Gathering in Aunt Rikka

A reflective family history narrative centered on Rikka Hanson Schuette James, a Norwegian immigrant whose life journey spanned hardship, resilience, and reinvention in America.

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A Story That Found Me

I grew up knowing that I was part German and part Norwegian.

I was told that my great grandfather, Hans Hanson, had come from Norway as a very small child. I imagined him alone on a ship, just two years old—brave baby Hans, wind in his Viking face, heading toward a new life in America.

But family history has a way of reshaping the stories we carry.

Hans did not come alone.

He traveled with his mother Carrie, his father Hans, and his sister Rikka. Together, they likely left Nordre Land, Oppland, Norway in the early 1880s and made their way inland—up the Erie Canal, across the Great Lakes, and on to Madison, Wisconsin.

That realization shifted everything.

This was not a story of a lone child—it was a story of a family.

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What We Know — And What We Don’t

The records give us structure, but not always certainty.

Rikka was born in Norway in 1879, though baptism records suggest 1878.

Her family emigrated when she was very young—likely between 1882 and 1884.

By 1900, she was living in Madison, Wisconsin, surrounded by family:

• her husband, Henry William Schuette
• their children
• her mother Carrie
• her brother Hans
• and a boarder, Edward James

Even within these details, questions remain. Dates shift slightly. Names evolve. Records contradict one another.

But the shape of her life becomes clear.

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Rikka as Storyteller

Rikka’s life is not dramatic in the way history books often define importance.

It is something quieter.

Something harder.

In May of 1904, her husband died of heart failure.
The very next day, her young daughter died during an operation.

She was twenty-five years old.

In a single moment, her life split in two.

What followed was not a dramatic rise or fall—but endurance.

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Survival

By 1905, Rikka was working as a laundress.
By 1910, she was working as an ironer in a laundry.

Her mother worked from home as a dressmaker.

They lived in a rented house on East Main Street in Madison, sharing space with another family and a boarder.

The women worked to survive.

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A Second Chapter

At some point after her mother’s death, Rikka remarried.

Her new husband was Edward James—the same boarder listed in the 1900 census.

He had become a naturalized citizen and served in the Spanish-American War.

By 1920, they had moved west to Venice, California.

Later, they settled in Alhambra.

They owned a home.

For the first time, there is a sense of stability in her life.

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Tracing Rikka’s Roots

Migration Path

• Born in Norway (Nordre Land, Oppland)
• Emigrated to the United States as a child (early 1880s)
• Settled in Madison, Wisconsin
• Later relocated to Venice, California
• Eventually established a home in Alhambra, California

Her journey mirrors a broader immigrant path—movement, adaptation, and reinvention across regions.

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What Remains

Rikka lived through loss more than once.

But her later years suggest something different.

She remained in her home in Alhambra for the rest of her life, with her son and grandson nearby.

She is buried beside Edward at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

I wonder if she stayed in touch with her brother Hans.

They came to America together as children.

But their lives diverged.

She found stability.

He lived on the margins.

The same journey—two very different paths.

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Legacy

Rikka’s legacy is not one moment.

It is continuity.

She carried her family forward through hardship, through work, through survival.

Her story connects Norway to Wisconsin to California.

And it reminds me that the stories we inherit are often only the beginning.

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Explore the Family Tree

Rikka Hanson Schuette James is part of a larger family network that includes the Hanson line from Norway and their descendants in the United States.

This branch connects directly through her brother Hans Hanson and forward through subsequent generations.

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Research and Records

Timeline

• 1879 — Birth in Norway
• 1882–1884 — Emigration to the United States
• 1897–1898 — Marriage to Henry William Schuette
• 1898 — Birth of daughter Margaritte
• 1900 — Birth of son Henry William
• 1904 — Death of husband and daughter
• 1905–1910 — Working as laundress and ironer
• 1910 — Living in Madison with mother and son
• 1918 — Edward James draft registration
• 1920 — Move to Venice, California
• 1926–1940 — Residence in Alhambra, California
• 1938 — Death of Edward James
• 1946 — Death in Los Angeles

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Notes on Sources

This narrative draws from multiple historical records, including:

• United States Federal Census (1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940)
• Wisconsin State Census (1905)
• Norway church and emigration records
• California Death Index
• Draft registration records (Edward James, 1918)
• City directories and family tree documentation

Some dates and details vary slightly across records. Where discrepancies exist, they have been acknowledged rather than resolved, preserving the integrity of the historical record.