In 1968, my grandmother Mildred Romundstad Madson took my mother and sisters and me to visit Laura.  My grandmother and Laura had been fast friends their entire lives, having grown up together in Norseville.  At the time in 1968, I was in my mid-teens and was just starting to become interested in family history.  That was the only time I met Laura, and I often wish that at age 16 I knew as much as I did later, and could have asked her many questions.

For many years I have had Laura's "Olsen Family History" among my research materials on the Romundstad Family. Over the years, I read over her story many times. I also studied Laura's research sources and interviewed present-day family members. In doing this, I found additional information on Frederick Olsen's early life in the Romundstad Farm Village in Rindal, and about how as a young man he left Rindal for Trondheim, and the places he first lived in that city. I also found out more about Frederick and his wife, Serianna's early life together in Trondheim before they left for America in 1861. 


Over the course of my research, I was quite struck by the pivotal role Frederick and Serianna Olsen played in connecting large numbers of people in two communities: the Old World of Rindal, Norway and the New World of Norseville & Strum, Wisconsin. As the first emigrants from the Rindal area to the Norseville & Strum area, Frederick and Serianna Olsen's choice for their final homesteading place proved to have crucial ramifications in the lives of countless other people, many of them Frederick's Rindal relatives. Norseville & Strum became one of the primary destinations for the transplantation of a large and virtually intact group of Rindalings. In the New World of Wisconsin, these Rindalings continued their Old World village kinship pattern of creating a cultural fabric of interwoven marriages.

To offer an appreciation for Frederick and Serianna Olsen roles on the cutting edge of this migration, I have included a link to a list of Frederick Olsen's Rindal-area relatives and neighbors who followed him to the Norseville and Strum area of Wisconsin.  This list also includes brief tidbits of their lives in the New World: 1860's-1911: Emigration From Rindal, Norway to the American Midwest.

In addition, in closely studying Laura's source materials, I  detected some discrepancies between Laura's story and her sources, and corrected them.  My editing of Laura's story consisted of these approaches: I made some new paragraph breaks, and corrected or clarified place names, dates of events, and ages. All corrections are shown in brackets. For clarity of reading, I also took the liberty to conceptually divide the story into mini-sections, and composed titles for each. These titles I did not put in brackets.  For a list of discrepancies and how I corrected them, see Olsen Family History - Corrections. 

I did this editing by way of "asking for forgiveness rather than permission." I did it with utmost respect and admiration for the work of this gifted writer. In that light, I sincerely hope members of the Olsen Family will not think I have carelessly desecrated Laura's story. If anyone thinks this is the case, please talk to me about it, and together we will work to find a resolution.

We gather here to celebrate the anniversary of life in America of our grandparents, Frederick and Serianna Olsen.

Most of us here are of Norwegian descent, a fact of which we should be very proud. Our ancestors were brave, resourceful men and women who courageously left their homes in Norway to go to a country thousands of miles away to build what they hoped would be a better life for themselves and their children. In the middle of the 1800's, the people of Norway were poor with little tillable land for farming and few industries except fishing.

[ Surrounding the town of Rindal are many small farm villages] called "gaards" which have been divided and subdivided into smaller farms. [These farm villages each have a name and a cluster or clusters of farmhouses -- each also having its own name -- the homes of a large extended family.] All who lived on the "gaard" took that name, which accounts for the fact that so many Norwegians had the same name.  [Southeast of Rindal along the Rinna River are several Farm Villages, including the Løset Farm Village, the Romundstad Farm Village, and the Stomprød Farm Village. The Romundstad Farm Village dates to Viking times, and is the home of the large extended family of Romundstads.]

1853, from age 24: Granåsen Farm, Strinda, east of the River Nid. Highway A-6 goes right thru Strinda.
1856 - 1861:  Byåsen near the west side of the River Nid, where the river makes an abrupt horseshoe bend.
Byåsen's two locations where Fredrik Olson and Serianna Halvorsdatter lived:
- 1856:  Havstein Farm Village, when first married, ages 27 & 25
- 1856 til their 1861 emigration: Stavne Farm Village
 

Googlemaps

When the ice went out in the spring of 1862, the group of Norwegians who had lived together all winter boarded a steamboat and traveled up the St. Lawrence River to Milwaukee and then on to Yorkville [-- a little west of Racine, Wisconsin, where they lived for three years.] Fredrick Olsen worked on nearby farms to support his family. [1862 was also the year Congress passed the Homestead Act, forcing the Indians off their land, and instead "opening it up" for white settlement.]

[These new European emigrants were deciding what land to claim as theirs, and often lived in a few different places before deciding on a final homestead to settle.] In 1863 [in Yorkville, Frederick and Serianna's 5th child] Ole Gunerius was born, and in 1865 twin girls were born, but died the same year.

[Frederick and Serianna's next move was in 1865 to western Wisconsin, in the Trempeleau valley near today's town of Taylor, just west of Black River Falls. They lived here for four years -- until 1869 -- during which time, in 1867, their eighth child] Hannah Frederikka (Johnson) was born.

1868: Frederick Olsen applied for homestead rights on 160 acres in southern Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

Frederick Olsen looked with longing eyes northward where he had heard there was free homestead land available, the dream of every young Norwegian. When our grandfather looked around [the vicinity of Big Creek in southern Eau Claire County]...there was no human habitation in sight -- nothing but woods. Forest fires [set intentionally by the Indians as a form of resource management] had destroyed the virgin pine, and the area was now covered by second growth hardwood, perhaps a few half-grown jack and white pine and brush. But he liked what he saw, and probably said like the Mormons when they first saw the site of Salt Lake City, "This is the Place!"  Perhaps the proximity to the spring of clear cool water helped him to decide that this would be their future home. That was 103 years ago in 1971.

Chester Olsen has a document procured from the Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C., which states that on December 22, 1868, Frederick Olsen applied for homestead rights on 160 acres of land [in southern Eau Claire County.] Another paper verifies that he was granted those rights on [March] 10, 1869.  [ Another family from the homeland also applied for a homestead claim in southern Eau Claire County:], Nels Knutson Hagestad [wife Anna Hanson, and  their] family.  The Hagestads had arrived in America the year before -- 1868, and had stayed for a year with a Hagestad brother near the town of Ettrick, a little southwest of the Olsens' place near Taylor. (See Story 1 of the Strum Stories Series:  Hagestad Family History.) ]   

Spring 1869: Frederick and Serianna Olsen Family and the Nels & Anna Hagestad Families traveled together from Trempeleau, County Wisconsin, to their final homesteads in Norseville, southern Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

[In Spring 1869 after applying for homestead rights,] Frederick (age 40) and Serianna (age 38)] loaded all [their] worldly possessions and their 5 children [ages 2 - 13] into a covered wagon and started [northward from Taylor.  The Olsens and the Hagestads] traveled northward together to their new homestead claims in southern Eau Claire County.  

[When the two families arrived in southern Eau Claire County], the Hagestad family went on 1-1/2 miles farther [northeast of Frederick and Serianna's homestead claim].  The Hagestads settled on [their homestead claim on a little side road off the main County Road "D"], later known as the Nick Zinsmaster Farm. [Several years later, the Hagestads moved closer to the central part of Norseville and closer to the Olsens -- on County Road "D" where Romundstad Valley Road comes in.  Nearly 60 years later, in 1927, these two families were linked by the marriage of a grandchild from each family: an Olsen grandson, Chester Olsen, and a Hagestad granddaughter, Esther Stomprud. Esther and Chester are also 2nd cousins: Frederick Olsen was Chester Olsen's grandfather and Esther Stomprud's granduncle (on his Stomprud side). Chester and Esther Olsen lived on Frederick and Serianna's Norseville farm.]

[When Frederick and Serianna first arrived in Norseville, the only other settlers there already were the Nelsons who lived a little further southwest on County Rd. "D." This is the farm which] for many years was the Skoug Farm. Thus our grandparents were the second to arrive in the [Norseville] area, and were the forerunners of many others who came from Norway later. [Following their lead, many of Frederick's Rindal-area relatives and neighbors emigrated from Norway, many to the Norseville and Strum area, some to other areas in the Midwest. See 1860's - 1911 : Emigration from Rindal, Norway to the American Midwest ]

Also Emigrated from Norway:  Serianna Halvorsdatter Olsen's sister Karen Halvorsdatter and their father, Halvor Sevaldson

[Along on the boat from Norway with Frederick and Serianna Halvorsdatter Olsen was also Serianna's sister Karen Halvorsdatter and their father Halvor Sevaldson. Their father Halvor Sevaldsen lived to be 90 years old and died in 1891 at Frederick and Serianna's home in Norseville. Karen married a Mathison and lived in Greenwood, Wisconsin -- in Clark County between Eau Claire and Marshfield. She had 7 children, lived to be 100, and died in 1936. ]

The Family at the Romundstad Austistua Farmhouse
1872 photo of the family then living there & farming the land:
Peder Jonson Romundstad Austistua (1828, age 44) wife Marit Loset (b.18__, age __)
& 7 of (their eventually 8) children
-- at the time of baptism of the youngest, Ola, b. 1872 --

Spring 1869: Another Group of Rindalings Emigrate From Norway to America, Including My Other Grandfather, Erick Hanson

[Beginning in 1869, many Rindalings left Norway to join Frederick in the Norseville and Strum area of Wisconsin.]

In the Spring of 1869, a group [of nine men] left Norway from the Rindal [and Surnadal area]. Included was [my other grandfather] Erick Hanson Elshaug [(36), who had been born in Rennebo but lived at the Elshaug Farm Village northeast of Rindal.]

[Also in this group in Spring 1869 were the first of Frederick Olsen's many relatives from his boyhood Farm Village of Romundstad. From Frederick's own Romundstad Oppistua Farmhouse came the first of his seven orphaned nieces and nephews], Ole O. Romundstad [the Younger (17). From next door at the Romundstad Austistua Farmhouse came three of Frederick's 1st cousins] : Even J. Romundstad [34], Ole J. Romundstad [29], and Anders J. Romundstad [(20). These boys' mother Marit Romundstad was sister to Fredrik's father Ola Romundstad, and had also been born at Frederick's Romundstad Oppistua farmhouse. (For more on the lives of these 3 brothers from Romundstad Austistua, see the story of one of Anders J. Romundstad's daughters, The Life of Mildred Romundstad Madson.)]

[For names of more Rindalings who left Norway in Spring 1969, see 1860's-1911: Emigration From Rindal, Norway to the American Midwest.

[From Trondheim, this group of men from the Rindal and Surnadal areas traveled to Liverpool, England; Quebec, Canada; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then to LaCrosse, Wisconsin.] They proceeded by train to Tomah, Wisconsin -- [ at the time ] the end of the line.

Many of the early settlers dropped the "gaard" [farm village] name when they came to America. [My other grandfather], Erick Hanson Elshaug dropped the "Elshaug" farm name because it was difficult to spell and pronounce for those who were not Norwegian. Because there were so many Romundstads in the area, Frederick Olsen dropped the name of Romundstad, and retained only Olsen [a name he thought would be less common.  Little did he know at the time how common the name "Olsen" was to become, and how much less common the name "Romundstad." Frederick Olsen's nieces, nephews, and first cousins who came from the Romundstad Farm Village continued to use the name "Romundstad."]

Spring 1870: More Groups of Rindalings Left Norway for America

In one of the pioneer groups which left [Rindal] in 1870, [were more of Frederick Olsen's nieces and nephews from his old Oppistua farmhouse in the Romundstad Farm Village] : Ole O. ["Big Ole"] Romundstad the Elder [20] ; his brother Lars Romundstad [16]; and his sister Gjertrud [23]. "Big Ole" Romundstad homesteaded a farm in Romundstad Valley near his Uncle Frederick Olsen and his three Romundstad Austistua cousins. This sister Gjertrud later [that same year] married Ole J. Romundstad [ (30), her cousin who in 1869 had come from the Romundstad Austistua Farmhouse. For more about the lives of Ole J. & Gjertrud Romundstad, see The Life of Mildred Romundstad Madson. ]

Spring 1874: The Last of Frederick Olsen's Nieces and Nephews from the Romundstad Oppistua Farmhouse Emigrated to Norseville

In [the fall of 1873, Frederick's nephew] Ole O. Romundstad [the Younger, 21, who had immigrated to Wisconsin in 1869 at age 17] revisited Norway. When he returned [to Norseville in the Spring of 1874, the last three of his orphaned siblings from Romundstad Oppistua] came with him : [ Mali (18); Peder (15)]; and Johanna [12]. Johanna immediately went to live with her oldest sister Gjertrud and husband Ole J. Romundstad. She] later married F.L. Tronsdal [from the Tronsdal Farm Village northeast of Rindal.]

[Along with these young Romundstad brothers and sisters came Marit Jonsdatter Storholt (19) from the Utistua Farmhouse in the Storholt Farm Village northeast of Rindal. Later that same year, Marit Storholt married Frederick's oldest nephew in this family: Ole O. "Big Ole" (the Elder) Romundstad (24).]

1870's - 1900: Many of Frederick Olsen's Rindal Relatives From the Stomprød Farm Village Also Emigrated to the American Midwest

[In these last 3 decades of the 19th Century, many of Frederick Olsen's relatives from the Stomprød Farm Village also emigrated to America.

[In the second group leaving Rindal] in 1870 were some Norwegian immigrants who settled near Underwood, Minnesota, [in the west-central part of the state just east of Fergus Falls, where there are many small lakes. Included] was Ole J. Stomprød [from the Stomprød Storli farmhouse??).]

[In 1887 from the Stomprød Holtet farmhouse was] Ola Stomprød [22]. He lived near Duluth, Minnesota, and is the father of Mrs. Chester [Esther Stomprud] Olsen. [For more about these Rindalings, see 1860's-1911: Emigration From Rindal, Norway to the American Midwest. ]

Erick Hanson saved enough money to go back [at age 41] to Norway to bring back [the next year, on June 20, 1875] his wife Maret [Larsdatter Skjørmo (34) from the Skjørmo Farm Village in Surnadal southwest of Rindal] and their two children [Hans (10) and Mary (7). In America, people from the Skjørmo Farm Village changed "Skjørmo" to "Shermo."  In the Strum area, Erick & Maret ] homesteaded a farm about one mile up the road from Olsens, [north on Road "D" on the east side of the road, and had another child, Lars. In 1887 the Hansons' daughter Mary Hanson married Ole Olsen -- Frederick and Serianna's Olsen's son -- who became my parents].

On the boat with [Erick Hanson and Maret Skjørmo in 1875] also came Maret's brother [Ole Larson Skjørmo (28)] and his fiancee, Lava [Throndsdatter (21) from the Ronningen Farm in Orkdal northeast of Rindal near the towns of Svorkmo and Løkken]. They were married shortly afterward, and had eleven children. They had a farm about one mile [southwest on Road "D"] from the Frederick Olsen farm, which is today still in the hands of their great grandson, James Shermo. Their many descendants are scattered through this area.

Erick Hanson continued working in the mill [at Porter's Mills], returning home [to Norseville] to see his family on weekends. He worked at the mill from 6 to 6, six days a week. Saturday night he would drive with an ox team 30 miles to the farm, spend Sunday with his family, then drive back in the night to be on hand for work at 6 o'clock on Monday morning -- a grueling schedule. After a while, he discontinued his work at the mill, and devoted his time to the farm. He built a blacksmith shop on the farm, the only one between Whitehall and Eau Claire. Farmers came from miles around to shoe their horses and oxen and repair their machinery. The Hanson farm has been in the family for five generations.

Sources for this Family History Information

Some of the above statements were taken from an article written by F.L. Tronsdal [ entitled "Historical Bits," which appeared in the November 1923 edition of ] the Norwegian daily paper, the Skandinaven, [published in Chicago, Illinois].  Tronsdal had returned to Norway, obtained the official records of many early settlers, and wrote stories about them in the paper. His article mainly concerned the people who settled in this area [ of Norseville and Strum].


Frederick and Serianna Olsen had 12 children. Three died when young children; Anna Caroline died at 16, Sarah at 24. Seven lived to old age, the last survivor being Uncle Ed who died at 91 in 1968.

The birthdates were taken from the old Olsen Family Bible, whose dates are more authentic than those we have from hearsay. In the family Bible besides those listed above are the following four, all born at the Olsen farm in Norseville:

(9)    1870:  Anne Marie Olsen (Bye)
(10)  1872:  Anna Caroline Olsen
(11)  1874:  Laurits Benhard Olsen
(12)  1877:  Edward  Olsen


Of Frederick and Serianna Olsen's 9 children who lived to adulthood, only 4 had families - - 169 direct descendants in all.

Today there are alive:
- 16 of their grandchildren
- 38 great grandchildren
- 91 great-great-grandchildren
- 12 great-great-great grandchildren


The Olsen and Bye families are in Wisconsin and neighboring states; the Sortomme family in California and Arizona.

These three decades brought large groups of people from Norway to this area. Every settler thriftily saved enough from his limited income to send for relatives and friends in Norway. Soon there was a thriving settlement, appropriately called Norseville. The newcomers were welcomed and helped to get a start. All shared what they had. There was a wonderful spirit of helpfulness and cooperation in the community.

Building Farmsteads and Preparing Land for Cultivation

Our early pioneers were "rugged individualists" and believed "God helps those who "help themselves." The farm buildings were built by "bees," the men building and the women serving a hearty dinner to the hungry workers. A picnic atmosphere prevailed. Their first task was to clear the land. In this day of bulldozers and power equipment, we can not realize the back-breaking work of clearing out stumps and trees and brush, by chopping them loose with axes, and pulling them out with ox teams, then working up the ground with a breaking plow. Little by little, land was cleared and enough grain planted for their own use and later enough more so some could be sold. Erick Hanson and Frederick Olsen together bought the first McCormick binder in these parts which increased production greatly.

Some years there were droughts, chinch bugs, smut, hail storms and grasshoppers that destroyed much of the crops. But Norwegian thrift and ingenuity carried them through. Many found work in the lumber camps in the winter or in the lumber mills part time, returning to the farm in the summers. The women as well as the men worked in the fields when necessary, especially during haying and harvesting. Often too, they helped with the barn chores and chickens.

Growing Their Own Food

Each farm was a self-sustaining unit. Practically everything they needed was produced on the farm. The surplus was sold in Eau Claire or traded for other products. The women supplemented the scanty farm income by making quality butter, "sod ost" (brick cheese), a delicious soft whey cheese called "ususmor," and "Gammel ost" -- much prized in spite of its strong odor. They were all sold in Eau Claire and later in Strum.

They smoked their own ham and bacon, and made delicious bologna. The women and children picked blueberries, wild raspberries and black berries. Later, after there were orchards, apples as well as corn and peas were dried. Meat was preserved by salting and drying. Mutton and beef were especially good dried. Lefse and flat bread, barley and rye bread, as well as white, were daily fare.

Sometime during this time, a skimming station was built on the Hagestad farm. Uncle Ed [Olsen] was the manager there until about the turn of the century, when all the farmers had their own cream separators, and the station was abandoned. Uncle Ed also introduced the first strawberries to the community.

Making Their Own Clothes

Every home had a spinning wheel, and when the sheep were sheared in the early summer, they washed and carded the wool, spun it into yarn, and knitted all the woolen garments for the family. A few had looms, and rag carpets were made from heavy woolen cloth woven. All families made their own lye soap from wood ashes and surplus fat.

Various arts and crafts learned in Norway were carried on. Chests (some brought from Norway) were decorated with Rose-Maling. Some of the men did excellent woodcarving and cabinet work, [such as Even J. Romundstad, who had a shop above his granary.]

The Olsen and Hanson Families: Warm Friendships Bonded Further Through Marriage

Our grandmothers [Serianna Olsen and Maret Hanson] were fast friends and when [in 1887 Frederick and Serianna's son] Ole G. Olsen married [Erick and Maret's daughter] Mary Hanson, the bond between the two families was even stronger. My grandmother [Maret] Hanson said [my other grandmother] Serianna was a typical Norwegian girl with curly golden hair, blue eyes-and a beautiful complexion. She said, "Serianna var saa vakker." She bore twelve children, the last four born on the farm.

Resourcefulness in Sickness and in Birth

Our resourceful pioneer grandmothers had to be both doctor and nurse when sickness came. Ordinary illness they were able to take care of, but when epidemics struck, the result was tragic. When diphtheria raged through the community nearly every home lost one child or more. The Even Romundstad home lost [three] of their [four] children. Those [three] little head-stones in the church yard are mute testimony to the helplessness of the pioneer in cases like this. Two girls in [Lars and Sigrid] Rone's home [-- Annie and Otellia - -] died of scarlet fever some years later.

Often when simple surgery was needed, they died. My mother died tragically at 26 from a ruptured appendix [when I was a 6-month-old baby]. When someone died, neighbors would come and help to make preparations for the funeral. In the very early days, a few made their own caskets, and sympathetic hands assisted in laying them out for the funeral and digging the graves.

All babies were born at home. The women served as midwives. Serianna did frequently, and a little later, [Gjertrud Romundstad] -- Ole J. Romundstad's wife -- delivered all the babies in the neighborhood.

Frederick Olsen was a doctor of sorts. He often "bled" people, a supposed cure for various diseases. Chester Olsen has a stiletto-like knife which our grandfather used to make the incision, and Aunt Marie Olsen Bye was recruited to hold the pan to catch the blood, much to her distaste. Our grandfather was also very skillful at setting broken bones. If he had lived today he probably would have studied to be a doctor.

Growth of the Town of Strum as the Area's Trading Center

Sometime in the 1870's a little settlement grew up five miles south of Norseville. It was at first called [Strum], and consisted of a grocery store, hotel, and blacksmith shop. Later, the settlement was called [Tilden] after a Congressman who erroneously claimed the credit for bringing in the railroad. [The village residents later petitioned that the name to be changed back to Strum, and it was granted.] This village has since been the trading center for the community.

School

The first school stood on what was later the Gust Otto farm. Later the Norseville School was built in 1878. This building, with a later addition, is still standing on the Art Olsen farm [on County Road "D" where Romundstad Valley Road comes in]. The first school election chose C. H. Evans, clerk; Eric Hanson, treasurer; and Frederick Olsen, director.

Religious Meetings

Religious meetings were first held in the homes. Then a chapel was built on the Ole J. Romundstad farm, and baptismal and funeral services were held there. [This was called "The Big Creek Congregation."]

Music

The Frederick Olsen family were all musical and bought the first organ in the neighborhood, now in the possession of Francis [Olsen] Brian. She also has a copy of the contract on how payments ware to be made, one of which was 25 bushels of oats.

Indians

Indians roamed through the community occasionally on their hunting expeditions. They would stop at the settlers' homes and ask for food, which the women would hurriedly give them, offering some of their game in return. They were never warlike, but the children would be frightened and crawl under the bed.

Post Office

When white settlers first came, the nearest Post Office was east of Foster. "Big Ole" Romundstad ran the first Post Office in Norseville for a short while, and after that it was in the Hagestad home -- which also had a little grocery store -- until the rural delivery service was started in 1903.

The Norseville Community Develops Over the Years

By 1900, Norseville had grown from a pioneer settlement scattered through the woods to a modern community of dairy farms. Many new farm implements increased productivity and many new farming practices were followed. The large modern homes and barns were cared for with typical Norwegian neatness and pride, and the lush crops and sleek cattle in the pastures were a credit to good management. Many of the farms were passed on to several generations. Old people were respected and loved and were never sent away to spend their last years with strangers. They remained with their families in familiar surroundings to the end.

In the 1890's and shortly thereafter, most of the early pioneers had gone to their reward and were laid to rest in the two cemeteries in Strum. Their passing marked the end of an era. Today, we are watching with regret the disappearance of the family farm. We see corporation farming; and the change from a dairying to an industrial state is also changing the community we once knew and loved.