Bicentennial history of Polk County, Minnesota - to files - University ...

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leader in building the first church and school in the Strandtownship. Julia learned the dressmaking and millinery trade atCrookston.Julia married Andrew Gullingsrud July 6, 1899 at the Strandchurch, rural Gary. Friends and relatives came in 200 wagonsand buggies to attend the wedding. The Ada band played forthe reception at the Lanager farm.Julia and Andrew continued to live on the Lanager farm fora few years. Four of their six chjlren were born here: Obert,Carl. Russell, and Helen. Bernice and Rana were born at Goodridge,Minnesota. The family moved to Goodridge, PenningtonCounty, in 1908, where they homesteaded. They traveledfrom Gary to Thief River Falls by horses and wagon whichhad a hayrack and a covered canvas. The stock were tied to theback of the wagon. There was much work to be done whenthey arrived there. After they had built a house and a log barn,there was land to be cleared. Oxen were used for the heavywork . Andrew raised his cattle, horses, and pigs and Juliaraised chickens, turkeys, geese, and a few sheep. She shearedthe sheep, carded the wool, spun it into yarn, and knitted woolsocks, mittens, and scarves for her family. Made-over clotheswere the order of the day and Julia made good use of herdress-making ability. In summer she and her children pickedwild strawberries, chokecherries, gooseberries, and pincherriesand made them into sauce, jams, and jellies. She was a greatgardener and had a green thumb with flowers. Her windowsalways had blooming geraniums in them. She had a knowledgeof sickness and was often called to the sickbed of a neighbor.They were affiliated with Telemarken church, whichAndrew helped build. He served on the town board and theschool board of district 68.The Gullingsruds moved to Nielsville, Minnesota, PolkCounty, in April, 1926, where they farmed until 1937. Aftertheir retirement they purchased a home in Nielsville. Mr. Gul-Iingsrud died November 23 , 1947. Mrs. Gullingsrud died April10, 1951.Obert was born May 23, 1900 and died March 2, 1950. Henever married.Carl was born November 20, 1902. He married Mabel PalmDecember 3,1924. They now live in Winchester, California.Russell was born August 3, 1905 and died February 3, 1931at the age of 26. He was not married.Helen was born April 22, 1908. She taught school until hermarriage to Jacob Sharpe at the Nielsyille Church, June 14,1936. They farmed the Sharpe farm until Jacob's death in1959. Helen then returned to teaching and her son Robert tookover the farm. Helen remarried in 1971 to John Bakke ofGrand Forks, where they now reside.Bernice was born July 5, 1911. She taught kindergarten inLos Angeles county until 1974. She married Ed Will of EastGrand Forks, June 21 , 1934. Mr. Will was employed by Robinsonsof Van Nuys until his retirement. They now live atOxnard, California.Rana was born August I, 1914. She taught school in Polkcounty for ten years. She married Albany Capistran June 18,1941 at Crookston. They live on a farm eight miles east ofCrookston and together with their son Wayne and Albany'sbrother Virgil farm about 1800 acres.HELEN GULLINGSRUDHelen Gullingsrud, daughter of Andrew and Julia Gullingsrud,was born in Gary, Minnesota. She had three brothers,Obert, Carl and Russell, and two sisters, Berniece and Rana.Obert and Russell are not living.Helen is a Moorhead State University graduate. She taughtschool for five years in the rural districts until her marriage toJacob Sharpe, which was at the Nielsville Church, June 14,1936. They farmed the Sharpe farm until Jacob's death in1959. Helen then returned to teaching. She taught in Climax,Halstad, and Chatfield schools.Helen and Jacob had two children, Sonya and Robert. Robertwas in the Air Force when his father died. He received anhonorable discharge to come home to take over the farm: Hemarried Maureen Mickelson at the Shelly Marsh RIver316Helen and JacobSharp,Sonya and Robert.Church, June 18, 1966. Robert and Maureen are the third generationon the Sharpe Farm, which they now own and operate.They have two sons, Shane and Kelly.Sonya married Jerome Knapp at the Shelly Marsh RiverChurch June 19, 1960. Sonya is a St. Olaf graduate and is onthe teaching staff at Chatfield, Minnesota. Jerome is seniorhigh school principal at the same school. The Knapps havethree children, Lisa, Randall and Paul.Helen remarried in 1971 to John Bakke of Grand Forks,where they now live. Before retirement John was manager ofIreland's Lumber Company. John had one daughter, Laurel.Laurel is a UND graduate. She married Ted Ecklund August12, 1965 at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks. Tedis director of the Holiday Inn in Denver, Colorado.MR. AND MRS. OLE GULLINGSRUDOn May L 1880, Ole Gullingsrud, a Norwegian farmer, andhis wife Kari, and their two daughters Karen and Gunhild andtheir three sons Eric, Olaf, and Andrew set sail for America.Four older boys already were in the Land of Promise. Ole, theoldest son, had come here three years before and Herbran andElling had been here two years. Thomas had been here onlyabout a year. The boys had worked and sent money back forthe rest of the family to come. The tickets were approximatelyseventy dollars for adults and half that for children. Olaf andAndrew came over for half fare, Andrew, the youngest, beingonly eight years old.The family traveled by rail from their home village, Ness toChristiania (Oslo). There they boarded a steamer for Bremen,Germany. This steamer, the King Bjorn, was quite new anddidn't seem to be entirely finished on the inside. They weretraveling on the German-American line. The trip across theNorth Sea was a hard one. A bad storm overtook them andmost of the passengers became very seasick. Andrew was overcomewith seasickness while on deck and was carried down tohis cabin by a husky sailor. Before leaving the deck Andrewnoticed a sailor up on a hig mast which was standing at a precariousangle. They weathered the storm and docked at Bremen.While there the family was amused at the large size of theGerman draft horses, being used to very small horses in Norway.In Bremen they had six large horses hitched to the draywagons to haul the freight. The hand bags were put into cartsand drawn by large dogs.From Bremen they traveled by rail to Bremenhaven andthere boarded the steamship "Visor" which was an oldersteamship. Now the family was really on their way to America!They saw the white chalk cliffs of Dover, but did not dock atany English ports. The journey was a hard one for the oldermembers of the family, all being seasick most of the way. Adeath occurred on the voyage. A little girl died and was buriedat sea, an incident not soon forgotten by the family.When they neared Newfoundland they saw a large whalespouting water into the air. They also saw an iceberg whichwas approximately thirty feet high.There was an interpreter on the boat. This was very necessary,since most of the passengers spoke a foreign language.
The Gullingsrud family could speak only Norwegian.It was customary for each passenger to bring his own food;so the Gullingsrud family had brought a chestful of flatbread,cheese, prim, and dried beef. This they kept in their cabin.Finally after about eight weeks the steamer docked at NewYork City. The immigrants were taken to Castle Gardens. Thiswas a huge building which was all one room with great pillarsthroughout. The children were very tired so they went to sleep.All night long guards marched around the top railing of thebuilding often calling to one another.From New York City they went to Chicago by rail. Theystayed over in Chicago. From there they went to Oxfordville,Wisconsin. There Ole and his family stayed with an acquaintance,Hendrick Lee, for about a year. Then they got a farm oftheir own and farmed in the area two more years. Then theymoved to Edinburgh, North Dakota and homesteaded. Theylived there for five years. From there Mr. and Mrs. Gullingsrudmoved to Gary, Minnesota. The rest of the familyremained behind and worked for wages for awhile. The olderbrother took over the homestead.Home of Mr. and Mrs. Ole Gullingsrud in 1875 Hallingdal, Norway.Ole accompanied his daughter and family, Mr. and Mrs. OleTorgerson (Karen), to Idaho where he met with an accidentand died April 18, 1900. Kari lived on in Gary and dIed March22, 1909 and was buried in the Strand Cemetery ..This story was written by Mrs. Albany Caplstran, granddaughterof Ole and Kari Gullingsrud and daughterofAndrew Gullingsrud, Polk county resident for twenty-fiveyears.NELS HANSONNels S. Hanson was born March 18, 1877, in Vestre GousdalGudbransdalen, Norway. He was the son of Simon and BerthaHanson. The family arrived in Polk County in 1890, settling ona farm at Erskine, Minnesota. Nels came to Nielsville areawhere he was first employed at the Hayes Brothers farm. OnJanuary 18, 1908, he was united in marriage to Amanda MathildaEllingson, daughter of Halvor and Anne Ellingson. In1909 he settled on Section 27, Hubbard Township where heestablished a farm of his own. They lived here the remainder oftheir lives. They had seven children: Agnes (Mrs. Oley Roningen);they had one son, Vernon, who is now living in Switzerland.Agnes died in 1975. Vernon had two children, Nels Oleyand Jeanne.Harry Hanson who married Hilma Holte on June 16, 1945.Hilma was born at Grygla, Minnesota, to Pete and HannahHolte. They have operated the home farm since marriage,moving into Nielsville in 1963. They have two children, Richardand Marlene. Richard attended N.D.S.U. at Fargo andwas a member of the National Guard for six years and is nowengaged in farming. Marlene graduatedSchool of Business (Junior Accounting) and lives In Minneapolis.Norman Hanson married Myrtle Holte on January 6, 1946.She is daughter of Pete and Hannah Holte. They farmed atNielsville for a number of years. Norman served In World WarII. They are the parents of four children. Darrel, employed atGrand Forks married Donna Wilt and they have two daughtersKimberiy and Lisa. Diane Rene married Don Auteri.have one daughter, Denae Lynn. They live in New York.Gary and Debra are living at home. Norman passed away Jan-Nels Hanson Family: Standing, L. to R. : Harry, Alfredm Elmer, Danieland Norman. Silting, L. to R.: Mabel, Nels and Agnes.uary 10, 1976. Alfred Hanson married Bette Moore July 2,1943 . He is Postmaster at Nielsville and Bette works at thePolk County Library. Alfred served in World War II . Fourchildren were born to them.Sharon, married to Steven Seegmiller, graduated fromLutheran Deaconess Hospital at Minneapolis and spent twoyears working in the hospital at Chiayi, Taiwan. They are presentlyliving in Stockton, California and have two children,Alan and Susan. Alan Morris was born August 9, 1946. Hedied July 2,1967, from wounds received in action in Viet Nam.Renee graduated from Mankato State University and isemployed in St. Paul.David, born July 2, 1962, is a student living at home. MabelHanson married Donald Sparrow October 6, 1942. She ISemployed at Riverview Hospital. They live in Climax and havethree sons. Donavan married Colleen Ellingrud. They haveone son, Jeffrey David. Robert married Darlene Foley andhave one son, Chad Erik. Bruce Joseph Sparrow is employedat Langdon, North Dakota.Elmer Hanson spent a number of years at Coos Bay, Oregon,is now living in Nielsville and employed there.Daniel Hanson married Elizabeth Webskowski November5, 1946, and is a merchant at Thief River Falls. Their childrenare Gerald, Michael and Sherry Ann all living at home.MR. AND MRS. JOHN HANSONPeder Paulson and Inga Skalet were married November 12,1903, at Nielsville, both having come from a family of earlypioneers. They were born one and a half miles apart. Pederwas the son of Otto Paulson and Mina Aamold, both fromNannestad, Norway. Other children were Carl and Clara, Mrs.Matt Hanson. Otto Paulson, his parents and brothers, Ole,Hans, Johan, Martin and Christian, and a sister, Maria, firstsettled at Rushford, Minnesota, in 1873, and in 1877 moved toNielsville where he homesteaded on the present Otto Hansonfarm, where he spent the remainder of his life.Mina Aamold came with her parents, the Lars Aamolds, atthe age of ten to Rushford, Minnesota. When 20 years old, shecame with her family to Fosston. As was customary In Norway,all property in the family was given to the eldest son, sothe rest of the family came to America. Mina had four brothers,Anton, Mikkel, Hans and Louis.Inga Skalet was the daughter of Nels J. Skalet and BerteKlubberud. Other children were Jonetta, Ivar, Clara, Nicholas,John N., Oscar, John, Nannie and Anna. They first came toFillmore county in 1873. Congress had passed the HomesteadAct. The Skalets and several families came in a caravan bycovered wagon and oxen and homesteaded on the presentAnna Brekke farm at Nielsville, in 1878. When they first came,they spent the first winter in a dugout, building a one-roomhouse the next summer. Records show that the Skalet andPaulson families paid $8 for their quarter of land. This coveredthe legal fees ; homestead certificates were signed by PresidentChester A. Arthur.317
Page 1 and 2: is not married. Diane was born June
Page 4 and 5: As in most families, there have bee
Page 6: and the house which has remained th
Page 11 and 12: Dakota. There he worked for Martin
Page 13 and 14: Wedding picture of Clarence Paulson
Page 15 and 16: Paul and Ingeborg Simon and Family.
Page 17: SIGURD WEGGESigurd, born in Traill

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