Gifts and Memorials

$20 from Irene Navarrohonoring Vivian EngerErbes and husbandClarence wedding Anni-versary

(Author Andreas Mørch wrote this articlebefore restoration of the old graveyard wascompleted and before it was definite howmaintenance would be organized. Now every-thing within the wooden fence has been put inorder. Many Americans with relatives fromSigdal come to see where their forefathers rest ,even though they no longer find the exact plot(Marilyn Somdahl translated this article takenfrom UNDER NOREFJELL – Vol 18 No 2,2002 and the illustrations are by HåvardStøvern, Prestfoss).

The old churchyard lies in back of thepriest’s farmyard. The original part is nowfenced in with notched-wood fencing, such asit has been through the centuries. On the edgesof the north and east areas, the fence is, overthe course of the last 250 years of populationgrowth, made with pieces of Holmen sod.Here is the huge birch forest and now theunderbrush is gone. Here are stumps solarge they must be boredinto and blastedbefore one canset in the forcesto take them upwith any chanceat all. The piecesare planed andput back into theearth again. Quite alot of the many iron crosses have disappeared.Those that had cast or molded inscriptionswere moved to the fenced in area; otherwisemost of the crosses are without both markingsand names now. Monuments of stone were sofew that there is only one in the east end of the

two set apart places. That one was moved tothe west side of the fence.

Metal (or stone) plates which had holesbored through them were used to secure themetal crosses in the ground. When HelgeBrynslund worked with the restoration plansand took up one such stone plate, he was alertand aware that there were letters on it. It wasnot part of the monument; it was a base for acast iron cross. N.E.S.Q 17 was chiseled outon the underside of the stone. Nils Engebret-sen Qvisle was born in 1762. There weremany descendants that utilized this stone tosecure the metal cross. This stone must have

lain at Kvisle until it came to be used in thisfashion. A cast iron cross was set up here

just before Nils died in 1817.Wood crosses were also used on the

graves. Whether they are the oldesthere, we can not say for sure. There

are few such wood crosses intactfrom the o ld churchyard.

Effects of time andweather took theirtoll on those paintedwood crosses whilecast metal crosseslasted longer. It wasa real sorrow that the“rosepainted” namesand dates wore off

with the years. We alsofind a few cast plates large enough to cover agrave and having space for plentiful inscrip-tions. We can be assured that the wood crosseswere done by carpenters in Sigdal and werepainted with lettered names by local rosemal-ers. Foundry cast crosses were purchased out

(C ont i nu ed on pag e 3)

The Old Holmen Church at PrestfossAward Winner,Irene Navarre

4

Norway Links 5

2003 Stevne Update 6

Corrine goes to Africa –ALONE!

7

Riceford LutheranChurch Closes

9

Rokke’s Celebrate 11

Member's Surveys 11

Fra Presidente 2

Inside this issue:

Velkommen, nyelag medlemmer!

KATHLEEN JOHNSONSalt Lake C ity, UT

PAULINE FENELONJanesville, MN

CAROLYN BELLAMYLDS Family History LibrarySalt Lake C ity, UT

Serving Norwegian-Americans of Sigdal, Eggedal & Krødsherad ancestry

Sigdalslag Saga

February, 2003

Volume 23, Issue 1

Since 1911

This old church, situated up by the priest’s farm, was onthe east side of the old road.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

MEETING MINUTES

Me m be rs who wo u ld l ik eto re ce ive a co py o f theJa nua ry Ex e cu ti ve Bo a rdMe e ting m inu te s a rewe lco m e to s e nd the irre q u e s ts to P re s id en tEa rl Knu tso n . Ea rls ’co n ta ct in fo rm a tio n iso n p a ge 2 .

EARL O. KNUTSON President722 Second Street SWWillmar, MN 56201320-222-1613eoknutsn@en-tel.net

CAROL MEADE VP 14133 Lyndale Avenue SMinneapolis, MN 55409612-827-6139cmeade@bitstream.net

GARTH ULRICH VP 2Box 28, Spalding SKSOK 4CO, CANADA306-633-2274gulrich@sasktel.net

JUDY SOSTED VP 31118 Lia CourtNorthfield, MN 55057jsosted@hotmail.com

DON SKADELAND Treasurer10642 “O” StreetOmaha, NE 68127402-331-5906dlskad@aol.com

AMY MICHELSEN Secretary18730 Roanoke St. NWAnoka, MN 55303-8971763-753-5484amymikemichelsen@earthlink.net

LEE ROKKE Genealogist13465 Garden View DriveApple Valley, MN 55124952-432-9767leerokke@aol.com

MARILYN MOEN Co-Editor32557 Clay Bank RoadErhard, MN 56534mmoen@prtel.com

CINDY PETERSON Co-Editor/Publisher3520 Banyan StreetSanta Rosa, CA 95403707-573-1504vikingsby7@msn.com

For submissions or questions,please contact Marilyn Moenor Cindy Peterson

2002-2003SigdalslagOfficers

This year's "mid

year" meeting of

the Sigdalslag

Ex-

ecutive Board to

ok place on Janu

ary 13th in Anok

a, MN.

We reviewed the

status of our fi

nances, our news

letter,

our website. We

discussed how t

o meet the Sigda

lag's

responsibilities

for the coming

two stevner. Th

e 2004

stevne was of sp

ecial concern, b

ecause Sigdalsla

g has

been entrusted t

o organize the a

ffair, beginning

with

selecting the si

te. The univers

ities in Marshal

l and

Morris, MN are b

eing considered.

For me, the most

interesting par

t was our discus

sion

of Sigdalslag’s

history and its

future. It is j

ust re-

markable that th

e Lag, although

very informal an

d very

loosely organize

d, is now nearl

y 92 years old.

The

centennial is "j

ust around the c

orner" so we mus

t start

now to plan a su

itable celebrati

on. At a minimu

m, we

must publish a c

entennial book.

(I’d be gratefu

l to

hear suggestions

of a good autho

r/historian for

this

project.) But w

e should go furt

her than that.

How

about a plaque o

r monument showi

ng that we are g

rateful

for the first 10

0 years, and opt

imistic about th

e second

100!

Happily, our fin

ances continue t

o be in good sha

pe.

After taking out

the reserves re

quired in the by

laws and

the amount set a

side for publish

ing, we have a b

alance

of about $3000.

If we so decide

, this could be

a good

start towards a

worthy centennia

l project.

If anyone would

like to serve on

a committee to

come

up with a fittin

g way to celebra

te our centennia

l,

please let me kn

ow.

Ha det bra,

President Earl O

. Knutson

under the Officers list was correct.). Sorry for theinconvenience it may have caused you.

Secondly, my apologies to Sigrid Kvisle of theStiftesen Sigdal Museum in Norway, for forget-ting to give photo credits to her for the beautifulpicture of Andersnatten that graces the headlinebanner of the new Saga. Tusen takk Sigrid!

Indeed, I learned a few things during and aftermy first attempt at this publication, I hope that itonly gets better with age…at least I’m hoping Iwill!

Hilsen, Cindy Peterson

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you allhad a Gud Yul with your families and friends!Part of my winter project has been spent de-bugging some of my “oop’s” from my premierSaga issue in October (call it ‘half-baked’ - o rcall me that if you prefer).

I have a couple of apologies to make: To ourtreasurer Don Skadeland and all of the fo lkswho send their membership renewals to secre-tary Amy Michelsen, and used the addresslisted on the membership application…I mis-takenly typed in the wrong street (the address

Fra Presidenten:

Editor’s Corner...

P age 2 S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

of the area, but Sigdal’s rosemalers paintedthem, especially those with gold letters andgold “roses” on the ends of the crosses. Atthe new Holmen graveyard, one can find acouple of cast iron crosses, but mainlythere are headstones there. There are a fewgravestones in the old graveyard alsowhich were bought from a firm of stone-cutters in the course of a couple decadesprior to 1900.

This old graveyard almost jutted outinto the old road. Its position now doesnot interfere becausethere is little t rafficalong the valley. Thereis no great stream offolks that will see thissmall enclosure thatcontains the dust of ourfathers, probably sincethe year 1100. The lastwere buried here in1897. Then the newgraveyard began to be used. Of course,there are not many whose eye is delightedviewing the old graves, as they are today.They are not tidy and the crosses arelopsided and lean over at a slant. Likewise,light is shed on such hardy plants as spireaand veronica, that survived from the timepeople decorated the graves. We mustnote these and several other half–wildplants. They can be found wild elsewherein the valley. Here within the oldest partof the old churchyard, they stand on graveafter grave. But here is a field that iscompletely without any graves. It causesus to wonder.

The old church was torn down in 1855-1856 while the churchyard continued inuse until 1897. It was cramped at thisgraveyard. Even if a part was preparedand plotted in 1746, known to be on theeast and later on the north, it was the oldestpart that was used until the very end. It wasthe most excellent because of its proximityto the church. We can mention in thisconnection that the fathers had workedtheir way so close to the church --to grabfor his dearest departed one the best place

near the church-- that the wall of thechurch caved in. There were complaints ofit in 1723. The east part of the o ld church-yard used in the 1840s was never so soughtafter as the oldest part; nevertheless, its usecontinued by everyone in Sigdal area.

The northern part, on the other hand,was reserved for the poorest people of thecommunity. Very few crosses stood there.Dishonorable persons, who were not to beadmitted through the churchyard gate upondeath, were lifted over the fence on thecemetery’s north edge during the n ight—

without priest, ringingof church bells, hymnsor eulogy. These calledthe north part ‘home’.They were expelledfrom the company ofbetter folks even afterdeath. But why didn’tthey use the wholechurchyard after thechurch was torn down

and the rest disappeared? There musthave been a reason.

Old Knud Eken told of it in 1930. Hewas born in 1843. A long with other con-firmation boys, he took instruction at thepriest’s gatherings at Holmen. They took arecess or rest half-way through the lessoneach day. Then it happened that the boyswere up at the old churchyard, lookingaround. The church was just torn downand discarded materials hauled away, butthe low cellars wereopen. Down therelay many coffinswith shiny plates ofsilver on them. Theboys thought it wasuncomfortable andeerie to look at.They knew thatremains of people,buried down there long ago, were insidethe chests. Knud Eken further said thatthere was nothing to be found in the churcharchives on this—that there was a problemof what to do with so many coffins that layin four different cellars of the church

foundation. But it was decided that theyshould place solid maple logs crosswiseover each cellar so the chests sat free

underneath. On top theyshould place birch barkand then fill it up withearth, making a roundedhill. But in t ime thesupporting cross piecesrotted and the filled spacessettled, leaving visible

depressions of the cellars, four in all.The church was in the shape of a cross

with choir (chancel), nave, two side wings,and a sacristy that was built for it. Eventhis cruciform build ing was a story forone’s soul. But in the cellar under thechancel, coffins of clergy and militarypeople had been put down under the northwing and sacristy. Under the center of thenave, where the candle chandelier from1699 hung overhead, Jens Nilsen Kolsrudrested. He gave the church this gift withthe understanding he would be buriedunder this crown of light when he died.That he got. With that, we understand thatthe four depressions in the church g rasswere protected from further burials. Butthe western or southern places that wenttoward the farmyard at the priest’s farmwere free, so they placed graves there forthe next 30 years.

The thanks was that since they ne-glected to disturb those buried in thechurch cellars, we can today quite accu-

rately find out how thechurch was laid out.As Bishop DagfinnHauge ment ionedduring his last visit ofinspection and exami-nation here, the foun-dation of the oldchurch mus t bemarked out before the

old cemetery is made level. It is possible.Of course we have exact measurements ofthe church from 1723 and evidence of thefour grave cellars still can be seen. W illthis perhaps change during the restora-tion?

(C ont i nu ed f r om p ag e 1)

The Old Holmen Church...

P age 3S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

P age 4 S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

Irene O’Connor Navarre won the 2002Distinguished Dental Hygiene Alumnus Awardfrom the University of Minnesota School ofDentistry. Only one such award is givenannually.

“Impressed by an early experience with akind dentist and his hygienist, Irene Navarreknew what she wanted to be when she grewup. Her 45 year career path in dental hygienehas demonstrated her on-going dedication tothe advancement of the profession.

After graduating from the Program ofDental Hygiene in 1938, she spent 21 years inprivate practice. She then taught for one yearat the University of Southern Californ ia beforejoining the faculty of the Dental HygieneProgram at the University of New Mexico in1962. At that time, there were 13 dental hy-gienists in the state. Navarre went on to teachin this program over 20 years. During thattime the University of New Mexico graduatedover 500 dental hygienists.

Navarre also evolved into an internationalleader. She was president of the AmericanDental Hygienist’s Association (1964-65 andserved the organization in numerous otherpositions. She was a program chairperson forthe first Dental Hygiene Symposium Program

Irene deservesanother award…

how about“MEMBER OF THE YEAR!”

for continuing tocontribute to the

success ofour Lag withher generous

gifts offamily

membershipsand

donations!

A Personal Note from Irene...Another generation of Sigdalers!

Cody Michael Miller

age 7 and brother Con-

ner James Miller age 2,

the great grandchildren

of Evelyn and Ken Jones,

deceased members of the

Sigdalslag. Their mother

is Shannon Jones Miller,

daughter of Richard Jones,

current members of Sigdal-

slag. All are descendants of

immigrants to Spring Grove

from Eggedal, No rway,

Peder and Ase Enger (1861)

and Elling (1854). Isn't that

seven generations in America?

Note the Norwegian sweaters!

I was thrilled to see Andersnat-

ten on the Saga! Engeroa is at

the base of the mountain!

Congratulations to the new Co-

editors!

P.S. Did you read in NOR-

WAY TIMES that Norway's

king and queen had prob-

lems like ordinary folks? The

palace roof leaks and the

king was stopped for speed-

ing. No ticket! Only the

king can punish offend-

ers!!!

=== Irene N.

(Irene is the daughter of LinaEnger O'Connor, daughter ofElling Enger.)

in Rome (1970) andwas the only womanhygienist on the pro-gram of the PacificInternational Dental Conference in Hawaii fiveyears earlier. As ADHA Trustee of the West-ern States, she was instrumental in init iatingthe New Mexico and Arizona Dental Hygien-ists’ Associations. She received the NewMexico Dental Association Outstanding Con-tribution Award in 1983. In 1995 the NMDAestablished the Irene Navarre Dental HygieneStudent Award for a graduation student inrecognition of clinical skills and leadership.”

Proud of her Norwegian American roots,Irene encouraged family participation in sev-eral bygdelag for decades. Last October afterchoosing to retire from the Vesterheim Mu-seum Board of Trustees after service of 13years, she was inducted into its FoundersSociety. She has participated to promoteScandinavian dance, food, and culture at manyevents in Albuquerque and other cities of theSouthwest.

Source (full text is in quotes): U of M’sDentistry magazine, Spring 2002

Irene O’Conner Navarre

Saga would like tohear from you!

We welcome allmembers to submitinformation aboutyourselves and yourties to the Sigdalarea.

Don’t be bashful!Contact Marilyn orCindy to share yourstories in the SAGA.

Look for introductionsto our new officers inthe next issue ofSAGA.

P age 5S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

Norwegian links on the World Wide Web

Norwegian American Dictionaryhttp://home.online.no/%7Eotjoerge/files/word.htm

Scandinavian Online Language Resourceshttp://www.linkopp.com/members/vlaiko/dictionaries.htm

Den Norske Kirke (The Norwegian Church)On the left there is a search engine where you can searchfor prestegjeld (parish), sokn (sub-parish), etc.http://www.kirken.no/

Flag and National Anthem of Norwayhttp://www.copcity.com/anthems/norway.html

Google Search Engine (Norwegian Version)http://www.google.com/intl/no/

Statens kartverkAllows searching by farm name to show locationhttp://ngis2.statkart.no/norgesglasset/stedsnavn/default.html

Map Showing the Ecclesiastical Divisions of Norwayhttp://digitalarkivet.uib.no/geistleg/eng/

Norway in America: The Bibliographical Collections of ThorM. Andersen Searchable databasehttp://www.nb.no/baser/tma/english.html

The Norway List Websitehttp://members.tdn.com/dagwood/NorwayList.htm

Sons of Norwayhttp://www.sofn.com/

Olaf Rygh: Norwegian Farm NamesSearchable Databasehttp://dina.uio.no/rygh_ng/rygh_form.html

Who Has the Answer?Questions and answers relating to the Kingdom of Norwayhttp://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/answer.htm

Slektsbibliotekethttp://www.slektsbiblioteket.com/english.htm

100 Years of Emigrant Ships from Norway; The Solem,Swiggum and Austheim Ship Indexhttp://www.norwayheritage.com/ships/index.asp

Norwegian American Bygdelagenes Fellesraadhttp://www.fellesraad.com/

Norwegian Genealogy Resources on the Internethttp://www.hfaa.org/bygdelag/links.shtml#norway

1886 Gaardsmatrikkelenhttp://www.rhd.uit.no/matrikkel.html

Matrikkelkastete av 1950http://www.dokpro.uio.no/cgi-bin/stad/matr50

Resources for the Study of Norwegianhttp://employees.csbsju.edu/tnichol/norwegian.html

Kommuner Cross Referencehttp://www.j51.com/~risholmr/kommune.html

Norway GenWeb Sitehttp://www.rootsweb.com/~wgnorway/

Timeline of Norwegian Historyhttp://home.eunet.no/~jeri/timeline.shtml

Maps Showing Kommuner of Norwegian Fylkerhttp://home.eunet.no/~jeri/maps.shtml

Search for Norway Farm 1801http://www.uib.no/hi/seekgard.htm

The Norwegian Data Historical Centre-University of Tromsøhttp://www.rhd.uit.no/indexeng.html

Searching the 1865, 1875 and 1900 Census of Norwayhttp://draug.rhd.isv.uit.no/rhd/folketellinger_engelsk_britisk.html

1801 Census by Kommunehttp://www.hist.uib.no/1801komm/

1801 Census (old format)http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/1801/oldpage.htm

How To Use the New Norwegian Databases at the Digita-larkivet Websitehttp://www.rootsweb.com/~wgnorway/databases.htm

Digitalarkivet (including 1801, 1865 and 1900 Census)http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar&spraak=e

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museumhttp://www.vesterheim.org/

Vesterheim Genealogical Ceneter and Naeseth Libraryhttp://www.vesterheim.org/genealogy.html

Norwegian American Historical Associationhttp://www.naha.stolaf.edu/

DIS Norway-Links to Local Pageshttp://www.disnorge.no/lokallag.htm

The Norwegian American Foundation (A directory of Nor-wegian-North American Organizations)http://nor-am.org

The following list was contributed by Garth Ulrich for the use of our members. These links provide

a wealth of information for researching and learning about our Norwegian heritage.

This should keep you busy for the rest of the winter—and next! Mange takk Garth!

P age 6 S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

Start Planning For The 2003 StevneA Bit of Norway News

15,000 immigrants re-unitedwith family in Norway

Around 15,000 persons arrivedin Norway last year, under thefamily re-unification regulations,and this is a new record. The pre-vious record, from 2001, was12,000 persons. Around 6,500 of the re-unifications last year were alienswho married Norwegian citizens.This is a marked increase from 10years ago, when the number wasaround 3,000, according to freshfigures from the ImmigrationDirectorate. Most of those marrying Norwe-gians are women from Thailand,the Philippines and Russia. (Jan.2003 NRK/Norway Post)

Move to bring historic legalmanuscripts back to Norway

Justice Minister Odd EinarDoerum wants Norway to requestthat Denmark return the originalmanuscripts from 1278 of the Lawof Norway codified by King Mag-nus ("the Lawmender"). In a letter to the Minister ofCulture, Valgerd Svarstad Haug-land, the Justice Minister says thatthese historic documents shouldbe kept in Norway. It is, however, uncertainwhether or not the original manu-scripts actually exist. But a numberof excerpts, copied on parchment,are kept at the Royal Library inCopenhagen. Norway was in union with Den-mark from 1380 till 1814, andCopenhagen was the capital. Dur-ing this time many archives werebrought from Norway to Den-mark.(Dec. 2002 NRK/Norway Post)

Norwegian submarine to theMediterranean

On January 13, the Norwegiansubmarine KNM "Utvaer" joinedthe NATO operation "ActiveEndeavour". The operation, which takesplace in the eastern part of theMediterranean, is part of the fightagainst international terrorism. With a crew of 25, the sub willtake part in monitoring and re-porting on shipping in the areauntil the middle of May

The 7 Lag Stevne will be held July 10-12 atWinona State University, Minnesota.

Winona is an old city full of history. It hasone of the largest collections of Victoriancommercial architecture in the area withover 100 sites on the National HistoricalRegister. Some call the city the "StainedGlass" capital of the nation. Five companiesstill produce stained glass windows. Its his-tory as a river port and lumber centerbrought wealth and splendor to the city.From Garvin Heights Park 575 feet abovethe Mississippi River, one can see 50 milesof the river. The scenic drive to Winonaalong the Mississippi (both upstream anddownstream) is a delight.

FEES have been set. Registration, $23, SatEve Banquet $19, Residence hall rooms are$22 single per night and $17pp/per night ina double, (open Wednesday eve, and nottaxed).

GENEALOGY will be in a new regional li-brary on campus where we will hold classes,demonstrations, and use a computer class-room. The library has most Minnesota news-paper on microfilm. It starts at 8 AM Thurs-day. (Every lag needs volunteers)

HOUSING: Space is available in the collegedorms. They are NOT air conditioned, sobring a fan. Pillows, mattress pads, sheets,towels , wash cloth & soap provided. $22single and $17 pp double occupancy/anight.

MOTELS: The following are holding roomsat the listed rates. To get them, you mustsay you want a room reserved for "7Lag"

Quality Inn, 507-454-4390or 1-800-562-4544$69.99, includes a free hot breakfast atPerkins.

Best Western Riverport Inn,507-452-0606 or 1-800-595-0606$74.00, Continental breakfast, plus mi-crowave, refrigerator, coffee maker

AmericInn, 507-457-0249$89.90 Continental breakfast

Other motels are:Days Inn, 507-454-6930or 1-800-DAYSINN

Holiday Inn, 507-453-0303or 1-888-292-0303

Winona Super 8, 507-454-6066or 1-800-800-8000

LOCAL CAMPGROUNDS ARE:Winona KOA Campground 507-454-2851

Prairie Island Campground 507-452-4501

Pla-Mor Cmpgd & Marina 507-454-2851

AMTRAK OR GREYHOUND - Membersshould check into this possibility EARLY. Ar-rival and departures (if on-time) are reason-able, but costs go up as the train fills up.The depot is closer to WSU than Greyhoundstation.

IF FLYING TO ROCHESTER OR LA CROSSE,shuttle service available via Star Limousine507-454-8025.. Airport shuttles to/from LaCrosse and Minneapolis via Airport Passen-ger Service 1-800-869-5796. Their web ad-dress is www.airportconnect.com

ACTIVITIES under consideration are:1. Seminars: Internet assistance in researchand making family trees, History of the area,and Pioneer Norwegian doctors.

2. An organ recital/visit at Central LutheranChurch

Optional tours (at added fees) if enoughpeople show interest:

3. A rural tour of early Norwegian areas,churches and the museum at Peterson, MN

4. A city tour in Winona, incl. a stained glassfactory & windows, Polish Cultural Institute,and restored county court house.

5. A cruise on the stern paddle wheel steam-boat, Julia Belle Swain, one of only 5 authen-tic steam-powered passenger vessels operat-ing on the Mississippi.

6. GolfThe May issue will include the scheduled enter-tainment for the Stevne.

P age 7S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

On a frosty February 6th morning(4:30 AM) a cab picked up Corrine John-son and her two 70 pound bags, carryonsuitcase and large purse and headed for theLindbergh International airport in Minnea-polis. This was the departure date, aftermonths of eager planning, for Corrine toleave to visit her son Galen, his wife, Jilland 10 year o ld granddaughter Elikia inOuagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The check-in at security went wellwith no glitches (she feared for the mer-chandise of electronic and recordingequipment she had packed upon Galen'srequest). After a stopover in Amsterdamand a plane and terminal change in Parisshe was at last off for the last leg of thetrip, all the while speaking only to theflight attendants because the other planepassengers spoke only foreign languages!In the Ouagadougou airport as she waitedto meet her son in thelarge mass of travel-ers, she recognized afamiliar language --several from Swedentraveling to the samedestination!

Ou ag ado ugou ,(Ouaga for a shorterversion) is a metro-politan city in thecenter of the landlocked country of Burk-ina Faso in West Africa. With a popula-tion of over 1,000,000, there appear to bea lot of similarit ies but a greater number ofdifferences to American metropolitancenters. The glass windowed buildings inthe business section of the city, thoughsmaller in size and fewer in number, re-semble cities seen here.

It is the shopping and manufacturingsections that offer the greatest disparities.Here one can see people desperate to makea few dollars so they have enough for ameal for the family that night. When ourvehicle stopped at an intersection or forthe heavy traffic, we were bombarded withfaces offering sales of all sorts of mer-

Corrine Travels to West Africa - ALONE!Story and photos by Corrine Johnson

chandise. Fresh fruits andvegetables, were abundantand lain out along thetraffic lanes so someonewould stop and buy.Clothing was piled highon clothes lines, catchingthe traffic dust, and wait-ing for a buyer. Colorfulwater buckets, flowerpots, plants, tires, mat-tresses, spices, dishes,kettles, bicycles, jewelry,gum, b lankets, candy, barsof soap, post cards, andyou name any item, it wasthere, neatly arranged on shelves, carts, oron the ground or on salespersons heads, asone drove down main and side streets inthe city and/or out in the country villages.

Outside of the mall or market, onewould just re-main in the truckand make pur-chases from the

venders that came.Going into the shop-ping mall was a rareexperience and a verytiring one, to deal withthe persistence of all the venders.

However, going into the manufactur-ing section to make purchases was a morepleasant experience. The crafts men werecourteous and appreciative for any sale. Atthe leather shops they seemed to havelearned a trade that was more lucrat ive forthem. Here one could leave orders fornotebook covers, wallets, or purses withmade-to-order specifications. At a jewelrystore pieces of gold or silver jewelrywould be crafted to order.

The temperature in Burkina Faso isalmost always very hot. In dry season ofFebruary and early March the heat was notas oppressive as it can become in Apriland May when there are seldom daysunder 100 degrees F. with not much cool-ing at night. Hot winds blew from theSahara called the harmattan winds andeverything became dust covered. The

ceiling fans in everyroom helped a lot andclosing windows early inthe day kept out thewarm air. The Embassypool was a welcomediversion at the end ofone of those scorchingdays!

Corrine says, "I canhardly believe I havebeen there. I am so very

fortunate to have had the opportunity togo. It was so great to see my son and fam-ily at work among the people, seeking toget them interested in Christian beliefs andministry. The three weeks went much toorapidly and were quickly over."

"Now I wait fo r them to arrive backhome in August to spend a year in Minne-sota and in churches around the country,telling the story of their missionary workamong Muslims in this foreign land so faraway from family and friends."

Corrine shopping f or a blanket in Ouagadougou. The blanket was wovenin strips on a crude loom, and then sewed together in a zigzag pattern

Our Saviors Lutheran Church ofRiceford MN. Closes its doorsby Cindy Peterson

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“Vor Frelser’s Norsk Evan-gelisk Lutherske Kirke”- OurSaviors Norwegian EvangelicalLutheran Church, as it wasoriginally dedicated, closed itsdoors last August after 127years of service. Located inRiceford, on the Houston andFillmore County line in Minne-sota, the church had struggledto survive since its third year ofexistence – when the railroadbypassed the potential boomtown, development ceased, andthe town began a steep decline.

MY CO NNECTIO NOur Savior’s Lutheran Churchhas a strong association to mepersonally, although I visited itonly once, in July of 2001. Myfather’s paternal grandmother,*Helga Halstenrud Omoth andher family were parishionersthere. She is buried there nextto three of her four children(my grandfather Edwin Omothbeing buried in Minneapolis),and amongst many relat iveswho share their Sigdal/Eggedalorigins.

My husband Cliff and I wereon a mission that summer tofind the places where my Min-nesota ancestors lived anddied. One stop on our itinerarywas Our Saviors LutheranChurch in Riceford. We hadsome difficulty in finding thechurch…the town of Ricefordwas not on our map! Westopped at a gas station inMabel and asked the clerk fordirections. She had to ask an-other clerk, who responded“oh, yeah, that old Norwegianchurch.” She described a fewlandmarks for us along theway, and felt confident that wewould find it. Driv ing along awinding d irt road with no roadsigns, I was reminded of a

Lake Wobegon story… buteventually we found the place.

As I was outside taking a fewphotos, Cliff found the dooropen and went inside to lookaround. A few minutes later, hehollered out the door, “come inhere, you’re not going to be-lieve this”. Inside he had foundphoto albums that had beencarefully assembled and la-beled with names from the1890’s and 1900’s. I enteredthe church to find that he hadleft open a book, to a pagewhere my grandfather’s p icturewas staring out at me! I wasoverwhelmed with emot ion as Ithumbed through pages offaces of my family; there wasmy great-grandmother with hersisters; a 1904 confirmationphoto of my grandpa’s littlebrother (he died at age 20); hison ly s is ter Tilda; otherHals tenrud’s , Narveson’s ,Grønhovd’s, and Larson’s…what a gift to my eyes!

We sat in a pew and soaked itall in...I imagined my teenagedgrandpa with hismom and siblings,probably gettingantsy to go playoutside. I couldsee my great-grandmother find-ing solace in thesermon and in thecompany of hersisters after losingher husband soyoung. I could seethe funerals offamily, the cas-kets stretched outbefore the alter,and the tears that had fallen. Isaw the weddings and imag-ined the socials down in thebasement…I wondered what

was my great-grandma’s favoritedish to bring?

After walking thegrounds and find-ing my familiesgraves, I left anote on a bulletinboard inside thefront door. Ithanked the con-gregation for leav-ing the doors openso that I could finda piece of myfamilies past, and Ithanked them fortaking care of myfamilies graves. Ifound it hard to leave the place.It was as if I had made thisconnection to a generation thatI never knew, and for too shorta time…three generations andthe state of California is a longway away. Grateful, I am, tohave had the opportunity tomeet them - if only in spirit.

*Helga was born on the Halstenrudfarm in Eggedal and emigrated with

her family in1869 when shewas just 7 yearsold. She marriedHalvor HelgesenOmoth, a SpringGrove native andf irst generationAmerican whoseparents had alsocome from Egge-dal in 1859 just af ew months beforehis birth. Halvordied many years

before Helga, he was just 38 yearsold. He was buried at Six MileGrove Lutheran Church, outside ofLyle, MN., southwest of Riceford.

HISTO RY O F RICEFO RDJobe Brown and h is brotherCharles had successfully estab-lished the nearby town ofBrownsville in the late 1840’s,and a few years later set theirsites on another area wherepioneers were settling, andplatted the town of Riceford in1856.

Jobe Brown had many connec-tions and good marketingskills. He advertised the poten-tial for great business opportu-nities in the new town with itsunlimited waterpower, whichled to the eventual building ofthree different mills. Brownwas also a well known stageoperator in the region and sawto it that Riceford was dulyserviced.

Many new businesses werestarted including a hotel, black-smith shop, harness shop, abook store, a farm implementstore. A school was built, newhomes, and stone quarries.Many professionals and skilledworkers arrived bringing newbusinesses; a lawyer, a physi-cian, a tailor, a shoe store,

Our Saviors Lutheran Church - June, 2001

Photo by Cindy Peterson

Edwin Omoth

P age 9S ig da lsl ag Sa ga V ol ume 2 3 , I ss ue 1

watch repair, photographyshop. The Sherwood foundrywas built whose articles ofcraftsmanship can still be foundtoday.

Though many of the new resi-dents and business folks intown were from the New Eng-land area, including Ethan Al-len’s granddaughter Mrs. Wil-liam T. Hinkley, the farmswere primarily owned by Nor-wegian immigrants. U. S.Grant, before becoming a Civ ilWar General and U. S. Presi-dent, came to Riceford to tradehis family's leather goods fromtheir factory in Galena, Ill.,with merchant W. T. HinkIey.

Riceford continued to flourishas one of Houston County'sfastest growing towns until the

late 1870’s, but the railroadbypassed the town in 1879 andthe farmers suffered poor wheatcrops (one of Riceford’s mainindustries) due to poor weather,insects and probably mis man-aged soils. Many of the busi-nesses moved southwest to thenew town of Mabel where theycould take advantage of the railservice.

By the late 1890’s a mill andtwo stores were the only busi-nesses left. The post officeclosed in 1902, but one storethat had been opened in 1867finally closed its doors in 1956.

“…Riceford, a town startedduring the time that town-sitespeculation was at its height,a town that weathered thepanic of 1857 and which, for

over two decades, was themost prosperous inland townin Houston and Fillmorecounties.” 1.

HISTO RY O F RELIGION INRICEFO RDThe congregation put together abook in 2000 that tells the his-tory of the church, whichspeaks better that I could:

“The religious faith of theseold Yankee settlers was of theold New England Puritans,Congregationalists, Episco-pal and Presbyterian persua-sion. The early Methodistcircuit riders, like John Dyer,worked hard in this commu-nity comforting souls. G. W.Wilcox and Job Brown be-came Methodist preachers.Later the Adventists had apowerful movement in thevillage convincing G. W. Wil-cox and Job Brown to becomepreachers of that faith. Theserevival meetings, includingfunerals, were conducted atthe Public School.

The surrounding farms werelargely occupied by Norwe-gian immigrants of the Lu-theran faith brought withthem from the State Church ofNorway. These Norwegiansettlers were first served in1854 by a single pastor, U. V.Koren, called to serve nomElkader, Iowa, to Houstonand FilImore Counties inMinnesota. His family settledon Washington Prairie nearDecorah. In 1857, the Norwe-gian Ridge parish was formedwith the calling of the Rev.Fritz C. Clausen to be pastor.This parish included Wil-mington, Trinity of SpringGrove, Black Hammer andGarness Trinity NewburgTownship.

The Norwegian fami liesaround Riceford thought ittoo far to walk to SpringGrove, Garness or BlackHammer for church services.

127 years, 14 Pastors

1875-95 Rev. Styrk S. Reque.

1875-78 Rev. Reier Larson, assis-tant to pastor Reque died in 1878(parents were Lars Halstenrud andIngeborg Narveson f rom Eggedal)

1895-1905 Rev. E.P. Jensen

1905-1912 Rev. K.A. Kasberg

1912-27 Rev. H.H. Frost

1927-49 Rev. E.E. Borg-Breen

1949-55 Rev. Obert A. Rust

1955-58 Rev. Paul S. Reque

1959-61 Rev. C. Richard Johnson

1962-65 Rev. Vernon E. Awes

1965-70 Rev. Jesse W. Thompson

1970-78 Rev. Charles I. Wilson

1979-85 Rev. Kurt M. Friedrich

1985-94 Rev. Jerome Diers

1994-2002 Rev. William A. Horn

They also felt out of placeworsh ipping a t ScheieLuthcran, which was locatednot far away on the Newburgand Preble township line,because it was of the Haugepersuasion - different fromthe State Church of Norway.

In 1875, these families de-cided to start a church inRiceford where they got theirmail and did their com-merce.” 2.

Four lots were init ially pur-chased for the church site forforty dollars. Eight more lotswere later purchased for (awhopping) eighty-five dollars!The church building was com-pleted in 1877 but for reasonsunclear, was not dedicated until1879.

The alter painting was the crea-tion of a struggling Norwe-gian-American art ist, Herbjørn

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Gausta who had painted sev-eral works for churches in thearea, to support himself. Bornin Telemark in 1854, Gaustastudied art at Luther Collegeand later went to Norway andGermany to continue his artsstudies. Though he was a giftedpainter, he never achieved theworlds recognition he desired.Some of his works can befound at Luther College wherehe also taught for a short time.

A six week Parochial Schoolwas held during the summer inthe public school house. Backthen there was no division be-tween church and state. It wasnot until the late 1930’s thatthey started Sunday School.The Ladies Aid meetings wereconducted in Norwegian untilabout 1930. A choir and theYoung People’s Society wereorganized prior to 1912 byPastor Kasberg. Since 1880 thechurch helped provide a par-

sonage for the Pastorand his family.

Services at the churchwere conducted in Nor-wegian up until the late1940’s when PastorBorg-Breen introducedan English serv iceevery fourth Sunday.Pastor Rust took overin 1949 and Englishwas spoken from thenon.

After 1975, major renovationstook place for appearance,comfort and utility, old Wor-ship books and hymnals werereplaced, all funded by dona-tions and memorials from thecongregation and families whohave historical connections tothe church. Sunday School wasintermittent and children at-tended in Black Hammer.

In 2000, the “Old EnglishCemetery” was renovated, butthere was no more Sunday

School at Our Sav ior’s Lu-theran Church.

In the opening page of thechurch’s anniversary book in2000, the current Pastor Wil-liam A. Horn wrote, “Two for-mer pastors have told me howthey were sent here to closethe congregation in Riceford,and how the people of OurSavior’s said “No”, they werenot going to close.” The onlyremain ing o rig inal frame

church of the Norwe-gian Ridge Parish, with29 members, remainedopen for two moreyears.

Our Sav ior’s of Rice-ford Cemetery Asso-ciation, who will nowcare for the facility,will conduct specialservices a couple oftimes a year, and willhold an annual icecream social the third

Sunday in June, and a Nor-dicfest celebration the last Sun-day in July to help fund theupkeep of church and ceme-tery. A lock was installed onthe door - for the very firsttime in its history.1. “Remains and History of a OnceBlooming Vil lag e” by Perc ivalNarveson, grandson of HaakenNarveson (Grønhovd, of Eggedal)

2. “125 th Anniversary 1875-2000”Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Rice-ford, Minnesota

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In Memory

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CHRISTIAN JORDETChristian Jordet passed away suddenly in the earlymorning of December 17, 2002 in Kindersley, SK atthe age of 35. He was predeceased by his father,Carl, and is survived by his mother, Dianne; threebrothers, Kevin, Terry and Trevor; and numerousother family members. Christian had a zest for life, alove for humor and a laugh that filled our hearts. Hewill be sadly missed. A service was held on Satur-

day, December 21, 2002 at the St. Paul’s UnitedChurch, Kindersley, SK. Donations can be made inChristian’s memory to the Saskatchewan Heart &Stroke Foundation. (source: Saskatoon Star Phoenix)

Christian is a descendant of Sigdal Emigrant ChristJordet (Kristen Kristensen Bjørnsjordet av Sund

If you have information on a departed member,please contact the editor.

Photo by Cindy Peterson

Riceford Church Closes...

Sigdalslaget 1949 yearbookstill available for PurchaseThe new hardcover English translation of the 1949 year-book went on sale in July and a few are still availablefor $25 each plus $6.00 shipping and handling ($31 US)by mail order or online at www.sigdalslag.org. Anyremaining books will be available for purchase at theJuly 2003 Stevne in Winona, MN.

The index of the yearbook may be viewed on the website if you would like to look for your relations.

Order form for: Sigdalslaget - 1949 yearbookName ______________________________________________________

Street ______________________________________________________

State ____________________________________ ZIP_______________

Phone _________________ E-Mail____________________________

Make check payable to SigdalslagSend to: Don Skadeland

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Schedule of Events

Through February 16, 2003Renowned Norwegian ArtistKARL ERIK HARRPAINTINGS FROMNORTHERN NORWAY,Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle,WA (206)789-5707www.nordicmuseum.com

January 17 – March 22, 2003JEWISH LIFE AND CULTUREIN NORWAY: Wergeland'sLegacy, Scandinavia House,NYC (212) 847 9734www.scandinaviahouse.org

Through May 4, 2003“THE LAND, THE PATH,THE STITCHES” Exhibit atVesterheim Norwegian-AmericanMuseum, Decorah, IA (563) 382-9681 www.vesterheim.org

Through May 18, 2003VIKINGS! THE NORTHATLANTIC SAGA, SmithsonianExhibit, Science Museum of Min-nesota, St. Paul, MN(651) 221-9444 www.smm.orgEvents related to the exhibit:March 13, 7:00 pm

“The Sagas: Dialogs with the Viking Age“March 20, 7:00 pm “The Ships of the Viking Age”April 3, 7:00 pm “L'Anse aux Meadows and the Vinland Connection”

July 10, 11, 12, 20037 LAG STEVNE, MinnesotaState University, Winona, MN.

Just For Fun…Ole and Lena live next door toSven, a Norwegian, whomarried a Mexican woman.They recently became parents oftwins, for which Ole congratu-lated Sven.

“Vhat did you call da twins?”asked Ole.

“Vell”, said Sven, “vun of dem vecall Jose.”

“Yah,” said Ole, “vhat about daother?”

Sven answered, “Hose-B.”

Rokke’s Celebrate 50th Anniversary!

John Hanson, Spicer, MN, on the descen-dants of INGEBORG KNUTSDTR STORE-BRATEN, NILS THORSEN SOLLILIA andTHOR THORSEN SOLLILIA.

Sonja Dahlager, Eden Prairie, MN, on thedescendants of KRISTIAN ERIKSEN BREN-NÅSEN and MARIE KRISTOFFERSDATTERSTRANDMOEN. The material also containssome information about Kristian’s brotherTorger Eriksen and his wife Beret Olsdatter.

Diane Risley, Madison WI, on the descen-dants of NARVE ANDERSEN MEDRUD(NICHOLAS ANDERSON).

Scott Brunner, Green Bay, WI, on descen-dants of HALVOR SEBJØRNSEN AABY, thedescendants of SVEN TRULSEN SCHARTU-TUM and the descendants of MENTZ KRIS-TIAN KRISTENSEN BERGAN.

A survey on MARTIN REIERSEN FLÅGANwas sent from the Sigdalslag web site, withno identification of the sender. It did list afamily web site, but it could not be loaded.If you, or someone you know, can iden-tify the person who submitted the sur-vey on Martin Reierson, please contactLee Rokke (contact info on pg.2)

Marilyn Moen has donated a copy of herwork on the Hamar Evangelical LutheranChurch at Rothsay, Minnesota. It contains agreat deal of information on the chartermembers of the church.

Garth Ulrich sent a copy of a report of theCentennial committee of the Sigdal Churchin Tolna, ND that was filed in the State His-torical Society of North Dakota.

Inge Thorud, Mayor of Krødsherad, hasgiven the lag several issues of theKrødsheradkalenderen 2003. One copy hasbeen added to the Sigdalslag Library. On

the front is a very good picture of theØrgenvika gård. All of the other pictures arefull of people with names that our memberswill recognize.

The following were a gift from Corrine Leste-berg Johnson:

A copy of Vatnås Kirke Restaurert, by FinnKrafft, utgitt av Foreningen til NorskeFortidsminnesmerkers Bevaring in 1949

Topografisk kart, Eggedal

A very nice vimpel, which will add to thedecorations at the stevnes. Thanks Corrine!

Over 100 friends and rela-tives gathered last August tohelp David and Lee Rokkecelebrate their 50th weddinganniversary. The event wasplanned by their children andgrand ch ild ren , who allworked very hard to make surethat everyone had a good time.Rokke’s son Eric and h is wifeKarla hosted the party at theirspacious home in Blooming-ton, Minnesota.

The two pastors who performed the origi-nal ceremony were guests at the party. TheRokkes were married at First Lutheran Churchin Bagley, Minnesota on August 22, 1952. Rev.Erling Tungseth gave the meditation and the

Rev. Philip Quanbeck, whowas the pastor at the church,married them. Also present atthe party were the organist, Or-lette Hjelle Waller, and theBest Man, Arvin Halvorson.

Both David and Lee Rokkehave deep roots in Sigdal.Lee’s grandparents were bap-tized, confirmed, and marriedat Olberg church in Krødsheradand her mother was born there.

David’s maternal g randfather, Krist ianNarvesen Hiaasen, and his paternal grand-mother, Kristi Hansdatter Liudbråten, were bothbaptized and confirmed at Holmen Church inSigdal. David and Lee have been active mem-bers of the Sigdalslag for many years.

Sigdalslag Members Send in SurveysSigdalslag Surveys have been received from:

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BUSKERUD Family Origin in (circle one) - SIGDAL EGGEDAL KRØDSHERAD

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2003 Dues: US/CANADA $10/YR or $25/3 YR, in US dollarsELSEWHERE $12/YR or $30/3 YR, in US dollars

Mail application and check payable to Sigdal Lag to:AMY MICHELSEN18730 Roanoke Street NWAnoka, MN 55303-8971

Residents of CANADA may send checks to:GARTH ULRICHBox 28, Spalding SKSOK 4CO, CANADA

Write “Sigdalslag dues (3 yr or 1 yr)” on the memo line of the check.Dues in Canadian dollars will be applicable rates for US dollars on thedate written.

Garth also maintains members e-mail addresses. To update yours, writehim at gulrich@sasktel.net

MembershipAcross theGlobe(as of 1-19-02)

U.S.A. - 183Canada - 10Norway - 6England - 1

Changed your address?Please notify the editor! Also, please keep SAGA’sreturn address in your own address book and pencilin the “paid thru” year as indicated on the mailinglabel next to your name.

We’re on the Web!www.sigdalslag.org

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SAGA solicits feature articles, news, picturesand obituaries from members, please contacteditors Cindy Peterson or Marilyn Moen(contact info on Pg. 2).

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