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!