Genealogy is an Obsession

Grandma Hannah Larson Enger, circa age 80

I never thought of myself as a person obsessed--or suffering from a form of OCD--that is until I entered the computer age and received my first version of "Family Tree Maker" software for my 50th birthday!

Oh, I had always been interested in family history, and listened eagerly to the tales of the "good old days" from my story-teller Grandma Hannah and her son, my father Bill Enger.   Grandma Hannah was really the only grandparent I ever knew in person, due to the fact that I was born to my parents in their forties, and the fact that most of my ancestors had passed on before I came along or when I was too small to remember them.  My brothers and sister were all married and out of  house before I was 7 years old which turned me into an only child at home with my parents, and Grandma lived just a few blocks from us.  She was my primary babysitter when my parents were otherwise occupied or out of town.  Her favorite pastime was telling stories, and my favorite pastime was listening to stories, so we made a good team.

Grandma and me, circa 1944

Grandma Hannah and her daughter Hazel Enger Doeden making lefse, circa 1970

Hannah Larson was born in 1880 in rural Vernon County, Wisconsin to Norwegian immigrant parents.  She married her husband, Edvard Ellingsen Enger, in 1898 and my father, William D. Enger, was born a year later.  Ed Enger died in 1935 of cancer leaving Hannah a widow at the age of 55.  She remained single for the remainder of her life and she died peacefully in her sleep in 1979 on her 99th birthday.

Back to genealogy,  I thought I knew a lot about my family history until I started filling in the blanks on my Family Tree Maker.  Lo and behold, I could go back two or three generations with the names of my ancestors but I soon found there were a lot of blank spaces that I was at a loss to fill in.  What was her birth name? Where was he born?  And if I was able to come up with some of the answers through old photo books and asking older relatives, there was another generation back to find out about, and then another one after them.

4 Generations June 1957, me, age 17, my daughter Royalee Gries, age 6 months,

my father Bill Enger, 57, and Grandma Hannah Enger age 77, in Worthington, Minnesota

Grandma Hannah Enger with her children,

Arthur, Hazel, William, Vivian and Earl, circa 1970

So for the past 20 years I have been diligently seeking to find as much as I can about my past generations, and now it is my obsession.  Since then I have visited Norway twice and found some of the farms where my ancestors were born.  When my mother died in 1976 she knew only that her mother was born in Denmark and her father was born in Iowa to Norwegian immigrant parents.  In 2010 I was able to travel to Voss, Norway and  find the farms where her grandparents were born.  I so wish I could tell her about it!

Dianne Enger Snell in Voss bunad, purchased in Voss, Norway in 2010

I hope to use this blog in the future to post my family history and photos, and share the information that I have learned.  It's hard to know where to start, but I will give it a shot!  I would love to hear from anyone who is interested in researching their families, or those who may be related in some way.