Brooklyn Township Family: Searching Connection with the Eidems

My mother had a cousin who married an Eidem so I was checking out the Eidem family; I knew the City of Brooklyn Park had restored the Eidem Farm and so I was curious if there were more connections.  I subscribe to newspaper archives of the Star Tribune (1) and hit on this announcement:

Transcribed: Golden Wedding is Celebrated on Farm Home of Many Years

On the same farm where they settled nearly half a century ago, Mr. and Mrs. John H Eidem of Brooklyn Township, Hennepin County, celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding last week.  Mr. and Mrs. Eidem were married at Selby, Norway, on June 21st 1864. Two years later they emigrated to America, traveled overland to reach the fertile farming regions of Minnesota and settled at once at the place now known as Brooklyn Township. They have made their home on a farm at that place ever since.  8 children, all but one of them came all the way from Montana for the occasion, several grandchildren and Mr. Eidem’s brother and three sisters, two of whom live in North Dakota, attended the celebration. There were also a large number of other relatives and friends.  Mr. Eidem is 72 years old and, with the exception of failing eyesight, is enjoying good health.  His wife, who is 68, is in good health and works daily as actively as she did in her younger days.  They have 14 children, eight of whom are living.  There are 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. [ed. Selbu is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. Star Tribune 28 Jun 1914, Sunday Page 15]

So, referring to our reference map from 1873....I am not seeing it right off the bat; referring to our reference township directory from 1881...it says 100 acres in section 4; I am looking at section 4 and it does not show him on the map. Maybe he was renting in 1873.

Referring to the Hennepin County wiki I will look at other maps; first to the table of contents so I can get directly to the maps; I am choosing the 1887 Map of Ramsey and Washington counties : with adjacent portions of Anoka, Dakota & Hennepin counties, Minnesota, and parts of St. Croix & Pierce counties, Minnesota at Library of Congress. And here he is on the 1887 map of section 4; the section aligns Champlin Township.

Some of the Eidems are buried in Champlin, but most are in Mound Cemetery, Brooklyn Center.  Looking at findagrave.com....whoa: seven 'John Eidem' have memorials at this site.  He is memorial ID 44247965.  Sometimes I make suggestions to expand or correct the information at findagrave.com, but, my first priority is to check information posted at familysearch.org. John Eidem is ID G9XL-79N at familysearch.org. That is where I like to do my genealogy work and post results; like a puzzle I love making connections with the records and finding a story. 

For the genealogy of John Eidem, I added information gathered from the Minneapolis City Directories that are online at Hennepin County Public Library.  John did not live on the farm during the last ten years of his life. in 1918 the couple moved to 2423 Aldrich Ave North Minneapolis; Christian, Julius, and granddaughter Alice also lived with them. [today this is a vacant lot] When John died, on November 30, 1928,  he was staying with his daughter at 3323 Dupont Ave N. His obituary, published on December 2, 1928 in the Minneapolis Journal, contains multiple clues (in addition to the anniversary notice) of John's ancestors and descendants. Here it is:

This blog is focused on Brooklyn Township, so rather than explore John's genealogy here [that work will be on familysearch.org] my next step is going to be life on the Eidem Farm, a historical site preserved by the City of Brooklyn Park.  That step will another blog post. 

I did discover that the cousin aforementioned at the start of this blog, had married Julius Eidem,[LRD8-X86 at familysearch.org] they had a daughter 5 months later, and were divorce after 3 years. Julius was the son of John and Ingeborg, and he came to an unfortunate death at age 50: a train accident in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[Mound Cemetery register; personal collection]

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There is no need to have a subscription for articles prior to 1930 as they are free online at the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub via the MN Historical Society's website; 1867 - 1930.  My cost for the Star-Tribune full subscription is $29.95 for 6 months.