> >Forwarded from Norway list. Possible Oregon connections, Washington connections >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> >>This comes straight from the Associated Press. If you know of this >>family, please pass it on to them. >> >>VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - Clark County Clerk JoAnne McBride wants to solve >> >>the mystery of a tattered, yellowed envelope that's been in her office >>for the past decade. The envelope, containing certificates of U.S. >>citizenship for Peter and Ida Hendrickson, was sent out by registered >>mail on Jan. 23, 1946, just 15 days after the couple officially became >>citizens. >> >>But it never found the Hendricksons. It came back to the clerk's office >>March 24, 1988, 42 years after it was mailed, stamped undeliverable with >> >>a handwritten note, "deceased." >> >>Now, Ms. McBride is making a last effort to track down the Hendricksons, >> >>or any of their descendants, before sending the documents to Olympia >>where they will be archived and stored on a shelf somewhere. >> >>"I don't know if they had children, but somebody knows about them. I've >> >>held onto this hoping to hear something," she said. "It's somebody's >>heritage, and if we can't find them, it will be sad." >> >>She doesn't know much about the Finnish couple. >> >>Judging by their photographs and descriptions, Peter Hendrickson was a >>rawboned 58 years old with a ruddy complexion, thinning hair and >>piercing gray eyes. His wife, Ida, was a dumpling-faced, blue-eyed >>matron of 60. Both were part of a tide of Scandinavians who immigrated >>to north Clark County earlier in the century. >> >>In 1946, they lived at Route 2 Box 64 in Battle Ground, or so the >>documents said. >> >>The certificates were produced by the federal Department of Justice, >>stamped with the state seal and signed by then-County Clerk Wilma >>Schmidt. >> >>Intrigued, and wanting the family to have the documents, Ms. McBride >>called several Hendricksons in the Clark County phone book with no >>success. Nobody had heard of Peter and Ida. >> >>Reporters at The (Vancouver) Columbian had similar bad luck. >> >>The names didn't ring a bell for Bill Bergren, a longtime member of the >>Finnish community in Hockinson, who was contacted by The Columbian. Or >>for Wally Risto, also a longtime resident of Finnish background. Or for >> >>Rusty Eino Erkkila, a 90-year-old Vancouver Finn. "There might have >>been some Hendricksons in Battle Ground, but I didn't know them," he >>said. >> >>Clyde Simonson, a clerk at the Battle Ground Post Office, himself a >>Finn, had some theories about how mail gets lost. >> >>"Sometimes it gets stuck under a piece of machinery or in a mailbag that >> >>gets tossed aside," he said. But he hadn't heard of the Hendricksons >>either, though he mentioned an Ann Hendrickson, who for many years lived >> >>in the Ridgefield area and now lives in Battle Ground. >> >>"I know an Ida Hendrickson," Ann Hendrickson said by telephone, "but she >> >>lives in Michigan. Never lived here as far as I know." --- >> >>Anyone with information about the couple may contact Clark County Clerk >>JoAnne McBride at (360)699-2287. >> >>Copyright © 1998 The Register-Guard >> >> >> >> >> > > > >