issue Name: Nicholas P Foss [Nicholas Foss] Age: 42 Birth Date: Aug 1857 Birthplace: Norway Home in 1900: Grand Forks Ward 1, Grand Forks, North Dakota Race: White Gender: Male Immigration Year: 1877 Relation to Head of House: Head Marital Status: Married Spouse's Name: Ella Foss Marriage Year: 1894 Years Married: 6 Father's Birthplace: Norway Mother's Birthplace: Norway Occupation: View on Image Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age Nicholas P Foss 42 Ella Foss 25 Mabel L Foss 5 Arthur J Foss 1 Save ▼ Cancel Source Citation -----Original Message----- From: Lars E. Oyane via Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 10:35 PM To: norway@rootsweb.com Subject: [NOR] 2nd attempt: Nicholas "Nick" P. Foss (1860?-1927) and hisbackground - help to interpret the Minneapolis city directory? Dear Listers, This problem has been discussed before, but only as part of the Christine Thompson McCaffrey Johnson (1854-1920) "enigma" in and around Grand Forks, ND. Today I wish to focus on one of her Norwegian son-in-laws who appears quite impossible to track down! Nicholas "Nick" P. FOSS enters the family as he on Nov. 15, 1893 was married in Grand Forks, ND to Ella Thompson McCaffrey. He was a painter and is said to be 31 years old at the time, but the 1900 census shows he was born in Norway in August of 1857. He ended his life by being killed by a train near Devils Lake, ND on Sep. 26, 1927, aged about 65. Newspaper items concerning this accident have been located before. But where did Nick come from? I am pretty sure I have found him living in Minneapolis, MN at the time of the 1885 state census. Then he is 25 years old and is called Nick FUSS, and the city directories show him several times: ~~~~~ 1882/1883: no entry 1883/1884: no entry 1884/1885: N. P. Foss pts. St P R'y r 118 Cedar Ave. So 1885/1886: Nicholas Foss emp W. Babcock 1886/1887: no entry 1887/1888: Nicholas P. Foss ptr. r1920 S 2d 1888/1889: no entry 1889/1890: no entry ~~~~~ But how are these entries to be understood? I presume the one from 1887/1888 "ptr" suggests he was indeed a PAINTER residing on 1920 S 2nd Avenue (or Street), but what does the 1884/1885 listing mean? Then I also have a rather "puzzling" piece of information from FamilySearch showing this birth record from Chicago, IL: ~~~~~ Name: Foss Event Type: Birth Event Date: 06 Oct 1881 Event Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States Registration Place: , Cook, Illinois Gender: Male Ethnicity: American Race: White Father's Name: Nicklas Foss Mother's Name: Margarita Certificate Number: 1593 ~~~~~ It may seem like "our" Nick had been married before to this Margaret, and they had a son, but this is the only entry for that couple! Or can more information be located in Chicago, IL on this man? According to the 1900 census Nick had emigrated in 1877, but I just cannot find any emigrant from Norway "matching" this person! Maybe newspaper items will mention him? Or city directories in Chicago, IL? Or could he have other Foss relatives in Minneapolis, MN? Any suggestions would be more than welcome! You are my last hope! Very sincerely yours, Lars E. Oyane Norwaylist Archiveshttp://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=norway RESUBSCRIBE UNSUB http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/NOR/NORWAY.html guidelines http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/guidelines.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORWAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message