The Black Tin Box

My grandfather, John Dahlager died in 1936, long before I was born.

He had a little black tin box that locked.

He kept some important papers in there.   

In 1921 Grandpa bought a Maxwell (car).

This is the receipt for the tax and registration.

He hated the car, by the way.

In 1955 Grandma wrote to her church in Norway to get

a copy of her confirmation certificate.   She

kept it in the little black box of grandpa's.

It is interesting to note that the day of her birth is shows as March 28, 1872.

She always said her birthday was March 29.

Wonder who was right??

The mortgage note from their place in Des Lacs, North Dakota.

They moved to Dalton in 1908.

Grandma did not like living in North Dakota.

This is the document in the "Matter of the Estate of 

Christopher J. Dahlager"  (my grandpa's father)

One of the notes regarding the payment to Lewis Bothun.

Grandpa purchased his farm south of Dalton from him.

The note is marked, "Paid in Full" and is dated March 19, 1908.

When my grandparents decided to move back to Dalton from

Des Lacs, North Dakota, they had an auction sale.

This is the actual list of the items sold at the auction

and how much they sold for.  This was in 1908.

Grandpa was an auditor for Tumuli Township.

This page is one of several that shows the name of the

resident and the amount of tax.

Other things in this tiny black box:

A handwritten obituary about my grandpa's death.

Many bank notes marked "paid"/

Records of baptisms and confirmations of grandpa's siblings (written in Norske).

Mortgage Deeds.

Promissory Notes.

Memorandum of Agreement (following the death of my great-grandma).

Signatures of both Grandpa & Grandma are found on many of these items.

Interesting stuff....worthless, probably....but interesting!

Great Grandparents

This is Christopher Dahlager - my great-grandfather.

Mom told how she thought her grandpa was so special.

He had fun with his grandchildren, teasing them,

tickling their faces with his mustache.   Mom also said she was

so proud of her grandpa when he would read Scripture or

lead the Sunday worship service.    He was diabetic and saved all the little bottles

of his medicine to give the grand-daughters to play house with.

In  1918, at the age of 64, Great-grandpa died of complications

associated with diabetes.

This is great grandma Sigrid Dahlager on her 85th birthday.

Sigrid came to American from Norway when she was 16.

Considering she was young when she arrived, it is

surprising that she never leaned to speak English very well.

Norwegian was spoken in her home and both English and

Norwegian were spoken in my Mom's home.  (Both my

parents spoke Norwegian very well.)

Sigrid died in 1943.

Sigrid  (aka Sigri) and Christopher had 10 children.

All of their children have long passed away, but there

are quite a few grandchildren still living,

and a ton of great-grandchildren.

Some Old Family Photos

Esther & Mabel Dahlager

I had not seen this photo before of my Mom & Esther.

I think I found it in Esther's stuff.

From Left to Right:  Noble, John & Ole Dahlager

John Dahlager (in the middle) was my Grandfather.

Looking Back

Main Street in Dalton - Early 1900's.

Although it looks different now,  most of these

buildings looked pretty much the same into the 1960's.

Actually,  I think the town was better looking then!

My little blog is acting up a bit today -

the number of pageviews has re-set itself for some reason!?

Oh well!

Sarpsborg

Replica of Sarpsborg Church 

Organized in 1872 - Destroyed by fire in 1986

Replica was built by Gilbert Odegaard and

was presented in memory of former Sarpsborg members.

Sarpsborg Church - this is the second

church building - built in 1892.

I have strong ties to Sarpsborg -

I was baptized there.

My great-grandparents, grandparents,

uncles, aunts and Mom were all members there.

My parents were married there.

I always considered Sarpsborg my

"Second Church"