Born Gabriel Hartman Bedsvaag (or Bedsvåg or Bedsvog) in the village of Vemundvik, Norway on 23 May 1909, the fourth child of sea captain Jon J. Bedsvaag and his wife Petra Bedsvaag (c1879-?), he came to Canada in 1926 with his mother and siblings after the death of his father. He became a farm labourer and used the name Gabriel Hartman.
By the time of the 1931 federal census, he was living at 98 Harrowby Avenue in St. Vital and working as a painter with the Winnipeg Electric Company. On 29 June 1940, he married Margretha Blanche “Margaret” Nelson (1916-1996, daughter of contractor Carl Nikolai Nelson) in St. James and they started a construction business with Margretha as bookkeeper. They had one son, David Ole Hartman.
He worked in St. James as a building contractor, employing over 100 people and responsible for the construction of hundreds of single-family homes along with several apartment blocks along Portage Avenue, including the Hartman Apartments A, B, and C (1952) and The Capri Apartments (1955).
In 1963, the family moved to Miami, Florida where he died on 21 January 1991.
1931 Canada census, Ancestry.
Marriage registration [Gabriel Bedsvag Hartman, Margaret Blanche Nelson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Recent bride is guest of honor at linen shower,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 July 1940, page 28.
“Pioneer contractor C. N. Nelson dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 August 1959, page 31.
Obituary [Margit Sofie Nelson], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 February 1982, page 49.
Social Security Death Index, Ancestry.
Obituary [Margaret Blanche Hartman], Miami Herald, 28 May 1996.
This page was prepared by Harry Duckworth and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 25 March 2026
Memorable Manitobans
This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.
Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text:
Custom SearchBrowse surnames beginning with:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | ZBrowse deaths occurring in:
1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.caCriteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements
Help us keep
history alive!
