Hans Martin & Amanda Katherine Flint

FLINT HANSEN SORENSEN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 8/27/2010 at 23:13:32

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Hans Martin and Amanda Katherine (Hansen) Flint
By Katherine Elaine Stansbury

Hans Martin Flint was born November 17, 1890, at Hartland, Wisconsin. His fatehr was Pastor Lars Peter Jensen Flint, born September 22, 1850, at Kirkesby on Fyen, Denmark. His mother, Karen Sorensen, was born near Odense, Denmark, in 1864, and died in 1960 at Long Beach, California. Martin (as he was known throughout his life) married Amanda Katherine Hansen, July 19, 1918, in Sioux City, Iowa. On July 24, 1918, he was inducted into the United States Army and was sent directly to France where he served in the A.E.F. Meuse Argonne Battle. He was discharged, May 18, 1919 and returned to Sioux City where he and Kate (Amanda Katherine) resided until 1941. They were the parents of two daughters who are Katherine Elaine born October 3, 1920, and Shirley Frances, born September 10, 1924. Katherine Elaine is married to Leo LaRoy Stansbury. They are the parents of Gary Leo, Wayne LaRoy and Milo Ray. Shirley Frances is married to Robert Dufraine Sells. They are the parents of Craig Robert, Barbara Jo Golshan and Dianne Collette Woods.

Martin had one sister, Gertrude, born in 1888 and three half-brothers. The half-brothers were sons of Pastor Flint and his first wife, Gertrude (Jensen) Flint. She died in 1885 in Chicago, Illinois. Pastor Flint then placed his children in an Orphanage in Chicago and later in a Danish Orphanage at Elkhorn, Iowa, wehre Flint had gone to serve. When he married Karen they settled in Hartland, Wisconsin, where he died in July 1890 when Martin was only six months old. Martin was nine or ten years of age when his mother took her two children to Denmark where they lived one and a half years with her father, Soren Larsen. Martin attended school at Elkhorn College in Elkhorn, Iowa. A grop picture in which Martin appears is dated 1908-09 appears to be a Graduation photo.

Martin first worked as a carpenter but diskliked the ladder climbing so became a Brick Mason and Contractor. Things went well for him and his family until the banks went broke. He was contracting att he time and had money in the bank to pay for all of his material bills and it seems that while lived in Sioux City he never fully recovered from his loss. He and Kate left Sioux City in 1941 for Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked six months as a Brick Layer on a Government project. From they went to Provo, Utah to work on anther Government Project. They then moved to Seattle, Washington, where he was employed by Boeing Aircraft in their Mock-up Department. The post-war years resulted in lay-offs at Boeing, so Martin returned to his trade as Brick Mason and did some contracting. His hobby had always been woodworking at which he was very good. He and Kate shared their love of golf and cards. Martin retired at the age of sixty-five with poor health due to emphesemea. He died March 19, 1965, at the age of seventy-five years old.

Amanda Katherine was born February 2, 1890, in Sioux City, Iowa, and was a resident of Sioux City until she and Martin left in 1941. She was the second of six children born to Danish Immigrants, Synik Johan and Maren (Hermansen) Hansen. Kate’s youngest sister, Clara, is married to Deloss Issacson and they live in Salem, Oregon. Kate had to go to work, as did her older sister, to help with the family income after completing their eight grade education. She worked form 1905 to 1907 at the G.W. Cereal Company, as a labler and packer. She then attended National Business Training School and became bookkeeper for Ogden’s Produce which was located on Pearl Street in Sioux City. While living in Seattle, Washinton, she resumed her bookkeeping career with Sears Roebuck Company, where she worked a number of years. Kate was always a hard-working, uncomplaining woman and loved and took pride in her yard, flowers and garden. She died June 8, 1974, of carcinoma of the bladder. She and Martin are both buried at Seattle, Washington.