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| Nes, where the Rukkedøla and Hallingselv |
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| meet! |
John Christensen said something one night that I think is worth remembering. He was holding forth
on the 800,000 plus Norwegians emigrating, the whys, then interjected, "When you are at the local grocery and see people
from foreign lands who came here to make a living, say to your selves, "Akkurat some oss.'" (just like us)
Norwegians were coming to the New Land early on, even if one does not count Leif and the Vikings. For example, there
was the Dutch connection when that country was in a colonizing mode. Norwegians came along as craftsmen and before long were
assimilated in New Amsterdam and other new world communities.
The year 1825 is credited as the beginning of the Norse
migration to North America, when a slooper "Restaurationen" left the port of Stavanger with 50 hardy souls, bound for New
York. In the next hundred years, nearly a million Norwegians crossed the Atlantic, usually with the aim of improving their
lot.
Our family forbears made this trip in 1849, 1853, 1858, 1862, 1878 and 1883, from areas like Hallingdal, Luster i
Sogn, Valdres and Osteroy by Bergen.
| Herbrand and Raghnild Olson and their |
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| family circa 1909. |
THE HALLINGS. The first people in our family to leave Norway and come to the
United States were from Hallingdal, a rugged mountain valley that is part of Buskerud Fylke. In olden days, Hallings
had a reputation for being something of a wild bunch. Social events that did not include impromptu fights were deemed
dull affairs. Even weddings were known to be good for a knifing or two. Some wives, when packing for a wedding
at some distant point, a junket that could take two weeks, were known to pack the husbands burying clothes, just in case the
better half met his demise while at that rite. Times changed and so did the natives, at least some of them. There
were some who remained contentious, but many others became rather pious, this as an upshot of the pietism movement advanced
by Hans Nielsen Hauge. So then.....there were two factions, the fighters and the readers.
There are six kommunes in Hallingdal, i.e., Hol, Ål, Hemsedal, Gol, Nes and Flå. Roughly 300
years ago, some of our people lived in Hemsedal. From there, they moved to Torpo, a sub-parish of Ål, and remained in
that area for several generations. Great grandmother Ragnhild Mikkelsen, born in 1841, was from this family.
She emigrated with her parents, Ole Mikkelsen Medhus Håheim and Ågot Petersdatter, plus siblings Per and Sevat, in 1849.
I need to point out that Håheim, Medhus and later, Benterud, are farm names, which in Norway are simply mailing addresses
and where one lives. Sometimes, Norwegians used the farm name in lieu of the patronymic title. Actually,
this was the second marriage for Ågot, for her first spouse had died. She and Ole had both been born around 1800.
When they came to America in 1849, they first settled in Greene County, Wisconsin. Circa 1860, they continued west
to Worth County, Iowa and Brookfield Township.
Unlike many immigrants, these Hallings tended to be land owning farmers, i.e. Mikkel Knudsen
and Guri Nubsdatter up in Torpo in 1711. After the family had been in Ål for many generations, Ole and Ågot bought
the Benterud farm down in Nes, a kommune next door. They remained there only 4 years, then migrated to America.
Great grandfather Herbrand Langeberg Olsen hailed from farther down in the valley in the kommune
of Flå. Some of his forbears had roots in that kommune while others hailed from Nes. Herbrand was born on the
27th of January 1845 at Kittelsvig-eie. He apparently had a shaky start as he was baptized at home by a person
other than a priest. He hung in there and was on the scene for the next 82 years. His father was Ole Hermandsen
Hildeplass and his mother Gjertrud Amundsdatter Sanden. They were not land owners, but of the husmand or cotter
class, the preponderant group that emigrated from Norway. When he was 32, Ole Herbandsen was killed, driving himself
to death, the church book said, presumably while bringing a load of hay down the mountainside with his horse. Gjertrud
was then alone with the children.
In 1853, when Herbrand was 8 years old, Gjertrud took him, his three sisters, the parents of
her deceased husband and emigrated to America. They came in through Quebec, and made their way initially to Luther
Valley, Rock County, Wisconsin, where they lived for about three years, during which Gjertrud remarried to one O.P. Peterson
in 1855. In 1856, they continued on west to Northwood, Iowa and Worth County.
In 1862, when Herbrand was 17 years of age, the Civil War was underway and he felt a need to enlist
in Company B of the 32nd Iowa, much to the chagrin of his mother, who could use all the help she could get. After
separation, he began to farm, cultivating his acres and raising purebred cattle. On the 17th of April, 1868, he
married Ragnhild Mikkelson and they had 7 children, only two of whom outlived their parents. One of the children
was my grandmother, Oline.
Herbrand held a goodly number of township and county offices and also served in the state
legislature from 1904-1906, representing Winnebago and Worth Counties. It was said that he won as an independent
in one of the fiercest factional fights that had ever been seen in that war like district. He may have been a bit in
the van for he had long hair and a flowing beard, and his opponents loved to call attention to his hirsute adornments,
i.e., "a marvel in color and luxuriance." His Forest City friends advised him to stay away from that town for there
was a finicky prejudice in in against Samsonian locks.
A considerable honor came to Herbrand in the summer of 1925 when the big Norwegian-American Centennial
was held in the Twin Cities, when he was named along with several veterans from three wars to serve as honorary
bodyguards to President Calvin Coolidge when the latter addressed that conference.
Oh yes, Grandpa Herbert was a reader!
| GGrandparents, Jul fra Nordre Aurdal og Gunvor, |
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| fra Vestre Slidre in Valdres |
THE VALDRISEN. Another part of the family
came from Valdres, a valley which lies in Oppland Fylke, which is about 30 miles wide and 80 miles long in the heart of southern
Norway. It is known as the "Queen of the Valleys," and begins in the southern slopes of the mighty Jotunheim Mountains,
home of the giants, as they say.
Up until 1023, when Christianity was introduced, Valdres had been holding with pagan beliefs.
They really did not want to be Christians, but a pair of kings named Olaf said that was the way it was going to be.
The Valdres were the last in Norway to be Christianized, but not without a bit of trickery by King Olaf Haraldson.
Our Valdres were from Nord Aurdal and Vestre Slidre. The Ranums came from the farm Nedre Ranheim,
which is straight up, northeast of Fagernes. The name, Raneim, goes back at least to 1200 in the old church tax books,
but better documentation is from about 1600. The farm, in olden times, was taxed at 2 1/2 hides of cattle (1 hide equals
12 wildskins). In 1667, the farm had 1 horse, 10 sheep, 12 cows and 6 goats. Three barrels of barley and 1/4 barrel
of hemp were sown that year.
Great grandfather Jul Andersen Ranum came from this farm. He was the fifth child of Anders
Evensen Ranum and Kari Henriksdatter Månum, she being from the Månum farm in Leira. Grandpa Jul married Gunnøv Knutsdatter
Tuff, daughter of Knudt and Carrie Tuff, who were from Røn in Vestre Slidre. Jul and Gunnøv came to America in 1878,
first settling in Fertile Township of Worth County and later west of Northwood. Gunnøv changed her name to Julia in
America. They had five children, one of whom was my grandfather, Alvin Benonie Ranum. He was to marry my grandmother,
Oline Olsen. The upshot was a Valdris uniting with a Halling. One of their two daughters was Agnes Oline Ranum,
my mother.
At least five children of Anders and Kari came to America. Eivind, being the oldest boy, fell
heir to the farm. The next brother, Henrik, also stayed in Norway where he became a teacher and kirkesanger, meaning
that he led the congregation in singing and assisted the priest at Ulnes in a rather famous church that has endured for 753
years. He also bought a farm known as Søndre Rudlang near Ulnes. The youngest of the nine, Anders Andersen Ranum,
opened up a country store, landhandel, in Ulnes, which remains in operation to this day, 120 years later. Brit Karin
Låksrud runs it today.
Gunnøv's parents emigrated, as well, and also settled in Fertile Township.
| Looking toward the fjord and Fagernes |
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| from the Ranum farm. |
THE SOGNS. The second family contingent to emigrate
from Norway were from Luster, which is in Sogn og Fjordane Fylke. They were the Hauges and the Lovens, both of these
being farm names fairly far up along the Lusterfjord. They were of the husmand or cotter class, in their case renting
part of a farm and paying, in kind, by doing work for the owner.
Going back 200 years, Lars Olsen Hauge, originally from Bringe, born in 1799, married Anna Østensdatter
from Hovden under Holmestad. She was born in 1805. They had 10 children, three of whom emigrated and one of whom
was my great grandfather, Lars Larssen Hauge. He was born in 1837 and came to America in 1858. The family was
then living on the farm, Hauge, which meant the extreme northwest side of the Lusterfjord. Hauge or Haugen means
a hill, knoll or mound. Topography and Geography play heavily in farm names and so it was with Haugen.
Meanwhile, on the east side of the fjord was Torsten Andersson Loven, originally from Lingjerde, who was
born in 1794. In 1822, he married Martha Nilsdatter from Eikjaberg in Hafslo. Torsten and his first wife had been
sharecroppers at Hilleren under Kroken. He later secured a place at Lovelund under Loven.
Torsten and Kari had 5 children, 3 of then named Martha, with the first two by that name dying early.
In Norway, when a baby died, it was their wont to give the next birth of the same sex the deceased's name. The third
Martha was my great grandmother and she was born in 1843. Torsten Andersson Loven and family, save for Andrea, emigrated
in 1862.
Three of the Hauge brothers, albeit at different times, and the Lovens, all alighted in Dane County, Wisconsin.
Some spent all of their remaining days there, while others moved westward, in Wisconsin, or in the case of Lars Hauge, to
Iowa. While they may have known one another back in Luster, it was in Wisconsin that Lars and Martha married in 1864.
Lars and Martha had 9 children, the first two being born in Dane County, and the others west of Kensett
in Worth County, Iowa. My Grandmother, Caroline, aka Lena, was their third child and the first to be born in Iowa.
The family farmed in Brookfield Township. Lena was the only grandmother that I knew and she spent a lot of time with
me, teaching me to play solitarire and whist. She cheated at both games. I was a small boy at the time, but when
we played cards, she would pull the window shades down, saying with a twinkle in her eye, "Reverend Sigmund might walk by
and look in."
| Grandpa Lars left the farm located a |
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| few miles north of Hosanger in 1882. |
THE OSTERFJORD. The fourth and last emigrants
in our family came from the island area in the Osterfjord north of Bergen. This would be in Hordaland Fylke. These
members of our family lived on islands with names like Haukøy, Padøy, and Osterøy. They were all tenant farmers, or
as they were called, paktars. The name changed a few times over the years, but for most of the time in the late 1800's,
it was Kleiveland.
As the story goes, Tyke Kleffueland, a Dutch salmon fisherman, sailed up the Osterfjord one
day in the 16th century, discovered there were a lot of salmon about and decided to stay. He had with him an Austrian
wife, which makes sense if you recall that the Hapsburg Empire took in Spain and Holland in addition to Austria. Tyke
was apparently a man of substance for he bought his land directly from the King, which few were able to do in those days.
A sort of father figure, Tyke is common ancestor of many thereabouts. Alas, his affluence did not continue on, at least
to some of us.
My great grandparents were Ole Larsen Storholmen (1834-1914) and Anna Johnannesdatter Pynton
(1839-1914). Anna was the oldest of 13 children. Ole and Anna had 10 children and Grandpa Lars Kleiveland
was the eldest, being born in 1862. You will note the the name changed from Storholmen to Kleiveland when the family
moved to Osterøy, where they were to live for about 20 years. Kleiveland is located about 8 miles north of Hosanger
on the east side of the Osterfjord. The prefix of that name, Kleiv, means "a steep, rocky, ascent," and the terrain
was in deed that. They have only had a road in for the last 18 years and before that traveled either by boat or afoot
when leaving the farm. The ferry came twice a day back then and bus service now comes to Kleiveland twice each day.
One of my favorite stories about this family centered around GGGGgrandmother Kari Brynjelsdatter (1655-1718).
There was some property involved with her and vertical changes via remarriage and widowhood. Kari married 3 times, the
last in 1712 to a virtual lad of 20 by the name of Knud Kleffueland. Kari was then 57. Marriages were seen
at that time more as business mergers than as love matches.
People who lived on the islands in the Osterfjord back through the years were called
"Bergen Fiskestrile," by some around Bergen, this being a mildly disparaging phrase, akin to lesser lights or rednecks.
It harkened back to a time when a German tavern owner by the name of Strile led inhabitants of the islands in revolting against
higher taxes as these were imposed.
Grandpa Lars Kleiveland emigrated in 1883, at age 20. He settled briefly in North Dakota,
then made his way to Worth County, Iowa and Brookfield Township. It was here that he met and married my grandmother, Lena
Hauge.
| The Østerfjord, one of four fjords girding the |
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| big island of Østerøy near Bergen. |
| A view of Kleiveland on the Østerfjord, where |
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| Lars lived before migrating in 1882. |
| Han Ola og Han Per appear in bronze now |
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| and stand just east of the Syttende Mai Hus in Spring Grove |
These two older fellows, via the comic strip Han Ola og Han Per, appeared in the Decorah Posten 600 times and older
Norwegian immigrants were known to await that publication's arrival so to follow them and the situations
they faced. Their creator, Peter Julius Rosendahl, wrote,
".......The roles they play in our Western Home out here
Are meant to ease and lighten the burden that you bear.
For most of us can see
That when everything goes wrong,
A little fun and foolishness
Make it easier to get along."
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