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.