Mailed in a plain wrapper

I was glancing through my magazine the other day and read a full page ad for a hearing aid.

It promised to be better than those expensive ones...

No hearing test required...And the price was "affordable."

The ad bragged that no one would see

your hearing device when you wear it....

And they would ship it to your home in a

plain, unmarked package!

Well, how tempting!

The mailman won't know I have ordered a hearing aid,

but he will probably think I have ordered some

x-rated materials!

Actually, I do have a hearing aid already,

but should really have one in each ear.  

Someday.

But what is it with the stigma on hearing loss?

Although I don't want a hearing aid that it huge and has

a long wire with a battery on it, why must it be 

a "secret" that one has a hearing aid?

When I got mine, people told me,

"I can't even see it."

{They didn't say that when I got glasses;

For some reason, glasses get compliments.}

Since I have had a hearing loss most of my life, I have

experienced the social stigma it carries.

Time to remove the stigma and the plain brown wrapper.

Thinking of Grandma

The other day as I was driving home, I was listening to

some Mozart, and I was reminded of my Grandma.

I don't know why Mozart reminded me of Grandma.

I don't even know if she liked Mozart's music.

I don't think we ever listened to Mozart at her place.

I think it was the tune that sounded more Scandinavian

that German (or was it Austrian) to me.

[And a beautiful sunset surely contributed.]

Funny how music triggers one's memory.

I don't remember grandma being active;

she was nearly blind and her hearing was impaired.

But in the car that day, I was imagining her bustling

about in her kitchen with her family.

I began thinking of my Mom and her siblings.

And Grandpa (who died before I was born).

Imagining what is was like in the "olden days" on the farm.

I had visions of her in Norway, 

tending cattle on the mountain.

The beautiful music reminded me of the beauty

of Geirangerfjord, which was near Grandma's birthplace.  

By the time I got home, the music had stopped

and my rambling mind returned to the present.

But it was a pretty good ride home.

MONS GJERDE

This is my great-uncle, Mons Gjerde. He was my

Grandma, Elsie Dahlager's brother.  

Grandma & Mons both immigrated from Norway.

Mons was married to Christine Dahlager

Grandma was married to Christine's brother, John Dahlager.

Mons was a Lutheran pastor, serving in Minnesota,

Wisconsin, Washington and South Dakota.

My grandpa John died unexpectedly in October, 1936

Three days after John's death, Mons died very suddenly.

How strange that these men, who had married each other's sibling

had died so close together.

I

Family Get-Togethers

This photo is of my Dahlager relatives on the occasion of

my great-grandmother's birthday -circa 1930

she is shown with her grandchildren and I suspect

some of these are her great-grandchildren.   What fun to

have these old pictures!  And I am so glad that the

Dahlager family were VERY good at taking pictures!

his photo was taken this past summer at a Melby Family reunion

when our relatives from Norway came to visit.  It was great fun!

Seems like we should have get-together more often, though.........

instead of waiting for funerals, or 80th birthday parties.

Seems like relatives and friends got together more oftenwhen I was young than they do now - 

and I think it's too bad that so many of us are too busy to take time for this.

When I was young, relatives visited on Sunday afternoon unannounced

....and Mom was always prepared!   

Sad to say, if someone pops to see me  tomorrow, 

I probably wouldn't have anything more than coffee

 and my house would not be "company ready"

Oh, how things have changed! 

The farm my great grandparents lived on

 Great-grandparents Christopher & Sigrid Dahlager

lived on a farm by Clear Lake, just south of Dalton.

Here are a couple of photos.

This photo was taken during threshing -

I don't know the date of the picture, but maybe

in the 1920's.

My great grandpa died in 1918 and great grandma died in 1942,

so I never knew them.  

My mother used to tell me what a nice place

they had - with beautiful lilacs, and other flowers.

There was even a stone path to the outhouse and

great-grandma plated flowers along the path.

The buildings are all gone now.

Weddings

Thinking about weddings lately - since my daughter

is engaged!   Here are a few photos of

family weddings from long ago.

My grandparents, John & Elsie

Married in 1898

My aunt Palma & uncle Carl

Married in the 1920's

\

My great Uncle Mons & Great Aunt Christine

Married in 1897

My parents - married in 1930

At Grandma's House

Dodie, Me, Jim

Alice, Orion, Christopher, Mabel

Grandma, Palma, Esther

Came across these old pictures this evening. 

They were taken at Grandma's house at Christmas a long time ago,

maybe around 1955.

The photos bring memories of going to Grandma's

each Christmas Eve.

But I was also reminded of the decor in Grandma's

living room.    The wallpaper had ferns on them, and the

matching curtain?  They were  plastic.

A fern normally sat in the corner where the

Christmas tree is.

I always thought Grandma's house was so cozy!

So glad for the memories!

Mom & Dad

I really like these pictures of my parents.

I colorized the one of Mom just a tad.

I am so glad that there are quite a few pictures of my

mom, even from the time she was very young.

In this photo I would guess she's about 21 or 22 years old.

I love the smile on Dad in this photo.

[He had probably been on a steam engine, 

which made him happy.]

There was no date on this picture,

 but he was maybe around 30 years old.

There are very few pictures of Dad,

especially when he was young.

Stormy Evening

We had a windstorm last evening.

While the rain was definitely needed and appreciated,

the accompanying wind caused damage and

most people in town will be cleaning their yards today.

I had some branches in the yard and other debris,

but no major damage that I can see.

A fairly large tree was down near the hiking trail 

My neighbor's fence was damaged by this pine tree;

there was also another large branch in the back yard.

Another tree fell on this vehicle and also damaged the home 

After the storm, the dark clouds started to break up

and blue sky reappeared.

The Farm

This is the farm my grandparents, Mina & Gunerius Melby,

purchased in St. Olaf Township in 1910.

Later, my  parents bought the farm and here

is where they lived when I was born.

I don't remember the farm, since we moved to

Dalton when I was a year old.

All the buildings were torn down about 20+

years ago.  The government owns the property

and it is a "game refuge" area.

Glad to have this picture, which is actually

a picture of a painting!

Merna

This is Merna.

I just adopted here this afternoon from the

pet shelter.

She is very sweet and seems to be a 

cat that will behave herself.

But I've never had a house cat before, 

so you can understand I am a little worried...

I am sure after a few days I will relax--

I just don't want any major surprises around the

house, if you know what I mean.

But she sure is a pretty cat.
And she will keep me company
on those long Minnesota winter evenings.

Isn't she sweet?

The Other Postcard

Here is the other postcard that I bought on e-bay,

which unknown to me until I received it,

had been sent to my great aunt Amanda Dahlager.

"Greetings From Dalton, Minn."

It is very hard to read the back of the postcard.

I darkened it and tried to read it by enlarging it,

but  it just wasn't very read-able.  

Here is what I can make of it:

Addressed to:  Miss Manda Dahlager

RFD, Dalton

"Say, can't you and Nobel come over tonight and 

have some fun.  Be sure and come.

I suppose Ella...(can't read any more)...."

From friend,

Clara Clausen.

[Nobel was Amanda's brother, and

Ella was her sister.]

Can you Believe it??

A couple of years ago, I was looking for some memento from Dalton

from years past.    I browsed on e-bay and there were 2 old postcards

for sale from Dalton, Minnesota.

This is one of the postcards I received - I thought it was kind of cute -

and then I turned it over. . . .

The postcard, postmarked from Dalton in 1915

was addressed to my Great- Aunt, Amanda Dahlager!

Isn't that almost "weird"???

It was sent to her while she was in Parkers Prairie,

teaching school at the time.

It was sent by her sister, but I can't make out 

the signature to know for sure which sister sent it,

But the note says:

"Hello Sis Amanda

Don't let this shock you

Clara just phoned over and said I should

sent you a card and let you know that she is

coming to see you next Thursday, Sept. 30

Palma is to take this card this morning so you get it in time."

By the way, the other postcard I purchased was

also addressed to Amanda Dahlager.

Funny the things that come your way!

A Political Rally....of Sorts

On Friday evening, the Otter Tail County Historical Society presented

a Historical Pageant our at now famous Dalton Opera House.

What a fun evening it was!   The sold-out event included narratives and

actors' portrayals of "famous" Daltonites of the past.

Coming back from the past were:

"Herbal specialist" Olava Wick,

who, in the late 1800's practiced some very unconventional

medical procedures with surprising success.   

Olava told us about how she amputated the toes of a man

who had been frozen badly, and she told how her son-in-law,  Borre Dahl made

the saw out of a corset stay and the bale from a pail.

Spencer Folkedahl and Bennie Rustad told about discovering a robbery

in progress on April 17, 1906.  Shots were fired and the

robbers were apprehended!

Two women from the Temperance Union were on hand to 

tell how they were going to get rid of all the moonshine.

They vowed to "smash every bottle in sight!

We were visited by a couple of skiers and were reminded

of the days when baseball was big....really big, in Dalton.

One of Dalton's most famous resident was Senator Ole Sageng.

Ole arrived, hot on the campaign trail and gave a speech.   Much

to the delight of the audience, especially the women, Senator Sageng 

vowed to give women (gasp!) the right to vote.   

Today, two days after the event, people are still

talking about how much they enjoyed the evening.

Thanks Chris Schuelke and the OTCHS!!!

We do look forward to meeting others from Dalton's past.

Sunday Surprise

I had just returned from church this morning when the phone rang.

Someone was wondering if I had a copy of my Dalton book, 

and wondered if I would mind if they stopped to get it.

I told them where I lived and they came 

within minutes.

After I gave them the book, I asked what their

connection was to Dalton.

I never expected to hear this in her answer:

"My great-grandparents are Christopher & Sigrid Dahlager."

What?  Those are my great-grandparents!!

It was true.   Her grandmother was my grandfather's sister.

Her grandfather was my grandmother's brother.

We were doubly related!

A search for family history brought them to Dalton...

looking for the old farm place, Sarpsborg Cemetery...

I promised to share the information and photos I have,

and I hope we can keep in touch!

This is Dorothy - we share great-grandparents.

It wasn't my imagination - I thought she

definitely looked like she was related!

What a nice Sunday Surprise!!

**To my relatives who are wondering:   Her grandparents were Mons & Christine Gjerde.  Her mother was Palma Gjerde (Ruth Erickson's sister)

Syttende Mai

Today, Dalton had it's very first Syttende Mai parade.

We walked in a "parade", carrying Norwegian flags to recognize Constitution Day

in Norway - May 17. 

Seeing the flags on display around town gave me

a sense of pride for my Norwegian heritage.  

I couldn't help but think of my grandparents--

especially my grandma Elsie 

[the only grandparent still living by the

time I was born].

All in all, it was a pretty nice day.

We sang the Norwegian National Anthem....well okay, 

I didn't exactly do too well at that one, since it was in

Norwegian...but the Norwegian students made up for the rest of us.

   The happy birthday song to Greg Peterson [also in

Norwegian] was pretty neat.   

Theresa's viola music was great - I wonder 

if she would sometime play the one by Ole Bull that I like?

Maybe next year, Theresa?

I hope Syttende Mai becomes a tradition for our town.

Velgjerd

Velgjerd Leikvold was my great-grandmother's sister.

She was born in Norway on April 19, 1856.

When Velgjerd was 13 years old, she came to the United States

with her parents and siblings.

But the story of Velgjerd is a sad one....

I have never seen any pictures of Velgjerd, and I don't know if any exist,

but I am sure she was a pretty young woman, since her sisters were

very attractive (I have seen photos of them).

While still a teenager of 18 or 19, Velgjerd married Andre Ellingboe.

While no specific details were given to me, relatives in Iowa have

told me that Andre severely mistreated his young wife.

This information has been passed down for  about 140 years now;

which may be an indication of how serious the

mistreatment was.

 In 1876 Velgjerd gave birth to a baby girl, also named Velgjerd.     

There were problems, and the baby was baptized at birth.  

 The new mother and her baby daughter died on May 22, 1876

They were buried in one casket at the Silver Lake Cemetery in Iowa.

After the death of his wife and infant daughter, Andre Ellingboe changed

his name to "Thompson" and  that is the name he put on the

stone at the cemetery.

While it was fairly common for women and babies to die in childbirth in those days,

this information raises a few questions that will never be answered.

Poor, poor Velgjerd.

Cemeteries, Cameras & Cataloging

Last summer, my sister and I took photos at 9 area cemeteries of 

all the tombstones/markers in those cemeteries.

This was part of a project for the Otter Tail Co.

Historical Society, and a daunting project it is!

Many more cemeteries are yet to be visited by volunteer photographers.

This past winter, I spent many an evening

indexing/cataloging photos that were taken by myself and

other volunteers at various cemeteries of the county.   

As I was looking at the photos and entering the information, 

I was amazed at how many of these long-gone and not-so-long-gone

people I knew.   There were acquaintances, family friends,

relatives, classmates and co-workers.   It is nearly mind-boggling just how

many people drift in and out of our lives!

The thought occurred to me of the tremendous amount of tears shed over

all the deaths through the years.

I would wonder how the person died, especially if they were very young.

I wondered if the person believed in God.

I don't know if there is any scientific study taken, but I noticed:

A lot of people died on their birthday, or very close to it.

Many, many married couples die within a very short time of each other.

The most common verse on the tombstones seems to be:  "Together Forever"

For children:  "Our Little Angel"

I developed a pretty good system for indexing all these photos.

I printed the names and stapled them in groups of 5 or 6.... this gave me

a "false sense" of accomplishment, especially with the very large cemeteries.

As I compared the photo (online) with my list, 

I noted any changes and when I completed the entry, I would 

run a highlighter through it to prevent (hopefully) typing information from the 

wrong line.  Then, when I noted any changes to OTCHS, I could just read 

my notes under the highlighted area.  

Is this brilliant, or what? (sarcasm)

With the long winter and lousy TV programs, this project kept

me busy.  Yesterday, I finished the last entry until more photos are taken.

So, how many entries did I do over the winter, you ask?

I created 7,189 entries - but who's counting?!

Two colors of highlighters - and there was a reason for this!

Mrs. Wisted

This is Mrs. Wisted.

This picture was in my Mom's things, and all I knew about this woman is that her name was "Mrs. Wisted, from up by Pelican Rapids."

Funny how things come to light sometimes!

Just last week, I was sorting out all these old, old photos - labeling those I could identify, and tossing some as well.    This one I put in the "keep pile", though I didn't know why.

The other day, I received a posting on my blog from someone that had some family

 connections to my Leikvold relatives.  Wow!  

We exchanged some information and photos, and indeed, our great grandfathers were brothers.

My new-found relative also mentioned something about a relative in 

Norwegian Grove Township.    Huh?    Seriously?   

I knew where Norwegian Grove Township is....it is "up by Pelican Rapids."

 I relayed my interest in this bit of news and told him about the picture  of 

"Mrs. Wisted, from up by Pelican Rapids."

My next e-mail from my distant relative

included a photo of Mrs. Wisted from Pelican Rapids!

 Mrs. Wisted DOES have a first name:  Sigri

And she DOES have a connection to the family:

She was a sister to Ole Leikvold (my great great grandfather)

So I guess I will keep the photo.

And label it.

Verdal Landslide

On May 19, 1893, a terrible landslide occurred in Verdal, Norway.

It struck in the middle of the night, killing 116 people.

My grandfather, who had immigrated to America,

lived in this area.   His "home place" survived the landslide,

but tragically, several members of the Melby family

perished in the catastrophe.

My grandfather's aunt, Maria Baardsdatter, age 70, lost her life in the landslide.

Maria, her daughter , and another young woman named Bolette were inside the house

when the landslide hit.  Bolette woke up, swallowing clay & mud; she was covered from 

head to foot with the wet, sticky clay.  The women went into the loft  of

the attached barn.  They noticed a cow had been pushed up under the rafters!

There were several "waves" that occurred in the night.

 Maria was carried away by one of the waves and she died.

A farm called "Melbynesset" was buried in the clay. It was here that

Ingeborg Rasmussdatter, her husband Andreas, their daughter

Ragnhild, and their grandson, Edvin Herman lost their lives

that horrible night in May.

Ingeborg was also an aunt to my grandfather.

Ingeborg, Andreas and Edvin (grandson)

Ingeborg was my grandfather's aunt.

She was 54 at the time of her death.

Ragnhild was 21 years old when she died in the landslide.

Sevald was a son of Ingeborg & Andreas, so he was also

a relative.   He had gone to Chicago with his wife, Guro.

His little boy, Edvin Herman remained in Norway.

At the time of the landslide, Sevald was making

plans to have his son come to America.

This is Edvin Herman, who was 9 years old when he died in the landslide.

Such a heartbreaking story!   In a letter written to his parents 3 days after the landslide,

Sevald says he read of the landslide in the newspaper, 

but wasn't sure where exactly it was.

  Little did he know that his parents, sister and son all died!

In his letter, he talks lovingly of his son, and hopes his sister Ragnhild can

accompany Edvin Herman to America; he planned to send tickets.

He closed his letter with, (translated from Norwegian) "Live well and

thousands of wishes from Guro and me to all of you and mostly

to little Herman from Daddy."

[Guro was Sevald's new wife; his first wife and mother of Edvin Herman 

had died.]

Thanks to Stina Melby for the pictures, letter,

information and book about the Verdal landslide!

The coat grandma made

Here is my Mom - she was about 3 years old.

The coat and hat that she is wearing were made

for her by her mother out of an old coat that belonged to

either Mom's dad or grandpa.

Old coats, pants & dresses were always put to

good use by sewing garments for the children.

I have a quilt that my grandmother made out

of old trousers that belonged to grandma.

The man in the background is Clarence Synstelien.

Mom said that he was teasing her and that

was why she doesn't look too happy in this picture.

GREAT AUNTIES

These are my Great Aunts Dahlager

I am guessing that the photo was taken around 1893-94,

since the youngest (Amanda) was born in 1897 and is
not pictured.

Here are their names:   Christine (1876-1961), Caroline (1880-1949)

Emma (1884-1967), Sophia (1886-1979), Clara (1889-1950)

 Ella (1891-1967) 

Aren't these little girls just adorable?
And those dresses!   Look at the detail!
I wonder if my great-grandmother made them?
And notice those shoes with all the buttons!
Love this photo!

My Mom's side of the family was very good at having

photos taken - and I am so glad they did!!

However, I do wonder why the boys (John, Ole & Nobel)

were not included on this picture!