Abel
Cathrine,
Bjorn and Ingebrigt
Twice
Abel Cathrine
was sent away to live with
relatives in Bergen... to hopefully forget this suitor, but to no avail. Had the
aristocratic background of the Kvelve
family been common knowledge at
the time, it probably would not have changed the von
Krogh attitude toward this
alliance. Bjorn and his more recent predecessors were now of farming stock. In
July 1831, the young couple were married and it is reported her father,
Bernhardus, broke his sword as a sign of this disgrace brought upon his family.
The
young couple settled down on a gaard known as Ege
and in addition to farming,
Bjorn owned a small sloop in which he carried on a coasting trade
-
carrying fish and produce to Stavanger
in exchange for goods. In these
trading pursuits with Stavanger,
Bjorn met and sympathized with
the Quakers and his being identified with this belief brought upon him at least
the social stigma of a religious dissenter toward the Norwegian state church.
Bjorn could gather a crowd around him outside of public buildings to listen to
his criticisms of Norwegian laws and the office-holding class. Meanwhile, Abel Cathrine,
ostracized by family and
friends, found life somewhat less than agreeable. I t was no wonder that when
word came to this pair and their two small boys that a ship was being outfitted
to sail to the "new world" that Bjorn was an enthusiastic supporter of
the venture.
It
is said he recruited so many friends and acquaintances that a second ship was
needed to transport them all. So it was that in Spring, 1836, two brigs, the "Norden"
and "Den Norske
Klippe", set sail for the
"promised land". Abel Cathrine,
Bjorn, Arnoldus Andreas,
aged four, and Augustinus
Meldahl Bruun, age two, were passengers on the "Norden"
which set sail the first Sunday
after Pentacost and landed in New York on July 12, 1836.
The
ship carried 110 passengers and was filled to capacity. A letter from its
Captain to a friend, states the "passage was cold, wet and stormy".
Passengers caught severe colds, probably from lack of sufficient clothing,
especially on the legs (the Captain recommended that future immigrants provide
themselves with wooden shoes). His letter also refers to illness of nursing
infants incurred from their mothers. Repeatedly he speaks of the voyage as
having gone very well, although the ship's manifest lists five deaths... four of
which were very young children. The Captain also mentions the admiration shown
by Americans as the immigrants debarked in New York in their brightly-colored
best clothes with most genteel manners.
Most
of these passengers went directly on to the Fox River settlement in LaSalle
County, Illinois; however, the Bjorn Anderson family, with its newly adopted
name (from Bjorn's father's Christian name, Anders)
elected to stay a year in
Rochester, New York with Lars
Larson of the first 1825 sailing
who made his home available to many of his countrymen. This delay in New York
was no doubt due to the birth of a daughter who lived but a short time... the
first to be named Elizabeth , after whom Elizabeth Danielson became the second.
(This first Elizabeth may have been still-born, for we note that Lester
Hansen omitted her from the
numbering system in the genealogy.) Here
Bjorn helped his neighbors by serving as "cooper" or barrel-maker in
the Rochester settlement. Cooper is equivalent to today's "carpenter"
and he received the name "Tondebjorn" that is,
"Barrel-Bjorn".
This nickname clung to him thereafter.
In
the Spring of 1837 they came by canal and steamer through the Great Lakes to the
town of Mission, known today as Norway, Illinois. The first six months they
shared the cabin of Karl Nelson, sister of Cleng
Peerson, credited with being the
"father" of Norwegian immigration. Later, Bjorn built a small log
house on the property of Endre
Dahl. He did not consider the
land in
this area suitable and supported himself during this three year period by
working for his neighbors, being an able handyman. In 1840 he set out with
several companions to explore Wisconsin in search of a permanent home. They
chose the Koshkonong Prairie near what is now Albion in Dane County. Here Bjorn
bought 40 acres and returned to Illinois for the winter to wait for favorable
weather to transport his family (now increased by two daughters... the second
Elizabeth and Cecelia) to their new home.
Bjorn
had acquired with his earnings two steers, a cow and her calf and these, with
wagon, moved the family north. The Bjorn Andersons
were the first couple to settle
at the Koshkonong settlement and their daughter, Martha, became the first white
child born in the area, and perhaps in Dane County. Bjorn's bachelor friends who
had built shanties before the Anderson arrival, sheltered the family until their
own cabin was built. In time the 40 acres was increased to 230 and wheat was
raised, some of which was hauled to Milwaukee in exchange for necessities. Abel Cathrine
made all the clothes for her
children, their garments often identical. Indians were fortunately friendly
neighbors... their nearest camp adjacent to the Anderson property.
Bjorn
was a strong advocate of education and employed teachers for his children... one
of which lived with them for his board. Bjorn built the first schoolhouse
largely at his own expense; later donating it to the district. Though he was a
dissenter to the structured Norwegian Lutheran Church, it
was said his son Bruun could recite one of the gospels by memory. Bjorn would
have his children read to him from the Bible as he rested from his labors.
When
all looked very encouraging and prosperous the cholera epidemic swept the area.
According to an account by Rasmus,
born in 1846, not a family was
spared and there was fear it would take the whole community. He says they all
came down with it and young Bruun at age 16 was the first to die on August 6th,
1850. The grieving father lay out on his son's grave until the family realized
he, too, had the disease. On August 10th, Bjorn succumbed and was also carried
to the little area set aside for burial purposes, roadside at the old homestead.
Abel
Cathrine
was now a widow with seven
children and one "on the way". Early in the following year, 1851, she
had the children baptized by a newly-arrived Methodist minister, Christian
Willerup, who probably performed this rite in the home. Brown was born in April
of that year, eight months after his father's death. Also in this year there is
data telling of the construction of a more permanent home (part of which is
still standing). One wonders if the neighbors built this for the widow and her
brood of eight. Herein lies a tale for which we have no facts. Abel Cathrine
and her family had previously
returned to the Lutheran faith in which she was reared. A first cousin was the
wife of Pastor A. C. Preus, who came to Koshkonong in 1850 from Norway, founding
the Norwegian Synod there in 1853.
In
1854, Cathrine
married Ingebrigt Amundson.
Ingebrigt was the elder of two sons and would have, by law, inherited the farm
which, according to Ken and Eleanor Brown who visited there in 1984, is on flat
land and as fine an acreage as any beautiful Wisconsin tract. Nevertheless,
Ingebrigt left all to his brother, Ola, when he caught the "fever"
that brought him to America.
Ingebrigt
Amundson and Abel Cathrine
Anderson were married by Pastor
Preus of the Koshkonong Norwegian Lutheran Synod. She was somewhat older than he
but obviously of such charm, pulchritude, and capabilities that this young
bachelor chose to fill the void of husband and father. A son was born to Abel Cathrine
and Ingebrigt in April 1855 by
the name of Albert Christian and it is his descendants who have lived close to
the original homesite throughout their years. 'We know that Andrew and Elizabeth
left the home to be married-but know little else of what transpired during the
seven years of the second marriage which terminated with the death of Ingebrigt
in July of 1861.
Again
a widow, Cathrine
stayed on the farm until the
three remaining daughters were married and Rasmus,
Abel and Brown were on their
own. In an attempt to make Rasmus
a farmer, she deeded the
homestead to him. She then lived briefly with Cecelia but settled permanently
with Dina and Pastor Torgerson in Worth County, Iowa until her death. When Abel Cathrine
with her youngest son, Albert
Amundson, came to the Torgerson household she brought with her articles which
included her bed, her loom, and her spinning wheel. The parsonage was then a
simple log house... a new manse was built in 1881 for which Cathrine
had woven enough carpeting to
cover the 20 by 20 parlor floor.
A
special room was built for her in the southeast corner, with a door leading into
the kitchen. A corner of the large kitchen served as her sitting roan and
workshop. Here was her spinning wheel in front of a window shaded by a porch
roof. Her busy fingers were constantly spinning the wheel, sewing or knitting...
even during social functions... seldom idol save for periods of devotion when
she would fold them in her lap.
During
her last illness, but a few days before her death, all but Rasmus
(now serving as Minister to
Denmark) gathered together around their mother. It was at this time that the
well-known family picture was taken by a professional photographer... in which Rasmus'
picture is shown being held. She
died on a Saturday evening, October 31, 1885 and services on Koshkonong prairie
were held the following Thursday, November 5th, at the East Koshkonong church by
Pastor J. A. Otteson. Pallbearers included Martin Hollo who then owned the old
homestead. There were forty to fifty carriages in the procession to the
gravesite where lay her two husbands, a son and infant grand-daughter. A
beautiful arch of evergreens, 12 feet high, had been placed over the gate and
altogether the scene was a very impressive one ... long to be remembered by the
family and her many friends.
The
deceased was a woman of remarkably beautiful character... gentle, quiet and
persevering virtues and possessed of great courage. Her life of continual
sacrifice and concern for her children was a far cry from what might have
transpired had she chosen to marry a suitor of her parent's choosing and
remained in Norway. At the time of her death, she had 53 grand-children and one
great-grandchild. A Stoughton paper added to the obituary "Truly her
children can rise up and call her blessed".