Laura Haldorsen (nee Morton) was born on 11 March, 1904 in Branoy Wine, Virginia. She was the daughter of Virginia born Thomas W. Morton (b. 1860) and New Jersey born Laura Shell or Shull (b. 1865). Laura was the youngest of seven children, Fannie (b. 1890), Thomas W. Jr. (b. 1892), Willie (b. 1894), Ella (b. 1896), Harry (b. 1898) and Frank (b. 1901). Laura’s mother died sometime between 1905 and 1910, and the fact that she shared the same name with her youngest daughter suggests it may have been during or soon after childbirth.
Laura’s father worked as a farmer, owned his own home and had attended school. Of all the children, Laura, Fannie and Thomas were the only formally educated siblings, although the remaining children could read and write.
In early 1914, Laura’s sister Ella contracted tuberculosis and passed away on September 23 of the same year. She was 17 years old and a few days’ shy of her 18th birthday. Laura was buried on September 21, 1914, her undertaker was recorded as ‘friends’.
By 1920, Laura’s eldest sister Fannie had left the family home, and Thomas W. Jr, Harry, Frank and Laura who were now 24, 18, 14 and 13 respectively. All were single and Laura’s brothers were working as laborers on the family farm. Frank would go on to marry Anna Jeter sometime between 1920-30, and eventually move to Delaware.
By 1940 Laura was 35 years old and had moved to 49th Street, New York where she was living with her husband, Norwegian born Lief Haldorsen. The couple shared their home with three Lodgers-Loretta, Betty and Bernard. Lief worked as a painter and Laura was unemployed.
Sadly, little is known about Laura’s life post-1940. She passed away at the NYU Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn on July 5, 1997 at the age of 92. She is buried on Hart’s Island.
Sources:
1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Bowling Green, Caroline, Virginia; Roll: T624_1624; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 1375637.
1900 United States Federal Census Bowling Green, Caroline, Virginia; Roll: 1702; Page: 10A; Enumeration District:0017; FHL microfilm: 1241702.
1920 United States Federal Census Bowling Green, Caroline, Virginia; Roll: T625_1884; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 19; Image: 62
Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Ancestry.com. Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia.
U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.