Sunday, July 10, 2011

Øivind Ambrosiusen (aka Eddie Ambrose)


My paternal grandfather was also an Edwin, but people called him Eddie. He was born on August 26, 1899,  in Horten, Norway, as Øivind Ambrosiusen, son of Martinius Ambrosiusen and Hilda Hansen. When my grandfather moved to the States, he Anglicized his name to Ambrose.


Eddie served one compulsory year in the Norwegian Navy, then completed a two-year program at Horten Technical Institute, where he learned to be a draftsman. 


Since there were no employment opportunities in Norway, Eddie sailed to Montreal in 1923. Border Crossing documents show that he arrived in Rouses Point, NY on June 28 and Buffalo on July 18. My father said he then traveled to Massena, NY, where he heard there was work in Syracuse.


Eddie found a job in Syracuse as a draftsman, and was employed all during the depression. He worked most of this time for the Solvay Process Company, a division of Allied Chemical Corporation, in Syracuse, NY.


The Solvay Process Company was established in 1880 in Syracuse and was a pioneer chemical industry of the U.S. in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in central New York. The company was the origin of the village of Solvay and it grew around the plant. The Erie Canal passed through the Solvay Process plant, as did the New York Central Railroad. The phone directory I found from 1931 shows how important Solvay was to the city of Syracuse. Solvay, the company, went out of business in 1985.
The Ambrose family lived in Syracuse until 1940 when my grandfather was promoted and transferred to the Solvay factory in Delray, Michigan. Eddie retired from the company after 35 years of service. He lived to be 89, nine years longer than my father did, dying on September 13, 1988.

4 comments:

  1. hilda and martin was my greate grandmother and greate grandfather, Ingrid the sister of oyvind was my grandmother. I have searched for many years to find relatives i usa, and I am sure I found it now. My name is paal stensaas, and my email is ps@nhografisk.no. I am 60 living near by Oslo, I am born in Horten and have worked in medie all my life.
    Happy to se pictures of my greate grandparents.
    best regards
    Paal

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    Replies
    1. Hi Paal! Nice to meet you. I actually am on Ancestry.com and I even have you listed! Do you have a brother Peter and a sister Siri? Have you ever met my father, Edwin Ambrose? He spent time researching the family on many trips to Norway, but I know his father's side was much tougher to research. If you would like to check out my family tree on Ancestry.com, I think you can do it for free. Ambrose/Ericke is the tree. I will email you separately too! Thanks for finding me!!

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    2. Hi Sarah, please visit my facebook profile Pål Stensaas. I have a son Peter and a daugther Siri, in addition to the more kids, Aurora, Kasper and Linnea. I live in Asker close to Oslo, but left Horten in 1986. I was editor of the local newspaper there.
      Yes as journalist for Aftenposten I travelled a lot, and met Edwin at the NY Yatch ckub for lunch. must have been in the 80 ties. I know that he visited Marion several times, she was daughter of Ruth (daugther of Martin, my greate grandfather I am 60 years old, and still remember my greate grandmother Hilda. I used to visit her at the senior citizen home a couple of years before she died. Your father was to send me contact infomation on the next generation in us, because I was very interested to keep contact with family in US. one day I searched for Martin at google and found this site and a picture of edwin his father and my greate grandparents, I was stunned and happy. Please write to my email address also: ps@norskindustri.no. I would love to know about your family.
      best regards from Norway
      Paal

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