Introduction The city of St. Anthony was situated on the banks of the Mississippi River opposite St. Anthony Falls and the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Absorbed by Minneapolis, old St. Anthony is now generally referred to simply as Northeast Minneapolis. But in the summer of 1897, John F. Olinger and his family began a perilous journey from this place by wagon down all manner of roads and nearly obscure wagon wheel tracks. The trip lasted all day and covered some thirty miles before coming to Mud Lake and their new home in the outer most reaches of Hennepin County in a farming village known as Edina.
While many of the sketches on the following pages take place in old St. Anthony where John Olinger and his wife, Tresa, lived, and in downtown Minneapolis where John worked, after 1897 they are set in the village of Edina where the Olingers settled into a life of farming. No easy task in those days. Away from the city, life quickly became raw and brutal. Separated by distance from their friends and relatives, it would be many years before roads and communications allowed them any semblance of easy living. We have no way of knowing if John or Tresa ever regretted their decision to relocate
These stories about John have as a point of reference genealogy as well as history because in the beginning I started out writing for family members who wished they knew something more about John aside from mere statistics. But, as it turned out, I enjoyed learning about the history of the sites and circumstances which intertwined John's comings and goings so much so that I thought others might feel the same way. I hope you enjoy reading about John.
John F. Olinger
John Francis Olinger was born on the family farm in 1861 near Strawberry Point, Iowa. He was the third of twelve children. His father was Englebert D. Olinger from Munich, Germany, and his mother was Susanna Ann Hanson from Prussia. The parents were married around 1858 and began farming a forty acre tract some six miles north of Strawberry Point, Iowa. All of their children were born on this farm which was gradually increased to around two hundred acres by 1900. John attended grade school and was baptized. He enjoyed reading Charles Dickens novels and European history. In the summer of 1881, John and his brother, George, drifted away from Iowa. By 1886, they were cutting timber in one of the many logging camps located on the St. Croix River around Marine on St. Crois, Wisconsin. However, by this time George had had enough and he returned to Iowa. John moved on to Minneapolis, Minnesota, looking for year round work.
John arrived in Minneapolis probably by wagon carring his gear from the lumber camp. He stood 5'9" tall and had sandy colored hair, brown eyes, and a thick reddish mustache. He was strong and athletic with big hands and a sauntering stride that conveyed self confidence and individualism. Like most men of the nineteenth century, he was rugged and self - reliant.
Tresa Kennedy
Mary Theresa (Tresa) Kennedy was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, March 10, 1859. She lived with her brothers and sisters near the small town of Portroe. She has learned to read and write. But, horrible times prevail in Ireland in the form of starvation, economic repression, and religious discrimination.
Tresa Kennedy sailed for America along with her father and three younger sisters, leaving Queenstown in 1879.
Jeremiah Kennedy
The crossing takes about 3 weeks. Walk single file along a dirt road across the green hills and meadows of southern Ireland to the coast. To Queenstown. Give them your ticket and go aboard a ship at anchor in the harbor with what little possessions you can carry and never look back. No trunks. No suitcases.
Buy a ticket and give it to them and sail away. 64 years old and kiss it all goodbye. Sounds simple enough. Most of the village has sailed away already. Nobody is left. Suppress your memories.
That's how Jeremiah Kennedy must have seen things standing there in the bright summer sun in Tipperary in 1879, 3,000 miles from New York City.
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