ENGER PIONEERS--NOT A JOB FOR SISSIES!

Three Enger Pioneers

Palme, Mari (Borreson) and Aase (Liudahl)

     Sometimes we who live in this day and age think we have it tough.  Our automatic washer breaks down, or the dishwasher goes on the fritz, or maybe we have a flat tire on the way to the mall.  When we start feeling sorry for ourselves the best thing to do is to go to the history books and learn what our forefathers (and mothers) were up against.

     As a little girl, what fascinated me most about my Grandma Hannah's stories was imagining what it would have been like to live back in the "olden days."  Having to heat water on the wood stove (first you had to chop the wood) to take a bath or wash dishes.  Carrying the water in a bucket from a pump outside, or in some cases even from a nearby creek or river.  Walking or going by horseback or buggy everywhere.  And worst of all, going outside to the "outhouse" instead of into your nice warm bathroom with a flush toilet.
     One of the best sources we have for learning about the live's of our ancestors are the obituaries and stories that are written about them after death.  When I was visiting my brother a couple of years ago he brought out a box of keepsakes that he had saved from my parents, and among the contents was an old newspaper from Kindred, North Dakota dated January 4, 1932. My brother had no idea why that newspaper had been saved, but right away a name in a front page headline caught my eye, "Mrs. Aase Liudahl Answers Final Summons."

     I knew that Aase Liudahl was one of the daughters of Peder and Aase Enger and a sister of Elling Enger, my great-grandfather.  I knew that she immigrated to America as a child with her parents in 1861.  I did not know some of  details of her life until I read  the obituary:

     "At 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday, January 6th, another beloved pioneer of this community, Mrs. Aase Liudahl, received the final call of her Master, that her life's worst was finished and she could enter into her eternal reward.  She had been ailing off and on with ailments incident to old age and the last three weeks she was bedridden."

    "Born in Sigdahl, Norway, Sept. 28, 1849, of the parents Peder and Aase Enger, she came with them and five brothers and sisters to America in 1861. This voyage in a sailboat took 9 weeks."

      "They went directly to Spring Grove, Minnesota where the family home was made.  Here in 1874 she was married to Nils A. Liudahl.  In 1880 with their three children they came to Dakota territory, traveling overland in a covered wagon drawn by oxen, and settled on their homestead near Davenport which is now the farm home of their son, Oscar.  During the first year of their pioneering, a diphtheria epidemic claimed all their three children."

     "Later 4 children were born to them, one of them died in infancy, and the three who survive are Oscar on the home farm, Gilbert and Nora (Mrs. M. Mickelson) both on nearby farms.  Besides them, Mrs. Liudahl is survived by 11 grandchildren, one sister, Mrs. Ole Borreson (Mari Enger) of Caledonia, Minnesota, and one brother, Palmer Enger of Davenport."

      "In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. Liudahl moved to the farm home of their daughter, Mrs. M. Mickelson and family, and there they both received their final summons.  Mr. Liudahl passed in 1927."

     "This is briefly the life history of this pioneer woman who in much adversity and hardship proved herself capable, willing and true to God and the work he gave her to perform.  Devoted to her family and home she labored hard to obtain comfort for them in their home, but she served actively in the upbuilding of the church and other community activities. She and her husband were among the earliest members of the Christiania congregation and remained faithful members of it till their deaths."

     "A kind and thoughtful neighbor and friend, and a woman of lovely character and pleasant disposition, Mrs. Liudahl endeared herself to all who knew her and her presence will be sadly missed.  But her departure will cause the deepest sorrow to her family members to whom she was a wise counselor and teacher of the Masters wishes. Her memory will always be an inspiration for good to them and all who knew her."

     "Funeral services over her remains were held from the home at 1 p.m. Monday and later from the Christiania church.  Rev Endresen officiated and paid a most glowing tribute to the life of the departed.  Floral offerings were profuse as well as memory wreaths. the Men's Chorus rendered 'Jesus Still Lead On.' Active pall bearers were nephews of the departed, Peder, Henry and Alvin Borreson; Peter, George and Melvin Enger.  Honorary pallbearers were Gust and John Nettum, Albert Myhre, Carl Vangerud, Matt Simensen, and Ingolph Sandbeck. Interment was made in the Christiania cemetery."  Deep sympathy is extended to the family in their bereavement."
     I love the flowery language in the old obituaries, but the amazing thing to me is the casual reference to "traveling by covered wagon drawn by oxen" from Spring Grove, Minnesota to Dakota Territory as though it were just an ordinary, everyday occurrence.  I have driven that route on beautiful paved freeways and thought it was a grueling trip!  And imagine losing all three of your children in a year's time, which I have found from my family research was not all that unusual in the days before vaccines and modern medicine.

Nels and Aase Liudahl and their three surviving children

Norah, Gilbert and Oscar

      A granddaughter of the Liudahl's, Margaret Mickelson Drake, expanded on Nels and Aase Liudahl's trip from Spring Grove to Dakota Territory.  She wrote:  "The journey to North Dakota was made with oxen and a home made covered wagon.  Aase's sister Mari Enger (later Borreson) accompanied them.  She walked most of the way driving the cattle.  Hard tack, the dried bread, was the main food.  The story has been told that the three children were so tired of the dried bread that when they passed through a village and saw some children eating fresh bread and butter, they had to be restrained to keep them from rushing out and grabbing it."

     "When they arrived at their future home in June of 1880 they found the only building on their farm was a sod shanty.  The prairie grass turf was cut into squares and plastered together with mud to form the walls on the outside. Rough boards covered with newspaper were the inside walls.  In spite of the dreary aspect of such a house the three children were so joyous about the journey being over that they said they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in that sod shanty, which it proved they would do. The family lived that summer and the following winter of 1880-81 in that sod house."
     "Exactly a year after the Liudahl's arrival in North Dakota a neighbor's child became sick and died. No one had any idea what the illness was. As was the custom in those days, Grandmother Liudahl went to the neighbors to be of comfort and to prepare the child's body for burial. Several days later Albert complained of a sore throat.  At once the parents became alarmed and one after the other the two children were stricken.  There were no doctors to be summoned and no way whatever to help the poor suffering children who were literally choking to death.  Because of the extremely sore throat, diphtheria was suspected. Within a week Albert died, and in a few days the baby, Peter. Two days later the daughter was taken.  The three children of Nels and Aase Liudahl had all passed into the arms of the Almighty Father. Now the grief stricken parents were left in a strange land without even one of their beloved children.  The brave parents consoled themselves with the Bible verse from the Book of Job in the Old Testament,  'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.'  The dreadful lonesomeness that was felt was expressed by Aase Liudahl when she said, 'When I was in the shanty it was so terribly quiet I could not bear it. When I went to the outdoors, I thought I heard the children crying for me."
     Margaret Drake concluded, "I heard this sad story many times from Grandma Liudahl, and each time I would cry with her.  Even so I did not fully appreciate the sorrow they must have felt until I myself became a parent."

Palme and Marie Enger of Davenport, North Dakota

50th Anniversary 1934

     Another Enger pioneer was Aase Liudahl's younger brother Palme who was born in Sigdal in 1855 and came with the family to America in 1861.  His grandson Keith "Skip" Enger wrote of him, "Grandfather Palme went to school in Spring Grove, and to earn extra money for the family was a 'herdsman' as there were no fences to keep the cattle from wandering off."

     "Palme left Spring Grove on May 10, 1870, (age 15) as he was hired as a herdsman at 25 cents a day for a caravan of three families, Ramstads, Bjerkes and Reitans, who were obtaining homestead claims in the Red River Valley of Eastern Dakota Territory.  The caravan consisted of three covered wagons drawn by oxen, a few sheep and seven head of cattle, including two heifers that father Peder had given Palme to sell in case he did not find work. Palme did however find work as he was hired by the Bjerke family at $8.00 per month."

      "Palme always remembered that he enjoyed the adventure of the trip.  He walked most of the way shoeless and slept under the wagons at night.  His job was to find food for the animals and generally care for them. At St. Cloud (Minn.) they ferried across the Mississippi River and went north to Alexandria, then on to Elizabeth just north of Fergus Falls. It took the caravan 22 days to move from Spring Grove to their final stop in the Kindred area of Dakota Territory."

       After two years Palme went back to Spring Grove and worked for the Ingval Muller family, and in 1876 at age 21 he went to the Kindred area again and filed his claim for 160 acres of public domain where he had to live and make improvements. At the end of 5 years, if the land was not abandoned, improvements were made, and payment of a small fee the land would become Palme's.  He filed his claim on the NW quarter of Section 14 in Davenport Township, Dakota Territory. 

        Palme built a claim shack on the eastern edge of his land where he lived just across the property line  from his sister, Nels and Aase Liudahl.  Skip Enger writes: "The Bjerke farm was located a few miles east of Palme's claim where he worked for the five years while improving his property. He planted cottonwood trees on the north side of the claim to act as a wind break and also a few gooseberry bushes.  One day he heard that 'squatters' were coming in the area. He hitched up Bjerke's team of horses and galloped to his claim, yoked up his two oxen and with a 'walking plow' began to till the soil which would prevent squatters from taking his land.  In 1883 Palme received the deed for his 160 acres of land in Davenport Township signed by President Chester Arthur."

     Palme married Maria Jensen, a seamstress he met at the Ingval Muller home in Spring Grove.  She had immigrated from Hadeland, Norway at the age of seven and went to dressmaking and tailoring school in Decorah, Iowa.  In 1884 Palme went back to Spring Grove and a job with the Mullers where he continued his relationship with Maria, and on March 16, 1884 they were married  at the Spring Grove Lutheran Church. That spring the couple returned to take up permanent residence on Palme's 160 acres in Dakota Territory where they lived the rest of their days. 

      Palme and Maria raised nine children on that farm and celebrated their 50th anniversary on March 16, 1934.  Palme and Maria were also founding members of the Christiania Lutheran Church of rural Davenport and are buried in the church cemetery--Palme passing in 1937 and Marie in 1944.
      These are stories of just two of the pioneers in my family tree.  These stories can be duplicated and multiplied among the many thousands of  immigrants and pioneers who built and settled this land we call America.   Now it's our turn.  How are we doing?