52 Ancestors: Week 17 "Prosper": Laura Ingeborg Olsen

According to "A Brief Story of the Boe (Bø) Family" by Melvin Brodshaug, in Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt: Shared Roots in Telemark, compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, Laura Ingeborg Olsen "moved to California in the 1940s and made successful investments in oil wells and goldmines, emulating her grandfather."

Laura Ingeborg Olsen was born on 5 May 1900 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. She was the daughter of Louis Henry Olsen and Carrie (Kari) Boe (my great-grandfather's sister). Her father's father, Louis Olsen, was a forty-niner. According to "A Brief Story of the Boe (Bø) Family," he mined $8,000.00 worth of gold and had it minted in Philadelphia.

Laura grew up in Minneapolis. In 1920, she worked as a cashier in a department store.

1920 United States census, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Ward 3, population schedule, enumeration district 238, sheet no. 4A. Available from Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

On 6 November 1925 in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Laura married Lewis Gilmore Klefsaas, a school teacher. From 1925-1927, the couple lived in Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota. By 1929, they were living in Minneapolis.

Keiter Directory Co.'s Rochester and Olmsted County, Minnesota Directory 1927. Rochester, MN: Keiter Directory Co., 1927. Page 254. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Some time between 1938 and 1940, Laura and Lewis' marriage ended. Laura married John Mason O'Day, an oil driller, some time after 1942 (when his previous wife died). He was living in Maricopa, Kern County, California. Laura may have gone to California and met and married him there. It is also possible that they met elsewhere, though; John traveled frequently. He may have been the reason that she moved to California. John died in Kern County, California on 17 March 1947. Since John was an oil driller, I wonder if Laura inherited some of those investments in oil wells.

On 18 September 1948, Laura married Frank M. Withrow in Los Angeles, California. At the time of their marriage, Laura lived in Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County, California. Frank worked in radio sales. He died in 1958.

California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KT-BLG), Frank M. Withrow and Laura I. O'Day, 18 Sep 1948; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,116,805. Image edited (negative to positive).

On 12 May 1962, Laura married Frank Holman Cannon in San Diego, California. Frank was an engineer with RKO and Warner Brothers studios. He was chief engineer at Camp Pendleton for 22 1/2 years, and was a specialist in earthquake reconstruction. Frank died on 13 October 1983. At the time of his death, they were living in Fallbrook, San Diego County, California. Laura continued to live in Fallbrook until her death on 4 March 1992.

References
Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt: Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.