Duane's Red Book is the name my family has given to a paper that my
Uncle Duane Brees wrote as a college assignment in 1951 on his family history.
My copy is a xerox so I apologize if any of it is difficult to read, and for
the poor quality of the photos. If anyone has the original paper or photos I
would love to have them or scans of them so that I can post them here instead
- let me know. CLICK ON LINKS FOR SCANS OF ACTUAL PAGES.
Duane was the youngest child of Percy Brees & Cornelia Lunde. I have found
documentation for several statements Duane made about the Lunde family history,
but have found conflicting documentation to some of the statements about the
Brees history. I think the reason Duane had more accurate information on the
Lunde's & Vikers is because his Lunde grandmother (Ingeborg Viker Lunde)
lived until 1948, but his Brees grandparents (Solomon Brees & Sarah Jane
Thorn) both died in 1921-1922, so they had been deceased for 30 years when Duane
wrote this paper. (They died before Duane was born).
| Title Page | Title Page |
| Table of Contents | Table of Contents |
| Acknowledgments | Mr. & Mrs. P.O. Lunde are Peder "Pete" & Emma (Stoa) Lunde. Pete was the oldest son of Ole & Ingeborg Viker Lunde, and lived on a farm near them. Emma was very interested in both the Stoa and Lunde family histories, and wrote down the stories when Ingeborg Lunde was still alive so she got most of the information directly from Ingeborg. Emma wrote an address given at the Hayward, MN centennial that had a lot of the Lunde and Viker information in it that Duane includes in this paper. |
| Introduction | Introduction |
| Family Tree | NOTE: Duane lists his g-grandmother as Hanna Jenny Van Rinkle, and this is not correct. Her name was Hannah Van Winkle. Documentation: There is a record for Hannah Van Winkle's marriage to Lawrence Thorn in Benton, Yates Co., NY in 1835. In 1839 she is mentioned as Hannah with husband Lawrence in a Yates Co., NY deed book. Also Hannah's mother Margaret (Bush) Van Winkle is listed on several records with the last name spelled Van Winkle. Hannah's daughter Sarah Jane Thorn was definitely nicknamed Jenny - it is possible that Hannah also had that nickname as Hannah is the English version of the dutch name Jannetje. |
| Norwegian Names | LUNDE - English meanings of Lunde, Gravli,Viker and Onsgaard |
| Page 1 | LUNDE - Lunde family lineage, first 9 generations |
| Page 2 | LUNDE - Continuation of 9th generation Lunde. Note correction to death date of Richard Moe, son of Atlanta Lunde. He died in 1940. |
| Page 3 | LUNDE - This page begins a section that is an English translation of the book "Lundeaetten fra Aadalen Norge" (The Lunde Family from Aadalen Norway) |
| Page 4 | LUNDE - name & vocations. Footnote at bottom of page comments on Brees & Viker line both linking back to Normandy of France. This is probably not correct as it is not proven that our Brees line is through Sydney Brees. |
| Page 5 | LUNDE - capture of Axel Lowen, vocations |
| Page 6 | LUNDE - holidays, furniture, transportation |
| Page 7 | LUNDE - The Viker Church |
| Page 8 | LUNDE - Viker Church continued & emigration of Peder Lunde & Ole Viker |
| Page 8A | LUNDE - Map of Norway showing location of the different regions including Buskerud which is where Aadalen is. |
| Page 9 |
LUNDE - emigration continued, went from Quebec to Milwaukee WI via the Great Lakes. Note it says that the ship left Norway on May 1, 1850. I believe the date may have actually been May 11, 1850 - Ole Viker signed out of the Viker Church on May 6th and Peder & Else Lunde signed out on May 10th. There is a note on the back of Ole Viker's immigration papers with the date May 11th. Also it says they landed at Quebec - I think this is true but they were listed on the passenger list of the ship Christiane when it docked in New York on July 16, 1850. There is an account of a passenger on the 1851 voyage of the Christiane on the website http://www.norwayheritage.com/ships/christi.htm - in this account the passenger says her family got off at New York "then we were put on board quite a large and nice steamboat that took us up the Hudson River to Albany, and from there we were transported by the Erie to Buffalo, and from there we were carried by a steamer over the Lakes to Milwaukee, where we arrived about the 25th of July and there hired a man and a team to take us west into Rock County near Beloit,." The Christiane later made voyages to Quebec only - it is my belief that the Vikers & Lundes remained on the ship when it left NY and it continued up to Quebec before returning to Norway - but it is possible that the family stories are incorrect and they journeyed similar to the 1851 family. |
| Page 9A | LUNDE - Wisconsin |
| Page 10 | LUNDE - Peder Lunde & Endre Gulbrandson settle in Hayward, MN |
| Page 10A | LUNDE - Map - Iowa |
| Page 10B | LUNDE - Map - Minnesota |
| Page 11 | I am missing this page. Will add it when I get a copy. |
| Page 12 | LUNDE - Peder Lunde, Ole Lunde |
| Page 13 | LUNDE - Lunde picnics |
| Page 14 | LUNDE - Ole Viker early history & in Wisconsin. NOTE it says that Ole's parents were Nils Hanson Viker and Kari Rustad Viker. This is not completely correct - Nils Hanson was born and raised on the Rustand farm & Kari Thorsdatter was born & raised on the Viker farm, so according to Norwegian naming customs they were originally Nils Hanson Rustand and Kari Thorsdatter Viker. Nils came to live on the Viker farm after their marriage, and their children were born on the Viker farm so the children all had the Viker last name. Nils actually bought the Viker farm in 1824 (he sold it again sometime before 1861) and was then referred to as Nils Hanson Viker, but Kari never lived at Rustand to my knowlege. They may possibly have been referred to in Norway as "Nils & Kari Rustand" - the information on the names most likely came from Ingeborg Lunde, who was born in the US and never met her grandmother Kari. |
| Page 15 | LUNDE - Ole Viker early history in US. |
| Page 16 | LUNDE - Ole Viker marriage & emigration to Iowa & Watonwan Co., MN. Warned of upcoming Sioux uprising. |
| Page 17 | LUNDE - Ole Viker fleeing Watonwan Co., MN. They left in the summer 1862. The Sioux uprising actually occurred in the spring of 1863. Two of the men that Ole Viker had tried unsuccessfully to convince to flee with him were killed in the uprising. |
| Page 18 | LUNDE - Sioux uprising continued, Civil War, other places Ole Viker settled - these places and approximate dates have been confirmed and made more specific by census records, land patent records, etc.. |
| Page 19 | LUNDE - Children of Ole Viker - NOTE that Duane says there were 4 sons and then lists only 3 of them, Julius, Nils and Carl. The 4th son is listed on census records through 1880 as Theodore - I think that is an English version of Thor. Ole had a brother named Thor, and his maternal grandfather's name was Thor. I don't know what happened to Theodore - he disappears from family records after the 1880 census, and Cornelia's daughter Atlanta had never heard his name mentioned. Anyone with info on him let me know! |
| Page 19A | LUNDE - Duane's direct Lunde line |
| Page 20 | BREES - Brees lineage. No documentation of the link to Sydney Brees of Shrewsbury England has been found by researchers who have gone to England to search the actual records. I think the rest is accurate. |
| Page 21 | BREES - Continuation Brees lineage |
| Page 22 | BREES - Spelling of Brees name, Sydney Brees. Again, our connection to Sydney has not been backed up by original records. |
| Page 23 | BREES - Duane's theory that Brees may have originally been Norwegian. |
| Page 24 | BREES - Continuation of theory that Brees may have been Norwegian. |
| Page 25 | BREES - Children of John Brees & Dorothy Riggs, John Brees & Hannah Gildersleeve. Emigration to Horseheads, NY |
| Page 26 | BREES - Descendants of John Brees & Hannah Gildersleeve; Elias Brees & Deborah Bennett; John Breese & Mary Ann Moore. I tend to refer to the John Brees that married Mary Ann Moore as John III because he is the third John Brees in my direct line. Duane refers to him as John IV because there was a John Brees in each generation coming from the John Brees who married Dorothy Riggs, and he was the 4th generation. Elias had a brother named John, who married Mary Ann Truesdell, and Duane refers to him as John III because he was the 3rd generation. It gets confusing sometimes! |
| Page 27 | BREES - Solomon Brees, Percy Brees |
| Page 28 | BREES - Sydney Brees - see notes above on our connection to Sydney. |
| Page 28A | BREES - Map of England & Wales |
| Page 29 | BREES - John Brees I, John II. Emigrations of John I to Barnard Twp., Somerset Co., NJ. |
| Page 29A | BREES - Map New Jersey |
| Page 30 | BREES - Henry & Samuel Brees (brothers of John II), Revolutionary War service of the three brothers. |
| Page 31 | BREES - Rev. War service of Samuel Brees, cont. General Sullivan campaign and Horseheads, NY |
| Page 32 | BREES - Cont. history of Horseheads, NY. John II, Henry & Samuel Brees emigration to Horseheads. |
| Page 33 | BREES - Cont. emigration John II, Henry & Samuel |
| Page 34 | BREES - Samuel, John II |
| Page 34A | BREES - Map of Chemung Co., NY |
| Page 35 | BREES - John II, Elias. NOTE that it says that Elias never left Horseheads. This is not correct. Elias and all of his children except his son John, (who remained in Horseheads) left NY and settled in Fulton Co., OH and Lenawee Co., MI. . There was an address given by one of Elias' g-grandsons that states that Elias emigrated with William Rorick to Michigan in 1837 (three of Elias Breese's daughters married sons of William Rorick). Elias is living with his son Jacob W. Brees in Fulton Co., OH in 1850, and again living with Jacob's family and next door to another son Solomon Brees in Seneca, Lenawee Co., MI in 1860. .Elias died and is buried in Canandaigua, Medina Twp, Lenawee, Michigan. |
| Page 36 | BREES - Cont. of history of John who was son of Elias. Duane refers to him as John IV, or "Mountain John". There is some confusion as to how to number the many Johns in this family. Most refer to the original immigrant John, who married Dorothy Riggs, as John I, although if the old Brees chart is correct his father was named John also. The John Brees who married Hannah Gildersleeve and was one of the original settlers of Horseheads, NY is referred to by Duane as John II - Percy's line is through his son Elias, but he also had a son named John who Duane refers to as John III but some of the Horseheads histories refer to as John, Jr. Elias' son John is actually the third John in Percy's lineage, but Duane refers to him as John IV as he is in the 4th generation from the first John. This can be confusing, because Elias brothers John, Samuel & Lewis also each had sons that they named John Breese, all 4th generation Johns - and this doesn't include the additional descendants named John Breese in other lines from the original John. It is simpler for me to just number the Johns in Percy's line and refer to the John who was the son of Elias as John III. |
| Page 36A | BREES - Sketch of Brees log cabin & milk house |
| Page 37 | BREES - Solomon Brees |
| Page 38 | BREES - Continuation Solomon Brees, family moves to Todd Co., MN. I believe the whole section on Percy's history is very accurate as Percy and Cornelia were both alive when Duane wrote this paper so he was able to interview them directly and have them check what he wrote. |
| Page 38A | BREES - Map of Douglas & Todd Co., MN |
| Page 39 | BREES - Percy travels to Montana with "Grandpa" McClain |
| Page 40 | BREES - Percy meets Cornelia |
| Page 41 | BREES - Percy & Cornelia's marriage and early years. |
| Page 41A | BREES - Map trip from NY and MN to MT. Additional notes by Atlanta Brees. |
| Page 41B | BREES - Map Cascade Co., MT |
| Page 42 | Conclusion and grade - Duane got a 92 on the paper. |
| Photo Page 1 | Brees home in Grey Eagle, MN; Percy Brees' first house near Choteau, MT |
| Photo Page 2 | First home in Choteau after marriage; House on homestead - this home was also a store called Elwood and from August 27, 1919 to October 30, 1920 it was a U.S. Post Office called Breeston |
| Photo Page 3 | Percy in Model T touring car on homestead (hauling dirt from digging basement); Breeston postmark; 3120 Central Ave. in Great Falls, MT |
| Photo Page 4 | 3 photos of 3120 Central, Great Falls MT in 1934 and 1928 |
| Photo Page 5 | 3120 Central, Great Falls, MT in 1928 and 1939 |
| Photo Page 6 | 3217 Fourth Ave. North in 1945 and 1950 |
