Obit for Anton Ludwig E. VARPNESS (b.1862 d.1940), Cottonwood Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Andrea Nelson Submitted: Mar 2003 ========================================================================= This is an obituary for my great-grandfather. I do not know which newspaper the obit came from, but I'm sure it was from the Cottonwood area. ************************* His obituary reads: Pioneer Settler Is Laid To Rest Anton Ludwig E. Varpness was born in Namsos, Norway, on September 19, 1862, to Even and Fredrika Lorentson Varpness. He was baptized and confirmed at Vemundvik Lutheran Church in the town of his birth. In the year 1886 he was united in marriage to Olga Larson. Two sons, Albert and Edwin, were born to them before they emigrated to America in June 1890. They located on a farm in farming until the year 1925 when he moved to Cottonwood. Here he resided until his death. In 1936, Mr. and Mrs. Varpness celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at the St. Lucas Church in the presence of their children, relatives and friends. Early this spring, Mr. Varpness contracted flu, which with complications, resulted in his departure September 28 at the age of 78 years and 9 days. He was an uncomplaining sufferer through his days of illness and a loving husband and father. He leaves to mourn his departure, his wife, Olga, five daughters, Lottie, (Mrs. James Clark), Ida (Mrs. Dan Oftedahl), Anna (Mrs. John Klausler), Thora (Mrs. Andrew Warsik) of Pittsburgh, Pa.,Lula (Mrs. James Olson) of Minneapolis;also six sons-Albert, Edwin, Lewis of Cottonwood, Alfred of Vesta; Oscar of Pittsburgh, Pa and Axel of Brainerd, besides 32 grandchildren and one great grandchild. The following out-of-town friends and relatives attended the funeral: Mrs. Harry Zorn, Vesta; Mrs. Henry Tolzman, Mrs. N. Munsch and George Munsch, Wood Lake' Mrs. Henry Lindstrom and Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Klausler, Marshall; Mr. and Mrs. Anton Miller, Canby; Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Caron, Marshall' Mrs. Lawrence Anderson, Mrs Nels Simonson, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Colston and Mr. and Mrs Martin Hagen, all of Hanley Falls' Mr. and Mrs. James Olson, Minneapolis and Mr. and Mrs. James Olson, Minneapolis and Mrs. and Mrs. Axel Varpness and children of Brainerd, Minnesota. "A precious one from us has gone A voice we loved is stilled, A place is vacant in in our home Which never can be filled God in his wisdom has recalled The boon his love had given And though the body slumbers here The soul is safe in Heaven." (Source: Obit courtesy of Irving M. Varpness, grandson of subject) NOTE* Anton Ludwig E. Varpness and Olga Larson came out of Namsos, Norway in June 1890. ************************** May 24, 1997, email writting by Irving Varpness of Stewartville, Minnesota (grandson of Anton L. E. Varpness) to Andrea (Quick) Nelson of Fisher, Illinois (great-granddaughter of Anton L. E. Varpness) - Irving writes: " The people (our family) in Norway were so poor at that time, that where ever they went it had to be better, Grandpa Varpness left Namsos, Norway on July 9, 1890, according to records I just got. His brother Martin left five years earlier on July 15, 1885. He left Norway using the name Martin Varpness, and changed his name to Martin Evans. Grandpa Anton Varpness left Norway as Anton Evansen, and changed his name to Varpness. (Strange eh?) It took them 3 weeks to cross the ocean. Think of the hardship! Martin Varpness' wife was 6 months pregnant with daughter Julia, when they crossed. Dad {Albert Varpness} said, the only thing he remembers was the smoke coming out from the smoke stack on the ship. I believe the ship was called the DORA, but I have to check that out later. I have never been in contact directly with any relatives, but have written to the folks that live on the farm Anton, lived with his father Even Varpness. Anton was a fisherman in Norway, so he had a hard time trying to farm, so even if he had 80 acres of land west of Cottonwood, Minnesota, he sold it and worked as a farm laborer. They lived in a dugout the first year here in America." ************************* Sincerely, Thank you for your time - Andrea Nelson 501 Northwest Ave. Fisher, IL 61843) Feel free to post my email : Andrea.Nelson@mchsi.com ***Note from submitter: Besides surname VARPNESS, I am also researching WARSIK/WAROSIK. My grandmother Thora Varpness b: Nov 05, 1899 of Cottonwood, MN. married Andrew Anton Warosik. I am searching for their marriage record. So far it is my brick wall. Thora and Andrew's two son's (Robert Eugene and Andrew Clyde)were born in Hennepin Co., MN in 1924 and 1925. I have located my uncle and father's birth cert. but NOT my grandparents marriage record. I need that to help determine where Grandfather Warosik immigrated from. It is beleived Grandfather Warosik came from Austria or Poland. I am also searching for WW I papers. His tombstone down in Jacksonville Memory Garden's, Orange Park, Florida reads: Andrew Anton Warsik Minnesota SGT CO I INFANTRY WORLD WAR I SEPT 8 1892 APRIL 18, 1961