Great Uncle Ole

Ole Christophersen Dahlager was born

on January 23, 1878

at Silver Lake, Iowa.

When he was born, he only weighed

about two pounds,

and his bed was a man's shoebox.

He may have been a small baby,

but he grew to be a large man,

about six feet tall.

Ole was yet another of my ancestors

who became a Lutheran pastor.

He served congregations in

Texas and Michigan,

and also served in Willmar & Starbuck, MN.

The church he served in Starbuck

is now affiliated with the AFLC
While working as a field representative
for Bethesda Homes in Willlmar, MN
in 1938...Ole died.

Ole was alone in his car
No other car was involved in the accident,
Officially, he died as the result of a car accident,
but the speculation was that he had a heart attack
which caused the accident and his
subsequent death.

Opiniated Opinion

I may be somewhat opiniated,

but I mostly keep my opinions to myself.

But today I feel like voicing my opinion!

I was in a store looking for a birthday card.

Thought I'd find a funny one,

so I was looking in the humorous section--

I like a good laugh as much as anyone,

I do have a pretty good sense of humor.

Those who know me know this.

But today I was reminded of how things are changing,

and in my opiniated opinion,

not always for the better.

I noticed one card had a picture of Jesus on the outside

(this was in the humorous section)

He was wearing a crown of thorns - you've seen the picture.

On the outside, the card said:

"He died for our sins."

I admit I was curious, so I picked it up

to read the inside.

The inside said;

"So go ahead, live it up - you're covered!"

This really offended me!

In a world where one has to be careful not to

offend many minority issues, I am usually pretty

careful - maybe I should not be.

Some groups are offended by  Christmas,

or the 10 commandments, or prayer.

Me?  I'm offended by jokes that make fun of God,

I'm offended by witches & devils on halloween,

and many other things that I will not bring up....yet.

In a world of tolerance, political-correctness,

it seems everything is acceptable except

Christianity.

What I am wondering is this:
 why those who are activists for whatever...

 those who advocate tolerance for just about anything...

those hung up on political correctness....

Why do they not tolerate the beliefs of the

Christian community?

OK, I've been on my soapbox!

Happy Anniversary!

Today Zion-Sarpsborg Free Lutheran Church

celebrated its 100th Anniversary.

Here are a few pictures from the day. . .

 Lorella is at the guest book & handing out the bookmarks.

Dennis was in charge of the anniversary books.

I hear there are only 18 left!

In the center is Sylvia Molstre.

Her husband was a pastor here in the 1960's.

Sylvia will soon celebrate her 100th birthday!

 Helen (in pink) and Sarah served the anniversary cake.

Pastor Wendell Johnson, Pastor Dave Skordahl,

Pastor Mark Johnson & Pastor Brett Boe.

I think everyone enjoyed this special day!

Vivien

This is my cousin, Vivien.

She was in "show business."

"Show business" was a profession that

was more or less frowned upon when I was growing up.

[at least in our house!]

I regret that I never had a chance to meet Vivien.

She was a concert pianist.

She was a dancer.

She performed in vaudeville with her husband.
Vivien was  talented and beautiful.

Oh, I'm sure in many ways Vivien's life was glamorous.

But she experienced heartaches, struggles, and demons

just like we "non-glamorous" people do.

She was a Mom to two sons.

Her son, Bennett, drowned when he was only seven.
How does a mother ever get over something like that?
Her other son, Marshall, lives in Florida.

Her first husband, who acted in vaudeville with her,

was schizophrenic.

How do you deal with that?

Men were attracted to her beauty.

Some of those men were with the "mob."
Seems like that would make for a difficult,
possibly dangerous relationship,
but I am just surmising.

The relationship between Vivien and her sister

was questionable.

I don't know much, except what was told to me

by her sister, who was apparently a little envious,

and a tad judgmental.

 

Vivien's father was killed in a auto accident,

and over the years, I get the impression that her

relationship with her mother

was strained. 

I am certain Vivian loved her sons.

 I  believe she was a good mother,

but I don't think she was

an "apple pie" sort of mom.

[But I don't know this -

perhaps her son will set me straight!]

 

Because she is related to me on my Dad's side,

I wonder if she was outspoken, ambitious,

independent or headstrong (stubborn)

 like so many of her Melby relatives.

The final struggle of her life was when she

was diagnosed with a brain tumor

which caused her death at the age of 56.

Was her life really as glamorous as
what we, on the outside, perceive?
I would like to think that she really wasn't
that different from any of us.
After coming home from work,
she had her family to care for -  her house needed cleaning,
she had errands to run, groceries to buy.
Just like the rest of us.

Vivien may have had many difficulties,

but I hope she was a happy person.
I hope that with the struggles she did have,

there were people around her with compassion.



Great Uncle Mons

This is Rev. Mons Gjerde

He was my grandmother's brother

He doesns't look very cheerful in the picture,

but I am told that in "those days"

you were not supposed to smile for the camera!!

Mons was born in 1867 in Nordal, More og Romsdal, Norway.

He was the fourth born of nine children

born to Peter & Berte Gjerde.

When his mother died following complications of childbirth

His father married Inger Iversdatter Krohn.

They had three more children.

Mons immigrated to the United States as a young man,

settling in Wisconsin.

It was here that Mons realized God's love for us,

and dedicated his life to the service of God.

He moved to Minneapolis and attended Augsburg College

and was ordained as a Lutheran pastor.

In 1897, he married Christine Dahlager.

They were married at Sarpsorg Church near Dalton.

At their wedding, Christine's brother John

met Mons' sister Elsie.

They were married a year later.

[these were my grandparents]

Back in Norway, Mons' half-brother, Ivers,

was causing the family grief due to his lifestyle.

The family sent him to the United States

 to live with Mons & his wife,

hoping that Mons could "straighten him out."

Ivers stayed with them for a time, but then moved on.

He went west, to mine for gold,

and then they heard he was in Portland, Oregon.

The family never saw him again.

We can only wonder if Mons had a positive

influence on his life.

Mons pastored in Minot,North Dakota,

Washington State,Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

Mons & Christine had nine children.

On October 24, 1937, Mons had just finished his

Sunday sermon and announced the closing hymn.

He staggered into the sacristy and was then

taken to a nearby home.

He died that afternoon.

Mons and his wife had just made plans to retire

to the Dalton area, and had already made

arrangements to buy Rev. Elias Berlie's home.

Just three days before Mons died,

his brother-in-law, John Dahlager died.

Don't you think it's a bit ironic?

Remember, John was married to Mons' sister

and Mons was married to John's sister.

Mons is buried at the Sarpsborg Cemetery.

On his tombstone is the inscription:

"To live is Christ - to die is gain."

Miss Holly

How many of you remember making these fancy little "ladies"?

When I was little, we used to make these

out of Hollyhocks.

Holly is a beautiful lady, all ready to go to a ball.

She surely must have been a lovely sight

 as she danced with her Prince Charming.

You can almost hear her skirt rustling as she

glided from one end of the ballroom to the other!

She must have spent hours getting ready. . .

Her hair is upswept high, with just

enough curls at the top to be elegant.

And did she really dye her hair to match her dress?

Her milky white complexion is flawless,

she wears no makeup, she is

beautiful the way she is.

Such simple fun we had back in the

GOOD OLD DAYS!!

P.S. If you notices the words "element on" on the lower left of the picture - I set "Holly" on the top of the stove to take the picture, and didn't notice the words until I posted it here....

Anders, My Mysterious Ancestor

My great-great grandfather is somewhat of a mystery.

Anders was born on November 5,1820 in Norway.

His parents were Lars Pedersen and Anna Torkelsdatter.

On July 11, 1845 he married Berte Marie Hamborg.

They had eight children, including my grandmother, Mina.

The family lived in Toten, Oppland County, Norway.

Records of their children's baptisms & confirmations

were found in 2 different churches:  Hoff Kirke & Balke Kirke.

The photo below is of Hoff Kirke (Church)

Here is Balke Kirke

In 1868, Anders left his family in Norway.

He sailed first to Quebec and then on to the United States.

His destination was listed as LaCrosse, MN.

A full 8+ years later (1877), my great-grandmother (Berte)

came to the United States with their two youngest daughters:

Olena [Lena] &  Ottilie [Tillie].

Their destination was Peterson, Minnesota,

as Anders was living there at that time.

Often the husband/father would come ahead of

his wife and children, and then send for his

family when he had saved enough money.

Most likely this is what happened here.

(My grandmother, Mina, did not come until 1885)

The 1880 census says that Anders was a laborer

living in Peterson, MN in the township of Rushford.

When my grandmother came to America,

her destination was LaCrosse, Wisconsin

so I must assume that is where her parents were at the time.

That is all the information I have on my great-grandfather.

The 1895 census states that my great-grandmother

was living with my grandparents, so I believe

that Anders had died prior to this.

I wonder what he was like?

He wasn't rich, but maybe he was good looking...

I hope he was a nice man...but of course he must have been, right?

I wonder if he ever owned a farm? 

Or was he employed by a farmer?

Was he musical?  Was he smart?

I may never know.

His daughter, my grandma, was a devout Christian,

so perhaps her faith was passed down from her parents.

I don't know when or where he died,

But I believe it is either near Peterson, MN

or LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

His wife died in 1898 and she is buried near

Silver Creek, MN.

Of course, it isn't so terribly important to

know all these things,

But we are curious.

Often, we find something in our ancestry search

That explains just a little bit of who we are.