From the Archives
    by Beulah Folkedahl and C.A. Clausen (Volume 25: Page 270)

The OLE G. LANDSVERK Papers are a collection of articles and correspondence in transcript chiefly regarding the Kensington Runestone.

The SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NORWAY BUILDING ASSOCIATION of Minneapolis (1924—1958) was a coalition of several Sons of Norway and Daughters of Norway lodges organized to build Norway Hall as the national headquarters and assembly place for lodge activities. The papers of the Association consist of business correspondence, minutes, financial reports, and other records.

The genealogies of George Washington, Leif Erickson, Andrew Furuseth, and "Snowshoe" Thompson are among the typescript volumes in the CARL M. GUNDERSON Papers.

Among the OLE AND PEDER G. GUNNULSON Papers are creamery and tobacco pool reports and the assessor’s statements of 1891 for the Town of Christiana, Dane County, Wisconsin. The Gunnulson homestead has been occupied by that family since about 1842.

A typescript volume by HELMER M. BLEGEN contains articles, notes, and statistics relating to the history of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

An article entitled "My First Journey to America, Year 1909" is one of the items in the SIVERT NERHEIM Papers. [271]

An article by Jesse E. Saugstad, entitled "A Mountain Is Named," tells about his great-uncle, CHRISTIAN SAUGSTAD, who founded the Norwegian colony in Bella Coola, British Columbia.

The CARL QUESTAD Papers stem from a prosperous farmer and rancher of Bosque County, Texas, who migrated in 1851 and soon became a prominent leader in his community. The collection includes letters from relatives in Norway and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, from the Wærenskjolds in Texas, and from Norwegians serving in Confederate Texas regiments during the Civil War.

The autobiography of the REVEREND OLAI O. BERGH, Norwegian-born farmer and pastor of Volga, South Dakota, is a typescript of eighty-one pages. The paper was written in 1929 and translated by his son, John E. Bergh.

The abridged memoirs of NILS BRANDT were translated by his grandson, Olaf O. Brandt, and published in newspapers in Decorah, Iowa, in 1970. They deal largely with the travels of a home missionary in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

The minute book of the MEN’S FELLOWSHIP CLUB OF CARPIO, NORTH DAKOTA (1924—1925), indicates that the members discussed such matters as tax reduction, the Boy Scout movement, and banks and bankers.

A doctor’s thesis, entitled "An Analysis of Selected Choral Works of F. Melius Christiansen," has been donated to the archives by the author, RICHARD D. HANSON.

FRANK C. NELSEN is the author of "The American School Controversy among the Norwegian-Americans, 1845—1881," a doctoral dissertation. The thesis discusses not only the common school issue, but also such topics as the causes of emigration from Norway, social and cultural conditions in the settlements, and the numerous doctrinal differences which split Norwegian-American Lutherans into rival factions.

The JOHN EINERSON Papers include a record of transactions at A. Blanchard’s general store in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, in 1889. Among the purchases that year were such items as lung balsam, pills, axes, clover seed, nails, Champion mowers, and machine oil.

A valuable item in the BODE LUTHERAN ACADEMY (Iowa) Papers is a copy of the school’s 1891 catalogue. [272]

The record books, 1882—1932, of DOVRE MENIGHED, Osnabrock, North Dakota, contain minutes, the names of members, and a history of the congregation.

EDWARD M. ELLEFSEN’S typescript article of twenty-six pages is a historical sketch of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Chicago, 1839—1900.

In articles written in 1939, OLINE ERNSTSEN (MRS. DANIEL), Bear River, Minnesota, reminisces about her migration to America and church life, transportation, and communication in pioneer days.

Probably the most complete volume in the Family Histories and Genealogies Collection of the archives is a book of some 380 pages on the Mohn family, written in 1928. THORBJØRN N. MOHN, a member of this family, was the first president of St. Olaf College.

MARTHA HOVE HOUGSTAD, in her article entitled "A Pioneer Family," relates incidents from farm life in Worth County, Iowa.

Correspondence for the years 1856—1891 in the SVENNUNG O. HOUKOM Papers includes letters from farmers in Coon Prairie and Taylor, Wisconsin, Hampton, Iowa, and in Stevens County and Winona, Minnesota.

A copy of the 1858—1859 catalogue is in the ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY (Springfield) Papers.

Lists of pioneers in Winnesheik County, Iowa, and in Dakota Territory, pioneer societies, and the author’s mission to the Canadian Gaspé settlement in the 1860’s are among topics dealt with in the ABRAHAM JACOBSON Papers.

Typescript articles by CARL C. A. JENSEN include histories of congregations and hospitals in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.

The HANNA BUGGE JENSEN (MRS. NILS E.) Papers contain reminiscences of her life as a pastor’s wife in the Highland Prairie, Minnesota, congregation.

Included in the JEWELL LUTHERAN COLLEGE (Iowa) Papers are several account books.

The NELSON JOHNSON Papers reveal something about the life of a pioneer settler in Winnesheik County, Iowa, and of an early minister in the Norwegian Methodist Church.

Two scrapbooks, consisting of clippings from the Norwegian press of a serial entitled "Haringer i Amerika gjennem 100 ár," [273] constitute the major portion of the ALFRED KNUTSEN Papers. The author’s vast collection of scrapbooks is in the University of Oslo Library.

Clifford Larson is the author of a six-page typescript biography of PEDER BORDERUD, his grandfather, who settled at Kindred, North Dakota, in 1871.

A letter to Alfred B. Johnson, a Chicago lumber dealer during the 1860’s, has data regarding the BEAVER CREEK settlement in Illinois.

An account book of the SAND HILL CONGREGATION (1877— 1927), Eldred, Minnesota, includes lists of contributions to the parochial school, the pastor’s and the precentor’s salaries.

"A Christmas at the Old Parsonage in Coon Valley" is the title of a six-page typescript by JOHN N. MIDTLIEN. The article was translated by L. A. Mathre in 1965.

The MINNEAPOLIS KREDS NORSK-LUTHERSKE LÆRERFORENING record book (1893—1900) contains the constitution and the minutes of the society.

An Andrew B. Moe typescript article of four pages concerns his father, IVER B. MOE, founder of Poulsbo, Washington.

Genealogical and biographical materials are included in the KNUTE NELSON Papers.

DET NORSKE SELSKAP Papers contain material on the Sigvald Quale declamatory contests.

Nine record books constitute the major portion of the papers of NORDLYSET, a Norwegian sickness and benefit society in Chicago.

"Den norsk-danske methodisme i Amerika" is the title of an eleven-page typescript filed among the NORWEGIAN-DANISH METHODIST EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE Papers.

The minute book (1929—1951) of the NORWEGIAN LITERARY SOCIETY of Minneapolis is in the files of the Norwegian-American Historical Association.

The papers of MARIA OFTEDAHL (MRS. EINAR L.) are made up of two items: an account of the "snow winter" of 1880—1881 in Lyon County, Minnesota, and a local church history.

The EMILY VEBLEN OLSEN Papers contain a thirteen-page typescript of her memoirs. [274]

Data on the history of Story County, Iowa, are to be found in the PAUL A. OLSON Papers.

A typescript manuscript of forty-five pages by Dr. J. C. K. Preus is a study of the early efforts of PASTOR HERMAN A. PREUS and his parish in Columbia and Dane counties, Wisconsin, to orient themselves to American church life.

MILDRED M. SEBO, Lamoille, Minnesota, has written a thirty-three page typescript history of the Sebu-Myhre family in Cedar Valley.

The SONS OF NORWAY Papers contain an account of the origins of the society.

An article by Adolf Steen sketches the career of NILS PAUL XAVIER and explains how he acquired his name. Originally published by Norges Finnemisjonsskelskap in Samenes Venn in 1951, it has been translated, under the title "Nils Paul Xavier, 1839— 1918," by Magdalene Xavier Visovatti, Xavier’s granddaughter.

A copy of Svarteboka throws light on the "black arts," which were believed in and practiced in early times in Norway. Reprints of the book have been published in Chicago.

A sixty-one-page typescript by Clarence Swenseid tells the story of ROLLEIV SWENSEID'S migration from Telemark to Minnesota and thence to Nelson, North Dakota. The article throws light on various aspects of pioneer life.

The ELLING THOMPSON America letters from Wiota, Wisconsin, tell of farm life, types of recreation, and political activities.

An eleven-page typescript historical sketch of pioneer life in Ransom County, North Dakota, was written in 1965 by MARY SYVERSON TORBENSON (MRS. OSCAR), a native of the area.

A biography of MRS. ANDREAS UELAND, entitled "Clara Ueland of Minnesota," has been written by her daughter, Brenda. The 501-page typescript volume covers such topics as the nation, the community, and the home.

Two items in the BARTHINIUS L. WICK Papers are a biography of Nicolai Ibsen, Henrik Ibsen’s brother, and a photograph of his grave.

A manuscript, entitled "En gammel setlers historie skreved da jeg var 68 aar," was written in Viroqua, Wisconsin, by an anonymous author. The article deals with farming, logging, the [275] temperance question, the district school problem, medical service, and church activities in that region in the early days.

The MICHAEL O. BORGE Papers contain material about the area around Volga, South Dakota, in the 1880’s.

LESTER W. HANSEN in his autobiography, a typescript of 475 pages, relates some of the Civil War experiences of his grandfather. The article was written in 1968.

The treasurer’s book of the HOLMES CITY (Minnesota) LÆSEFORENING covers the period from 1878 to 1905.

The MJØSENLAG Papers contain the minutes and the cash books of the society.

One of the items in the NORA O. SOLUM Papers is her translation of H. Tambs Lyche’s "James Russell Lowell."

The BENJAMIN A. PAUST Papers, consisting of a series of articles, are reminiscences of his boyhood in Milwaukee and his student days at the University of Wisconsin during the final two decades of the last century.

A. O. FETVEDT AND S. O. FETVEIT, authors of a collection of America letters, have written interesting observations about our national elections.