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Ahlberg

Andrew Ahlberg (née Anders Johannesson) was born in Sweden. In 1882, he immigrated to the United States with his friend Elias Friberg. They went to work in the coal mines of Oswalt, Iowa. Andrew and Elias rented a place together. Maria Sophia was also born in Sweden. She immigrated to Des Moines in 1884 and found a job as a maid in a hotel. She met Andrew over dinner at her cousins’ home. They married and settled in Oswalt, where Maria gave birth to their first two children: Anna and John. Elias boarded with them. In 1890, Andrew was developing Black Lung from his work in the coal mines, so they decided to move to Des Moines where he could farm in the open air. Five more children were born – two died. The family moved to Fox Island in 1906, where they stayed with their friends, the Wahlquists, from Iowa. They purchased a house, but Andrew was not content because he couldn’t get anywhere without rowing a boat. Two years later, they bought an 18-acre farm at Warren, Gig Harbor. It was planted with strawberries, until weevils destroyed the crop in 1915. Andrew expanded the orchard, adding cherries, peaches, walnuts and loganberries. Andrew and Maria’s daughter, Anna, married Clifford Pearson. (source: Barbara Pearson) GHPHS

Alvestad

Peter Alvestad was born Peter Peterson on the Island of Alvestad, Norway. He changed his surname to his birthplace, a practice common to many immigrants. He arrived to the United States in 1906 and worked on a farm in Minnesota before coming to Tacoma. There he met and married Karen Kahrs. Karen was born in Bergen, Norway. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1905 with her stepmother, Anna Nyhammer, her stepbrother Jacob, and her stepsister Martha. Peter and Karen moved to Gig Harbor in 1911 and purchased 20 acres of land in Crescent Valley. The property had recently been logged and needed to be cleared. They raised chickens and grew berries on a small farm. For many years, Peter worked as a pile-driver for Alaska Packers at Point Roberts, Washington. In 1934, Peter became the buyer for Olympia Canning Company. The business was located on the public dock in north Gig Harbor, near today’s Anthony’s restaurant. The cannery purchased all varieties of berries and cherries which were transported to Olympia by boat. Peter served on the local school board for 20 years and as a director of the Peninsula Light Company. His grandson, Paul, is a board member of PenLight today. Peter and Karen had four children: Margaret, Helen, Paul and Bernhard. Margaret served as postmistress in Wauna from 1945-1974. Helen worked for Boeing for several years. Son Paul was postmaster for Gig Harbor from 1961-1981. Peter’s brother, Klaus Alvestad, arrived in the U.S. two years after Peter. After settling in Gig Harbor, he became the owner and operator of the halibut fishing boat named “Yellowstone.” In later years, he retired to his ten acre farm in Crescent Valley with his wife Laura. (source: A History of Pierce County Washington, Paul Alvestad) GHPHS

Ancich

In the early 1900s, two men named Ancich, Peter and Martin, left Croatia for America. Though not directly related, they both found their way to Gig Harbor, became fishermen, and built net sheds along the same stretch of shoreline. Peter and his wife Kate had five children: Cecelia, John, Joseph, Peter Jr. and Mary. Peter’s first boat, a purse seiner named “New World,” was moored off a piling at the family property on Harborview Drive until a net shed and dock were built in the 1920s. The net shed and modest house were destroyed by fire, so Peter built another net shed (next to the location of the first) and a second home up the street on Stinson. As his sons grew into adulthood, Peter groomed them for a life of fishing. He partnered with Pete Skarponi in the constuction and operation of second a purse seiner named “Invader.” When Peter’s son John was old enough to operate the boat himself, father and son bought Skarponi’s share. John fished for nearly 60 years. Peter and his 2nd son Joe ran the sardiner “Mary Joe” for two season. Eventually, they too purchased a boat together, the purse seiner “Voyager.” The Voyager was considered one of the most productive local boats throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Peter’s 3rd son, Peter Jr., was part of the family business as well. He crewed for a number of vessels and rebuilt the family net shed in the 1950s. By the mid-1990s, the family property and business fell to John Ancich Jr. (John’s son) who continued the fishing tradition. Tragically, in 2001, John Jr. died on his purse seiner the “Heritage.” He is one of eight brave fishermen from Gig Harbor memorialized on the fisherman’s statue in Skansie Brothers Park – a tribute to those who lost their lives at sea. When John Sr. died in 2003, his friend and fellow fisherman Frank Ivanovich was designated executor of the family estate. Frank sold the net shed in 2005 to Bruce Steele of the Rainier Yacht Club. Today, the Ancich-Rainier net shed is inactive, yet still stands as one of the 17 historic net sheds remaining on the harbor. GHNSS

Martin Ancich was not an immediate relative of Peter, yet the parallels between their lives are many. Martin married Anna Steka, who immigrated from Croatia with her mother and sisters when Anna was just six years old. Martin and Anna had six children: Antone, Rose (Tarabochia), Jack, Nick, Kay (Franich) and George. Martin established himself in the fishing industry and, in 1908, partnered with Lee Makovich Sr. to build and operate the 45 ft. seiner “Sokol” and later the 50 ft. “Mermaid II.” In 1927, Martin built the 66 ft. “George A.,” named for his youngest son. Tragically, Martin died that same year. Left a young widow, it was up to Anna to keep the family business going. She hired Johnnie Ross to skipper the George A. Ross in turn hired Anna’s son Jack as crew. By 1937, Anna commissioned a vessel of her own, the “Anna A.” – a 75 ft. sardine boat. A woman negotiating contracts, chartering fisheries and leasing commercial boats was unheard of at the time, but Anna held her own for the family. By 1940, Anna’s son Antone was running the Anna A for sardines in San Pedro. Her youngest son George learned to fish the “the Trap” along the San Juan Salmon Banks with his brother-in- law, Nick Tarabochia. Years later, George and his sister Rose (Tarabochia) leased the family dock and net shed to the U.S. Coast Guard. Today, George Ancich and his nephew, Nick Tarabochia Jr., still own the property. Currently, the net shed is partitioned for use as an office and an art space for George’s daughter Lita Dawn Stanton. GHNNS

Austin

Charles Osgood Austin moved to Tacoma from his native New Hampshire with his parents, William and Rachel, in 1889. His father operated a mill across Carr Inlet on the Longbranch Peninsula at Vaughn. Young Charles was eager to learn the trade. He worked at sawmills in Centralia and Maltby, until he was he was ready to branch out on his own. With a growing community of fishermen and farmers, Gig Harbor needed a steady supply of lumber. In 1909, he approached John Novak who leased Charles the land (today’s Donkey Creek Park) on which he established the C.O. Austin Lumber Mill, a lumber, shingle and log homes business. Charles moved to Gig Harbor, where his business flourished and he became a fixture in the community. In 1946, he was popularly elected to the new City Council. However, his post was short lived. Four days before Christmas that same year, Charles died in a tragic accident at the mill. The Austin Estuary, located at the mouth of Donkey Creek, is named in his honor. GHPHS, BK/99 & 208