Proof that the Bessesen family was once a prominent part of life in Albert Lea can be seen on a one building on South Broadway Avenue.

Saturday, March 02, 2002

Proof that the Bessesen family was once a prominent part of life in Albert Lea can be seen on a one building on South Broadway Avenue. In fact, another nearby building and a historic home overlooking Fountain Lake were also once associated with this family. Yet, only one of these three structures still has a definite connection with this pioneer family.

Several buildings in the city’s central business district still have the year of construction or the original occupant displayed near the roof line or parapet. One example is the First National Bank building at the corner of Broadway and East William Street (now occupied by Drs. Niles R. and Christopher N. Shoff). And across the street and to the south at 208 S. Broadway Ave. is a two-story white brick building with the Bessesen name very visible in raised letters just under the parapet on what’s sometimes known as the name plate.

The Bessesen name became a part of Freeborn County history in 1870. That’s the year John Bessesen and his wife Delia moved to a farm in Freeman Township about five miles south of Albert Lea.

John Bessesen was born on May 25, 1847, in Bergen, Norway. He attended school until the age of 14, then learned the jewelry and watchmaking trades, In 1867, John and his parents came to the U.S. and settled in Madison, Wis. He married Delia Vehum in 1869. The following year they and his parents moved to Freeborn County.

In 1873 the Bessesens moved to Albert Lea and John made the switch from farming back to the jewelry business. In the late 1870s the family lived in Northwood, Iowa, for two years, then returned to Albert Lea.

John had a new building constructed for his jewelry store at 208 S. Broadway Ave. in 1885. And prior to 1899, the family, which by this time had the addition of four sons, lived on South Pearl Street.

About 1900, the Bessesen family moved to 310 Cherry St. and lived at this address until 1920 or 1922, depending on which historical source is used. (Note: what was once called Cherry Street is now North Washington Avenue. The home at 310 is now the Fountain View Inn Bed and Breakfast, presently owned by Bonita Moeller.)

John Bessesen sold his jewelry store to Wilhelm Braaten, the &uot;King of Diamonds,&uot; in 1920 and moved to Minneapolis. His wife, Delia, died on Oct. 30, 1927.

He died on March 19, 1930.

The Bessesens had four sons who graduated from Albert Lea High School. Two sons, N. Dan and Henry J., became attorneys. The other two sons, Alfred N. and William Aaron, became medical doctors. In time, the four sons made their homes in Minneapolis.

Their one son most closely associated with Albert Lea and the person responsible for the construction of one of the city’s most interesting buildings was Dr. William A. Bessesen.

After graduation from Albert Lea High School, he received a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1902, and both a master’s degree and a medical degree from Northwestern University of Chicago, Ill. In 1905, he was a physician at St. John’s Hospital in Fargo, N.D., worked a few months more with the Mayo Brothers in Rochester, and returned to Albert Lea in November 1906.

Several older issues of the city directory lists the doctor’s home address as being the same as that of his parents, 310 Cherry St. His medical office was at 208 S. Broadway Ave., likely on the second floor above his father’s jewelry store. During his years in Albert Lea, Dr. Bessesen was the doctor for the employees of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad in the Albert Lea area.

Just when and where Dr. Bessesen met Beatrice Gjertsen of Minneapolis seems to be a now-unknown detail. It likely came about because of their Norwegian ancestry and a place known as the Odin Club of Minneapolis. And that’s where the couple were married on Jan. 4, 1915.

During her lifetime, Beatrice Gjertsen Bessesen was given the honorary title of Mme. (madame). This came about because of her prior education as a singer at the University of Minnesota and in Europe, and her status as a prima donna in the royal opera at Weimar, Germany, for several years. She came back to the U.S. just prior to the start of World War I in mid-1914.

In 1916, Dr. Bessesen decided to have a combination of opera house and music conservatory built at 224 S. Broadway Ave., just to the south of his father’s jewelry store and his medical office. This three-story building, designated as the B.B. Theater (a name based on his wife’s initials) may have been a wedding or maybe a birthday gift. Anyway, the structure became the center of the city’s cultural life. It was a place where Mme. Bessesen could present operatic selections, have rehearsal facilities, and give music lessons.

The doctor’s family left Albert Lea in either 1920 or 1922, again depending on the historical reference used, and moved to Minneapolis.

The home on Cherry Street (now North Washington Avenue) became the domicile for another family. The jewelry store had a new owner. And the opera house was given a new mission. It became the Rivoli Theater until 1975, the the Rivoli Mini-Mall in 1977, and converted into the present Albert Lea Art Center in 1986.

Beatrice Bessesen died in September 1935. Her husband, Dr. William A. Bessesen died on Aug. 14 1954. They are buried in Minneapolis.