Images of Home, 1893

The table where Sigrid wrote letters still sits in her house, in front of a south-facing window. When I read these lines, I imagine her there with the photos fanned out in front of her, smiling.

October 24, 1893

Dear Father!

Because yesterday I had the big satisfaction to get a letter from you I will send some words back to you in return. I thank you heartily for the letter and all the pictures. It was so much fun for us to see everybody again, Anna and I had often wished we could have pictures and now we got that satisfaction too. I hardly know my brothers again they have gotten so big and handsome men since I saw them.

Yes, dear Father, I got to know you now the way you are. I often thought of you as an old gray-haired man but now I see you are as young and handsome as you can be. Old age hasn’t gotten hold of you yet. It is so good to see you this way.

Farmers, Banks, and Debt

Norway introduced the gold standard and a banking system, which had a negative effect on many farmers.

"Now people who had money were to put it in the bank. Before, they would loan it out to farmers for a year with either a mortgage as security or sometimes only a promissory note. The farmer then had to borrow from the bank with interest and a certain amount of the principal had to be paid twice a year. If it wasn't paid on the exact date, there was compound interest to pay.

It was customary for the farmers to store their produce and sell during the winter with perhaps a few cattle spring and fall, and therefore they did not have the necessary cash to meet these obligations from the bank. They then began to sell their produce a little at a time, but then they had to go through the middleman, and he, too, had to have his profit. So the farmer was on the losing end either way. Many farmers went bankrupt during this time."

--excerpt from Tosten's autobiography, written in 1917

"Omgangs skole"

"I started school when I was seven years old. At that time there was "omgangs skole," that is, a few days at each home. There was no school house. The school term was from October 14 to April 14, which was considered winter. The circuit was too big for all, so it was divided into two districts so that the attendance was divided. And besides, there was a lot to be done at home, so school attendance was irregular for the short time we had. It was all right for those who were fairly good to read, as we said. But even if we were home from school during the day we still had our lessons to memorize in the evening, and Mother and Father heard them. That is the way school was in those days."

-- excerpt from Tosten's autobiography, written in 1917

Trading Mountains for Clouds

The immigrant experience always involves huge contrasts, from culture and language to food and new neighbors.

When you move from Norway to North Dakota, you also trade mountains for clouds.

Live Well Letters: Introduction

In 1885 my great-grandmother, Sigrid Gjeldaker Lillehaugen, emigrated from Hallingdal, Norway to America with her three children. She joined her husband Tosten in Minnesota, and in 1888 they moved west to homestead in North Dakota.

I grew up on a farm three miles from where Sigrid and Tosten lived. Every summer we held a family reunion at their house. As I made my yearly survey of the items in her house -- spinning wheel, organ, books, tall buttoned shoes, a tiny pair of spectacles-- I wondered about their lives. Drawings and photos of sober faced ancestors watched me watch them. In a dark side room a few clothes still hung on hooks. What if I could go back just once and see what it was really like?

In 2002 I got a phone call that gave me that chance.

For years, my aunt Tess had been working on a project involving Sigrid's letters (more on this in a later post.) When it came time to publish them, I was invited to join the project, having worked in publishing for a few years. Not sure what to expect, I started reading. Right away, her voice rang through. She was even funny. "It appears to me that I have been written down in your forgotten book at your place. But to freshen your minds, I am sending you a few lines. It could happen that it might interest you." When she wrote about her sheep and spinning, I thought of my Dad. When he was a little boy, she would bring her spinning wheel and sit by the south side of their house, spinning in the sunshine. Eyes twinkling, she would tell him stories in Norwegian.

In 2004, we published Live Well: The Letters of Sigrid Gjeldaker Lillehaugen with Western Home Books. In this blog, I'll share some of her letters and tell you more about our project. Together, we'll walk through the door of her house and get a glimpse into her life 100 years ago.