A Hero Remembered: 

How Hans Christian Heg Shaped His Community

Hans Christian Heg's life wasn't just about bravery on the battlefield. This Norwegian immigrant and my 3rd great grandfather left a lasting impact on his adopted community in Wisconsin, paving the way for future generations.

Leading by Example: Heg arrived in Muskego with his family in 1840. His father co-founded a Norwegian newspaper, "The Northern Light," fostering a sense of belonging for immigrants. Heg himself entered politics, becoming the first Norwegian elected to a state-wide office - Prison Commissioner. His work likely improved conditions for inmates and reflected his commitment to justice.

Championing Freedom: Heg was a vocal opponent of slavery. As the Civil War loomed, he put his political career on hold to lead the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. This "Scandinavian Regiment," made up mostly of Norwegian immigrants, embodied the ideals of a nation united against oppression. Heg's leadership inspired these new Americans to fight for their new home.

A Legacy of Sacrifice: Colonel Heg's bravery and leadership are undeniable. He rose through the ranks and fell mortally wounded at Chickamauga. His sacrifice resonated deeply within the Norwegian-American community. The renaming of Norway Hill to Heg Park and the statues erected in his honor speak volumes about his lasting impact. The statue base below is in Madison, Wisconsin.

Hans Christian Heg's story reminds us that heroism extends beyond the battlefield. He was a leader, a reformer, and a champion for freedom. His life serves as an inspiration to immigrants and a testament to the power of community in shaping a new life.

James Ballou III Religious Leader and Patriot of 1776

James Ballou III was born in 1723 in an area of Massachusetts that would become Rhode Island. James was the third generation Ballou (named James) to be born in the New World.  Their patriarch Maturin Ballou, a Baptist minister, immigrated from England. Seeking freedom from the Puritans, he helped Roger Williams co-found Rhode Island. The northeast corner of the state was known as the "Ballou District."  James III’s mother, Catherine Arnold, was related to Benedict Arnold.

In 1744, now in Rhode Island, James married Tamasin Cook. Before the Revolution, they had 11 children who all survived childhood including James IV who was famous for his ability to tell the future. His daughter Elizabeth was the mother of President James A. Garfield.

James III's cousin Abner Ballou was their strict Baptist pastor.  By 1770, James broke from the family church and started his own which allowed members to worship with song.  He moved his family to New Hampshire and bought seven adjoining lots for his seven sons. He ultimately encouraged the family to believe in universal salvation. His cousin’s son Hosea Ballou became an influential clergyman now called the father of American Universalism.

In 1779 at age 56, James III joined Mooney’s Regiment of the New Hampshire Militia, raised in defense of Rhode Island. As a fifer, his job was to play the tunes that would signal the soldiers’ next action.

He lived to age 88, just in time to see the war of 1812. Twenty-one Daughters of the American Revolution list James Ballou III as their patriot ancestor.

I love learning about the women in history. But it can be a struggle. Often, they don't make it into the paper trail that gives us the details of the common people.

While following my early Hubbard line from England to Massachusetts in 1633, I found Elizabeth Hubbard, my 11th great aunt-in-law, who married into the family, lost her Hubbard husband in England, and followed his brothers to the New World.

Imagine! A middle-aged widow with five children and no husband, traveling to a land with no prospects for a home. And only a mere 13 years after the Pilgrims forged the path!

Fortunately, she had a little money.  Her husband left her enough to leave to her children.  The $239 (in English pounds) today would be more than $15,000.

From the massive biography One Thousand Years of Hubbard History, the will of Elizabeth Hubbard, probated in Boston on 7 Jun 1644:

The said Elisabeth Hobert being not well and yet being in perfect sense and understanding, do make this as my last will & testament:

That my daughter Hannah Hobert and my son Benjamin Hobert, I do make them my whole executors jointly, together of all those goods which are mine, with this proviso: [Hannah was about 25 and Benjamin was about 23.  It was unusual for a woman to be made executor.  Good for Elizabeth to name her and Hannah to be up to the task!] 

My executors to pay three score and ten pounds [70] and ten shillings to Hannah Carrington as soon as the goods can be sold.  [We don't know if this is repayment of a loan or if Ms. Carrington sold her the goods originally.]

Also, to pay the said Stocdell Carrington four pounds and some odd money [most likely for goods or services rendered];

Also, to my son Rochard Hobert twelve pence; [why does he get such as small amount? Likely as the first born son, he got the lion's share of his father's estate and at 27 has started his own household.]

Also, to daughter Hannah Hobert & to son Benjamin Hobert & to daughter Sarah Hobert & to daughter Rachell Hobert equal portions of what is left when all cost of charges is paid. 

Youngest daughter Rachell to have three pounds more than the rest of my three children – that is to say, Hannah, Benjamin & Sarah.  The executors to have a tender care of their youngest sister Rachell. [She was likely 19 at the time and unmarried. A dangerous age for an orphan girl.]

Robert Hull & Thomas Clarke desired to be overseers of will, to see it fulfilled as near as they can.

ss/Elizabeth Hobart 4 May 1644

Elizabeth lived for one month after she wrote her will.  Strong in mind, but broken in body.

Each of her four children would share 162 for a 40.5 inheritance from Mom.  Plus, the memory of her tender and generous heart.

Patricia Crantford Raygor - Part 1

1930 - 2020
The dash in my mother’s life was full of action and adventure and some pain.
Little Patricia Crantford was born in a suburb of Philadelphia, on a Wednesday (under the sign of Aquarius). She was born to Gertrude and Horace Crantford – older parents who were certainly from another era.  This was Horace’s second family which already included a 20-year-old daughter and a son.

As she grew, Patti took piano lessons and needed tutoring in reading.  Her little brother Clayton joined the family, then their grandmother Eunice Heg moved in with them.  Packed into the family sedan, in 1937 they moved to California where she grew up.

Patti would later recall they were poor as church mice, but what they lacked in money, they made up for in style.  She calls their décor the original shabby chic!  Grandma Eunice had grown up with her grandparents in the toney Chicago suburb Highland Park in an elegant mansion with a second story ballroom and servants.  By Patti’s day, the money was long gone, but the elegant manners and the extensive and proper vocabulary took center stage.  While the furniture was old, it was newly upholstered whenever needed.  Learning tailoring from Grandma Eunice, Patti always wore stylish, if homemade, clothes and always with the proper accessories.

The family settled in Glendale, a suburb between Los Angeles and Pasadena, where Patti developed a lifelong passion of going to the beach and watching the Rose parade.   She and Clayton explored the wilderness areas in the neighborhood which were still plentiful in the late ‘30s!  They especially loved picnicking by a little bubbling spring in one of the nearby foothills. They either roller skated or rode bikes on their excursions, and on occasion took the street car (on their own).

As a girl, she called herself an ugly duckling.  In the third grade, she was the tallest person in the school - towering over all the kids and even the principal!  She also had a noticeable overbite that made her joyful smile all the more endearing to others but deepened her own lack of self-confidence.

Because her homelife was punctuated by her father’s drinking and intermittent work habits, she found solace in two critical pieces that defined the puzzle of her childhood: the nearby library full of interesting books and her girl groups. 

Each week she took her little red wagon to the library and filled it with as many books as she could check out. After thoroughly reading each one, she would return for more the next Saturday.  At home, the family library consisted of one set of grocery store encyclopedias and a Webster’s dictionary.  During dinner, if there was any discussion allowed over the classical music, it was generally an argument about history, her father’s favorite subject, which required fact checking along the way.

The girl groups started with the Girl Scouts camping adventures.  She fondly remembered her summers spent hiking and sleeping on the ground at Catalina Island.  She also used her little red wagon to peddle cookies from door-to-door, unfortunately without much success.   Unlike her social father and mother, she was shy which doesn’t make for a good salesperson.  Because of her shyness, her father couldn’t see much value in her, and because she was skinny, her robust mother would say, “At least you have nice legs,” the closest thing to a compliment she ever heard when growing up.

One Sunday morning in December when she was on the back porch polishing her school shoes, she heard the radio announcement that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor.  Soon a soldier with a pup tent and an anti-aircraft gun took residence on the neighborhood’s empty lot.  Feeling sorry for him, she would take him homemade cookies which he gratefully accepted.

On the fourth of July during the war, fireworks were forbidden, but that didn’t stop Patti!  Using her junior science kit and supplies from the pharmacy, she made her own!  For years she marveled that she could entertain the family and that no one was hurt!

One night, the whole family heard sirens blaring and searchlights glaring.  They ran out of the house and watched a dogfight right overhead!  The searchlights were aimed at the small planes as they shot and dodged gunfire.  Seventy years later, Patti would meet the man who wrote a book about that Battle of Los Angeles.  He said she was the only eyewitness to the event that he had ever met. Today it is considered an urban legend that never happened.

In high school she joined an ad hoc girls club to socialize and try adventures around the region like heading 100 miles up to Big Bear Lake in a delivery truck just to see snow.  None of the girls were prepared for the cold, they were far more comfortable on the beach. One spring break when they all went to hazy Oxnard Beach 60 miles away by streetcar, she got the first of many sunburns.

Her first real job was as a temp at the 7-story Broadway department store in downtown Los Angeles.  Because of her constancy and desire to succeed, she held a variety of jobs in the store like answer the employment office phone and run payments from the salesperson to the cashier.
One Christmas, they surprised her with a fresh turkey which she had to maneuver all the way home on the streetcar!  (Her mother was thrilled with the gift!)  Her favorite job there by far was assisting in the design department working with fabrics and designers who could turn a ho-hum room into a showplace.  This gave her a dream!

In college she excelled at drafting ahead of the men (much to their chagrin). But even though tuition was free, all the other expenses ate into the money she earned to help support her family.  So, she decided to get a real job and join the Army as a draftsman!  She applied at the recruiting center in downtown Los Angeles where the recruiters acted blasé and bored.  That is, until she finished the aptitude/IQ test.  Hers was the highest score in all of Los Angeles county – ever!  She had never realized that she had an IQ of 160 which more than qualified her for Mensa and any position she wanted in the Army.

She loved being a WAC (Women’s Army Corps). She said it was just like the scouts, but on a grander scale!  She mastered every task they gave her, so they asked her to become an officer.  Years later she finally admitted what she perceived as a failure: she declined the offer.  She didn’t think she was leadership material because she thought she was lazy. 

One of the most unusual assignments she had was as a fashion model!  In 1949, Edith Head designed new uniforms that every woman in the Army would wear.  They needed statuesque WACs with presence to model the new uniforms.  PFC Patti fit the bill!  She got to go to New York, visit Broadway, and be photographed by professionals.  Her image still appears in papers all over the US via internet.

In 1950, while in drafting school at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, she was asked by a long-forgotten soldier on a date to the Rod and Gun Club.  The date turned out to be ho-hum, but the night changed her life!  Across the crowded room she met eyes with the dreamboat who would become her best friend and life partner, Sgt. Lawrence A. Raygor, confirmed bachelor. Six weeks later they were married at the little chapel on base and stayed in a loving committed relationship until he died 39 years later.

Look for Part 2 Next!

John Billington and His Family

As a new member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, I was thrilled to be able to sign up my 4 grandkids in the Junior Society.  I also wanted to share information about their ancestors, the John Billington family. 
Unfortunately, almost everything I found about him was written from a very negative point of view.  So I conducted a deep-dive search and found a very different picture of him than what William Bradford wrote.  (Imagine if your biggest enemy wrote your history for your descendants!)
Here is what I found about the John Billington family to share with their 13th great grandchildren:

In 1620, long ago when going to school was a luxury and there were no cars or planes for travel, 102 strong and adventurous men, women, and children left their warm homes and sailed on a small ship across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.  They landed in what today we call Plymouth, Massachusetts where there were no friends to welcome them and no houses to protect them. 

Some left England because they wanted the right to worship God and pray without being told how to do it by the king.  Some left because they wanted a better opportunity for their children.

These Pilgrims included your ancestors, John and Elinor Billington and their teenage sons John, Jr. and Francis.  When half of the Pilgrims died from cold and thirst that first winter, our ancestors survived and tended to the sick by keeping them warm and fed – and did it without grumbling or complaining.

John Billington was one of those who signed the Mayflower Compact, the first American agreement that said all men had the right to vote for their leadership!  He was considered a friendly, fun man who laughed a little too much for 1620.  In fact, when the men were exploring the forest for a place to build their town, they came upon an Indian deer trap with a rope and a deep hole.  While one of the men was explaining what it was, William Bradford pushed his way through to see what it was. He stepped right into the trap which swung him upside down into the tree!  While everyone giggled, John Billington laughed the loudest!  Would you have laughed, too?

After more than 90 days cooped up in the Mayflower, young Francis was so bored he decided to have a little target practice!  In the wooden boat!  Near the powder kegs!  He could have blown up the whole ship, but he didn’t.

Once all the Pilgrims got off the Mayflower, John, Jr. spent his time hunting and exploring.  One time he wandered more than 30 miles away!  He was found by a warring Indian tribe who brought him back covered with beads and feathers.  This was the first time the Pilgrims got to meet with that tribe and pay for the corn they took when they first arrived.

Unfortunately, John Sr., who was protecting his land from a known poacher, shot at the man and nicked him in the shoulder.  He rushed him back to town where the man died, but not before the poacher told everyone that John had murdered him.  As a result, John was hung by William Bradford, the man who was swinging in the tree while John laughed. 

Later, when Elinor was a widow with 9 grandchildren, a newcomer demanded that he should have her land because she was old.  She wanted to give it to her family, but the town officials took it from her and gave it to him.  When Elinor complained to her friends about it, this newcomer sued her for slander!  And won!  She was whipped and fined for complaining about losing the land that she had earned as an original Pilgrim.  Would you have complained if they took your land?

The Billington family came from Lincoln County in England.  They had moved to London where John was a merchant whose business wasn’t doing so well.  That’s why he decided to take that huge risk and buy a one-way ticket to the New World for his family.  Aren’t you glad he did?  That’s why we are here!

From Housekeeper to Wife to Scarlet Woman

My 11th great grandfather, the Reverend Stephen Betchelder, came to the new world in 1632 during the Puritan movement when he was 71! He had been married to my 11th great grandmother, Anne Bates, for 30 years before she died.  He remarried to Helena Mason and brought her and his daughter, my 10th great grandmother Deborah and her husband the Reverend John Wing and others to Massachusetts with them.  They may have spent time in the Netherlands (like the Pilgrims) first after escaping the harsh church laws in England.

After 20 years of marriage, Helena died and left the 86-year-old great grandfather and religious leader alone.  He found a 29-year-old widow and mother of two, Mary Bailey, and hired her to take care of his household in exchange for room and board for her family.  However, Puritan law decreed that a man and a woman cannot live together unless they are married.  Even if he's in his 80s and not interested in her as a paramour but as a servant.

He wrote to his friend Governor John Winthrop (another 10th great grandfather):

"And whereas, by approbation of the whole plantation of Strawberry Bank, they have assigned an honest neighbor, (a widow) to have some eye and care towards my family, for washing, baking, and other such common services, -- it is a world of woes to think what rumors detracting spirits raise up, that I am married to her, or certainly shall be and cast on her such aspersions without ground or proof, that I see not how possibly I shall subsist in the place, to do them that service from which, otherwise they cannot endure to hear I shall depart. The Lord direct and guide us jointly and singularly in all things, to his glory and our rejoicing in the day and at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ! "

Due to the rumor mongers, they were fined 10 pounds (about $1,600 today) for this transgression. But to circumvent the law, he announced to the world that he and Mary were married! By himself as pastor!

On April 9, 1650, the fine was cut in half "for not publishing his marriage according to law." The marriage never appears in the paper trail. It was "ordered that Mr. Betchelder and Mary his wife shall live together, as they publicly agreed to do, and if either desert the other, the Marshal is to take them to Boston to be kept until next quarter Court of Assistants, to consider a divorce. Bail to be granted if satisfactory security could be obtained. In case Mary Betchelder lives out of this jurisdiction without mutual consent for a time, notice of her absence to be given to the Magistrates at Boston."

Meanwhile, Mary fell in love with a young neighbor, George Rogers, and had a child with him.  The court sentenced both of them to a whipping for adultery and she petitioned for a divorce from Stephen.  

Poor, old Reverend Stephen Betchelder, frustrated and humiliated by the harsh reactions by his Puritan neighbors, he returned to England where he died at 95, just 17 days before Mary's divorce was granted.

Letters from Detta

Do you know all your grandparents?  If so, you are lucky!  I only got to grow up with my mother's mother.  My dad's mother died when he was only 16.  As a redhead, I'm always wondering where my sister and I got our ginger hair.  I asked my dad, "What color of hair did your mom have?"

"Grey," he replied.

His memory of her was fuzzy.  I knew that she had been a teacher and was very suited to raising their 12 children.  She would line up the kids on the kitchen chairs in two rows.  She would ask the  two in the first row to spell a word.  When one missed, they went to the back of their line and everyone would move up a chair. And still my dad couldn't spell!

That's it! That's all I knew about her!

Then my dad's sister Madalyn died and left some old letters.  That is how I got to know my grandmother, Martha Bernadetta Muller Raygor, or simply Detta.  Here are the two letters, transcribed as is:

From: 211-1 St., Coon Rapids, Ia., May 4, 1942

To: Mrs. H.R. Smith, General Delivery, Pryor, Okla.

Coon Town, the second day of May, 1942

My dear children –

Hi there, what you all doing these fine days? I say fine, because it is raining. It was so very dry, that our garden seed wouldn’t germinate and come up, but things are sure blooming now.

It rained Thu., and then again to-day.

Bess & Les & Grandma, Grandpa & Orlo were over yesterday after-noon. Les brought me a bale of straw for my hens’ nests. I asked for a sack full but he brought a whole bale. Bess took one of my big yellow setting hens Flossy home to set on duck eggs. She said if the eggs hatched good, she would give me two of the little ducklings to raise. She has 6 setting hens from different people, setting on duck eggs. And she has 4 little ducks now. [Bess was Detta's first born.]

Now, Madalyn, don’t take me all wrong, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you’re more lazy at home, but you know they always say the way to a man’s heart is thru his stomach, so there-fore have a nice supper ready for him when he gets home from work.

The nice picture of Willie you sent up here, I sent on to him, and said “Madalyn’s version of you.” What do you think he will think of that? I bet you will hear from him about it, but it’s all in fun.

Omar, John, Josie & Harry all went up to confession this evening. Toots wouldn’t go, he said it was too rainy. I went Fri. morning. [Toots is Larry, my dad, all the others are brothers and sister.]

You know, Toots is in the boys glee club and mixed chorus. Well they went to the state music contest at Council Bluffs last night, and the boys glee club took second. The girls first and mixed chorus second.  I don’t know if Toots gets to go anyplace else now or not.  It was 1:30 AM when he got home, so he didn’t get up till 11:30 this noon. I guess he has gone to bed now.

Well the wind has gone to the north-west and is it ever getting chilly out. If it clears off by morning, it might freeze, but I hope not. The warm kitchen stove feels good never-the-less, on the second day of May.

Speaking of May, here is where the birthdays come in. Nine are all in May: Leona 4; Dad & Harry 10; Aunt Estella 15; Eddie 16; Toots 17; Jake, Omar & Harry B. 25. [Estella and Leona were Detta's older sisters]

My ten little chicks are growing like everything. I have another big yellow hen, Sussy, wants to set, so I guess I will set her on some hens eggs.  Lester is going to try and get me a runty pig to feed for next winter’s meat.

Well I haven’t heard from Clara since Wed. She be O.K. tho, or they would let us know. It has stopped raining now. [Clara was Detta's second born.]

Dad has a new job now. He and Andy Lindle are the bosses of a school victory garden. Coon, Viola & Gray schools have 5 acres into vegetable garden. 2 acres in potatoes, 2 acres into carrots, beets, onions, turnips, parsnips, peas, beans and sweet corn. The school kids are to take care of it and the men show them how. Then there will be 5 W.P.A. women to can what is to can.

Mrs. Esdohr gave me 1 bushel of fire-plant and Daisy C washed the jars. She and I washed and cut the fire-plant.  I canned it and Dad sealed the jars for me. We canned 16 quarts of sauce.

We have to register for sugar rationing next Tues. We got a 100 lb sack in the winter yet, so will have 25 lbs. to report on.

The fire has gone out and I am getting cold, so I guess I will have to go to bed to get warm, so good night until to-morrow some time.

Mon. after-noon.  I am grandma again. Clara & Harry have a big girl, came Sun. morn. Weighs 8 lb. 11 oz. Dark hair & big blue eyes. Harry says she has big feet too. They may name her Murl Ann. Clara wants it that, but Harry doesn’t like Murl.

I must write Clara a big letter this P.M.

Say! Tell Harold that from his picture, he looks to be a very handsome young man.  We would all like to meet him soon.

We got your special delivery letter, also one letter from the Post Master and your picture back.

I washed this morning, so there-fore I am rather tired.

Pepper Young’s family is just coming on the radio, so I must listen to that. It is sure good now.  With that finished, I will proceed with my letter.  It is now 2:45 and it looks as tho it might rain again. Eggs aren’t quite so high here. I get 27c a dozen for extras and 25c for firsts. Of course, if I were to buy them, I might have to pay 29c or 30c a dozen. I sold 1 dozen last Sat. and got 37c for them, but now I only have 3 hens to lay for me.

Can’t think of any more news, so will say adieu for now. Write very soon. I am as always, your loving Mom.

This letter doesn't reflect the severe pain she was in with stomach cancer.  In fact, she died just 21 days after she wrote this last letter.

From: Mrs. Ed Raygor, 211-1 St., Coon Rapids, Ia., Sept 1, 1942

To: Mrs. H.R. Smith, Heflin Camp, Edinburg, Ind.

Dear Madalyn –

I suppose Harold has gone by now, have you heard from him yet? If so, how is he, how does he like army life and what is his address? If I can think of any more questions, I will shoot them at you.

How is your self? And what are you doing? Is it very warm down there? It has been really hot the last 5 days in the after-noon.  It is about 7:30 P.M. Tuesday and it is still hot, so I brought this letter down cellar to write it. I was sleeping so I laid down on my box bed, and even to sleep for ½ hour feel pretty decent. Now am still canning tomatoes and making apple butter, have 101 qt. of tomatoes canned, will make a batch of catsup to morrow.  I got 9 qt. of pears from that box. Got ½ bushel of grapes from Aunt Annie and made some jelly, 6 pints of butter and bottled 12 bottles of grape juice, including the grapes Clara gave me.

II. Now Madalyn, prepare yourself for some bad news; the Husier (Hoosier?) twins have both gone beyond. Orange Blossom died Sun. eve & Dagwood died this morning. They had sort of a bowel trouble, couldn’t do a thing for them.  They were so tiny and weak.  Our Tommy Tinker and Eudora Rusty cat has it too, but they are older & stronger. They may pull through. Tom ate a little milk tonight, but just a little. It has been so hot and sultry.

School started for good this morn; all like it very much, especially Harry, up at the Catholic school. There were about 25 kids in three grades, now there are 32, in his grade 7 alone and he has only 4 subjects to study. 

Haven’t seen the girls lately, but got a service flag from Bess this morn with two stars in it, one star for Jake & one for Harold. Dad went to N. Coon with the Longfellows, Noble & his nephew Freddie on Sat., and he got 7 nice catfish and 2 large carp. He is down fishing in M. [Middle] Coon now.

Write soon Madalyn and send Harold’s address. 

Mom

How is Harold’s mother? Tell her to write a line or two.  Wed – It turned much cooler this morn & rained hard – much nicer.