EGGEDAL NORWAY--THE ENGER CONNECTION

Note: This blog will be mostly in pictures--I believe one picture is worth a thousand words.

  This blog is the final installment dealing with my experiences in Norway in the summer of 2012.  The entire three-week adventure was fabulous.  My cousin Shirley Augustine and I spent the first two weeks, from August 15-30, touring with the Gudbrandsdalslag (see Blog #20) and with the help of a local genealogist visited ancestral farms and churches of our paternal grandmother, Hannah Larson Enger.  Following that tour we spent several days in Ringerike with  Jorun Nerdalen (see Blog #22) who gave us bed and board and transported us to farms and churches related to our fathers' paternal grandmother Anna Lee Bergsund Enger.  The last five days of our trip were spent in the village of Eggedal, Sigdal Kommune, Buskerud, where our first immigrant ancestor, great grandfather Elling Pedersen Enger, was born, raised and emigrated from to America in 1854.

Elling Pedersen Enger, our first immigrant ancestor to America in 1854 at age 19. He went to the gold fields, settled as a farmer in Spring Grove, Minnesota, married in 1865 to Anna Lee Bergsund, an immigrant from Ringerike, and they were the parents of my paternal grandfather Edvard Ellingsen Enger.  Elling died in 1900 at his home near Granite Falls, Minnesota at the age of 61.

Jorun drove us to Eggedal where we would bunk in for the rest of our stay with her brother Nils Nerdalen and wife Line in their lovely hillside home overlooking the village.  This was like old-home-week, since both Shirley and I had stayed with them before during her 2000 trip and my 2010 trip.  The Nerdalens are related to us (Family Tree Maker tells me they are 4th cousins) through their g. g. grandmother Mari Enger Nerdalen, who was a sister of our g. g. grandfather Peder Ellingsen Enger. We just call them cousins!

At the Seter (mountain farm) above Eggedal where sisters Jorun and Bjørg Nerdalen each have vacation cabins.  The Nerdalen family, Jorun Nerdalen with Lyka, Line and Nils Nerdalen, Shirley, Bjørg  and  Bjørn Nordlien.  

 

 

The lovely home of Nils and Line Nerdalen above Eggedal

Beautiful view from the Nerdalen farm, looking down on Eggedal valley.

 

 

 

On Sunday we were invited to have dinner at the home of Per Kåre and Anne Marie Enger who in the 1990's moved from the Enger farm which their son Per now operates  into their retirement home just down the road.  Dale and I stayed with the Engers on our 2000 trip and since they didn't speak English and we no Norwegian we had a great time trying out sign language!  Surprisingly we did a pretty good job and enjoyed it immensely.  Anne Marie, as usual, had a beautiful table ready for us, and the company also included their daughter Mari and her son Andreas, and daughter Kari and children Frida and Per Emil.

 

 

 

Shirley and me with Per Kåre and Anne Marie Enger and daughter Mari 

Kari Enger with children Frida and Per Emil

Per Kåre and Anne Marie Enger with Mari and her son Andreas, age 16

The Enger farm in Nedre (lower) Eggedal has been in the same family since the 1700's.  Most of the farms in Norway have been divided up many times over the centuries. The section of the farm that my g. g. grandfather owned was sold off  before they immigrated to America in 1861.

 

Young Per Enger with wife Ingunn and children Peder 8, and Marie 12.  They currently operate the farm and also a construction business.  Most farmers have other  jobs as the farms are too small to support a family.  

These two stabburs (storage buildings) have been used on the farm since the 1700's and are still in use today. They have been moved to their present spot from other locations on the farm. Stabburs are designed to keep out unwanted critters and are used for food, meat and clothing storage. Most farms have at least one. The doors are above the snow line for winter access.

A sign for Per Enger's business, including excavation, spring and well digging, road building, wood harvesting and construction.

Young Per's great-grandparents Peder Pedersen Enger, 1859-1923,  and Mari K. Kopseng, born 1857, reign over the present household from their places of honor. I teased Per Kåre that their family was in a rut, with almost all the men named Peder or a  variation therof.

Family heirlooms traditionally stay with the farm in Norway and not with the residents. These antique pieces have stood their ground at Enger for 200 or so years.  The original farm house was replaced in the 1970's.

Ingunn Enger displays the back and front of a vintage Eggedal bunad which is one of the family heirlooms kept at the farm. Bunads were, and still are,  costumes worn for special occasions such as baptisms, weddings and other festive occasions.

 

The Enger farm lies in the shadow of  a legendary mountain, a noted landmark in the Sigdal Kommune.   The legend, loosely translated,  says that a young man named Anders from Engersroa  fell deeply in love with a girl and wanted to marry her. However, he could not have her unless he agreed to make a bet that he could ski from the top of the mountain to the bottom, so off he went. The line tracing his ski pole is still visible.  He succeeded,  married the girl and from that day the mountain was called Andersnatten. 

 

Eggedal Kirke (Church) sits prominently in the town center. Built in 1878, it replaced an old stave church that was higher up on the hillside and was eventually torn down. Remnants of it are still visible but it is now part of a private property.  Some items from the stave church, including the altar, were saved and placed in the new church. 

 

 

  Hagan is the mountainside farm above Eggedal where famed artist Christian Skredsvig lived and worked.  His home and studio is now a family owned museum. Windows from the original stave church were used in the home.  The studio museum has many of Skredsvig's works as well as gifts from some of his artist friends.  

 

 

One of Skredsvig's best known painting entitled "Idyll" depicting a man with a cat has been transformed into a bronze statue in the village as a tribute to the artist. Cousin Jorun made the comment once that she thought it was odd to memorialize the painting rather than the artist!

A favorite tourist spot is the Eggedal Mølle (Mill) where you can watch barley and wheat grains being ground into flour by two old water-powered mills from the early 1900's.  Also on property is a sawmill where logs are sawed into planks with a vertical Gate saw which is also water-powered.

 

The vertical Gate saw is quite unique in that it saws off the planks vertically. instead of running the logs through the saw blade, the saw blade runs through the stationary log.

The old Eggedal School is on the mill property and is part of the Old Mill Museum tour. It was used in the 1800's by children that lived on neighboring farms.

 

Another beloved Sigdal landmark is the Eggedal Borgerstue, a  hotel,gift shop and restaurant with scrumptious food located in  Eggedal town center. Some of our Sigdalslag tour group were housed and fed there during our time in Sigdal.

 

 

 Family members at the closing night banquet for the Sigdalslag tour, from left, Dianne Enger Snell, Jorun Nerdalen, Shirley Augustine, Mari Enger and her husband Per Erik Tandberg. Above,  Nils and Line Nerdalen.

 

Two of our Sigdølers , Gilmore Lee and Dan Emert, played a medley of tunes for a tribute to our Norwegian hosts at the closing banquet. It was sad to say goodbye to Eggedal, but hopefully not a final goodbye. If I have my way I shall return--as soon as possible!

The Joy of Family in Ringerike, Norway 2012

Cousin Jorun Nerdalen entertains us by candlelight at

her lovely home in Honefoss, Norway

 In the summer of 2012 I had the privilege of taking my third trip to Norway—the land of my ancestors.  The first trip was in 2000 with Sigdalslag when I experienced firsthand where my father’s ancestors came from; and the second in 2010 with Vesterheim Museum when we spent two weeks in Voss where my mothers' grandparents were born and lived before going to America.

           This time my cousin Shirley Augustine and I signed on with the Gudbrandsdalslag tour from August 14-30, 2012, mainly because its itinerary included places we hadn’t been to before. In a previous blog (2012 Trip to Norway was a Family Affair) I wrote about that portion of our trip.

          The Sigdalslag tour started the first part of  September so we were able to extend and join them for the Sigdal  portion of the tour.  That left us a few days between the two tours to spend time in Honefoss with our cousin and friend, Jorun Nerdalen.  Jorun was born and raised in Sigdal but now lives in Honefoss and works in a neighboring town.   I had casually mentioned in correspondence with Jorun that there were two ancestral farms and a church in the Ringerike District near where she lived that we would like to see if possible.  I had no idea how close they were to Honefoss or if Jorun would be able to take us there.

            Shirley and I left our first tour group at the Gardermoen Airport on August 30 when most of the participants were flying back to Minneapolis.  At the airport we boarded the local Askeladden bus for an hour's ride to Honefoss where we would be picked up by Jorun after her work day.

   

 

The layout of Jorun's condo complex allows a private

rooftop patio and an unobstructed view to each homeowner

Jorun's home is in a unique condo complex which has several six-level buildings cantilevered down a steep hillside-- Jorun's unit is at the fifth level. That means lugging suitcases up four flights of cement steps outside to her entrance level.  The payoff is a beautiful unobstructed view of mountains, lake and horizon and beautiful flowers on the private rooftop patio.

          Jorun had remembered about the family farms I had mentioned in our correspondence and we were excited to learn that she had a day set aside for us to take a road trip to the Ringerud and Bergsund farms as well as the Viker Church in Aadal parish, Ringerike Kommune, where our great grandmother Anna Lee Ellingsdatter was baptized and confirmed.

The Historic Ringerud farm on the shores of Lake Spelleren

 

A framed picture in the house shows the overall

landscape of Ringerud, forests, fields and water.

 

           Anna Lee was the daughter of Elling Fredericksen Ringerud and a pleasant drive over hills and through forest land brought us to our first stop--the historic Ringerud farm.  The farm setting is strikingly  beautiful, with the houses and outbuildings perched  on a bluff above  Lake Spelleren. We parked near the entrance and Jorun went ahead to act as spokesperson and interpret for us if necessary. She found the owner, Inger Lise Grimsrud, in a large outbuilding which turned out to be a hen house.  Jorun explained our mission---that we were visitors from America who wished to see the ancestral farm of our great-grandmother.  Inger Lise, it turns out, takes care of 7500 hens and sells eggs all over the region as far away as Oslo.  As busy as she was she told Jorun that she could give us about a half hour to show us around and we were thrilled.  No need for an interpreter as she spoke beautiful English.  Inger Lise is the wife of Ole Olsen Ringerud who is the 11th generation of Ringeruds to operate the farm and most of them were named Ole.   Ringerud was purchased on October 29, 1695 by Ole Guttormsen Leknes (my many times great grandfather) and the farm has been passed down directly to a succession of heirs for over 300 years.

 

Inger Lise brought out the family charts to show

Shirley and me the 12 family generations on Ringerud

          When the present Ole and Inger retire their son Ole Olsen Ringerud, now in his early 20's, will take over as the 12th generation owner. Inger's husband was not at home and Inger graciously answered our questions, brought out refreshments to the patio, and eventually invited us into the house to view the antiques and pictures.  She brought out her husband's family history charts and we found our g. g. grandfather on the tree as a son of Frederik Olsen Ringerud, although he was not an eldest son and therefore not an inheritor. He ended up as a husmann (tenant farmer)  on the Bergsund farm where Anna Lee was born. 

 

Inger Lise shows us the stone with a hole where the legendary Dog King Ring was tied.

On the right is the modern day King Ring, the Ringerud family dog.  

Inger showed us a big stone with a hole in it which ties to a legend of the farm.  The legend dates back to  Viking days when King Veine (Veien) ruled over Aadal.  Once when the citizens of Aadal demonstrated against him he penalized them severely, and to punish them he sent a dog, King Ring, to be their king. He was placed on the farm which is now Ringerud and allegedly was tied to the stone which still is in place in the farmyard.  King Veine decreed that he who first announced the death of the dog would lose his life.  The story is told that the people of Aadal did kill the dog but it took a long time for King Veine to be told about it. An Aadal  man took the dead dog on his back and brought it to the king. He only showed the dog to the king, and when the king asked, "Is King Ring dead?" the man said, "Those are not my words, my lord." Therefore the man could not be killed as he had not announced the dog's death, so he survived the episode without being harmed.

          As it turned out our visit to Ringerud lasted more than two hours rather than the allotted one half hour! Next we were off to see the Viker Church where Anna Lee was baptized and confirmed before she emigrated from Norway to America in 1861 at the age of 16.

  

The Elling Enger family in America. Far right in front

are Anna Lee and her mother Ingeri.

 

Anna Lee's mother, Ingrid (Ingeri) Østensdatter, born 1808, was the second wife of Elling Ringerud, born 1789, who had eight children with his first wife before she drowned in the Grythe River in 1837. He married the widowed Ingrid in 1842.  Her first marriage was to Asle Clemmetsen and she had two children with him, Christian and Gunhild.  Elling and Ingrid had two daughters together, Berit born 1842, and Anna born 1845.

          Following the drowning death of Elling in 1861 the widow Ingrid at age 53 and her two daughters, ages 16 and 19,  emigrated from Norway to America  and the Spring Grove community in Minnesota where later Berit married Gilbert Gilbertson and Anna married Elling Pedersen Enger.  An interesting side note: Ingrid and her daughters came to America in 1861 on the same ship as Elling Enger's parents Peder and Aase Enger and their six  children. Elling Enger had already traveled to America in 1854. 

The Viker Church in Aadal Parish, built 1702, replaced a

stave church from the 1400's.







Back to Aadal, the Viker Church was built in 1702 and is still in use. It is said that underneath the pulpit are the remains of a bearskin which legend dictates was worn by a bear which was shot inside the church.  The first church located on the Viker estate was a stave church built in the 1400s under authority of the Catholic church. The church is mentioned in records dating back to 1462.  By 1702 the building had been torn down and was replaced with the current church which seats 250 people. The interior is beautiful while the wooden exterior is dark brown and rustic in appearance.  Since it was a weekday we were not able to get inside the church, but it was a thrill just to see it in person and take pictures of the outside and the cemetery.

   

The front of the beautiful home on the Bergsund

farm, located on the banks of the Aadalselven River

          Our third and final destination for our day trip was the Bergsund farm.  At the time of  the births of their two daughters  Elling Fredriksen Ringerud and Ingrid  Østensdatter were living on a small tenant farm which was part of Bergsund. Some historians believe the tenant farm was Lia which lies across the river from the main Bergsund farm. 

Inger Bergsund, owner of the Bergsund farm and her "summer car"
 



When we arrived at Bergsund we first spotted a bright red sports convertible in the driveway which we assumed belonged to someone of the younger generation.  Not so--the current owner, Inger Bergsund, turned out to be a sporty senior citizen, single and retired from a prestigious career in the import-export business in Oslo.  She had inherited the farm in 1951 and before retirement she used it as a vacation home and a place to entertain friends. She told us that the little red sports car was just her summer car--she had two others--and she loved to race! She also brought out refreshments, and we enjoyed our tea in the front yard of Bergsund which is beautifully situated on the east bank of the Aadals Elven (River).

 

 

                         A collection of antique animal traps hang on the side of the Bergsund barn

There was harvesting going on in a nearby field, and Inger told us that artifacts had been excavated in that field  which verified it as a former stomping grounds of a pre-Viking people called the Merovinger. (I must do more research on that!) After an informative visit with Inger and a photo op session it was time for us to be on our way back to Honefoss. Our adventure had taken us the better part of the day and it was a day I will never forget. Priceless!

           However, Jorun was not through with us yet.  The next day when we thought we were just going grocery shopping, she surprised us by stopping at a local museum and prehistoric burial ground not far from her home.

 

One of the huge burial mounds at the Veien site and a replica

of a Viking longhouse where local events are held.

          The site is called the Veien burial ground and culture park which contains more than 100 burial mounds and an unknown number of level graves. The site was established in the Bronze Age, ca. 1000 BC and was  important in the early Iron Age, ca. 500 AD.  A handful of Viking artifacts have been turned up by the plow but archaeological evidence suggests that Veien was not of major significance during the Viking period. Also on the grounds is a replica of a Viking longhouse, and an indoor museum which portrays artifacts and dioramas of life in the area throughout many generations to the present day.

          The following day Jorun transported us to Eggedal where we were to join the Sigdalslag tour for September 4-6 arranged by local historian Sigrid Kvisle.  In Eggedal we were hosted by Jorun's brother Nils Nerdalen and wife Line in their beautiful home on the mountainside overlooking the Eggedal valley.  But that is another story for another day. 

           I recently learned that Jorun may be coming to spend time with me in Seattle this summer. I really hope she does come so can I return the favor  of her generous hospitality by showing her the sights of Washington. Stay tuned!

Letters From My Brothers in World War II

     As I wrote in a previous blog, both of my brothers served overseas in World War II, and when they could they wrote letters home which were eagerly awaited by my parents, who were kept busy writing letters back.  In the days before the Internet and Skype, the handwritten letters were the only form of communication and sometimes it would take weeks for mail to catch up with the soldiers who were always on the move. 

     Although the boys couldn't write any specifics about what they were going through, they were able to slip in a few clues and innuendos which made it through the censors.

     In my recent diggings through old stuff, which is an ongoing activity for me, I unearthed a letter from brother Gale Enger sent from Germany on June 6, 1945--one year after D-Day.  Since the censorship restrictions were lifted by then this letter gives more details of his activities. He would have been just 21 years old at the time. 

CENSORSHIP AND OTHER FRUSTRATIONS

"June 6th, Germany

Dear Folks,

     Today is an Army holiday. I don't know if it is the States or not. One year ago today was D-Day and the general has given us a day off to celebrate it. At last this business of mail censoring is over and we can write what we want to. So now I can tell you what has happened to me. 

     We left New York on the Queen Elizabeth on August 28th, 1944.  She is the largest ship in the world (10 feet longer than the Queen Mary).  Because she is so fast, we didn't travel in a convoy, but went alone.  A sub chased us on the third night out, but couldn't catch up.  Every eight minutes we changed course, so we made a zig-zag pattern. 

     On Sept. 5 we came to port at the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. (This was the only port big enough to hold our ship that was out of range of the Robot bombs.)  We boarded a train and went to a camp in England where we stayed a month.  From there we went to the southern part of England and boarded an LST (one of those boats that the front end opens up).  We crossed the channel and approached Omaha Beach around midnight.  These LST's have a huge anchor that they drop hundreds of yards out in the ocean and then they run for the beach at full speed.  When they want to leave, they wind up the anchor cable and that pulls them backwards.  We hit the beach at midnight and waited until 2 'clock for the tide to go out.  That left us sitting high and dry, out of water.  Then the front end opened and we rolled out with our trucks.  We slept on the beach that night and the next day took off thru France till we came to the city of Pennes.  There we set up our shop and stayed. 

     I finally got tired of that and asked for a transfer to a combat outfit.  Two weeks later I was on my way to Infantry training depot at Compeinge, France. (That's where that railroad car is that the Armistice of the last war was signed and where Hitler made France surrender in 1940.)

     I stayed there and took Infantry training for nine weeks (On the way down I stopped at Paris for three days. At the end of three days I was broke! ) Then I headed for the 417th Infantry Regiment of the 76th Division.  (Stayed one night in the Maginet line (?)  When I got to the 76th Headquarters I was interviewed and due to being in an Engineer outfit before was sent to the 301st. 

     The night before I got to this outfit they had built a bridge across the Sauer River at Ectienoch, Luxembourg in the Siegfried line and had a number of casualties.  One of their truck drivers went out in a boat and was missing in action, so I took his place.  That's when it was toughest, thru that Siegfried line. It was more heavily fortified than Saipan, Okinawa or Tarawa.  After we got thru that we continued across Germany with the Third Army, usually as a spearhead with Patton's tankers.  We bridged rivers and fixed roads, cleared mines, and blew out road blocks so the tanks could get thru.  If you remember the trap we made where the Moselle and Rhine rivers join up. 

     That night I got my first chance to bring an assault boat across the Moselle.  We took the 417th Infantry across.  Four of us Engineers were in a boat and 12 Infantry.  We were there to take the boats back again.  Our boat made two trips that night.  Next day we took our trucks across and again spearheaded with the tanks and cleaned out that pocket. 

     We finally ended up at Clausnilz, Germany, the farthest into Germany of any division of any army over here, and the closest to the Russians of any of them.  We were supposed to make contact with the Russians but the 69th Division screwed up and sent their patrols out too far, so they made it instead.  In fact we were in Russian territory so we had to pull back to the town of Crimmitchau, where we are now.  It was all pretty exciting and a lot of fun, although there were times when my happy home in the U. S. looked pretty far away.  All this time old C. J. (our Uncle Clarence Erbes) was right behind us, sending out those good old 155's. I'm going to spend the next weekend with him at Geia. 

     Well, I'll write more later, now that censoring is kaput.  It's hard to write when one of your own officers reads everything.  I suppose Billie (our older brother)  is home now or on his way, at least.  He wrote me and said he had 100 points.  He only needs 85 for discharge.

So long for now and write again,

Love to all,

Gale."

Brother Bill who was overseas from 1942-45 wasn't too keen on the censors either.  This was his take on the situation in a letter dated April 10, 1943:  (He was in North Africa with Patton's forces at the time).

"Dear Folks,

     I wrote a letter to you yesterday but this morning the Censor gave it back to me and said I had to rewrite it. Sometimes these Censors make me mad; they don't seem to realize that it's hard enough for us to write a letter in the first place without having to rewrite it.  It seems strange that the newspapers and radio commentators can say what they wish and prophesy the future but we soldiers can't even mention the name of a lousy city!!

   I suppose I can't even tell you that the war is over here in Africa, but anyway, it is! The Nazis are being made prisoners by the thousands so it looks pretty good for us right now.  What will happen next, I don't know, but I'm dropping you this line to let you know that I'm still O. K.

     I received your packages containing money belt, candy, mirror and socks. Thanks a lot.  I'll close now and write more when we get back to a rest camp.

Love,

Billie"

WHAT A WAY TO SPEND CHRISTMAS EVE!

From Belgium on Christmas Eve, 1944:

     "Merry Christmas!  It's only a few hours now until Santa comes but before hanging up my stocking, I'll drop you another "weekly letter"--late as usual.

     Everything here is going as well as can be expected, considering everything.  I imagine the headlines are full of news of the "Western Front" these days.  If everything goes well tho, there's nothing to worry about--this breakthrough might yet turn out to be a help rather than a hindrance--Time will tell.

The weather has improved considerably. The past two days have been freezing cold, but nice and bright.  We also have just enough snow for a Christmas atmosphere. One of the fellows cut down a tree and just brought it in.  Of course, we don't have any lights or decorations but, nevertheless, the tree alone helps quite a bit.

     One pitch black night we moved, me driving our captured German truck.  What a wreck--no lights, no brakes, no nothing.  For the first mile I did quite well by following the taillights of the vehicle in front. Then all of a sudden I stopped with a "bang", and upon investigation I found I had clipped a Sherman tank which was parked along the road.  (Needless to say I came off second best, ha!)  It took about ten minutes to disentangle ourselves but soon I was rolling merrily along again.--Pretty soon I noticed another convoy coming towards me, so to play safe, I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped in order to let them pass  Then, two halftracks hit my truck again (and again I came off "second best.") At the same time, we had some "visitors from the air" so I jumped into a ditch for a while. Then it started to rain and before I got to my destination I clipped a couple of posts and a few other little things.  I finally arrived about 5 o'clock the next morning and found that everyone was worried, not about me but because their bedrolls were on the truck--What a night!!   

Well the coffee is beginning to boil, warning me that it's time to quit and grab a cup while grabbing is good!

Love,

Billie "

PROMISES FROM THE WESTERN FRONT

(From my big brother Billie to me, February 1, 1945 when I was five years old)

"Dear Nonie,

The pretty birthday card which you sent came a little while ago.  I surely was happy to know that you thought of me.  When your birthday comes, I will be back home and I will buy you anything you want for a present---so start thinking!

Love,

Billie"

Billie on leave with Mom Effie and sisters Hope and Nonie

     Actually Billie did send and bring several presents from far away places.  To name a few, a navy girl and a soldier boy doll, a pair of child's wooden shoes from Holland, a stuffed cat, and a sequined purse from Paris which I still have to this day.

     My parents saved every letter that they received from both of their sons.  Several years ago Billie's grandson Ross Enger transcribed all of his grandfather's  letters and put them in a book for all the family to read.  Following his lead, I did the same with Gale's letters.  I still go back and read them from time to time.  Billie passed away from cancer in 1982 and Gale is now 88 years old and living in Oklahoma.  MEMORIES ARE FOREVER!

Gale Enger and uncle Clarence Erbes ran into each other overseas;

they remained best buddies forever after.