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MY
JORDBRÆK FAMILY IN CANADA
The barn at Jordbræk in Skoger, Norway
Year??
Larry, Ellen, Jeff, Sherri 26 and Clayton 23
Photo 2003
On February 27, 2004 I got a mail from Larry , my second cousine once
removed. He told me:
We live at Oungre Saskatchewan Canada -If you look at a map of the USA and
Canada -we are 15 km north of the US border right where Montana and North Dakota
come together .Weyburn Sask. is 60 km to the north of us and Estevan
Sask 60 km to the east of us .
My wife's name is Ellen ,and we have two children Sheri-(26) and Clayton (23) .
Sheri is married to Jeff Raknerud and lives in Calgary Alberta .Clayton lives
there as well .
Larry has written the story of his grandfather:
John B. Hansen was born April 7,1877 ,Skoger Norway ;the son of
Bernhard Hansen Jordbraek
and
Elise Andrea Johnsdtr Gundersrud .
He took his schooling and went on to attend Fosnes school of agriculture
near Lillehammer,
from
1896-1898. He worked for awhile as an agriculturist ,and
then decided to emigrate to America .
May 22,1903 he left Oslo on the ship Hekla a trip that took 15 ½ days .He
arrived in New York harbor
June 6,1903 and went through the immigration process
at Ellis Island. He was 26 years old.
From there he went to New Era Michigan where his Uncle Hartvig Johnson lived
. His aunt told him his name would never do over here so he took the name John
B. Hansen ,although he said he signed it John B. Hansen Jordbraek for awhile .
He worked for Victor Munson on a farm for awhile.
Then went to Slocum Michigan and worked in a saw mill . In the summer of 1904 he
went to Martin Brekke’s at Lake Park Minnisota where he worked on a threshing
crew . (Martin Brekke was from a neighboring farm in Norway ).When harvest was
over he went with Martins two sons to Fargo
in
North Dakota where they
went to Askers Business College .
In the spring of 1905 he went to work for Huntoon ,a banker in Moorehead
Minnisota ,who had a large farm south of Concordia College . His job was
breaking horses .
April 6,1905 his brother Adolph left Norway and arrived in Moorehead April
22. In July Adolph and John bought a small dairy and hauled milk in Fargo which
they sold 16 quarts for $1.00
In the summer of 1906 they sold the milk business and went to Flaxton North
Dakota by rail and then hauled their belongings by horse and wagon to Fortuna
North Dakota .Adolph filed on land there and they built a small 10x12 house .
They went and worked on a threshing crew at Portal NorthDakota ,and after
threshing was done went back to Ambrose North Dakota and bought a building site
and built a 10x12 house and a barn for the horses . He then got work building a
cellar under a large store and later to haul lumber to homesteaders for their
shacks .He then went back to Moorehead for the winter and visited with Martin
Brekke’s and also Christ Holm at Barton North Dakota who was also from Skoger
Norway. In spring of 1907 he went back to Ambrose where he had a cement business
. It was at this time he noticed a lovely Norsk girl ,Dina Gronvold daughter
of Johan J. & Maria Gronvold who owned a general store there. He then got work
in a lumber yard and worked his way up to second man ,then quit and got a job
doing the same work for Kulaas Lumber who had just built a big new lumber yard .
He became their agent and moved into the living quarters beside the office .
He started taking out Dina Gronvold and in the summer of 1908 went by buggy
all the way to Plentywood Montana to visit her three brothers who had
homesteaded there . The fall of 1908 he filed on homestead land in Saskatchewan
Canada and also filed by proxy for his brother Adolph. Johan and Olaf Gronvold
had filed on land next to his ,so Henry & Jens hauled lumber upout of Plentywood
Montana , and he built a 12x16 shack and he later added a 12x12 kitchen and
sleeping area .
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John & Dina we
married March 24,1909 in Ambrose North Dakota .Jens & Matilda Gronvold
were their attendants .
They moved up after the wedding and John went farming . He started to
break the land with two oxen . Their first crop in 1910 barely covered the
threshing expenses . Edith was born March 3,1910 and Myrtle ,Oct.31,1911 .
More land was broke and then Bernhard came along in Oct.30,1913,then
Clarence May 8,1915. He started to raise pigs and cattle ,and horses .
About this time they drove to Plentywood with two horses and a buggy to
visit the Gronvolds . There they met Helen Flaten who they discovered had
gone to school in the dining room of Jordbraek house in Norway. Bernhard
Hansen Jordbraek and Helen’s father were related . |
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More years passed
with the highway being build by the farm and a school was built ½ mile
away so the children seldom missed school . Anna was born in July
24,1917,and Clara ,June 18,1919,and Evelyn Violet May 21 ,1921. With
more children the decision was made to build a new house and it was
finished in 1919 and cost $3500 ;he took a loan out for $3000 and figured
he would pay it back soon but was 1943 before it was finally paid off . In
the fall of 1922 when threshing was done John was seriously ill with
typhoid fever . It was at this time Evelyn Violet got brain fever and died
. (Oct 22,1922).
Photo shows in1916
John,Bernhard at knee ,Myrtle,Edith,Dina holding Clarence
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He
decided to take a trip back to Norway to see his mother and family.
May18,1925 ,a neighbor Oscar Lykken took him to Estevan where he took a
train to Winnipeg ,then on to New York ,and from there landing in Bergen
Norway. Then he travelled to Drammen and on to Skoger . He then went to
his brother Broder’s house where his mother lived . He hadn’t told anyone
he was coming so imagine their surprise and joy to see him after 23 years
in America . He visited with his mother ,all his brothers and their
families and Jacob Naess .He also visited with his mother’s relatives .
He visited with Dina’s relatives at Aadelsbrug and a Mr. Ghilemoen took
him to Torpstuen ,Johan J. Gronvold’s birthplace. He was in Norway six
weeks and then returned home . |
Broder 1891, Adolf 1884, mother Elise 1850, John 1877 & Hans 1874 |
Johnny Henry was born Feb.11,1923,Evelyn Alida Oct.25,1925,Lloyd Walter
Oct.13,1926,and Palmer Donald Feb.21 ,1929 . Then the dirty thirties began with
crops dried out ,blown out grasshoppers, army worms and just generally bad times
. John B. ,Adolph Gronvold and Robert Mcneil drove north to look for better land
but didn’t find anything that they liked so ended up staying in the Hoffer area
. Things started to get better and the boy’s took over the farming and farmed
together till 1973 . Bernhard caught Tuberculosis in 1936 and spent time in
Fort San till 1939 .Later Anna had it and was in Fort San for six months . In
1935 Edith ,Clarence, Myrtle ,Dina ,&John took a trip down to Fertile Minnisota
and visited all the old places where he worked and the people he knew back in
the earlier days . Myrtle ,Evelyn, Donna Hagen,VivianTangjerd and others
visited with Dina’s cousins in Minnisota on one trip .
In 1943 John & Dina took a trip on the train to the west coast where they
visited Helmer Nelson’s at New Westminister British Columbia ,then to Castlegar
where they visited Kristian Naess and then down to Seattle Washington where they
stayed at Jens & Matilda Gronvold’s and visited their many friends and relatives
.In 1944 when he was 67 years old he was thrown from a galloping horse and
suffered a concussion . Not long after that he suffered from exzema and bought
a cabin ( Wee Blue Inn ) at Manitou beach for $1200 . In 1945 after he sold
the farm to the boys he built a house in Estevan Sask. In 1949 they took a trip
down to New Era Michigan where he first came to when he came to America 45 years
earlier . . In 1955 they took in the 75th anniversary of Little Norway church
at Fertile Minnisota . Lloyd ,Myrtle ,Evelyn ,Dina ,and John we on this
trip.They stayed at Ocar Johnsons and visited with the ten Johnson brothers .
Evelyn stayed with John & Dina and taught school in Estevan . John lived to be
87 years old .He passed away January 27,1965 and is buried at Dravland cemetry
a mile from his old farm site . Dina lived on in Estevan till March 29,1968 and
she too is buried at Dravland .
Some things I remember about Grandpa are his gray sweater which always had
peppermints in the pockets ; His big garden ( Which I had to sit on a chair for
a specified period for pulling carrots ) His bouncing his grandchildren on his
knee while singing rida rida rumpkin ?? ; his neat writing and account books ;
the old clock in the corner chiming the hours .;all the family getting together
; that happened quite frequently. His getting up after the meal to sing a song
in Norwegian.Riding with him and Grandma and Aunt Evelyn out to Oungre after a
stay in Estevan . Riding in the 1941 Plymouth that he always ended up on the
wrong side of the road . Grandma always with a big smile on her face always glad
to see everyone . Grandma sitting there knitting .
Looking back on all they both went through all the years they were truly
pioneers ,and I’m glad to have known both of them.
Larry Hansen
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