52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Ancestor # 3: Joseph Oliver Eken

As announced by Amy Johnson Crow in No Story Too Small, there is a 2015 edition of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I may not make 52 but I am going to post whenever time permits to share what I have learned with my family as suggested by Michael J. Leclerc in his blog. In this blog entry, I am sharing information about my grandfather. 

Joseph Oliver EKEN was born on Jan 13, 1894 at Lake Sinai, Brookings County, SD. He had one older brother, Ole Christian Eken, and two older sisters, Clara M. and Selma Eken. Another brother, Peter O. Eken, died as an infant.

He appeared on the census of Jun 8, 1900 in the household of his father, Ole Olson EKEN at Lake Sinai, Brookings, SD. His mother, Johanne Olsdatter Froisland Eken, had passed away the year before. His father passed away in 1902.

Joseph appeared on the census of May 2, 1910 as an adopted son of Sivert and Mattie Haffdahl at Lake Sinai, Brookings, SD. His older sister, Selma, was also living with them as an  adopted daughter.

Joseph was a Corporal in WWI serving in the 341st Field Artillery, 89th Division, Battery D which returned to the United States on May 24, 1919. His 1917 WWI draft card describes him as tall, medium build with brown eyes and dark brown hair.

Joseph appeared on the census of January 3, 1920 as the head of household at Lake Sinai, Brookings, SD. 

Joseph Oliver Eken married Julia Emelia MOE,  daughter of John Johnson MOE and Marie NELSON, on Mar 30, 1921 at Arlington, Kingsbury, SD. They became the parents of six children: 5 daughters and one son.

Joseph and Julia Eken appeared on the census of Apr 23, 1930 at Sinai, Brookings, SD. 

Joseph was the coach of the 1935 Junior Legion’s baseball team in Sinai, South Dakota. He is pictured with the team in the History of the Sinai Community, Sinai, South Dakota 1879 - 1979. The same book recounts that he was Commander of the Sinai American Legion in 1937.

Sometime between 1937 and 1940, the Eken family moved to Brookings, Brookings County, SD. Joseph and Julia appeared on the census of Apr 16, Joseph retired from the South Dakota Highway Department on December 31, 1961 after 24 years.

Joseph died from colon cancer on Jun 9, 1963 at Brookings, Brookings, SD at age 69. He was buried on Jun 11, 1963 at Brookings Lutheran Cemetery, Brookings, Brookings, SD, USA. 

Finding Treasures at AbeBooks.com

I love books of all kinds but I especially love books about family history. I have a few sites that I visit to find books but I love AbeBooks.com. I have found too many books there and I usually have to pull several out of my shopping cart before I check out.

AbeBooks.com describes themselves this way:
"Launched in 1996, AbeBooks is an online marketplace where you can buy new, used, rare and out-of-print books, as well as cheap textbooks. We connect you with thousands of professional booksellers around the world and millions of books are listed for sale. Shopping on AbeBooks is easy, safe and 100% secure - search for your book, purchase a copy via our secure checkout process and the bookseller ships it straight to you." 

A recent find for me was for a little town in Brookings County, South Dakota called Sinai. I was aware there was a history book. I even had copies of of some pages that related to my family in that area. But for some reason, I still wanted to see the book. I tried to find it in libraries and online but was not having luck. Then I checked back with AbeBooks.com and one day it was there. I quickly ordered it and was not disappointed.

Paging through the book I found a large photo of my grandfather. He was listed as the coach of a local young man's baseball team in the 1935.

If you have a lot of family in one specific location, a county or town history might give you a lot of information. They can be particularly good for finding women's maiden names, where families moved from or to, or other hard-to-find information. Like all "found" information, it needs to be verified. But these local history books certainly point you in the right direction.

The Sinai History Book is new enough that it is still under copyright and not available anywhere as a free digital download. But that is something to keep in mind when you are looking for books that you are interested in. And that is a topic for another day.