5 See Theodore C. Blegen, Norwegian Migration to America: The American Transition (Northfield, MN: The Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1940), p. 481, and Odd S. Lovoll, A Century of Urban Life: The Norwegians in Chicago before 1930 (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), pp. 15 and 77.
6 Lovoll, p. 65.
7 A. T. Andreas, History of Chicago. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. In Three Volumes. Volume II – From 1857 until the Fire of 1871 (Chicago: The A. T. Andreas Company, 1886), p. 444. As it happened, the coroner’s jury – though concluding that «some wicked boys» were «accessory to the death» of little Knud – found no definitive evidence that the victim had been «purposely drowned» for his refusal to steal. The death was ruled accidental, and the plan for a monument abandoned.
8 See A. E. Strand, A History of the Norwegians of Illinois: A Concise Record of the Struggles and Achievements of the Early Settlers together with a Narrative of what is now being done by the Norwegian-Americans of Illinois in the Development of Their Adopted Country (Chicago: John Anderson Publishing Company, 1905), p. 217; Blegen, p. 434, and Lovoll, pp. 20–21, 54, and 93.
9 Lovoll, p. 82; Strand, p. 245.
10 Jean Skogerboe Hansen, «Skandinaven and the John Anderson Publishing Company», Norwegian-American Studies, Vol. 28 (1979), pp. 35–68.
11 Strand, p. 228 and 231‑33; Lovoll, pp. 5, 130–31, 184, and 186.
12 Strand, p. 180. At the time, Oslo was still known as Christiana.
13 Irving Cutler, Chicago: Metropolis of the Mid-Continent (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006), p. 74; Ann Durkin Keating, Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008), p. 174.
14 Pierce, p. 31. To be more precise, the percentage of arrests for Norwegians was 1.09 in 1880 and 1.26 in 1890. By way of comparison, the percentages for Germans were 11.84 in 1880 and 11.07 in 1890; for the Irish, 17.62 in 1880 and 10.33 in 1890.
15 According to genealogical records, Paul and Berit’s children were Marit Paulsdatter Størset, Peder Moen, Ole Paulsen, Olina Paulsdatter Størset (later Nellie Larson), Marit Leangvollen, Brynhild Paulsdatter Størset (the future Belle Gunness), and «one other», name unknown. See http://www.geni.com/people/Belle-Gunness/6000000010140315276.
16 Kjell Haarstad, letter to Janet Langlois, March 29, 1976, on file at the La Porte County Historical Society. See also Janet Langlois, Belle Gunness: The Lady Bluebeard (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1985), pp. 2–4.
17 M. S. Emery, Norway Through the Stereoscope: A Journey Through the Land of the Vikings (New York: Underwood and Underwood, 1907), pp. 197–98.
18 See Haarstad letter; Langlois, p. 2.
19 See Haarstad letter.
20 Langlois, p. 3; Emery, p. 97.
21 See Haarstad letter. Quoted in Langlois, p. 2.
22 See, for example, Sylvia Perrini, She Devils of the USA: Women Serial Killers (Goldmineguides.com, 2013), p. 58, and Ilene Ingbritson Wilson, Murder in My Family (Bloomington, IN: Trafford Publishing, 2004), p. 9.
23 Langlois, p. 3.
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1 Highly detailed information on the transatlantic crossing is available on the website Norway-Heritage: Hands Across the Sea, www.norwayheritage.com.
2 Ibid.; Odd S. Lovoll, «‘For People Who Are Not in a Hurry’: The Danish Thingvalla Line and the Transportation of Scandinavian Emigrants», Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Fall 1993), pp. 48–67.
3 All legal documents from this period show her name as Bella, including her marriage license to Mads Sorenson and the 1898 lawsuit she and Mads filed against the Yukon Mining & Trading Co. (see below, Note 23). Also see the article «Mrs. Gunness Changed Name», Chicago Daily Tribune, May 17, 1908, p. 5.
4 Odd S. Lovoll, A Century of Urban Life: The Norwegians in Chicago before 1930 (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988), p. 155.
5 Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie (New York: Bantam Books, 1958), pp. 17–18.
6 Chicago Examiner, May 7, 1908, p. 2.
7 Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1908, p. 1.
8 Most sources say Mads worked as a department store watchman (or detective). Others, however, describe him as a floor manager. See, for example, Indianapolis News, May 12, 1908, p. 8.
9 Marriage License of Anthon [sic] Sorenson and Bella Peterson, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago. For unexplained reasons, the certificate shows Bella’s age as twenty-nine and Mads’s age as thirty-four. For the Rev. Torgersen’s obituary, see «Cupid’s Noted Aid Dead», Chicago Daily Tribune, November 12, 1905, p. 8.
10 Langlois, p. 4.
11 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 7, 1908, p. 1.
12 Ibid.
13 Chicago Daily Journal, May 8, 1908, p. 1.
14 Langlois, p. 77.
15 Chicago Examiner, May 6, 1908, p. 2.
16 Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1908, p. 2.
17 Ibid.
18 Ann Jones, Women Who Kill (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1980), p. 137; La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 7, 1908, p. 1. Previous sources say that the Sorensons bought the Alma Street property in 1896. Records show, however, that it was purchased in September 1895. Moreover, Bella is listed as sole owner of the property. See tract book, vol. 106A, p. 196, Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Chicago, IL.
19 Caroline was born in March 1896; Myrtle on February 6, 1897; Axel in January 1898; and Lucy on Christmas Day, 1898.
20 La Porte Argus-Bulletin, May 6, 1908, p. 2.
21 By contrast, the US infant mortality rate in 2015 was fewer than six deaths for every one thousand live births. The causes of death for Caroline and Axel can be found in the official Records of Interments at the Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.
22 «Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company, Bill in Chancery, Filed June 3, 1898, Circuit Court of Cook County», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
23 «Bella Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company et al., Notice, Motion, and Affidavits of Hogenson, Anderson, & Rosenberg, Filed June 16, 1898, in Circuit Court, Cook County», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
24 «Bella Sorenson et al. vs. Yukon Mining & Trading Company et al., Copy of Decree», on file at the Circuit Court Archives, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois.
