Well, Here We Are!

Bans and Bertha Hanson and their children arrived in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Iron Range in 1892. John and Hulda Beck and their children arrived there in 1906. After they arrived, both families had more children and both lost some children. The four parents all worked very hard and made very little money. But they had dreams that their surviving children could have more comfortable lives if they could get an education which they had been denied. The two families were brought together in 1922 when the Becks' oldest son married the Hansons' oldest daughter--the first marriage for both families. Well, Here We Are! is a record of what is known about the ancestors and descendants of Bans and Bertha and John and Hulda. It is a remarkable story of how the dreams of four minimally educated people came true, largely as a result of their hard work and sacrifice, but even more because they succeeded in making their children believe in those dreams and passed them on to following generations.