Norway: The Torgerson/Skogrand "Roots" Tour

December, 2010 revision
(Please bear with me as this takes shape)

Flickr Slide Show

Scenario. Three first cousins -- Karen, Darrel, and Doug -- set off with Doug's wife Susan on a 2 1/2 week trip to Norway, there to find the communities of origin of their great-grandparents. They succeed beyond their dreams.

Those of you who read the September draft of this blog entry saw a map with our planned driving route, the snippets of biography on my great grandfather, Ole Torgeson, that whetted my appetite for the trip, a little information about my mother's mother's family near Trondheim, and a family tree for what I had so far. with 13 days and a rented Prius (nontrivial, with gasoline at about eight dollars per gallon). We got to all the places we'd planned, and to a couple more, though we did a little rearranging. The trip was framed by a wonderful reunion with three of Doug's friends from the University of Minnesota in the early '60s. And, at least half the time, we were tourists in one of the world's most delightful places to be tourists. 

Itinerary
Oslo – Risør – Bergen – Ålesund – Trondheim – Kyrksæterøra/Hemne - Kristiansund – Lillehammer – Oslo

Overall impressions: breathtaking vistas, spotless cities both quaint and modern, friendly articulate and undefensive people enjoying perhaps the world's highest standard of living. When I browse the pictures I feel I'm watching a travelogue or reading National Geographic. Norway is, simply, the most picturesque place I have ever seen. The four of us must've taken a couple of thousand pictures while we were there, and we could have taken many more. Every mountain switchback (one every hour) brings into view another perfect fjord. Every tunnel (a dozen a day, some of the miles long) emerges onto a perfect  pasture with houses scattered around the hills above it. Every ferryboat ride (a couple a day) drops you into another fascinating little town with cobbled streets and world-class pastry. The museums – the Resistance, the Viking, the Fram (all Oslo), the Cultural History (Bergen), the Munch (Oslo) – are a must. They present an honest, deep, and surprising story of the cultural, religious, and economic history of this kjære lille land.

First, heartfelt thanks to those who made the trip such a delightful success. Cousin Karen, you previewed it several years ago with your daughter, you planned it for us, you set up the meetings that produced all the wonderful contacts with relatives. And you set a pace that gets things done. We can't thank you enough. Cousin Darrell, it is been a great pleasure to get to know you through two weeks of traveling together. we found an awful lot to talk about, as to old Norskies should. I feel blessed that we have these memories to share – and I'll never think about GPS instructions in quite the same way again! Susan, you are the very best of traveling companions, and you look so in-place in Norway, no one would know that … 

To the Norway cousins and friends, first a broad thanks to all of you:

• Oslo: Leslie, Larry, Susan, Sven
• Røed/Risør: Anne, Kjell, Jens, Jon, Lars, Siri
• Kyrksæterøra/Hemne: Ingvar, Klara, Øyvind, Roland

Background. I am the only child of Gertrude Torgerson-Skogrand. Her grandparents were Norwegian immigrants who settled in western Minnesota during the last third of the 19th century. Her father was John Torgerson, son of Ole Torgeron and Olive Turi Olson. Her mother was Mattie/Mette Skogrand, daughter of Gabriel Skogrand and Sara.I had little interest in the details of my ancestry as a boy, and my mother, who knew a great deal about the family, died when I was 14. After cousin Karen's trip to Norway a few years ago Susan and I began to think about going, and in the summer of 2009 I visited the sites of the Homestead Farms of my great grandparents and the tiny town of Big Bend, where my mother and her siblings mostly grew up. I have some photographs and a short video already posted to YouTube and Flickr, and I expect to have a good deal more information when I have visited archives in western Minnesota and spoken with relatives there.

My first efforts to learn more about my great grandparents took the form of Google searches in the summer of 2009. My earlier posting to this blog included several long excerpts from that material see Appendix), which is now largely superseded by information from ancestry.com and the Hemneslekt website and information gleaned from conversations in Norway. I've been thinking in particular about two of my ancestors.

A Tale of Two Ancestors

Thanks to the help of so many relatives and friends, to the rich array of ancestry materials available on the Web, and to the inherent love of cultural detail of the Norwegian people, it would now be possible to list dozens of relatives extending over five generations. For now, let's concentrate on my mother's father's father and her mother's mother.

Ole Torjesen Røed (1827-1918)

   
During our three days in the Risør area we met sevenof our cousins through Torje Olsen Røed, Ole's father, dined royally on smorgasbord and loubscous (blessings on you, Inga and Siri!), saw the ancestral farm at Røed, learned of the remarkable Norwegian history of the 19th century Torjesens, and were treated to the reading/translation of a letter Ole wrote home from Minnesota in 1862 (translation coming). We are, if I understand the terminology, first cousins four times removed, related through the Minneota cousins' great grant-uncle Guttorm Torjesen (1823-1902).

In October, 1862, Ole writes to his younger brother Thor from Rushford Township in southeastern Minnesota, where the good farmland has already been settled. He tells the folks in Røed that because of the Sioux uprising that year homestead land was available for $15 and there were plenty of soldiers for protection, even with the Civil War going on in the South. Ole himself returned to Risør for a couple of years, then moved to Chippewa County in western Minnesota where our family took root. 

I knew Ole to be a colorful Minnesota Pioneer character from the material unearthed in 2009 (see Appendix). Now one can see how over a period of a quarter of a century (from his first arrival in the Midwest in 1852 his resettlement in western Minnesota in the late 1860s and his close involvement with the wave of settlers in the 1870s) he ties the two communities together, starting the first post office at Risør/Reesor and helping to give shape to Tønsberg/Tunsberg Township. Pending further research in Minnesota, this summary of Ole's life in America will suffice:

Ole Torgerson was born in Norway on March 26, 1827, a son of Torge Olson. He left Norway July 6, 1850 and, after spending approximately 3 years in Wisconsin lumber camps, arrived at Rushford, Fillmore County, Minnesota on July 2, 1853. Ole Torgeson became a citizen of the United States on May 23, 1855.

April 7, 1863 he went back to Norway, arriving on May 12 the same year. He left resort Norway March 26, 1866 and arrived back at Rushford, Fillmore County on May 30, 1866. He left Rushford August 4, 1866 and arrived at the Chippewa River in section 35, Swift County on August 27 the same year. The first year he lived in a 10' x 12' dugout approximately a quarter mile northeast of Hagen. He married Olive Turi Olson on September 25, 1866. Olive Olson was born in Norway July 29, 1840, a daughter of Olav and Ingeborg Svenungson. They had both been educated in the English language in Norway. In 1867 he homesteaded 147.8 acres in section 3, Tunsberg Township – approximately 4 miles north and 1/2 mile East of Watson. He built a log house on the east side of the river which became the first Risør/Reesor  post office.

Appointed Postmasters

Ole Torgerson               June 4, 1870
Andrew T Haugen        January 3, 1873
Eric Erickson                April 7, 1873
Frederick H Lund          July 19, 1875

Ole Torgeson died in the great influenze epidemic of 1918.

Sara Olsd Skogrand f Oddan (1848-1941)

 

During our brief glimpse of Kyrksæterøra (do try to pronounce it) we wandered through the Hemne Parish churchyard where so many Oddans and Skogrands reside, had coffee (and waffles, and cake, and cloud berries) with a delightful couple related through Sara's grandparents, met the current owner of the farm held by the Larsons and Oddans in the 19th century, and got a sense of modern life in a setting from fairytales. All this, thanks to Ingvar. Tusen takk.

In Kristiansuund we had hours of conversation and scrapbook-sharing with Klara, and Ingvar, and Øyvind, and Roland. you left me with so many happy impressions and hopes of reciprocating the hospitality.

 Mette Skogrand's lineage. My mother's mother arrived in Minnesota at a few months of age and grew up in a an extended family of new Norwegian immigrants from both the Hemne/Kyrksæterøra and Risør/Røed areas. Her mother Sara grew up in the home of Ole Larson Oddan, on a farmstead in the "Skogrand" area near Kyrksæterøra. Thanks to cousin Ingvar, we visited the farm site and met the current owner, who showed us the plan of the 19th century house, no longer present, and made us a gift of a wooden bowl found on the premises and initialed, "OL," presumably for Sara's father, Ole.

1874: From Kyrksæterøra, Sør-Trøndelag, to Willmar, Minnesota. Through Ancestry.com and the wonderful Hemneslekt Web resource (I hope to communicate with the webmaster and to add some of our Minnesota artifacts to the database) I have access to census and shipping records and a great deal more. Shipping records for the Tasso, a hybrid steam-sailing vessel operating from Trondheim to Bergen to Hull (England) list a party of four departing on June 25, 1874, with an ultimate destination of Wilmar (sic), Minnesota:

• 25.06.1874 Gabriel E Skaugran    26  Wilmar Tasso 28194
• 25.06.1874 Sara                    K   25   Wilmar Tasso 27837
• 25.06.1874 Mette                 FD  18   Wilmar 9872
• 25.06.1874. Mette Skaugran       3m  Wilmar Tasso 30980

in the Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905, Big Bend Township entry 87 is for

• Erickson Gabriel 45
• Erickson Sara Mrs. 46
• Skogrand Mette 21

 

In neighboring Tunsberg Township the same year:

In Tunsberg Township, entry 57 is

• Thorgeson Ole 68 Norway
• Thorgeson Olive [Aldrif?] 53 Norway
• Thorgeson Edward 25 Minnesota
• Thorgeson John 23 Minnesota
• Thorgeson Julius 21 Minnesota
• Thorgeson Daniel 19 Minnesota
• Thorgeson Hanna 14½ Minnesota
• Thorgeson Elias 13 Minnesota

So here we have Mette/Mattie Skogrand and John Torgerson, my mother's parents, at 21 and 23 years of age.

I have also opened an account with Ancestors, a pay-as-you-go ancestry research website. Here's a glimpse of a fragment of the family tree as it now looks:

That's the story to date (12/13/2010).

__________________________________________________________________________________

Appendix

I began in the summer of 2009 to look for genealogical information and anecdotes about my ancestors on the open web. Here are some examples of what I found about Ole Torgeson (the spelling seems to have changed after arrival to the USA), my great-grandfather.

   NORWAY-L Archives: Re: TORGESON/TORGERSEN Tunsberg Township, Chippewa County Minnesota

Ole Torgeson, one of the outstanding early pioneers died on 11/20/1918 [?]. A private funeral was held at the Immanuel Church because the death was caused by influenza.

Ole Torgerson RO was born in Norway on 3/26/1827, a son of Torge Olson. He left Norway July 6, 1850 and arrived in Wisconsin. On 7/2/1853 Ole Torgerson arrived at Rushford in Fillmore County. Ole Torerson RO returned to Norway on the 7th of April 1863.On 3/26/1866 he left Norway and arrived at Rushford, Fillmore County. He left Rushford 8/4/1866 bound for the Chippewa River. Less than a month after his arrival he married Olive Turi Olson on September 25, 1866.

Olive Turi Olson was born in Norway July 29, 1840, a daughter of Olav and Ingeborg Swenungsen. She was a member of the Golden settlers that arrived in early 1866.

The first year the living quarters was a 10 x12 foot dugout in the hillside about a quarter mile northeast of the present site of Hagan village. In 1857 they moved to a homestead in Section 3 in Tunserg Township.

A log house was built on the east side of the Chippewa River and became the very first post office. In 1878 a new set of buildings was built on the west side of the river. The log house on the east side was moved to Section 16 of Big Bend Township.

Ole and Olive Torgerson were the parents of seven children: Theodore, Edward, John, Julius, Daniel, Hannah and Elias.

Ole Torgerson was one of the three first elected County Commissioners of Chippewa County and the very first assessor of Chippewa County.

Olive Turi Torgerson died June 22 1922.

and

From: "Helen T Steele" <htsteele@hcinet.net>
Subject: Re: TORGESON/TORGERSEN Tunsberg Township, Chippewa County Minnesota
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 07:50:51 -0500
 This is a biographical sketch found in the History of Chippewa and Lac qui
Parle Counties 1916 pp 584-5

Ole Torgeson, one of the oldest settlers of Chippewa county and honored retired pioneer farmer of Tunsberg township, was born in Norway, March 27, 1827. His parents were both natives of that country and died there. Ole Torgeson was educated in Norway, and in the fall of 1850 came to America. He first located in Wisconsin where he remained for two years and then came to Minnesota and located in Fillmore County. He bought a farm of one hundred
and twenty acres in that county and lived there until 1867. In that year he moved to Chippewa county and bought a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. He added to his land holdings from time to time until he had a body of land of two hundred and forty acres. He has a nice grove on this farm and at one time had a fine orchard, but the orchard has mostly served its allotted time. He has a good, comfortable home on this farm and is living there at present, aged eighty-nine years.

Politically, Mr. Torgeson is a Republican. He was county commissioner for serveral terms, and has held many other offical positions. For years he was a member of the school board of his township and was the first assessor for Chippewa County. He was also a supervisor for one year. He and his family are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, of Tunsberg Township.

In 1866 Ole Torgeson was married to Olive Olsen, who was born in Norway in 1840, daughter of Ole and Ingeborg Olsen, who came to America many years ago proceeding to Minnesota and later settling in Big Bend Township, Chippewa county, where they spent the rest of their lives.

To Mr. and Mrs. Torgeson seven chiildren have been born. Theodore, Edward, Julius, Daniel, Elias, Hannah and John, all of whom are living.

Helen Steele

and

From: Mrogfar@aol.com
Subject: Re: TORGESON/TORGERSEN Tunsberg Township, Chippewa County Minnesota
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 20:33:26 EDT
More from the 1914 article regarding Ole Torgerson:

His good advice was sought by both young and old. He didn't push it nor did he hold it back when he thought it would help someone.

As soon as there were enough people, he wanted a post office. He gave it the name Risør and he was the postmaster. The township was called Tønsberg, Rø was among those who organized it and gave it the name. We mustn't be ashamed of the Norwegian names, said Ole Rø. When we use the Norwegian names, then those who come after us will understand that there have been Norwegians here from the first.

When the county got their board of directors, he was on the board. The other two were Yankees. When they first met they all agreed that the district money should be paid to both Norwegians and Americans, but they didn't do anything about it, because they had had a free time. When they met again, the Yankees said it should just be for the Americans and the Norwegians got nothing. It didn't help what Ole Rø said as they had the majority and did as they wanted. Ole had to give in. Rø wanted them to get all the books and furniture that they needed, but no more. The other two bought much more than they needed. Then Rø became indignant and turned in his resignation. Then he went home and was through with politics.

He was a big well formed and well liked man but he never mentioned how strong he was. One time he had chopped a big tree that he wanted to take home, but it was so heavy that he couldn't get it on his sleigh, no matter how hard he tried. Just then some neighbors came by who had been to the railroad for some wood. They saw Ole struggling with the wood. They called to him to wait until tomorrow and they would help him, for now it was too late in the afternoon. Then they went on. Then Ole got hot under the collar, took one end and lifted it in the sleigh and then the other end, and drove home. In the morning when the neighbors came by they saw the timber in the sleigh. Two of them tried to get it off, but they couldn't budge it. It took more of them to roll it off. And that's all there is on Ole Rø.

You can see why I was intrigued! Googling “Sara Gabriel Skogrand” produced:

From: Egil Øyangen <oeyangen@online.no>
Subject: Re: [Tronder] Skogrand (Skaugran) Farm
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 21:09:23 +0100
References: <MFMBM029NTDz192UKK000000887@mfmbm029.myfamilycorp.local>
Your great grandmother Mette Eriksdatter Skogrand born 25 Sep 1855 emigrated from Trondheim on 25 Jun 1874 together with her brother Gabriel(25), his wife Sara(25) and their daughter Mette who was 3 months old. They lived then in Hevne parish in Sør-Trøndelag. Mette Eriksdatter and Gabriel Eriksen's parents were Erik Johnsen Follo/Viggen/Hasselflata born 1805 or 1806 , died 1870 and his wife Mette Pedersdatter Ofstad born 1810. They married in 1832 (Geitastrandboka page 274) and took over half of his parents farm in Børsa in 1833. They sold the farm to Mette's half-sister in 1848 and moved out. Children: Ermegård born 1833, Peder(Per) born 1834, John born 1837, Ingeborg born 1840, John born 1844, Johan Arnt born 1847 (Børsaboka volume 2 page 222). In 1865 they lived at Hasselflata in Hasselvik(Stadsbygd parish)

Doug's Norway roots links
(suggestions welcomed)

• Norwegian Americans: Minnesotans
• Chippewa County Historical Society
• Big Bend, Chippewa County, Minnesota, Recorded on June 30, 2009. Doug and Aunt Sylvia Torgerson Taylor.
• Immanuel Lutheran Church  cemetery with Torgerson and Skogrand graves.
• googling østre røed http://www.nettkatalogen.no/bransjelist/r%C3%B8ed%20ris%C3%B8r/1.htm
• Quaker Sloopers: First Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. By Wilmer Tjossem. Quaker Life, November 2000. Friends United Meeting.
• Cleng PeersonLetter from Cleng Peerson in New York to Family and Friends in Norway, 20 December 1824
• Etterkommere av Anders Håvarsen Moland