The Holtens: Lavilla (Dalager) Peterson remembers

Lars Holten was a neighbor of Hans Dalager when Lavilla was growing up. The Holtens and Vindedahls were cousins to Hans. Lasse Holten was Lars Holtens father. Lasse Holten homesteaded the farm next to Hans Dalager in Chippawa Falls township. Other sons of Lasse were Chris, Henry, and Jacob. There were also some daughters who were married and lived in this area. Names Robert knew were Dearstead and Erickson who were related to Lasse Holten so must have been the families of daughters of Lasse Holten. Lasse Holten died about 1925 and his wife, who was crippled for many years, died about 1936. Lavilla remembered helping at the Holten home when she was a young girl. What was the name of Lasse’s wife? After the death of Lasse, Chris, Henry and Louis or Louise continued to farm. Question, is it Louis or Louise, a son or daughter? None of them married. They did not have any information on Jacob. Lars, who was a brother to Chris, Henry and Jacob was married and they had a daughter named Tilda who was a very good friend to Lavilla’s sister Tillie.

Lavilla remembered that one of Lars sons and a Vindedahl boy had a run-a-way with horses and a buggy in the Glenwood Park. She said that one horse went on one side of the tree and the other on the other side of the tree. Oscar Holten was killed but Benny Holten was saved. Question? Were there more than 2 in the buggy? What year did this happen?

Lawrence Holten married a Sue Cihlar from New York. Was Lawrence a son of Lesse Holten? _____________________________Lawrence Holten was hurt badly doing road maintenance on the edges of the road with a mower and horses. Robert said that Lawrence did not die in that accident. Robert said that Lawrence and Sue did not have any children but Sue had some children before she married Lawrence.

When Robert Peterson went to country school they would walk past the Holten place. At Christmas time when school kids were asked to sell Christmas seals for tuberculosis, Robert would stop at the Holtens. Robert said that Henry and Louise were always good for ten cents. Louise would pick out ten pennies from the change purse to pay their ten cents. Louise died of tuberculosis. Lavilla said that she has a picture of Louise. Henry and Chris were hard workers. They were dairy farmers and also raised a lot of hogs. They also farmed quite a bit of land with horses and later with pretty small tractors. The Peterson boys would help the Holtens with shacking and harvest.

In 1946 there was a big storm which took a lot of the Holten building and the Peterson’s barn. The Peterson boys helped the Holtens take care of their animals after the storm. The Holten barn had fallen down on the livestock that were in the barn. The Holtens crawled into the barn on the hands and knees to see if any of the animals were still alive. The Holtens had two big white horses and one of them was Cap. Some of the neighbors told Henry that you need to shoot that horse but Henry said “Naw” like people had heard before. They worked and wiggled this horse to the milk house which had been emptied. When they got the horse to the milk house, Henry said, “Com’on Cap.” Cap stood up and everybody cheered.

There are no descendants of this family with the Holten but there are descendants of the two girls who married, Erickson and Deerstad.

Lavilla said that Lasse had married a women who had children. Then she mentioned one, Edwin and not other information was given. Can you give any more information? _________________________________________________.

Hans Dalagers original homestead? What is its location? _______________This house burned. Them they rebuilt at a new location about a mile away, closer to a lake. What lake? ____________________ Which place did Herman live on? _______ ______ Lavilla said that the place where Selmer lived was also part of the homestead. Selmer and Willie tried to farm together for a while. Then Willie went off to school and Selmer stayed on the farm.

Hannah (Dalager) and Peter Johnson: Hightlights and Milestones of their lives

The following poem, author unknown, was written in honor of my Aunt Hannah and her husband Peter’s Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1956. I received it from Hannah’s younger sister Lavilla (Dalager) Peterson.  Hannah was my father Karl’s older sister.

We honor this day two people we love
Whose marriage was blessed by God above
They have lived together for fifty years
Sharing their blessings, their smiles, their tears.

Let us turn back the clocks of time
And follow their life through words of rhyme
Peter met Hannah in Minnesota
Before they moved to North Dakota

They lived near Glenwood on a beautiful lake
A place created for cupids sake
There they molded their future fate
It was in that setting Peter chose his mate

Hannah’s mind would often wonder
To a high school boy who lived out yonder
As she sat in the class of geometry,
She named the triangles P. O. C.

They courted then with buggy and horse
Who instinctively knew the familiar course
From Terrace to Barsness he would go
The way back home he seemed to know

From Luther College in Iowa
Peter sent messages every day
To Hannah in German by US mail
Which confused the postman along the trail

To a teachers college in her own home state
Hannah prepared for a teachers fate
She got a job in a country school
And forty five pupils she tried to rule

After two years she and Peter were wed
They lived on her salary and saved they said
While Hannah awaited the stork to arrive
She painted pictures with a fevered drive

She wished for a daughter with talent in art
So her new born son really gave her a start
How Peter longed to be a physician
Between them then they made that decision

He studied medicine the next four years
Then the twins came along to add to their cares
When the schooling was over in Illinois
He returned to his twins and his little son

In Minneapolis he served as interne
But his little boys health became his concern
In 1915 they moved to Dakota
To escape the climate in Minnesota

Hannah held church school in her home
All were welcome who wished to come
She directed programmed Christmas plays
Performed civic duties in various ways

The flu epidemic during the first world war
Took the doctor to homes both near and far
He drove a team and forded a creek
Was relayed by drivers to visit the sick

In winter by sled he drove through the snow
When he’d return his wife didn’t know
In four weeks time he was home one night
Sick from exhaustion a common plight

A boy from Norway came to stay
And drove for the doctor night and day
Often the lunch they packed in their sled
Turned to frozen feed instead

Hannah had a intuition
When to expect the tired physician
About half an hour before he was due
She made the coffee and hot lunch too

To Yellow Stone Park in 1919
The family went in their touring machine
They explored the haunts of deer and bear
And thrilled to the geysers there

In nineteen 21 November night
The stork stopped by on his evening flight
A baby girl he left behind
She proved to be the considerate kind

The children remember the summer vacations
They borrowed money for education’s
From St. Olaf College all received degrees
Both of the boys have become MD’s

Maxine was married in 1938
To an engineer whom she met by fate
In Phoenix they live with daughter & son
Where the folks go to have their winter fun

Maxwell is living in Illinois
He has 2 girls as well as a boy
In 1940 he brought home a bride
And practiced medicine by his fathers side

Two years later Bud went to war
To serve his country in the Army Corps
Burdened again by overwork
His father didn’t ever his duty shirk

Philip is married and lived on the coast
And has two children about whom we boast
Karen nineteen a sophomore at college
Philip thirteen in the ninth grade in knowledge

Judy married a fine boy from home
No need after that for her to roam
They have 2 boys one age 2
Most any day another is due

Now that their children are grown and married
The Johnson’s interests are many and varied
The Memorial Hospital long over due
Is a dream of Peter’s new dream come true

They have their farming and oil interest too
Hannah has time for her painting to do
The Doctor has practiced for 42 years
He can travel now without qualms or fears

We hope that Peter and his wife
Will write the story of their life
His artist wife could illustrate
The scenes from life that he’d relate

May God continue these two to bless
With love, with health and happiness
We wish them joy as they go their way
May their life be as golden as this wedding day

Peter and Hanna were married Sept 8, 1906