Registration starts!

The extended Organization Committee. From left: Frigg Ottar Os (secretary & Mayor of Beiarn), Geir Heggmo (co-ordinator), Inge Strand (head), Linda Utheim (reunion program), Thore K. Steen (economy, sign-up), Ellinor Mikalsen (dining), behind the camera: André Kristoffersen (accomodation). Not present: Elin Johannessen (info). Associate members (not present): Terje D. Nilsen (Beiarn History Society), Einar Skomsvoll (minister of the church).

After a nice vacation the committee has met and made the necessary preparations in order to handle the registration forms for the family reunion on behalf of the descendants of Hans Lillejord and wives, Maalfrid Sakariasdatter and Margrethe Nilsdatter.

The committee has noticed that the Lillejord Reunion will gather many Lillejord descendents, domestic as well as relatives from the US and Canada. As previously mentioned, we have limited space, and will therefore use the principle of “first come, first served”, so it is important to send us your registration as fast possible. We reserve the right to close the registration when we are fully booked. We will also balance the number of descendants from Canada, Norway and U.S.A. However, we hope to be able to welcome all relatives who wish to come to Beiarn next summer.

A lot of people will use much money and much time to come to Norway and Beiarn to meet family and see the place where Hans Olsen Lillejord and his wives came from. The committee finds that the great effort from all these people demands a decent reunion arrangement.

Therefore, the reunion will go on for two days. It starts on Saturday, June 26, 2010 by noon and lasts through all the day to late night. We will serve you two meals, there will be exhibitions and presentations of the Beiarn valley and the homestead of Hans and Margrete, and the unveiling of the memorial stone will be a special event; commemorating the emigrants from the Beiarn Valley to the New World in the West. We want to share our history and culture with you, and we want to entertain you with music and other local entertainment, but we also invite our guests to take part in the program. Tell us if you have some contribution of any kind!

The Saturday Program will start formally, but it will be more informal as the day goes on. You will have rich opportunities to get acquainted with cousins of all kinds, and we hope you all will enjoy the day.

On Sunday there will be a service at our church with both Norwegian and American pastors, and there will be some church coffee after the service. The rest of the day will be open for individual wishes, like seeing people, round trips in the valley, caving, hiking, fishing and what ever you would like to do. We will ask you about your interests in good time before your arrival.

Almost everything is expensive in Norway, but we are trying to keep the cost down as much as possible by using mostly voluntary workers, so the fee is for food and venue rental. We have calculated the cost to NOK 500, approx. USD/CAD 80-100. We will make it possible for you to pay with credit cards, which makes it easier for the overseas participants. However, we need to include a NOK 50 fee to cover the transfer costs.

The participants are registered when we have received the registration form and the reunion fee has been collected. The Registration Form is ready to be filled in.

We are trying to make the registration as easy as possible and can mention a few points:

• The registration form can be downloaded on the Internet in Word format and when completed, sent by e-mail to lillejordtreffet@online.no. You may also print the form and mail it to: Thore Steen, N-8110 Moldjord, Norway.
• You may register several people on the same form, however, one needs to be the main contact person, while the others on the form relate to this person. Children less than 12 years are free, so please specify age on the form.
• We need information about accommodation, please indicate this on the form.
• If you are handling your own accommodation, please indicate this in the box marked “own accommodation”.
• Add up the registration fee for all persons and transfer the money by credit card or to our bank account number, using the contact person’s name. When we have received the money, we will complete the registration.
• If you have any questions, please send us an e-mail, or use the message box below.
• When the registration has been completed, we will send you a form asking if you have special needs, (such as diabetes, gluten allergy, etc.) or, wish special arrangements during your stay. Please also let us know if you wish to contribute with anything to the reunion, such as entertainment, greeting, etc. Our wish is to be able to use all good talents during this festive occasion.
• This registration is for Saturday only. On Sunday there is no registration to the Church service and coffee afterwards.
• The registration deadline is January 31, 2010, and remember; “First Come, First Served”.

 

Nå starter påmeldingene!

Etter en god sommerferie har organisasjonskomiteen hatt møte og gjort de nødvendige forberedelser slik at vi kan begynne å ta imot påmeldinger til slektsstemnet for etterkommerne etter Hans Petter Olsen Lillejord og hustruene Målfrid Sakariasdtr. og Margrete Nilsdtr.

Vi understreker at det ikke blir sendt ut noen personlige innbydelser, og at alle etterkommere er hjertelig velkommen til å melde seg på. Vi får spørsmål om hvordan en kan finne ut om en er etterkommer. Slektstreet som finnes på dette nettstedet, er et godt hjelpemiddel.

Vi registrerer stor interesse for arrangementet, og det kan komme på tale å sette strek for påmeldinger dersom vi ser at antallet blir så stort at vi ikke kan rå med det. Da gjelder prinsippet om at de som først meldte seg på, får førsteretten. Vi må også balansere mellom norske etterkommere og dem fra Canada og USA.

Deltakere regnes som påmeldt når stemneavgifta er innbetalt.

Påmelding skjer ved å fylle ut dette påmeldingsskjemaet. Vi håper det skal være lettfattelig, men vi kan nevne noen forhold:

• Skjemaet lastes ned og fylles ut i Word og lagres på egen maskin. Deretter legges det ved en e-post til Lillejordtreffet@online.no Du kan også skrive det ut og fylle det ut med penn og sende det med vanlig post til: Thore Steen, 8110 Moldjord
• Du kan melde på flere personer på samme skjema. En må være hovedperson, som vi forholder oss til, mens de andre er knyttet til denne personen. Barn under 12 år går gratis. Spesifiser derfor påmeldte med alder ved påmelding.
• Vi ønsker informasjon om evt. ønsker om opphold og overnatting. Kryss av ved det aktuelle ønsket. Dersom du ordner slikt sjøl, krysser du av ved ”Ordner selv”.
• Regn ut den totale stemneavgifta og send den til det oppgitte kontonummer. Merk innbetalinga med hovedpersonens navn. Når vi har mottatt pengene, registrerer vi påmeldinga.
• Dersom du lurer på noe, spør oss per e-post, eller bruk kommentardelen nedenfor.
• Når påmeldinga er avsluttet, vil vi sende et nytt skjema med spørsmål om spesielle behov til mat (cøliaki, diabetes etc.), ønsker om spesielle opplevelser ved besøket, og om du har noe du vil bidra med til stemnet (underholdning, hilsning eller lignende). Vi ønsker nemlig at alle gode krefter skal få komme til uttrykk under festen.

Påmeldinga gjelder stemnet på lørdag. På søndag er det ingen påmelding til gudstjenesten eller til kirkekaffen.

Påmeldingsfristen er 31.1.2010, men som sagt; først til mølla får først malt.

 

Sign up for the Lillejord Descendent Reunion today!

The descendents of Hans Petter Lillejord in Beiarn, Norway, and Beiarn History Society, are organizing a family reunion on June 26 and 27, 2010.

2010 is the year that would mark Hans’ 200 birthday. We are hoping to have his descendents from Canada, USA, and Norway participate in this exciting event. As part of the reunion we plan to explore the valley and surroundings areas where Hans P Lillejord lived until he left for America. The festivities will include traditional Norwegian food, a lot of fascinating history about the Lillejords, as well as insights into the conditions in Norway, and in Beiarn in particular, at the time the different members of the family left Norway.

We are also planning to develop a multimedia presentation and perhaps dedicate a memorial stone at Hans’ homestead, commemorating his descendants who emigrated from Beiarn. Ultimately we would like people to visit and get acquainted with each other in hopes of creating ties for future.

In conjunction with this reunion, we may be able to give travel advise to participants who wish to extend their stay and visit other places in Norway. The event will be taking place in Beiarn, summer 2010.

The organizing  committee consists of Frigg-Ottar Os, Inge Strand and Geir Heggmo. Feel free to contact the members of the group if you have any questions. Do also let us know in case you know anything about the Lillejord family, and want to share it with us.

 

More pictures from Lars Stabel’s family

The diligent member of the Lillejord family, Terry Bell from Regina, Saskatchevan, has given us a lot of information about the descedents of Lars Stabel and Maren Lillejord. The last contribution is photos from the Khedive Cemetary, where a lot of the family have  their graves. You will find the pictures in the Lars Stabel’s family section.

Tusen takk, Terry!

 

More pictures of Nels’ family

Diane Olson, who is a relative of Nels Lillejord’s wife, Bergit, has sent us two photos. She writes:

‘After seeing the photo (on this web site) of my great grandmother’s sister (Bergit Sorteberg) and her family , I have identified two photos.  In one photo, Bergit is sitting on an ostrich!  I can only think this would have happened at the Minnesota State Fair since they lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota according to the census.  Maybe someone knows the history of this strange photo!’

The other photo shows two girls with kittens and a well dressed little boy. Diane says the children are Gertie, Leonore and Arthur. You may see the photos here.

 

Hans and Margrete had siblings in the US

We have previously mentioned that Hans wasn’t the only emigrant in the Olsen family. We know about two brothers and one sister, and we also know about a sister of Margrete in the US.  Her name was Anna, and she was married to Hans’ younger brother Lars Jørgen. They emigrated from Norway in 1883 and came to Lars’ brother Anders (Andrew) in Hercher, Illinois. Anders had been educated at the Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis and was the pastor in Herscher at that time.

Later, Lars and Anna moved to Redwood County in Minnesota.

This family also changed their surname after coming to America. Their new name became Orfield after the name of a mountain near their homestead in Norway, Oertfjell (Ørtfjell).

The family commemorated the 100 years anniversary of  the immigration in 1983. A granddaughter of Lars and Anna, Lois E. Johnson, wrote a booklet of her grandparent’s life. A Norwegian relative, Mr. Jens Kaasbøll, has made it available on Internett.

We have known about the booklet for some time. Jim Tate (of the Melia branch) has given us a couple of pages of it, and a Google search brought us in contact with Jens Kaasbøll, who kindly let us publish the story here.

It is a bit strange that the Lillejords are not mentioned in the booklet. Redwood and Renville, where the Lillejords lived, are neighbouring counties, so the distance between them was short. Probably there were some contact, but it is not mentioned in the booklet. The author do mention a sister of Anna, living in Sacred Heart, named Johanne. From Norwegian sources we can’t find that Johanne emigrated from Norway to the US. It might be that the sister in Sacred Heart really was Margrete.

Perhaps somebody out there have more information? Don’t hesitate to send us any relevant information about the issue.

Thank you.

 

Pictures from Elling’s family

We have now got some more information about Elling b: 1861. He was married to Ella Bergland in 1910 and died in 1930. Elling and Ella had three children and two of them grew up, Elaine and Howard. Mervyn Nelson has sent us a photo of Elling together with his younger sisters Martine and Melia.

Elling’s granddaughter Terry has sent us a comment telling that she has a lot of information and photos from the family. We’re looking forward to hear more from her and share it with you.

 

My grandmother’s album 2

A bright guest on this site has sent us a comment about the pictures from my grandmother’s album. He suggests that there is some resemblance between Marit Hansdtr. Sundquist (left) on the first picture:

and the much younger woman on this picture:

When he says so, we can agree with him, can’t we?

Maybe this is a much earlier picture of Marit’s family?

If we go to the Family Report p. 15 and 16 we see that Marit and John Sundquist had seven children. On the photo we find five. Perhaps two of them had left the family as grownups? Let us have a closer look at the list of children.

Maria Sundquist
Melia Sundquist
Ole Heitmann Sundquist b: 09 Jun 1869
Stina Marie Sundquist b: 01 Jan 1877
Hans Peder Sundquist b: 01 Sep 1879
Emilie Sundquist b: 30 May 1882
Carl Martin Sundquist b: 07 Jul 1887, d: 1950 Sacred Heart, MN

Let us assume that the boy in first row, who doest’t seem to enjoy the visit at the photographer, is Carl Martin at the age of five. Then the photo must be from 1892, and the other children would be 10, 13, 15 and 22 years old. That doesn’t seem to fit. The difference of age between the two eldest can’t be that much, and the other seem to be younger than assumed.

Maybe it’s another family – in spite of the resemblance between the two women?

We can’t give in so fast. Let us first try the reliability of the information in the Family Report. The Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses from May 1, 1885 tells us that John and Marit Sundquist lived in Sacred Heart, Minnesota. They had six children living at home.

From this list we discover a boy who is not in the Family Report, Lars J, 10 years old. We also see that Carl M is two months in May 1885, which tells us that he is born in 1885 and not 1887, as the Family Report says.

We now have another fundament for reconstructing the family on the above photo. Suppose that the photo is taken in 1890 and that the children on the photo are: Lars J (15), Stina M (13), Hans P (10), Emelia (8) and Carl M (5)? That seems to fit better. The order of age fits to the order of boys and girls, and we may conclude with great confidence that the picture is of the Sundquist family around 1890.

Then the people on the photo must be, from left to right: Hans P, Lars J, John Sundquist, Carl M, Emelia, Marit Hansdtr. Sundquist and Stina M.

The Family Report will be corrected according to the above information.

Thanks to our quickwitted guest.

 

More news from the Organizing Committee

The Organizing Committee has met and determined that we have passed the point of no return. The respons, interest and enthusiasm among the Lillejord family, concerning the Lillejord Descendent Reunion has been so great that we are stepping up the planning for June 26 and 27,  2010. We are very pleased about that.

Thank you all for making us believe in this great event and opportunity to see so many relatives here in the home valley of Hans, Målfrid and Margrete.

We are now increasing the number of the committee members and will start the exact planning of each reunion element. Accomodation will be a central task. Beiarn doesn’t have a big hotel. Public accomodation consists of inns, motels and campgrounds with a capasity of abt. 70 beds. The nearest hotels are 1 to 2 hours away by bus (Rognan and Bodoe), and we are discussing a preliminary agreement for Reunion guests.

We are hoping that a lot of our overseas guests will accept to stay at Norwegian Lillejord families during the stay. Large groups might be offered to stay in holiday houses, owned by Norwegian relatives. When we invite to such a celebration we will try to be good hosts. The capasity within the family is also limited, but we will try to accommodate all of you as well as possible.

If you don’t want to stay with relatives, the public accomodation mentioned above will be the alternative. In addition there are also a few cabins with space for large families for rent in the valley. The plans for the accomodation are not quite ready. However, we will try to arrange the accomodation according to our guest’s wishes. It will be easier to handle when we know the exact number needed.

Another important task will be the Reunion Program. Some of it must necessarily be a surprise, but all together we will portray it as a presentation of the culture of Beiarn, the fascinating Lillejord family history, a tasty meal and  plenty of time for conversation and getting known to each other. We hope it will be interesting, entertaining and give food for thought – and create ties for the future. The unveiling of the memorial stone will be a special event; commemorating the emigrants from the Beiarn Valley. Please note that a special  Registration Form will be available on this site in late summer, and the Registration deadline is still January 31, 2010.

The program for Sunday will be an International Service at our church following with a ‘church coffee’. We have earlier called for participation from some of the pastors in the Lillejord family in the US and Canada. So far we have heard some rumors, but it would be healthy for our nerves with some hard facts, pastors, please let us know that you want to participate.

 

For our Norwegian visitors

Dette nettstedet ble oppretta i januar 2009 for å bringe informasjon om det påtenkte slektsstevnet etter Hans Petter Olsen Lillejord og de to konene hans, Målfrid og Margrete, til etterkommere i USA og Canada. Familien emigrerte nemlig til Amerika i 1866, men fire voksne barn ble igjen i Norge – og etterkommerne deres danner den norske greina av familien.

Responsen fra Lillejord’ene i Amerika har vært fabelaktig. Vi har oppspora svært mange etterkommere, og vi har fått mye informasjon om familien der borte. Denne informasjonen er fortløpende lagt ut på nettstedet, både som tekst og som bilder. Mange har også tatt kontakt og sagt de vil komme til Beiarn til slektsstevnet. Vi kan konstatere at vi nå har passert et punkt der det er umulig å snu. Nå blir det full fart fram mot 26. og 27. juni 2010, da det hele skal foregå. Det blir først fest på Granlihuset på lørdag 26. og så blir det internasjonal kirkesøndag med både norsk og amerikansk prest, og vi håper å få til en kirkekaffe der gjestene våre kan få møte enda flere beiarværinger.

Informasjonen har så langt vært gitt på engelsk. Slektsstevnet er sjølsagt også for den norske delen av slekta, og vi vil fra nå også gi informasjon på norsk fra dette nettstedet. Vi har derfor fått lagt ei lenke på startsida for Beiarn, Beiarn.net, og vi ser at svært mange alt har besøkt nettstedet via denne lenka. Det som allerede er lagt ut på engelsk, vil ikke bli oversatt. Mange nordmenn er flinke nok i engelsk til å kunne lese disse tekstene, og det fins også ei oversettertjeneste på Google som også kan nås fra Beiarn.net. Oversettelsen er ikke perfekt, men med litt godvilje forstår vi det meste.

Det er Beiarn historielag som formelt har tatt initiativet til dette treffet 200 år etter at Hans Petter Olsen ble født. En liten komité har vært i arbeid noen måneder med forberedende arbeid, men fra nå starter planlegginga av selve treffet. Komiteen er utvida til et ti-talls personer, og vi håper å kunne engasjere foreninger og enkeltpersoner i Beiarn til innsats og engasjement for denne store begivenheta.

Alle som ikke kjenner slekta si så godt, bør finne ut om de er “unna” han Hans. Det kan en gjøre ved å gå inn i dette slektstreet og se om en finner egen familie. Alle som er i denne slekta, kan melde seg på treffet. Påmeldingsskjema og informasjon om påmeldingsavgift, program og andre forhold vil komme på denne sida over sommeren. Påmeldingsfristen er satt til 31.1.2010.

Vi vet ikke hvor mange gjester som vil komme fra Amerika. Uansett antall ønsker vi å framstå som gode verter, og vi håper mange vil ønske å bo hos slektninger under oppholdet her, og at mange slektninger her i Beiarn kan tenke seg å ta imot gjester for noen dager. På den måten kan vi gjøre besøket til noe mer personlig både for gjestene og for oss, noe som kan skape sterkere og mer varige forbindelser mellom oss enn om alle gjestene våre skulle bo på hotell og gjestgiveri. Dette spørsmålet vil vi komme tilbake til.

Mer informasjon vil komme i media og på dette nettstedet, og vi håper også at dere som er innom her, vil bruke jungeltelgrafen flittig. Det er viktig at så mange som mulig blir kjent med det som forestår og får anledning til å bli med.

Vi håper at vi sammen kan presentere Beiarn på en flott måte, og at vi kan framstå som gode og gjestfrie verter.

Spørsmål og innspill kan sendes hit.

 

From my grandmother’s album

My grandmother Margrete b: 1872, daughter of Dortea and granddaughter of Hans Petter Lillejord died the same year as I was born, in 1948. Accordingly, I never met her.

She had some old photos. Most of them have no identification, only the name of the photographer, like Carlson, Wheaton Minn. and H.J. Chalmers, Madison Minn. Only one of them has a name. It says in ‘american handwriting’: Dette er Marit Sundquist og hendes Datter og Datter Datter. (This is Marit Sundquist and her daughter and granddaughter.)

The first time I saw it, the name didn’t tell me anything. During the prosess of the reunion I’ve become aware of the name. She is of course Margrete’s aunt in Minnesota, the one we just have asked for more information about. We don’t get so much knowledge from the picture, but it has given Marit a face, and it proves that her year of death in the Descendent Report, 1889, must be wrong. The lady on the picture is definitely more than 46! We don’t know the names of the daughter and granddaughter.

Two of the other nameless photos became known as we may recognize the persons from photos of Margrete Lillejord and her two youngest daughters, recieved from Jim Tate. Dont you agree?

Margrete Nilsdatter Lillejord and her daughters Olea Melia and Martine.

The other photos remain unknown. We publish them and hope that there are someone who may have some information about the persons on the photos. Please give us your tips, guesswork and suggestions – as well as your facts about the photos. Thank you!