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!