Syttende Mai is a good time to reflect and celebrate your Norwegian heritage. All of my ancestors came from Norway and several of them immigrated to America, became homesteaders, and settled in the Wellsburg and Manfred areas. I have previously written the story of relatives on my Dad’s side, the Hovland’s and Vigen’s. Now I will tell about my Mother’s relatives, the Lindbo’s and Olson’s.
My mother’s maiden name was Lindbo. This story starts in Norway with my great-great grand parents Torsten Gullickson Lindbo (1814-95) and Kristi Olsdalter Rolstad (1825-67) in Sigdal Buskerus Norway. One of their sons was my great grand father Gullick Torstenson Lindbo (1863-1936) and he married my great grand mother Ragnhild Saetra Knutsed Vigen (1862-1905). She was born in Kredsherred Baskerus Norway and her parents were Knut D. Vigen (1828-1903) and Ingeborg Nilsdatter Brevig. Gullick and Ragnhild had nine children.
Gullick immigrated to America in 1887 and settled in Stony Brook Township, Minnesota. It is there that he met and married Ragnhild. There were four children born to them while in Stony Brook. Thomas (1891-1966), Gilbert Oliver (1895-1958)( my grandpa), Gottfred (1893-1977), and Nina Kristine (1889-90). Ragnhild had a son by a previous marriage, Edward Arens (1882-1948).
Gullick and Ragnhild farmed at Stony Brook for a few years then they moved to Manfred, N.D. where they homesteaded land. They had four more children; Agnes (1905-62), Melvin (1897-1971), Ottin (1902-?), and Clarence (1899-1936). My great grand parents lived by Manfred the rest of their lives until they died.
My grandpa Gilbert grew up on the farm by Manfred and on July 5, 1918 he married my grandma Celia Olson (1899-1964). They farmed 4 miles west and ¼ mile south of Heimdal on a farm owned by C.E. Stahl until 1944. They had three daughters, Ruth, Gladys, and Lorraine (my mom).
They divorced in about 1942 and grandpa later quit farming and became a carpenter and handy man. Grandma and my Mom moved to Rugby. This is the short version of their lives but my Mom wrote a very detailed story of her childhood days which is very interesting.
Grandpa died when I was eight and Grandma died when I was 14 but I remember both of them very well. Grandpa made a small wooden trailer which he lived in the warm weather months and he pulled it behind his car to work job sites. In the winter he would stay with his daughter Ruth and her family. After Grandpa died we got the trailer, kind of an early version RV, and us boys would sleep in it in the summer. Quite fun!
Grandpa was a good carpenter, he worked very hard. He loved to read just like I do. He was a heavy smoker (like I was) and when he developed lung cancer he quit smoking by using mint candy to suck on and chewed black licorice. He would share this candy and licorice with us kids which made him very popular. Ironically when I quit smoking 36 years ago, I also used mints and licorice to help me quit because I remembered how well it worked for Grandpa.
I remember the day he died. He was at the John Moses VA hospital in Minot and my parents went to visit him that day. It was August 11, 1958, two days after my 8th birthday. I chose to stay with my aunt Borghild. My Dad called Borghild after Grandpa died to let us know but I didn’t really understand what happened so I wasn’t sure how to react.
Grandpa’s funeral was the first funeral I can remember going to although I don’t remember the actual funeral too much. What I remember is when we were at the cemetery, I thought it smelled like our pasture. Grass and gophers. He is buried at East Vang Cemetary.
My Grandma Celia moved to Red Lodge, MT in the late 1940’s where she operated a café. In 1951 she moved to Billings, MT and owned and operated a café there called Celia’s Café. One fall in the mid 1950’s we took a vacation and went to Billings to visit Grandma. We drove there in a 1950 Chevy sedan car. There were 4 of us kids and my parents. The Chevy had a hump in the middle of the back seat floor and I would stand on this hump and sing to my heart’s content. I’m sure it drove everyone in the car crazy!
It was a real treat at Grandma’s café as we got to have whatever we wanted to eat, hamburgers, hot dogs, malts, rolls, doughnuts. That trip was definitely a trip of a lifetime for me!
Grandma died on May 5, 1964. She is buried at Bethel Cemetary.
I have found over the years that the name Lindbo is fairly common in North Dakota. I have met several people with the Lindbo name but no direct connection to my family that I can find.
Most Norwegians who settled in the Wellsburg and Manfred areas after they got to America they first went to Stony Brook Township where they were taught how to farm on these Dakota prairies.
My mom’s mother’s maiden name was Olson. The Olson family history is different as when they came to America from Norway they ended up in Elgin, Iowa instead of Stony Brook Township.
My great-great grand parents Hans Olson and Sigrud Knutson immigrated to America from Norway in the mid 1850’s and homesteaded on a farm in Elgin, Iowa. Their son Carl Olson (1871-1947), my great grand father, was born there. Carl married my great grand mother Bertha Hauge who immigrated to America when she was 14 years old from Stavanger, Norway. Her parents, my great-great grandparents, were Torger and Brita Jarge Hauge. They had five other children; Leif, Martha, John, Torger, and Andrew.
Carl and Bertha were married on July 17, 1894, in Buxton, N.D. In 1895 they moved to Manfred and homesteaded on a farm four miles north of Manfred. They had eight children; Olia, Henry, Belle, Celia (my grandma), Thilda, John, Talmer, and Alice.
Carl homesteaded 160 acres and then was able to purchase another 80 acres for a total of 240 acres. Carl also worked as a carpenter to supplement his income building houses, barns, and granaries in the area. His pay was often 50 cents a day for a 12 hour day.
Carl also played the violin and he made at least 5 violins in his life time. In the 1930’s Carl became blind and so his son John took over the farm. In 1942 Carl had eye surgery on one eye and was able to see again and even drove a car.
An interesting story about Bertha is when she came to America at age 14, she was given the trip ticket to her by a lady who lived in Norway but was unable to use the ticket so she gave it to Bertha. Bertha used the lady’s name while traveling. A couple of years later Bertha’s entire family arrived in America.
Bertha’s brother Leif was a ship’s captain. He, his wife, and a daughter perished in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
Carl and Bertha both died in 1947 and are buried at Bethel Cemetary.
I remember three of my grandma Celia’s siblings. Her sisters Belle and Thilda didn’t live around here but they visited us occassionally. They looked a lot like Grandma, very distinguished looking ladies. I remember her brother Talmer the best though. He took over the family farm by Manfred and raised dairy and beef cows and turkeys. When Talmer was a young man he was a cowboy. He would ride horse between North Dakota and Montana breaking horses for the homesteading farmers.
Wild horses would be shipped by railroad to towns along the way who had corrals to hold them. Talmer would halter break them, then ride them before the farmer who bought them took possession of them. A real cowboy! Us kids were just in awe of him as he looked and talked like we thought a cowboy should look and talk like.
He told us when he camped at night he would camp in a cemetery as no one would bother him there. There’s a family story about Talmer when he was herding a bunch of mares from Wyoming to North Dakota. For some reason he had to hurry back to North Dakota so he had to leave the mares in a box canyon that had plenty of grass and water to sustain them. His intent was to come back later and get them but he never made it back. He always wondered about those mares.
Talmer loaned us the saddle he used during his cowboy days. The seat of it was short with a high back and big swells on the front. You fit in it so tight there was no way you could get bucked out of that saddle! If you rode in it for very long though you would get pretty sore as there was no padding on it at all. The last I heard of the saddle his daughter Raenette had it. It is a classic!
Talmer married Myrtle Thompson , a wonderful lady. Myrtle died in 1964. They had four children; Marlyss, Janet, Raenette, and Doreen. He sold the farm in 1972. In his later years he worked for and with Dr. Judy Olson (I think her name was Soderstrom then) a lady veterinarian in Harvey. Talmer was a colorful character, one of those unforgettable people. He died in 1976.
The source for this story was The History of Stonybrook Township by Louis O. Foss, My Childhood Days by Lorraine Hovland, and family records.
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