Queer Places:
Meadowview Cemetery
Manhattan, Gallatin County, Montana, USA
Ingebjorg Amundsdatter Viko aka Sammy Williams (1840 - December 10, 1908) died of apoplexy in Manhattan, Montana, on December 10, 1908. He was reportedly between sixty-eight and eighty years old. Upon preparation for Williams’s burial, a “deathbed discovery” was made: the body was female.
Ingebjorg Amundsdatter Viko was born in Hallingdal, Norway. Near the same place a young man, Sven Narum, was born. They grew up together and during school days formed a most intimate friendship. Their friendship ripened into love and they became engaged to be married. Before the wedding day, however, Sammy's parents took their family and moved to American and settled in Iowa. Sven Norem also moved and the wedding day was set and Sammy began making preparations to be married. At this time Norem's mother objected and refused to allow her son to marry Sammy because she insisted the girl was not high enough in society to become the wife of her boy. Sven then broke the engagement at his mother's wish.
Sammy never recovered from the blow. At the time she suddenly disappeared from home and no trace of her was found for years. Soon after a "Billy" Williams appeared in Eau Claire, Wis. This is supposed to have been about the time of the discovery of gold in California. "Billy" obtained work as a cook, and it is said could draw a larger salary than any other cook in that part of the country. On account of his skill as a cook "Billy" came to be called "Billy Cook." He worked in Wisconsin for over 30 years and acquired a large amount of property. He also spoke Norwegian, German, English and Indian fluently.
After a number of years it began to be suspected in Wisconsin that "Billy" was not a man, but a woman. During the early 80s a family moved to Eau Claire from Allamakee county, Iowa and met "Billy." This family knew the circumstances of the disappearance of the young Wekan girl and felt sure that "Billy" was this girl. They sent word to the old mother in Iowa, who was still longing for her lost dauaghter, and one of the Wekan boys went to Wisconsin to see "Billy". He recognized his sister in disguise and tried to persuade her to return home. "Billy" refused and the brother then told the story of her departure from home.
When the affair became know in Wisconsin, "Billy" decided to come west and disposed of all her belongings. For several years she cooked in North Dakota, at the Dalrymple farms, and then came to Manhattan (Montana) and located. When she arrived there she changed her name to "Sammy" Williams and has since been known by that name.
Sammy Williams had lived in Gallatin County, Montana, for eighteen years. At first, he was hired on as a cook at the Heeb Ranch just outside Manhattan, Montana. By the time of his death, he had accumulated an estate that included over three hundred acres of land. Apart from the occasional joke about his lack of facial hair, no one had suspected anything, so his death prompted a number of questions. A local resident who remembered seeing him many years earlier in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, wrote to the Chief of Police in Eau Claire in an attempt to gather more information. He received prompt confirmation that Sammy had lived in Wisconsin in the 1870s, but had gone by the name Billy.
Williams was described as short and stout, with black hair, a soft voice, and a slight hunchback. He was “strong as an ox,” and drank, smoked, chewed, and cursed like the rest of his friends. Though his friends admitted to not knowing much about his past, their recollections of Sammy/Billy were positive. He was very popular, respected, and charitable. Many recounted his frequent donations to the poor and visits to the sick or elderly. He was “always willing to lend a hand.” Others recalled that “he never hesitated to go out with the lumberjacks and spend money in the saloons.” He was “a great ladies man” who liked to take the girls out dancing. Letters found among his personal effects revealed that he had several love affairs with women over the years.
On December 12, 1908, Williams was laid to rest. His friends organized the funeral service and collected money for a granite headstone that still stands in Manhattan’s Meadowbrook Cemetery today. The tombstone reads: A female whose real name is unknown, but who has been for many years known as Sammy Williams. Died December 10, 1908, Age about 68 years.
On December 23, 1908, Justice C. J. Odell of Manhattan, Montana, received another letter from Chief of Police O'Brien of Eau Claire, Wis., which stated that Sammy's right name was Ingeborge Viko and that she has a brother residing at Dalby, Wis., named Ole Viko.
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