One source suggests that Martin joined the 42nd Massachusetts Infantry on July 20th 1864 and whilst there is such a listing for that name, I am not able to corroborate any further details to confirm that it was indeed our man. Census records indicate that he emigrated to North America in 1860 at the age of 20. He was originally born Martin Olesen on September 29th 1840 in Røyken, Buskerud, Norway. It may have helped to clarify whether the Johnsons had a fifth child that didn’t survive by the time the 1900 census was recorded. Unfortunately, the 1890 census was mostly destroyed in a fire in 1921. Later, in the 1900 census, Iver’s wife and children are listed as boarding at the household of Waterhouse. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but Nellie is not listed. Nora was listed as a domestic servant at the Johnson household.
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I am doubtful of this as the United States 1880 census shows Iver along with his wife and four children and a 15-year-old girl named Nora Welsh. Some sources suggest two daughters with “Nellie” as their second. Together they had three sons and at least one daughter: Frederick Iver, John Lovell, Walter Olaf and Mary Louise. On April 9th 1868, Iver married Mary Elizabeth Speirs in Worcester. Regardless, Iver primarily worked on pepperbox revolvers which were multi-barrelled revolvers renowned, not in the least by Mark Twain, for their inaccuracy and their cheapness. Maybe this was just a coincidence or maybe it was somehow related to Iver’s appointment at Allen & Wheelock. We simply do not know if he emigrated and later found work or already had an offer of employment arranged. In Worcester, Iver found work as a gunsmith with Allen & Wheelock, a major arms manufacturer of the time. This was a rather peculiar time for anyone to emigrate to North America as the American Civil War was mid-way through! However, for a gunsmith, this must have been an opportunity brimming with adventure!
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But a year later, in 1863, Iver decided to emigrate to Worcester, Massachusetts in North America. Just five years later he moved to Oslo to work as a gunsmith. He became an apprentice gunsmith in Bergen at the age of 16. Our journey begins on February 14th 1841 in Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway when Iver Johansen, later Johnson, was born.