Tora Iversdatter Kjerstein (1794-1861) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 26) Theme: "Middle"

This week's theme had me stumped until I decided to see which ancestor lived closest to the middle of North America since all recent generations of my family have been widely scattered throughout the United States and Canada. There seems to be a bit of disagreement as to exactly where that is, but it is generally accepted as being in North Dakota. I did have ancestors in North Dakota, as it turns out, and other distant relatives living there now, including a second cousin once removed who farms near the area thought to be the "middle". Although we'd only met them previously one time at a family reunion in 2000, we had a most enjoyable visit on our road trip to view the solar eclipse in the summer of 2017.

That got me thinking about the other highlight of our trip through North Dakota: the Arne Brekke Collection in the Chester Fritz Library at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. For decades, the pinnacle of my wish list of resources for review was the Norwegian bygdebøker for the regions in Norway where many of my ancestors originated. These books were put together over one hundred years ago by respected Norwegian historians to detail farm and family life; they contain a wealth of genealogical information about individual families and, along with census and church book records, form the backbone for Norwegian family history research. Having tried unsuccessfully to obtain any of these treasured books on inter-library loan, and not having any repositories near my home on the west coast of Canada, I had almost despaired of ever getting my hands on any of these.

Our proposed route to Grand Island, Nebraska for viewing of the solar eclipse provided an ideal opportunity for a day at the Chester Fritz Library, one of the best homes for a vast collection of bygebøker.  I knew that one single day would not really be enough but thought that my husband could easily find ways to entertain himself for a day and that, with careful planning, I could make significant inroads with my wish list. 

The website for the Chester Fritz Library makes it easy to plan a visit. They provide details of the farm books they have in their collection enabling a visitor to make note of call numbers and relevant farm names. I prepared a binder with details of the books I hoped to find, the farms, the relevant ancestral names and dates. I also communicated with the librarian in advance to be sure they were open during the summer and to let them know which day I would be there. I did bring along my laptop with my genealogical database in case it was needed, but I found my binder of material to be quite adequate for my purposes. I also brought along memory sticks for anything I was able to scan and save from the books.

University of North Dakota - Chester Fritz Library

17 August 2017 dawned bright and clear, an auspicious sign. My husband dropped me off at the university just after its 8 A.M. opening. The librarians were most helpful in getting me oriented with the library layout and their user-friendly and efficient scanning equipment. As the only member of the public visiting the library that day, I had full run of the stacks and scanner. 

Inside the Chester Fritz Library Arne Brekke Collection

It was very easy to find the books, but more difficult to ensure I was finding all the relevant farms for my families. (My father's came from Nordland, Oppland and Buskerud counties and my mother's from Buskerud and Telemark. Within each county there were many relevant farms and families. We are not talking about a single family here, but dozens!) I could see the route ahead of me: it was going to be a full marathon.

In the middle of the fun - stacks of bygdebøker and some of my prepared family tree background

The day flew past in a flurry of books being swept off the shelves, examined and pages flagged for trips to the scanner. I barely stopped long enough to find the cafeteria for a quick lunch. In the end, I did get through my lengthy list. I'm not sure when I've ever had a more satisfying and exhilarating day! 

My husband captured this shot of the happy researcher when he picked me up at closing time

Were there farms and families that I missed? Yes, absolutely. I continue to make discoveries that would have entailed scanning other pages. But I have a lot of material to show for my one day well spent. 

Of course the books are in Norwegian and, although I've learned the basics, I do not have the depth of linguistic skill to understand the complexities without resorting to dictionaries and online translators with their often rather bizarre results. Part of the problem is the changes to the Norwegian language over the years since the records were created. Here are a couple of examples of results I've obtained for other Norwegian ancestors with Google Translate: "In 1746 Kristoffer made an agreement with Trond Hamre about the change of power, but Trond had the right to renegotiate because they were drowning when they made an agreement in a bar of beer at Hamre." And another: "Knut carried the storage team in 1591. In 1599 he got into the place of the fox for a butcher's sauce. Marit, who used to be in 1612, might have liked Knut, and Herbrand might be the son." Sometimes one can hazard a guess, but at other times it's just plain bewildering!

Trying to pinpoint a "middle" of Norway for selecting a particular ancestor for this week's story is a bit tricky because of Norway's shape. I randomly selected an area from the interior of the southern bulb of Norway: Vang in Oppland.

 

Google Earth Image - Vang is marked with the red pin

The bygedbok for Valdres, Oppland included my Dad's paternal grandmother Anna Ericksdatter Elton's family in Vang. Surely something could be found relating to a "middle" in this family! Anna Elton's farmor (the Norwegian name for the grandmother who is the father's mother - as opposed to a mormor who is the mother's mother; such a useful distinction!) was a woman named Tora Iversdatter Kjerstein. Already we are talking about 2 farm books here: Elton (Eltun) and Kjerstein. (You can see how this multiplied into a full marathon, can't you?) 

According to the bygedbok, Tora (my 3X great grandmother) was the middle child of the 11 born to Ivar Torsteinsson Kjerstein and Anne Kristoffersdatter Leirol (yet another farm name to look up!). Just 3 of the 11 survived childhood; fortunately for those of us who descend from her, Tora was one of the survivors, still remaining in the middle. 

One must go from the general genealogy found in the bygdebok to the official kirkebøker for the actual records. Tora was probably born in July 1794 on the Kjerstein farm since she was baptized 20 July of that year at Vang, Valdres, Oppland.  

Baptism record in the Vang kirkebøker for 1794, p. 427

Tora was confirmed into the state Lutheran church in 1809 and married Andris Erikson Elton (often spelled Eltun) on 6 July 1815 at Øye Kirke. The church was about a mile from the Eltun farm land. She was 21 and her groom 29.

Øye Kirke i Vang
Photo courtesy John Erling Blad Wikimedia Commons

Andris "gjorde soldatteneste" according to page 269 of the Valdres bygdebok; Google translates this as "did the soldier thing"!  He had been running the Nordigarden farm at Eltun since 1806 and was probably well set up to start his own family. 

6 July 1815 marriage record of Andris and Tora from the Vang kirkebøker, p.194

Tora and Andris, like her parents, had a family of 11 children, many of whom died in childhood. Their oldest was Erick Anderson Elton, my 2X great grandfather. In 1838, his father turned over Elton farm to Erick, who ran it until 1853 when he sold to emigrate to America,

Tora predeceased Andris by about 8 years; she died 31 March 1861 and was buried 9 April at Vang, Oppland, Norway.

Death and burial records for Tora Iversdatter at age 67, Vang kirkebøker for 1861, p.172

The bygdebok listing for Tora's family enabled finding the records that give us a bit of a picture of her life. It would be nice to know more about her, of course. What were her skills? What did she love doing? Did she have any eccentricities? What sort of woman was she, this middle daughter who survived?

Resources:

• Valdres Bygedbok I, Del A, Skriftstyrar Ivar Aars, Gardar og Slekter i Vang av Anders Frøhom, Valdres Bygdeboks Forlag
• Vang, Oppland Kirkebok, LDS microfilm 125645 and available online through the Norwegian Digital Archives.
• Valdres Samband Genealogical Database (available to Valdres Samband members online) is another resource for the bygdebok for Vang.

Ingvald Theodore Anderson (1893-1958) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 17) Theme: "Land"

Ingvald (sometimes spelled "Ingwald" as it was pronounced) was my maternal grandfather. He was born 3 January 1893 on the family farm west of Grafton, North Dakota to Andrew and Jorgena (Torkelson) Anderson and baptized at the South Trinity Lutheran Church at Grafton on 31 March of that year. The new state of North Dakota had just been established in 1889 but no civil birth records can reliably be found until 1899; thankfully, the Lutheran church in America had a strong tradition of maintaining its own records, a practice that had long been established in Norway.

Birth/baptism record for Ingvald - first entry at the top of the page

He had five older siblings, plus a sixth who had died at the age of 3 in 1885. Another brother Arnold was born the year after Ingvald; tragically, this younger brother also died very young. Some time after the birth of his youngest sister Gladys in 1903, his mother Jorgena's mental health declined to the point where she was admitted into an institution in Yankton, South Dakota. Shortly thereafter, Ingvald's father moved his family to a ranch in South Dakota, perhaps to be closer. With the family story being that she had died, it isn't clear that the children ever actually visited her.  His mother basically disappeared from his life when Ingvald was about 12.

Andrew and Jorgina Anderson family c.1904; Ingvald is they young boy on the far right

The only incident we know from Ingvald's youth is described by his son Bob Anderson:

In 1905, Ingvald met with a near-fatal accident when a friend's shotgun accidentally discharged, the full blast catching him in the left shoulder just above the lung.  He almost bled to death before a doctor reached him, and lay close to death for many days following.  The left arm and hand were  to remain permanently stunted, though not of too great a hindrance to work.  Fifty years later, suffering from neck and shoulder pains, he thought it might be the old wound.  X-rays revealed many shotgun pellets lodged in bone, muscle and skin in the shoulder and neck.

Ingvald in back row centre (see arrow) at Business College, 1909

A few years after the move to South Dakota, Andrew sold out the ranch and bought a hardware and implement business in Haynes, North Dakota.  Ingvald clerked there as a youth. It seemed for awhile as if Ingvald planned to join his father with a career in business but the land seemed to call out to him.

Canada had been encouraging farmers to take up land in its western prairies. For a $10 registration fee, qualified individuals could file at a Dominion Land Office for a selected  "homestead" of 160 acres (1/4 section) of land. Certain requirements to build and reside on the land and to cultivate it had to be met in order to have the land title transferred into the name of the homesteader; this was called "proving up" the land. One of the requirements for obtaining title was that the homesteader be a British subject. A second adjacent quarter-section could be obtained by a process called "pre-emption". Uncle Bob describes Ingvald's reaction to this opportunity:

By the time Ingvald and brother Clarence were of age, arable land in the American West had just about all been settled and a large part of the most accessible acreage of the Saskatchewan prairies had also been settled.  Areas such as the Lancer-Abbey region -- still with no rail service closer than Swift Current -- were still available.  To this area in 1909 came Clarence (age 19) and Ingvald (age 17) and their friend Hans Berg (age 22).  They filed on homesteads on the "flat" between Abbey and the South Saskatchewan River.  Ingvald's homestead quarter was SE6-22-20-W3M.  He had to stretch his age to get it, 18 being minimum age to qualify for a homestead.  They came with horse teams and wagons which held their few belongings all the way from Park River, North Dakota. They journeyed through eastern Montana and north into Western Saskatchewan -- a treeless stretch of prairie.  They mentioned having to pull ranchers' fence posts for fuel to cook with and for heat at their night camps. Clarence and Ingvald both felt extremely fortunate in getting a homestead with a creek running through it (Spring Creek).

Ingvald (right) probably about 1906

On 9 March 1911, Ingvald made application for his homestead; he had proved up his land and received title on 23 July 1914. To fulfill the requirement that he be a British subject, Ingvald became a naturalized Canadian citizen in June of 1914.

Although his original homestead application was for the SE quarter, he eventually built his home on the SW quarter of Section 6.

Ingvald's Homestead Grant (top line) in the Dominion Lands Records

When World War I broke out in the Fall of 1914.  Ingvald went to enlist, but was turned down when the medical examiner told him he looked as though he had already been through the war.  (This was no doubt because of the shotgun accident he had had as a boy.)

Ingvald as a young homesteader

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It was likely in the Fall of 1917 that Ingvald first met Idella Edwards when she started teaching at nearby Wayne Valley School. The two were married in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in late 1919. Children started arriving a year later with the birth of my Uncle Bob, followed by his sisters Kathryn, Eunice, Elinor (my mother), then John "Jack", and finally Helen.

Ingvald back row, second from left
Front row: daughters Elinor, Eunice, Kathryn, probably about 1929

With Della pregnant as winter approached in 1927, the family moved to be near Della's father Charles Edwards in Everett, Washington. This is where younger son Jack was born in December of  1927. While there, Ingvald worked in the lumber industry. But when spring arrived, he made his way back to his Saskatchewan land.

Ingvald on the left, in Washington State about 1927

The Anderson family lived in an unpainted shack made up of a main part that was 12 X 16 feet with a north lean-to 10 X 16 and an east lean-to 6 X 12 feet, the latter containing bunk beds.  There was a plank cribbed cellar under the north lean-to for vegetable storage and cooling milk.  In the winter, snow was melted in a wooden barrel for household use.

The land that Ingvald had homesteaded was to prove challenging over the years, no more so than during the "Dirty Thirties" of the depression and drought. This was the time that my mother and her siblings were growing up; the children seemed to have taken things in stride and had a happy childhood. However, for Ingvald and Della, things must have been very difficult. Trying to feed and clothe this growing family with the economic hardships of the time must have been a challenge.

Uncle Bob described the situation in a story he wrote in 1986 about how local governments tried to help reduce pest problems by declaring a bounty on gophers and rabbits:

In those desperate Prairie years of the early 1930s many things came together to drive farm families into deep poverty. Grain and livestock prices sagged to all-time lows and continued drought resulted in crop failures and reduced herds and flocks. Weeds, grasshoppers and cutworms further thinned the stands of grain. Gophers ate their way in from field edges, gathering and storing grain. Jack rabbits roamed field and pasture, eating at feed stacks in winter.

Horsing Around with Family and Neighbours c1938

Dust was everywhere in the summers and the winters were bitterly cold. Uncle Bob described how the wood fires often burned down by midnight, leaving water in the tea kettle frozen atop the stove by morning. There was no coal to heat their small homestead shack. The prairies were not generally a good source for wood, but Ingvald and elder son Bob would make an annual trip to scavenge what they could, quite often for poplar, willow and black birch in the nearby Sandhills. The following is an account written by Uncle Bob in 1986:

I was down cleaning out the barn that late fall afternoon when the stranger in his shiny new car drove into our yard. Dad was at our wood pile. He had just started, with bucksaw and axe, to convert the huge pile of poles into stove-length pieces to use in the coming winter. 

The stranger stopped his car by the wood pile and got out. In moments I heard Dad's voice, loud and angry-sounding. I couldn't hear what was said, but it upset me just the same. I had never before heard Dad speak to a caller in this way. 

I watched as the stranger paced out the length and width of the pile of uncut poles. I thought I saw Dad hand him some money. The stranger wrote on a piece of paper, handed it to Dad, jumped into his car and left. I thought I'd better finish my job and let Dad cool down a little before I went to the wood pile to ask him who the stranger was.

Later, when Bob could see that Ingvald had calmed down, he learned that the stranger was a government man who had fined them for taking the wood. Bob still had  the receipt in 1986 when he wrote the story.

Received: the sum of six dollars. From I. Anderson. On account of: Dues for six cords fuel wood cut in trespass. Signed (officer's name) Department of Natural Resources. 

Ingvald was diagnosed with diabetes and suffered complications such as poor circulation in his legs and removal of a kidney. Daughter Helen reported that it aged him tremendously.

Della never loved the land the way Ingvald did. By the mid 1940s the family moved to Swift Current where she operated a boarding house. In the summers, Ingvald would return to farm his land in the Lancer area, eventually joined by son Bob. My memories of my grandfather are of a quiet gentle introverted man with a warm sense of humour.

Ingvald about 1955

My brother John and sister Sandy and I were staying with our grandparents at their farm in the summer of 1958 when Ingvald died very suddenly of a heart attack at the age of  65. Sandy had gone with him to deliver a load of grain to the local elevator when he collapsed in his seat. He died, not on his own land, but nevertheless while conducting his farming operations.

Some Resources:

• Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Homesteading; located online at https://www.saskarchives.com/collections/land-records/history-and-background-administration-land-saskatchewan/homesteading
• Anderson, Robert W., various writings in possession of the author (many hand-written, some from articles printed in the Western Producer newspaper in the 1980s) 

Steve Bardahl (1868-1947) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 13) Theme: "Nearly Forgotten"

Birth/baptism of Osten (Ostensen) item #10

Steve Bardahl was my paternal grandfather's half brother. Leaving no descendants, he has been mostly forgotten or assigned to the perimeter of the Bardahl family history. No picture of Steve has ever been found amid the family photographs.

Hans and Anna Bardahl Family c.1890 (colorized image)
Steve is notable for his absence here and in any other family photos

A clue for his distance from the family can be found in his birth record. His original name was not Steve Bardahl. Born 8 September 1868, his baptism record in the Holden Lutheran Church of Goodhue, MN shows his given name as Osten, with parents Osten Ostensen and Anne Eriksdtr. Holien.

After his mother married Hans Bardahl in 1873, Osten is sometimes found in records as "Erstine" or "Astein" with the surname Bardahl. He didn't seem to adopt the name Steve until he reached adulthood.

1875 census for Hawk Creek, Renville, MN, Astein Bardahl age 6

1880 U/S. census, Granite Falls, Chippewa, MN, Erstine Bardahl age 11
My grandfather John Bardahl is 1 year old at this time

On 5 March 1894 he married Laura Nelson, daughter of Carl and Karen Nelson (and older sister to Louise Nelson who would become my paternal grandmother).

Wedding of Steve Bardahl and Laura Nelson, first entry for 1894
Pomme de Terre Lutheran Church

One might imagine that all was bliss for the couple since their example was followed by Steve's half brother John who would go on to wed Laura's sister Louise a few years later. However, Steve and Laura were not destined to live happily ever after.

 

Laura Nelson back row right
with brother Nels, young sister Louise (my grandmother) and their mother Karen Nelson c.1890 (colorized image)

Steve and Laura moved to Milton, North Dakota to farm shortly after their wedding. According to The Milton Globe newspaper of 18 February 1897 "Steve Bardahl has opened up a collection agency. Office at residence, three doors west of post office." In the 22 July 1897 edition of the same paper: "Mr. and Mrs. S. Bardahl have moved into the building recently vacated by Mrs. Hanson."

The Milton Globe also gives us details about Steve's career. It reported on 13 October 1898: "Steve Bardahl of this city was last Monday appointed and sworn in as deputy sheriff. Deputy Gunder Nelson's business is of such nature that it necessitates his absence from the county at this busy time, when the services of a deputy sheriff are daily required."

Steve and Laura appear in the 1900 census at Milton, N.D. where they are renting their home and Steve is listed as a police constable.

The Milton Globe of 8 June 1906 reported: "At a meeting of the village council Tuesday evening Steve Bardahl was appointed marshal to succeed Jonas Christenson, resigned."

This must have been an interesting time and place to be involved in law enforcement; it was in many ways still  "the wild west". Records for Sheriffs serving in Cavalier County indicate that as a result of the prohibition enactment when North Dakota became a state in 1889, an additional deputy was needed at Langdon and Allan Pinkerton, a former city policeman, was hired for the job. Pinkerton broke up a large gang of outlaws terrorizing residents of several counties. Several murders and property line disputes required investigation between 1894 and 1898. From 1900 to 1904 several controversial trials were held and there was an investigation involving blind pigs. (A blind pig isn't what you might think. Apparently it referred to a low-class establishment that would thwart the prohibition laws by charging patrons to see an animal, such as a pig, and then offer them a free drink as part of the viewing. More information can be found at this site.)

Steve would have been in the thick of all this law enforcement action. But the jail did not hold only hardened criminals. My grandmother Louise once told me how Steve had locked her in jail in Milton and refused to release her for some time. He was playing a joke on her, but she was NOT amused, finding the whole experience quite terrifying.

While his law enforcement career was being established, the couple had difficulty starting a family. Again from The Milton Globe newspaper, 22 November 1900: "BORN - to Mr. and Mrs. Steve Bardahl, on the 17th inst., a son. The infant died within twenty-four hours after its birth, and the bereaved parents have the sympathy of many friends, especially as this is their second misfortune of this nature within the last few years."

The Bardahls were again on the move to a different rented house, as reported by The Milton Globe of 12 April 1906: "Mr. and Mrs. Steve Bardahl this week moved into the Wakeford house on West Oakland ." One gets the feeling that the Bardahls were rather unsettled.

The 1910 census finds Steve and Laura in Milton Village, Montrose Twp., N.D.  The record indicates that Steve was 41, Laura 36; that they had been married 16 years; that Laura had given birth to two children, neither of whom survived; that his occupation was laborer and that they were renting a house. It appears that Steve's law enforcement career had ended by this time.

During the 1910s, Steve and Laura joined other family members homesteading in the Leinan area of Saskatchewan (north of Swift Current).  Homestead records indicate that he made application for three different quarter sections: SW20-19-14-W3M, SW18-18-14-W3 and NW18-18-14-W3 but apparently did not ever prove up any of them. Many family members today might be surprised to learn that Steve and Laura had homesteaded in the area at all. The couple did not arrive in Canada until too late in 1911 to be counted in the Canadian census taken that summer. They do not appear in any of the group family pictures taken from the early homesteading days. Once again, Steve has been nearly forgotten. It seems they were in Canada for about 5-7 years before moving back to the United States, but did not seem to have left much of a mark.

It isn't clear just when the Bardahls separated or if they ever actually divorced. However, they lived apart for the rest of their lives.

Laura (Nelson) Bardahl, unknown year

Laura spent a number of years in Canada where she supported herself as a maid at the Banff Springs Hotel and was able from time to time to find work there for some of her nieces.

By the time of the 1930 US census, Steve was living with his mother in Barrett Village, Lien Twp., Grant Co., MN; at this time, he was 61 - white, male, single (note that something else had been written in the space for marriage condition and then erased and replaced), unemployed farm laborer, and not a veteran.

In the late 1930's (probably following his mother's death in 1938) he moved to Langdon, N.D. and was custodian at the City Hall there. As his health failed, he moved to a nursing home in Arthur, N.D. and died there 24 July 1947. Steve is buried at Lebanon (Milton) Memorial Cemetery. Reunited in the end, Laura was buried here too when she died in 1954.

Stone for Laura Bardahl at Lebanon (Milton, Cavalier County, N.D.)
Photo courtesy HL49 of Find a Grave website

There is no stone for Steve - once again nearly forgotten!

01 August 2020 Addition:

Many thanks to my cousin Roger for his fine detective skills in finding a photograph that almost certainly includes Steve. The 1930 U.S. Census had told us that Steve was living with his mother Anna in Barrett, MN. Photographs taken at the time of a 1930 visit by John and Louise to visit his mother include this one of Anna with her sons John and Ole and their wives; the man on the right is undoubtedly Steve. Not completely forgotten, after all!

Some Resources:

• Saskatchewan Archives Board for Homestead Records located online at https://www.saskarchives.com/collections/land-records/homestead-files-saskatchewan-archives/pre-1930-homestead-file-series-s-42
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 1781-1969,  birth records for Holden Church MN for 1868 located online through Ancestry.com 
• Pomme de Terre MN. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America marriage records for 1894
• Sheriffs Serving North Dakota 100 Years photocopy of page for Langdon, Cavalier County provided by Ross and Barbara Dohlen from their visit to the area
• A Century of Area History 1882-1982 Milton, North Dakota local history book, photocopied pages provided by the Dohlens from their visit there
• The Milton Globe : Milton, Cavalier County, N.D., published weekly from 1888-1937