Preface
Between the years 1900 and 1910, a new wave of Norwegians immigrated to America. Among them were three brothers and a sister from Hugla, a coastal island located just below the Arctic Circle. Their names were Nils, John, Ingval, and Mathin- ka. Like many of their countrymen, they chose to settle in the Puget Sound area north of Seattle.
Born to Karen and Jakob Isaksen, the siblings took the given name of their father as their surname. Thus my grandfather became John Nickoli Jacob- son, or John, son of Jakob.*
In 1906, John acquired forty acres of harvested tim- berland next to his brother Nils in the small immi- grant community of Lakewood. The same year he married a young woman from northern Norway. Her name was Anna Kristine Tobiasen. Togeth- er they built a home, carved out a farm and raised two sons, Erling and Carroll. Erling was my father. I was nine years old when my family moved into a house on an acre of land across the road from my grandparent’s dairy farm. My brother and I grew up milking cows, feeding chickens, and harvesting hay. It was during that time that I developed a close relationship with my grandfather.
On the day he left Norway in 1901, John planted a birch sapling beside his home. With family and friends looking on, he carefully tamped down the soil, then grabbed the tree by the neck and shook it hard. Speaking directly to the young tree, he vowed to do the same thing when he came back. Sixty-six years later, he returned to Hugla for the first and only time. The tree was patiently waiting.
Newly married and stationed with the American Air Force in England, my bride and I had the pleasure of accompanying him on that memorable homecoming. What follows are my recollections of the journey.
*I found my grandfather’s name spelled many different ways in family documents. The wedding ring he gave my grandmother was engraved with the words “Din Jahn” (Your Jahn). Mikael (my son) and Lavelle were unaware of this spelling when they named our young- est granddaughter Ivy Jahn Jacobson. She will wear the ring one day. In other places, I found my grandfather’s first name spelled Johann. On his naturalization papers, his middle name was spelled Neckoli. I prefer the spelling that he himself used when he signed that document on the thirteenth day of June, 1912: John Nickoli Jacobson.