Sevrin Gjerde & the English Plate

Sevrin Gjerde was my grandmother's brother.

Sevrin was born in Norway in 1871.

In 1899 he took over the Gjerde farm

from his brother Ole, who had immigrated to the United States.

Sevrin married Elen Olsdatter Borstad in 1901.

In December, 1901, Sevrin died.

He was only 30 years old.

Until recently, relatives in Minnesota believed that
Sevrinhad died as a result of a shipwreck.
The story that Esther & Mom told me was that
Sevrin had been to England.
While he was there, he bought a set of dishes
for his wife for Christmas. . .but on his way back to Norway
the ship sank and Sevrin died.
When items were retrieved from theship, the
dishes were brought to Elen.
According to Esther & Mom, that is
the story their mother told them.

Relatives in Norway are adamant that Sevrin

died at home, in his own bed, of pneumonia.

So how did the relatives here have

this information so wrong?

In December, 1901, there was a shipwreck off the

coast of Norway.

It is a fact that Sevrin had bought a set of dishes

to give Elen for Christmas and they were on the ship.

At about the same time, Sevrin came down with pneumonia and died.

It is very likely that grandma told the story to her children

and something was lost in the translation.  The children

heard "shipwreck" "Uncle Sevrin died" and

"dishes were later delivered to Elen."

Whatever the actual facts are,

it makes for an interesting story.

The plate pictured above is part of the set that

was retrieved from the ship.  Grandma's brother Ole

returned to Norway for a visit and brought it back for her.

The plate had a special place on the table each

Christmas - grandma would serve lutefisk on it!

Uff-dah!

I now have the plate, but I don't use it.

You can see it's cracked and in poor condition;

for an old plate, it has a pretty sad story!

Sticking with Traditions

Today I began decorating for Christmas.

Oh, I know - it's early,

but next week is going to be extremely busy.

It's actually later than you think:  the first Sunday in Advent

 is just two days away!

I thought maybe this year I would go out

and buy new ornaments - maybe update

a little bit - be a little more "modern."

Then I started looking at all my decorations.

Some of them can certainly be thrown away!

Some of them have lost their sparkle,

and some are plain falling apart.

But then I see an ornament that was my Mom's.

Must keep.

I come across little birds in a nest

that was given to me by the

Sunday School kids

at Hope Free Lutheran many years ago.

Must keep.

Then, there is one that Pam & Brian

gave me that they bought in Italy.

Must keep.

"I love Grandma" says  one from Drew.

A definite keeper.

There are ornaments that are from

Dodie and Kathy,

and some from Mom & Dad.

Some from my kids.

Must keep.

How about the ornament that Pam

made in kindergarten?

The one Lee made in kindergarten?

The one Amy made in kindergarten?

Must, must, must keep.

And so it went...

I only threw away the broken ornaments.

I will continue using my "old" ones,

keeping with my own tradition.

The memories -- and the tree

are beautiful!

Kindergarten projects!

The ornament on the left is a styrofoam ball with little pieces of

fabric glued on, and it was made by Pam.

The little pom-pom bear, with its wiggly eyes,  is the one Lee made.

Amy made the ornament on the right out of toothpicks

and a Christmas card.

This was one of Mom's ornaments.

Journey to America - Part II

Gunerius J. Melby 1854-1929

My grandfather, Gunerius J. Melby

immigrated from Norway to America in 1880.

Times were hard in Norway,

and although he possibly did not want

to leave his homeland,

he felt there was no other choice.

Gunerius' immigration certificate is dated

March 30, 1880.

His destination was "Chicago."

In April, 1880, Gunerius

boarded the ship "Tasso"

at Trondheim, Norway.

The ship was at the pier on

the river Nidelven.

Passengers began boarding,

but not all passengers boarded before

the low tide came.

As a result, the ship had to leave the pier

and wait for the rest of the

passengers in the fjord.

The remaining passengers took a ferry

from a floating pier.

There were several thousand people

who came to say good-bye to

friends and family.

The floating pier was connected

to land by a pontoon bridge

and the weight of all these people

was too much for the bridge
and it collapsed!

An estimated 200 people fell into

the channel when the bridge broke.

At the same time, two ferry boats

on their way to the ship were filled

with water by the heavy seas

and one of them sank.

Two people drowned and many were injured.

The ship finally left Norway and headed to

Liverpool, England.

At Liverpool, Gunerius board the ship

Lucania and headed for America.

Gunerius didn't stay in Chicago.

He settled in Minneapolis,

most likely meeting up with his brother, Sefanias,

who had come in 1879.

On March 24, 1884, Gunerius signed

a Certificate of Intent to become a

Citizen of the United States.

On this certificate he was

"to renounce forever all allegiances

and fidelity owed to the King of Norway."

In 1894, Gunerius made a return trip to Norway.

By this time, he was married with 3 small children.
His wife, children & mother-in-law remained
in Minneapolis.

[I learned of this trip through contacts in Norway

while working on my genealogy.]

Most likely, Gunerius returned to Norway to

visit his  ailing mother (she died in 1895).

When Gunerius returned to Minnesota,

his sister Maette came along and became

an American citizen also.

The second trip was not as eventful as the

departure in 1880!