Chapter 53. Work hard

Skipper house, where the Mennick skippers hung out

In spring 2013 Gregg and I visit distant relatives in Netherlands and Norway. 

The Dutch have a reputation for cleanliness and pride, keeping things under control, keeping up appearances. 

Gregg’s Holland ancestors were enterpreneurial: they were skippers in the late 1600s when there was a living in harvesting peat moss, then in later years they were diligent farmers of the soil, then rigorous engineers.

The Dutch in general are hardworking, cleanly, concerned about appearances, proud ("If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much.").
Ask Gregg for more on his family. 

My Norwegian forebearers were land dependent fjord dwellers, apple growers, church goers, persistent and hearty folk.

When we visited Norway in spring 2013, I record this about our time there and the APALSET history:

“We arrived in Oslo on April 29 and stayed overnight with Helga Karin and Kjell Rannekleiv and their son Vebjørn in Lillestrøm. Helga Karin is Olaug and Gunner’s daughter and a lawyer in Oslo.

After a day plus of sightseeing in Oslo (with our previous neighbor and dear friend Anne some of the day!) and an overnight bus ride through terrain we sadly had to miss seeing since it was dark, we arrive in Sandane, Norway, in the early morning of May 1, 2013. 

Ola, son of Asbjørg Apalset, is waiting. We learn later that he and Asbjørg had been notified by Gunnar the day before about when the bus was due to arrive, plus Ola did his own checking to learn that the taxi van from Skei would roll into town a little earlier than the original plan. Upon seeing this distant relative climb out of his car as Gregg and I stepped out of the bus, we hugged and I marveled,

Ola and Asbjørg Apalset, 2013

“You knew we’d be a little early?”

With a half-smile he replied, “Of course.”

On the ride from Sandane to the north side of the fjord arm where the Apalset farm resides (in the Gloppen area, which is in the south and east portion of Nordfjord, and refers to a “filca” or community), Ola is cordial and asks,

“How was your bus ride?” and then proceeds to lapse into considerable quiet. 

I offer a few questions, and we take in the scenic countryside of water and steep fjord terrain on the way to the Apalset farm.

My sister Cindy tells a story of visiting this farm of Jakob Apalset’s (1941-1998) while traveling with Dad – maybe 20 years previous to our visit – when one of the girls of the family, upon seeing Dad at the door with no forewarning of his visit, called back to the adults, “That man is here again.” 

Asbjørg and Jakob, 1960s

It wasn't my father’s first appearance unannounced.

[An aside: my Dad was a talkative and spontaneous and traveler. He was less ebullient in other areas, especially around expressing his inner world. In talking with Asbjørg, we determined that Apalset's, in general, are expressive only after much thought, with a need to ‘think it out.’]

Asbjørg Apalset’s husband, Jakob (a teacher and politician/leader of the Christian party in the area, who died in 1998 of a heart attack), was the eldest son of Alfred (1897-1977) and Alfred was the son of Jakob (1848-1931; picture left of the elder Jakob and his wife Magdeli). 

Magdeli and Jakob Apalset, early 1900s?

Jakob (grandfather of Asborg's husband Jakob) and Johann (my great grandfather) were brothers.

The farm has stayed in the Apalset family for at least 150 years, and likely more. The house where Asbjørg lives now was built in 1877 and remodeled in 1977. The name Apalset is derived from “set,” a place to live in; and “Apal.” which sometimes refers to wild apple trees. The land, with apple trees still on site, seems to have been ‘in the family’ for a few hundred years. 

Apalset fjord farm house with apple trees, Sandane, Norway

Asbjørg and her son Ola tell us that they may be letting go of farming apples as there is little to no profit presently. The farmers we meet in Norway both tend the farm (be it cultivating apples, tending sheep, growing grass for animal feed) and hold a ‘day’ job. Others mention too that farmers are presently low on the earning scale, and they’re hoping the socialistic ‘state’ will eventually help even out some differences in wages earned.

Again, my great grandfather Johan Apalset (1859-1930), was brother of Jakob (1848-1931, eldest son of Ole Olson Apalset and Rakel Asebo, picture of Jakob left). 

Johan Olsen Apalset immigrated to the USA in 1884 with Johanna Skarstein, shortly after their brother Ole (probably his given Norwegian name was Ola Olsen Apalset) immigrated in 1879 to Minnesota. 

The Norwegian law granted the family farm to the eldest son: only in 1960 did the law change to give the family land to oldest child – rather than the eldest male – allowing daughters some land inheritance. So it’s most likely that Ole/a and Johan felt they couldn’t support themselves or a future family in Norway, and choose the ‘opportunity’ of crossing the ocean and settling on the American frontier. There was land to be had in America. The prairie land of southwest Minnesota was markedly different than their fjord homeland and likely a significant adjustment, yet it was available ground to be farmed by the hard-working.

Johan didn’t come to the United States alone. With him was Johanna Skarstein, who had arrived to the Sandane, Gloppen area as a teenager. Johanna’s father, Hans Larsen Skarstein married Elisabeth Muri Knoph around 1855. It’s probable that Hans, though from a village not far from Sandane called Skarstein (note that Han’s last name is the same as the town name: often the place of dwelling became the last name of individuals), found some work in Bortne and met Elisabeth (from Olden). Elisabeth was a widow and had two children from a previous marriage (Elisa M Knoph b. 1850, and Peter Knoph b. 1852) and when she and Hans married, he settled in her home town of Bortne. The five children from the union of Hans and Elisabeth were Rasmus (1857-1924), Johanna, Jens, Rasmine (Mina), and Gertrud (Jenny). Only Jens stayed in Norway, settling in the Bergen area. The rest of the children eventually immigrated to America.

Hans remarried Kristianne, after Elisabeth died during the attempted delivery of her sixth child. From Hans and Kristianne came Oline (1879-1971), half sister to Johanna. My closest living relative in Norway is Olaug, who is granddaughter of Oline (who had daughter Kamilla, who is the mother of Olaug).

** (For more, see “A bit about Johanna’s siblings” in small print at the end; it's included mostly for my reference - no need for others to read!)

They endured much to start a new life in a new place. Many of us in the US Midwest are descendants of immigrants, and have a deep sense that our lives can’t compare to their hardship and grit. 

Maybe some of that awareness shapes my compulsion to work hard?

**A bit about Johanna’s siblings (children of Hans and Elisabeth):

-          Jens stayed in Norway;
-          Rasmus settled on a homestead in Alexandria, MN, his descendant Ralph now lives in AZ; Rasmus’s first wife Marie Smerud died in childbirth in 1894 leaving him with two children (Emma and Harriet) so he took a train to find a helper and found Carrie Eide from Nordfjord area – they eventually married and had three children);

-          Mina was a shoemaker and had no children;

-          Jenny immigrated to Canada.

Elisabeth died in childbirth, possibly during the attempted delivery of her sixth child. After Elizabeth died, Hans left the Bortne farm – since Elisabeth’s Knoph’s kids got that farm – and he eventually went to help Kristianne Endal, another widow whose husband had drowned.  Hans brought his children to Leirgulen where Kristianne resided, and he married Kristianne.

From Hans and Kristianne came Oline (1879-1971) who is Olaug’s grandmother (Oline was mother of Kamilla, mother of Olaug; Olaug’s siblings are Per Gunnar in Vedvik near Maloy, and Solgunn near Oslo).

In the aftermath of having to leave the Bortne farm, the children from the Hans and Elisabeth union needed a home since Hans couldn’t support them all. It’s likely that Jenny lived with Hans and Kristianne (and thus got to know Oline; Jenny went eventually to Canada) and possibly too Mina. But the others found work elsewhere: Johanna, it seems, in the Sandane area near the Apalset farm. Johanna (often referred to as Hanna) was a young teenager when she needed to leave her ‘home’ in Bortne (Johanna’s daughter Inga recalls that her mother said there was sun only in the summertime as Bortne is between tall mountains) and strike out on her own. It’s presumed that she met Johan in the Sandane area, and eventually “left for America and never came back” (as said by Olaug quoting her grandmother Oline).

Oline was in touch with her half-siblings until 1913, especially exchanging letters with Jenny. After that there were no more letters from across the ocean. It’s thought that Johanna got sick and had so much pain that her illness was difficult to diagnose. She was sent to a mental hospital and died there (in 1912 or 1913). [Olaug said it was reported to her that Johanna had “blue spots” on her body, possibly due to scarlet fever? Leah Shimmer says she died from acute nephritis.] Johanna is buried in Clarkfield; records are at Yellow Medicine County court house.

Oline (and her husband Severin Lofnes) took care of her dad and mom Kristianne until 1908 when both Hans and Kristianne died.  At the time of her mom and dad’s death, Oline was just 29 (her father was 48 and her mother 44 when she was born). She and Severin lived on the family farm and had Helmfred (1907-1998), Ola (1911-1994), and Kamilla (1919-2008). 
Still Oline felt so lonely for extended family.  She had some pictures of Johanna in America. But there was no correspondence with the American relatives from 1913 through the 1970s. It was a long gap and was “such a shame” that no one wrote.

In 1976, when Inga ‘appeared’ (visiting Bortne for the 1^st time) and speaking Norwegian, she did not find any relatives. But Olga tells that uncle Helmfred heard about the American lady visiting Borne and looking for the Skarstein family. He then understood that this was some of the lost family of his mother and got hold of Inga’s address and wrote to her. She talked and wrote Norwegian fluently and a warm and close relationship was established between her and her cousins Kamilla and Helmfred, writing lots of letters and sending pictures.

Unfortunately Oline had died five years earlier and never got to meet or know anything about her siblings in the US. Inga visitied Norway with Dennis and Ruby in 1985 (or so). And she stayed with Olaug and Gunnar, and Kamilla at Per Gunnar’s farm, and at Helmfred and Hilda’s home (Olines) in Leirgulen in addition to the Apalsets.

Oline had a clear mind and was caring. She lived on the farm in Leirgulen with her family about ten years as a widow. She had always prayed that she wouldn’t be a burden.  At age 92, after knitting some socks and delivering a package to her neighbors, she noticed the cows were scattered. She rounded them up, then sat down and died (presumably a heart attack).

Now Olaug and Gunnar Torset own that farm (since 1972) since Helmfred’s only child died when he was 20 and there were no closer kin to inherit it. Olaug and Gunnar helped on the farm in summertime as long as Helmfred farmed it – but as they were studying in Oslo (theology and professional sisal work) and later working in different congregations they never lived on the farm. These days they come there for vacation with the extended family. Helga and Kjell are taking over the farm summer 2013. This farm is just 3 miles from Bortne and the farm where Hans Skarstein lived with Elisabeth. The farm where Per Gunnar lives is where Kamilla was married and where Olaug too grew up.