| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
 Posted - 13/08/2010 : 22:33:29
|
Halsten the blacksmith
I looked a little more at the history of Downer's Grove, and it makes me think even more that the place where Halsten was employed and then worked his apprenticeship as a blacksmith, really was Downer's Grove. I think Master Daane was Pierce Downer.
The history from Rasmus Bjorn Anderson mentioned before of Jens and Gulbrand Gulbrandsen stopping to see him where he was 22 miles west of Chicago and at the home of a man named Downing really leads me there. I think the Norwegian pronunciation really does not have an "-ing" so that -e is the same as "ah", close enough to pronunciation of "-er". And Jens, who did not work for him, was giving the history, probably more than 50 years later!
Downer's Grove is in exactly the right place, due west of Chicago, just barely into DuPage County, as I had originally suggested was the location. The history of Downer's Grove says that Downer arrived in 1832 (or 1833), and 3 years later a Blodgett arrived and established a farm and blacksmith shop -- Indians bringing firearms to be repaired were some fo the earliest customers. By the early 1840s, there were already two blacksmith shops.
Halsten's letter makes clear there are no other Norwegians around -- and there certainly weren't there (where there were in central Chicago). There really weren't very many non-natives at all. One might guess the evangelical Downer was a nice guy, though know way to know for sure. Halsten's letter mentions something about Ellen-something that sounds like a place. Pierce Downer had a son Elon born in 1827 in N.Y.-- perhaps a room?
The 1840 census adds to it. There are still almost no Norwegians around in this part of Illinois at all -- yet we have Ole Nielsen, of just the right age to be his brother-in-law, plus wife of right age, child of right age, and one young man just the right age to be Halsten -- enumerated on the same page with Pierce Downer.
Perhaps Halsten then lives with his sister Ragnild & her husband Ole, and works as an apprentice for one of the blacksmiths then in town. A blacksmith was a very respected man in those times -- very necessary skilled craftsman.
It seems remotely possible that there are apprenticeship indentures around, but DuPage as a county was not divided out of Cook until 1839. If there was such in DuPage, maybe, but if in Cook before that -- all court records destroyed in fire in 1871.
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
 |
|
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 13/08/2010 : 22:58:49
|
RAGNILD!
I have found where Ragnild and her children went to after they were last found in 1870 census in Iowa County, Wisconsin. I knew before from marriages her daughter Mary had married Hans Knudson, and they had a baby Nellie (this is a form of Ragnild for America).
If only I had thought to look a little farther in my own database! As soon as I saw something in a tree, I sat right up. Their second daughter Clara, she married Carl Thomas Tollefson in St. Ansgar. Carl is related to me, but I have a church record from St. Ansgar, the parents of Clara being Hans K. Lane and Mary L. Nelson. (Jens and Gulbrand has eventually settled in St. Ansgar.) Hans Knudson used the name Lane, no wonder I was having trouble finding this couple. So then this family has also married into Groth, which is also married into my Tollefsons.
But most of the family had gone to Humboldt County, Iowa, and that is where Ragnild died in 1881, according to some trees I have found online. However, I have found few with much source material, and some with some big errors. There should be a number of descendants, any named Nelson, which doesn't make it easy. I do have a few inquiries out. I admit that I have had trouble with descendants of Carl T. Tollefson & Clara Olivia Lane, their surviving children are daughters who married names Larson, Jones, Chase,, and none of their children ended up nearby.
Here is a link for the son Nels of Ragnild in a history: http://iagenweb.org/humboldt/bios/nelson.htm. I think that has to be from "The History of Humboldt- The First 100 Years" by Oliver H. DeGroote, 1963, though it doesn't say so. (Seems like the dates make sens for 1963,)
I have a piece from the 1884 history that I will put in next note (not online).
I have an 1884 |
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
|
|
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 13/08/2010 : 23:40:05
|
From History of Kossuth and Humboldt Counties, Iowa, Union Publishing Co., Springfield, Ill., 1884.
The section about Norway Twp. tells that it was not settled until starting in 1870, and then Norwegians began to come.
pp.855-856
Nels Nelson is of Norwegian parentage, but born in Iowa Co., Wis., Feb. 24, 1848. He followed farming in his native county until 1872. In that year he came to Humboldt County and commenced breaking upon his present farm, and retunred to Wisconsin for the winter. In the spring of 1873 he came again to this county, where he has since resided. He owns 120 acres of land. Nov. 11, 1877, he was married to Dora Gilbertson, of Norway. They are the parents of three children -- Rorena, Alma and Jess J. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and has been township trustee two terms, and road overseer.
Oliver Nelson was born in Iowa Co., Wis., April 12, 1850. He was reared and educated in his native county, living there upon a farm until 1872, when he came with his brother, Nels, to this county, and that sumer and fall they broke land on their present farms. They returned to Wisconsin and spent the winter. In the spring of 1873 they came again to their land in this county, where he has since lived. He owns a fine farm of 160 acres. He was married Nov. 11, 1877, to Lena Furnset, a native of Norway. They have two children -- Lyman O. & Joseph R. N.(sic) Nelson is a member of the Lutheran Church and one of the directors of the township school board.
Alex Nelson is a native of Iowa Co., Wis., born June 21, 1852, where his youth was spent, working on the farm and attending school until the spring of 1873, when with Nels Nelson, his brother, he came to this county and bought his present farm, which contains 80 acres. In the fall of 1882 he built the house in which he now lives. He was married to Anna Paul, of Wisconsin. They have one child -- Pearl Orrington. |
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
|
|
|
Rachel Gibson
New on board
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 17/09/2010 : 19:37:37
|
Just a few more bits and pieces corroborating the same information...
You can see Halstein's letter here - page 1 and page 2.
Is is strange or consistent that his letter is written on the same day as Ole Rynning's book, 13 Feb 1838 ?
I'm also wondering (and this may be a stretch), could the "Ellenorsled" simply be a phonetic spelling of "Illinois" with a "led"? (side | barway | gate?)
The first chapter of Norwegian immigration, (1821-1840) has several pages on the Nattestads and Halstein starting around page 252 and even mentions Halstein working for "Downing" on page 256 . Here's a bit more on Downer's Grove from DuPage County and a whole book, Downer's Grove Revisited.
Then from "Rock County, Wisconsin: a new history of its cities...", CHAPTER XVIII. Scandinavians in Rock County pp416-451 we see that
He [Ole Natesta] made his home at first with Stephen Downer while he cut the logs for his cabin. (page 423)
Stephen Ellis Downer, Pierce Downer's son, had children in Beloit, Wisconson and was living there in 1840:
1840 US Census for Wisconsin Territory > Rock County > Not Stated [Beloit]> p17
Name: Stphen E Downer
[Stephen E Downer]
County: Rock
State: Wisconsin Territory
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 1
Total - All Persons (Free White, Free Colored, Slaves): 4
Persons Employed in Agriculture: 1
Free White Persons - Under 20: 2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2
Total Free White Persons: 4
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 4
Which seems to indicate that Halstein still had some connection to the Nattestad brothers through the Downer Family. I wonder what led him to Iowa County.
|
|
|
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 18/09/2010 : 03:34:53
|
Yes, it was mentioned before that Jens Gulbrandson (my great-great-grandfather) and his brother Gulbrand visited with Halstein at the home of Mr. Downing in Rasmus Anderson's First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration p. 256. See page three of this forum topic. They were, of course, from home in Veggli! As I commented before, Jens probably was not being interviewed until the 1890s by Anderson, so he or Anderson could have been a little off on the name.
Ellenorsled as Illinois -- that is an interesting idea!
As far as Iowa County, quite a few of the Norwegians found work in the lead mines near Mineral Point and Dodgeville in Iowa County, before 1840 and in early 1840s, but there was also farm work to be done. They had to find work to earn money first before they could buy farms. These were poor boys without land from Norway. If you look back through some of the discussion, you will see the lead mines mentioned earlier. (E.g. the Norwegian-American histories mentioned also some other Veggli relatives of mine, Bent Nelson, working in the lead mines near Dodgeville, Ole Halvorsen Valle & Ole Tollefson Kittilsland working in the lead mines near Dodgeville in 1842, then skiing to Iowa in 1843.) But for Halstein, he was trained as a black smith, probably in Downer's Grove. So he had to find somewhere to set up shop. Why not Dodgeville, where quite a few of the Norwegians he knew were settling? So his siblings and his good friend from the same farm in Veggli (Bent Nelson) were all acquiring farms as land opened in Iowa County.
I really like that reference to Ole Natesta making a home with Stephen Downer. That's a very clear connection of Downers and these Veggli folks. They just keeping on moving up from working in Illinois to working over the border in Wisconsin Territory. |
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
|
|
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 18/09/2010 : 21:52:08
|
Probate record
I was in Wisconsin doing a little research. I looked in probate in Dane County and Iowa County, but did not find a record for Halsten, nor any for his father Halvor Olsen or his mother. However, I did find one for Ole Nielsen or Nelson married to his sister Ragnild, and this fixes the date of Ole's death. Case #25-HH on roll 94 in the Platteville Regional Archive. Ole died 24 May 1863, and Ragnil filed with the court 27 June. So the grave marker that Mary found really has to be him. Ragnil was the executrix, though her brother Erik Halvorsen also put up a bond for administration. The listed six children are: Mary, 22, Emily, 20, Jane, 18, Nelson, 15, Oliver, 13, Alexander, 11 years. The estimate on personal estate at filing was $400, the real estate value estimated at $300.
The inventory was done by Erik Halvorsen & Robert Wilson.
The final amount of value is $1005. The real estate was 185 acres, valued in the end at $520 of that.
The inventory is recorded also in Book 1 of Iowa County Inventories, p. 273. I can type out the contents if there is any interest.
Some time ago, I also looked at the genealogy for the Halvorsens in the bygdebok, and saw that I share a common ancestor with them, so am also related. I would have some very distant relationship with Cindy. So then I also looked at the Nattestad brothers, and I also share a common ancestor with them. It is not at all surprising in this small parish, many of these people were related somehow, especially where the farms are very close to each other. |
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
|
|
|
Linda Tollefson Therkelse
Junior member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 29/09/2010 : 14:36:08
|
Sister Ragnild
Sorry, I was not aware that it was not clear that Ragnild was also a sister of Halsten Halvorsen, and daughter of Halvor Olsen Fløset and Mari Eriksdatter Lien. Because I had used a bygdebok at the beginning, I always had the list of their children. She appears on p. 173 of Vol. II, Knut Hoff, ROLLAG BYGDEBOK, AETT OG GARD OG GREND, Vol. I, Rollag Kommune, 1993. Ragnil, III, f. 1812, g. 1838 med Ole N. Kjemhus. Utv. USA 1839.
But, of course, once I started to work on the research, I went through the Digitalarkivet and got all the records.
Her parents were married in 1811. Halvor marriage The record starts at the bottom on the right, you will have to turn the page to see all.
Her baptism -- her father's name is Halvor Olsen Brekke-eyet here. baptism On the right, #4. One of the godparents is my ancestor NIels Bentsen Brekke. (In fact, I thought I listed baptisms before.)
Her marriage -- a bit messy. marriage #10 left
Her emigration record. emigration
They are #81 & 82 on right.
I believe the couple is probably on the Emelie-- it only makes sense -- but let us not talk about what a mess that list is!
This Ole Nielsen Kjemhuus, I tinkered a little with the genealogy one day, and he is the stepson of her Uncle Ingebret Olsen, who married the widow Ambjør Olsdatter Kjemhus. Also, Ole's sister Sigrid was married to Lars Gulbrandsen (born on Kjerre) Høgrud. Lars was the brother of my g-g-grandfather Jens Gulbrandsen. Sigrid and Lars are #27 & 28 on the list for the Emelie. |
Linda Tollefson Therkelsen |
Edited by - Linda Tollefson Therkelse on 29/09/2010 14:38:06 |
|
|
|
KnudsonFamily
Medium member
USA
186 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2016 : 21:00:06
|
quote:
Originally posted by Linda Tollefson Therkelse
There are church records, too. I have sent e-mail to the archivist at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America asking when funeral records start for the Dodgeville Evangelical Church, which was founded in 1850. It is my experience that for these oldest churches, the records may be very chancy, especially the funerals. The ministers would ride to different churches, sometimes very long times in between, and some of them were very bad for funerals. They were maybe careful with baptisms and confirmations, deaths not as much. It costs $15 for me to rent a film, but I think that here I can say I will look for baptisms for my relative Bent Nelson's children.
I was hoping someone could help me with how to check for such church records. I'm specifically looking for Rock church, North Dodgeville Lutheran Church and Otter Creek. all were part of Norwegian Synod. |
Mary <>< |
|
|
|
AntonH
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
9301 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2016 : 22:04:40
|
Ancestry.com has a data base for
U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940
For Rock County they have Jefferson Prairie and Luther Valley Congregaton.
There are two Otter Creeks in Wisconsin. One in Dunn County and one in Eau Claire Conty.
For Dunn County they have
Downsville Norwegian and Our Saviour"s Luthern Church.
For Eau Claire County they have
First Lutheran Church
Our Savior´s Lutheran Church
Porters Mills Lutheran Church
St John
North Dodgevill is not a county. This Data Base is organized by county and then parish. For Dodgeville they have.
Dodgeville Highland
Dodgeville Lutheran
|
Edited by - AntonH on 14/03/2016 01:08:23 |
|
|
|
KnudsonFamily
Medium member
USA
186 Posts |
Posted - 13/03/2016 : 23:40:55
|
thanks!
found the following that should help a lot
Avoca: Fairview and Avoca
Barneveld
Blanchardville: Blanchardville Lutheran and York Memorial Lutheran
Blue Mounds: West Blue Mounds
Cobb: Peace
Dallas: New Scandinavia Lutheran
Dodgeville: Dodgeville Highland and Dodgeville Lutheran
Edmund: Bethlehem
Highland: Otter Creek Lutheran Church
Pulaski: Our Savior´s Lutheran Church and Owego Lutheran Church
Wiota Lutheran Church
thank you so much!
|
Mary <>< |
|
|
|
KnudsonFamily
Medium member
USA
186 Posts |
Posted - 24/03/2022 : 21:16:03
|
quote:
Originally posted by Rachel Gibson
Just a few more bits and pieces corroborating the same information...
You can see Halstein's letter here - page 1 and page 2.
The links are not working anymore. Is there a way to get the letter and possibly a transcription in English? |
Mary <>< |
|
|
|
dylankylesimon
Senior member
USA
200 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2023 : 06:46:55
|
In 2009, Kåarto said that the letter written by Halsten Halvorsen Fløse is now stored in the archives in IKA Kongsberg and is dated Feb. 13. 1838.
Probably easiest to send IKA Kongsberg an email "innsyn@ikakongsberg.no"
I am sure they speak English, otherwise, google translate has helped me well when contacting even Norwegian churches. Once you get a scan/image of the letter, you can probably upload it and I can help transcribe it.
Perhaps someone in the forum still has the letter, but this would be an alternative if you don't want to wait. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
The first "Amerika-brev"
