Tilda Karoline Torgerson was born on 22 September 18871,2,2,4,6in Lac qui Parle (lake that talks) county Minnesota to John and Ingeborg Torgerson.
She was baptised in Madison, Minnesota on Christmas day of that year1.2. This must have been a long trip for her parents in the early winter time although the distance now is only about ½ hour by car. Her godparents were Hans Haugen and Anne Thea and Carl Steusen. She joined her older sisters Annie, Lena, Emma and Hilda.
In 1895, the family was living in the Baxter Township of Lac qui Parle and John was farming as he had done for the last 24 years3. By then they had added Henry and Ingeborg Olianna to the family.
In 1900, the family was still living in Baxter Township, Annie had moved on, but all the other children remained at home and her grandmother Anna J. Haugen was also living with them. At that time, Tilda was attending school and could read, write and speak English10.
Approximately 1902 the family moved to Leon township in Clearwater County Minnesota, where they were living in 1905. At that time, there were another two Torgersons: Hulda 4 and Elmer 1, as her parents were in their 50s by then, perhaps these are a niece and nephew4.
It was here, in this county, that she met her husband and, when she was just turned 18, on 29 December 1905, she married Carl Degerness in Bagley, the county seat5.
By 1910, Carl and Tilda were living on Bagley Avenue in Bagley Village, Copley Township in Clearwater County, Minnesota and Carl was working as a carpenter. By this time they had three children: Clarence, Ernest and Irvin6.
In 1912, Carl decided to follow his father to Saskatchewan and he and Tilda crossed the Canadian border at Emerson, Manitoba. By that time, the family had expanded again to include a daughter named Myrtle7.
Tillie and Carl homesteaded in Ponass Lake, Saskatchewan in 1913.
In 1916 Carl and Tilda were still on the farm in Saskatchewan and had added Madeline to their family11.
While on the farm, they added Rudolph12and Mandell13to the family.
In her early 40s, Tilda developed auricular fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat). At some point in the next four years she moved into the Ponass Lake Nursing home. She died there on 25 June 1935, her death was brought on by acute nephritis (kidney failure)9. Her son Ernest recorded the death8.
Link to Tilda Karoline Torgerson in Genealogy
1Baptisms (PR) United States. Madison, Lac Qui Parle, Minnesota. 25 December 1887. TORGERSON, Tilda Karoline. P 56-57. Collection: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1826-1969. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 29 May 2018.
2Baptisms (PR) United States. Minnesota. 25 December 1887. TORGERSON, Tilda Karoline. P 12. Collection: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1826-1969. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 29 May 2018.
3Census. 1895. United States. Baxter, Lac qui Parle, Minnesta. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ63-DG9 : Accessed 3 April
4Census. 1905. United States. Leon, Clearwater, Minnesota. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSYS-VW2?i=7&wc=M8SL-S6D%3A67002601%2C67062001&cc=1503056: accessed 29 May 2018.
5Marriages (CR) United States. Bagley, Clearwater. 29 December 1905. DEGERNESS, Carl and TORGERSON, Tilda. Certificate A-127.
6Census. 1910. United States. Copley, Clearwater, Minnesota. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2LD-XFK : accessed 26 January 2018.
7Library and Archives Canada. Border Entries. DEGERNESS, Carl. 1908-1935 Border Entries; Roll: T-5477. RG 76-C. Department of Employment and Immigration fonds. Microfilm reels: T-5461-T-5507, T-15249-T-15344, T-15346-T-15393. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
8Deaths (CR) Canada. Rose Valley, Saskatchewan. 25 June 1935. DEGERNESS, Tilda.
9Rose Valley and District Historical Society (1981). A tribute to our Pioneers. Saskatchewan: Rose Valley & District Historical Society. P. 63.
10Census. 1900. United States. Baxter Township, Lac qui Parle, Minnesota. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed January 2018.
11Census. 1916. Canada. Humbolt, Saskatchewan. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMPX-NQZ: accessed 3 April 2016.
12Deaths (CR) Canada. Burnaby, British Columbia. 3 April 1991. DEGERNESS, Rudolph Holver. http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/9c2f0f4f-c80b-4d74-a302-3da36855e710: accessed August 2018.
13Saskatchewan Genealogical Society. Saskatchewan Residents Index 1800-2012. 1919. DEGERNESS, Mandel. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed August 2018.
