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| Misc. Notes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gulbrand O. Hovland and family by granddaughter Kathryn Hovland, 1939. In a small log cabin in Norway on a farm by the name of Hovland Mr. & Mrs. Ole Hovland became the parents of a baby boy on June 1, 1835. This child was my grandfather. This farm is located near Falang in the Lunner herred and the Kristians Ampt, about seven Norwegian miles from Oslo. Grandpa was one of six brother, Ole, Syver, Nels, Hans, Otto and Gulbrand (my grandfather). Hans was the first of the brothers to set sail for America which was considered the land of plenty and the other four soon followed. Grandfather was married in Norway to Bertha Halvorson and they lived with his parents on the Hovland farm. They had pasture for a couple of cows and a small garden. My grandfather's occupation was cutting logs. His wages were almost unbelievably low. He rose a four o'clock and worked till dark and was paid six cents a day. It seems almost impossible to us who have so plenty to see how he could have raised a family on so little. When my grandfather's brothers had become settled in America and had earned a little money they sent it to Norway so their father and mother and their brother and his family could come to this wonderful place. Grandfather at the time had four children, Julia, Mella, Halvor, and Olava. My uncle Halvor was about five years old and Olava was but a baby. She was born November 8, 1866. The family was overjoyed at the prospect of coming to America and immediately made plans for their journey - disposing of their land and goods. They made the journey to Oslo on foot allowing Halvor and the baby to ride in the wagon which held their three trunks. They only took with them the bare necessities such as clothes and a few dishes. The family set sail in a small boat and were on the ocean about sixteen weeks. Uncle Halvor told me of their long tiresome journey. Some days, he siad, the wind would carry them back as far as they had gone forward the previous day. They came very near starvation and he told about the bread that they had to eat. They were something like a biscuit and were called "checks." They were hard and moldy. Uncle remembered his mother telling him of a few incidents on the boat. One was of a time he nearly drowned. He wanted a drink and when he went to get it he went the wrong direction and as he was so small he started walking towards the end of the deck. As he was about to step off a man grabbed him, thus saving him from drowning. He also told me the story of a man who got so hungry because they couldn't eat as much as they wished. This man kicked out the bottom of an apple barrel and treated apples to a few of the passengers. He then tipped the barrel up again so it would look as if nothing was amiss. It was through this man that they had apples for many days. The boat landed at Quebec, Canada, and from there they took a still smaller boat to Lansing, Iowa. They stayed in Winneshiek County in Iowa for a short time. Their meat consisted chiefly of rabit, ducks and prairie chickens as grandfather had brought along his gun. Grandfather's parents stayed with their other sons who lived in the surrounding county until their death while grandfather and his wife looked for a place to settle. They lived at Spring Grove, Minnesota for about three years and then moved to Worth County, Iowa near Fertile. Here they lived in a cellar or dug out with three other families - Knut Levang and his young wife, Halvor Levang and his mother, and Peter Oswald's who had three children at that time, Elize, Martin, and Elias who later all died. It seems a sort of coincidence that the Peter Oswald family should have lived with Grandpa Hovland at this time because it so happened that my mother was one of Peter Oswald's children, not born as yet and Gulbrand Hovland was my dad's father. This place where they first lived near Fertile remained the home of the Peter Oswald's and it was here my mother grew to womanhood. This land in Worth County had not been worked at that time and first they cleared a place for a garden. They spaded the garden and my uncle told me that the land was so fertile that four potatoes produced a full pail. They then built a log house and things seemed to be going nicely when grandfather contracted fever thus leaving his wife to do all the work. Two more children were born: Oscar, on April 1, 1870, and Albert, April 2, 1872. This heavy work that the wife had to do made her health decline and shortly after Albert's birth she died. This came as quite a blow to grandpa and it also left him with six children to support. Albert, the baby, was adopted by Knut Morkue and his wife. Grandpa didn't want to give him up but when Mrs. Morkue came in one day Albert started crying because he thought she was his mother and when Mrs. Morkue asked for Albert Grandpa didn't have the heart to refuse because she was such a kind lady and she had no children of her own. Another peculiar thing was that this lady who adopted Albert was my mother's aunt, my grandpa Oswald's sister. The girl Albert married, Anna Hannsen, was also adopted by another of my mother's aunts, Ingeborg Hannsen, in Norway. Then when they came to America she met Albert and they were married. Grandpa's oldest daughter Julia married Ole Christopherson and took her sister Mella with them to North Dakota. This left Oscar, Halvor, and Olava at home. Grandfather's occupation at this time was carpentering. He was called to Mt. Valley Township, Winnebago County, Iowa, near Joice, to build a log house for Mrs. Kittil Gunderson whose husband was dead. She had six children, Tilda (Thea) born December 15, 1860; Gunder, April 18, 1864; Christopher, April 4, 1866; Tellef, May 8, 1868; Torbjorg (Thune), November 20, 1869; and Anna Maria (Mulla), October 8, 1871. All these children were young and stayed at home. Grandfather was a wise man for instead of getting his pay he married Mrs. Gunderson immediately after the house was finished. Mrs. Gunderson's maiden name was Gyro Christopherson. She was born at Garden Kaasen in Nissedal which is in the Opdal herred, on September 13, 1836. The farm name Kaasen come from "Kos", meaning a pile of cut down trees ready to be burned. It is believed that this farm got its name because of a fire that had cleared it of the trees. She was baptized September 25, 1836. I have found these recordings in a huge old Norwegian Bible we have in our home. Gulbrand O. Hovland and Gyro Christopherson Gunderson, my grandpa and grandma, were married somewhere around 1875 or 1876. The exact date could not be found. To this union were born three children - Carl, June 22, 1877, Bertha, February 2, 1879, and my dad, Sever, February 9, 1881. Carl died in 1932. Bertha is Mrs. Henry Nelson of Osage, Iowa. She has five children: Harry, Kenneth, Gladys, Conrad, and Marge. My dad, Carl, and Bertha were born in the log house grandpa built and which is still standing today. It has been covered over with lumber and is part of our home today. An addition to the house was built later on. My dad bought my grandfather's land, 120 acres, and that is where we live today. We are very proud of our home and we will try to keep it under the Hovland name for generations to come. An ommission: The name Hovland means a land dedicated to a temple. It is believed that a heathen temple once stood on that farm. Grandpa Hovland died in 1923 and is buried at the Winnebago Lutheran Cemetery. Grandma Hovland died in 19??. The story of Gulbrand Hovland and his family and their voyage to America, September 17, 1869 on the ship "oder" with tickets prepaid to Lansing, Iowa. The family was overjoyed at the prospect of coming to America and immediately made plans for their journey - disposing of their land and goods. They made the journey to Oslo, Norway on foot allowing Halvor who was four years old and baby Olava to ride in the wagon which held three trunks. They only took the bare necessities such as clothes and a few dishes. The family set sail in a small boat and were on the ocean about sixteen weeks. Uncle Halvor told his niece Kathryn Holvand in 1939 of the long tiresome journey. Some days, he said, the wind would carry them back as far as they had gone the previous day. They came very near starvation and he told about the bread they had to eat. They were something like a biscuit and were called "checks". They were hard and moldy. Halvor remembered of his brother telling him of a few incidents on the boat. One was of the time he nearly drowned. He wanted a drink and when he went to get it, he went in the wrong direction as he was so young, he started walking towards the end of the deck, as he was about to step off a man grabbed him, thus saving him from drowning. He also told a story of a man who got so hungry because they couldn't eat as much as they wished. This man kicked out the bottom of an apple barrel and treated apples to a few of the passengers. He then tipped the barrel up again so it would look as if nothing was amiss. It was through this man they had apples for many days. The boat landed at Quebec, Canada and from there they took a still smaller boat to Lansing, Iowa. They stayed in Winneshick County in Iowa for a short time. Their meat consisted of rabbit, ducks, and prairie chicken as Gulbrand had brought his gun. They lived in Spring Grove, MN for about three years and then moved to Worth County, Iowa near Fertile. Here they lived in a cellar or dug out with three other families. The land in Worth County had not been worked at that time, and first they cleared a place for a garden. They spaded the garden and that land was so fertile that four potatoes produced a full pail. They then built a log house and things seembed to be going along nicely, when Gulbrand contacted fever thus leaving his wife to do all the work. Two more children were born. The heavy work that the wife had to do made her health decline and shortly after the birth of son Albert she died. He was left with six children to support. Gulbrands oldest daughter Julia married Ole Chistopherson and took her sister Mella with them to North Dakota. Left Oscar, Halvor, and Olava at home. Gulbrand was a carpenter. This history was compiled by Ruth Holtan and her son Phil Hotan of Forest City, Iowa who was the granddaughter and great grandson of Gulbrand. Phil was a chaplain over here at Concordia College in Moorhead the past year 1990, until he decided to go to more school. I presume our grandfather Syver and his brothers and family experienced similar situations such as Gulbrands on their journey to America. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Last Modified 28 Apr 1996 | Created 19 Feb 1999 by Reunion for Macintosh |
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