Archive for the ‘Anfin Dalager’ Category
Dalaker, Norway
The following material on the Dalaker farm is a composite of material written by Rudolph L. Dalager, son of Nels Dalager, describing his trip to the Dalaker farm and the Sogndal area in Norway in the early 1930’s, and my trip with Phyllis to this same area in 1991. Rudolph and my father, Karl Dalager, were first cousins.
As we cross the Sognefjord we see the beautiful pine covered mountains and the many small hay meadows (click to see map). All tillable land is utilized. We land at Kaupanger which is on the north shore of the Sognefjord. As we take the road to Sogndal, it is not long before we see the old Kaupanger Church where Anfin, Hans, Nils, Brita and Lasse, the children of Guri & Sylfaest Dalager were baptized and confirmed. In the graveyard next to the church can be found the grave markers for Lasse, the brother who stayed in Norway and his son Andreas. In some unmarked grave lies the body of Solfest, the father and husband who died before Brita and Guri left for America.
As we traveled along the good black topped road on our way to Sogndal, we saw a sign pointing off to the right with the word ‘Dalaker’ (dal-valley, aker-cultivated fields). This would indicate that the tract of land was quite level and that the family was comfortably situated.
With the modern automobile, it did not take long for us to reach Dalaker. Rudolph described his path to Dalaker as a strenuous up-hill walk. The farm is located very high up and from it we have a magnificent view of the Sognefjord and the surrounding mountain peaks. The Dalaker farm is set amidst the beautiful Kaupang Forest.
When Rudolph visited the Dalaker farm in the 1930’s he found that the house was like the pictures he had seen with some modernization. It was not a large house but was strongly built. Rudolph was told that the doors and some of the furniture and inside conveniences dated back to his father Nils’ time. He could reflect that his grandparents, Solfest and Guri–whose maiden name was Hostager—had lived here and that all the children were born here except Lasse. Lasse, the one who remained in Norway, was born at Amla, which is closer to Kaupanger. It was Lasse’s children Guri and Olav who accompanied Rudolph to Dalaker and who he later visited in Olso.
When Phyllis and I visited in 1991 there were no Dalakers living at Dalaker; however, the buildings were in very good condition. We enjoyed a light lunch with the new owners and were able to experience the view that our ancestors were a part of every day of their lives. The Dalaker setti, which was located further up the mountains where the milkmaid stayed at night during the summer, is now a part of the area museum. The three pictures of the buildings on the Dalaker farm which accompany this piece were provided by Aasmund Dalaker, a grandson of Lasse Dalaker.
When Rudolph and his party returned to Kaupanger, they walked the road that our grandparents must have walked hundreds of times. Along the road they saw farms like Hostager (Guri’s maiden name), Olstad, Bjork, Holten. The father of Henry Holten of Glenwood, Minnesota, came from that farm. Henry Holten and Hans Dalager were 1st cousins. This was also the berry season and the walkers in Rudolph’s party enjoyed berries such as lingonberry as they walked. The walk to Kaupanger took about one hour.
In historic Norway, the eldest son would inherit the farm. Therefore, Sylfaest Lassesen must have been the oldest son of Lasse Bottolfsen Hagen. Sylfaest was born March 4, 1797 and baptized February 26, 1800. Sylfaest married Guri Anfindsdatter Hostager, baptized November 15, 1806, the daughter of Anfind Anfindson Hostager on March 19, 1833 . To this marriage five children were born: Anfin, born May 15, 1834; Lasse, born April 3, 1837; Hans Solfest, born November 5, 1842; Nils, born December 11, 1846; Brita, who became known as Betsy, born August 7, 1851. Solfest is the Americanized form of Sylfaest. However, records attach the name Dalaker to Guri’s family indicating that Guri may have inherited Dalaker farm where she and Sylfaest lived..
According to tradition, Anfin should have inherited the Dalaker farm. However, he decided to come to America to seek his fortune. Therefore the farm went to Lasse, the second oldest son. Anfin and Hans were the first from this family to come to America crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel in 1861.
After arriving at Quebec, Hans and Anfin made their way by river boat and wagon to Wisconsin
Hans Dalager: Leaving Norway with Anfin and early homesteading
Hans Sylfestsen Dalager was born November 5, 1842 in Sogndal, Norway and baptized in the Sogndal Lutheran Church, Sogn og Fjordan County, Norway. His parents were Solfest Lassesen and Guri Anfindsdatter Hostager. Solfest and Guri owned or worked on a tract of land known as ‘Dalaker.’ Hans had three brothers, Anfin, Lasse, and Nels and one sister, Brita.
If the Dalager ancestors had followed the Norwegian naming tradition when they came to America, Hans and Anfin would have been Solfestsen. However, they took the name of the farm, Dalaker, and changed it to Dalager. The Dalagers we know in Norway such as Aasmund and Molfrid still are known as Dalaker.
The Sogndal church records showing those leaving the parish in the year 1861 lists Hans Solfestsen, born November 5, 1842. No listing was found for Anfin but family tradition says that they traveled together by sailing ship. Prof. Gerhard B. Naeseth, genealogist for the Vesterheim Genealogical Library in Madison, Wisconsin, who did this research, felt that in 1861 Hans and Anfin most likely would have travaeled up the St. Lawrence River, through Quebec. Prof. Naeseth could not check the ship passenger list because lists were not retained in Quebec until 1865. The 1861 sailing date for Hans disagrees with the date found in some writing by some of the family but Prof. Naeseth sent a copy of the record confirming the 1861 date.
Passengers on sailing ships in 1861 had to provide their own provisions and almost all the passengers exhausted their food supplies before reaching America. According to Julia Dalager Chilson, Anfind and Hans had a chest of Lefsa and flatbrod on the ship which they shared with the rest of the passengers.
After arriving at Quebec, Hans and Anfin made their way by river boat and wagon to Wisconsin. Here they went to a meeting where they were asking for volunteers for service against the Indians. Anfin was so sold on becoming an American that he looked at America as his homeland and even gave up his birthright in Norway. Here was a chance for him to serve his new country so he volunteered.
Private Anfin Dalaker
From Wanamingo, Minnesota<
Goodhue County
Enlisted August 22, 1862 at Fort Snelling, MN
Mustered into Company D, 10th Regiment of Minnesota
Infantry Volunteers Oct 9, 1862
Honorably discharged for disability Sept 14, 1863 at Fort Goodhue, MN
Anfin was involved in the Indian wars and was stationed at Fort Sisseton in the Dakota Territory. Due to lack of proper clothing and frozen feet, Anfin contracted tuberculosis and was discharged. He spent the rest of his life with a couple and died March 17, 1864, leaving Hans alone in the U.S. at the age of 22. Anfin had been a very thrifty soldier and after all the expenses of his illness, death and burial were cared for, he left an estate of about $200.00 to his younger brother Hans.
Hans stayed with his uncle and aunt, the Hostagers, in Goodhue County of south eastern Minnesota for about two years, working for his keep. He was paid a few pounds of wool for his work
Another cousin made his stockings from the wool which Hans needed when he worked in the pinery woods and lumber camps in the St. Cloud and Little Falls area of Minnesota during the winters.
Between 1866 & 1868, after the Indian scare was over, using the money he had inherited from Anfin plus his savings from the lumber camp work, Hans fulfilled his dream when he filed a claim for 160 acres of land under the Homestead Act. This land was the NE 1/4 of section 12 in Barsness township, about six and a half miles south of the present sight of Glenwood, Minnesota. Ulysses S. Grant was President. Hans’ patent, homestead papers signed by President Grant, were issued Oct 1, 1873, five years after the original homestead. This is the farm that was farmed by Herman Dalager and later by Orville Feigum.
Hans broke some land and built a log house and a stable. Leaving the farm in the care of a neighbor, Hans went back to Goodhue County for a visit. While he was gone his house, stable and two mules were burned by a prairie fire. He became rather discouraged and left for a lumber camp near St. Cloud for the winter. However, when spring came, he returned to his homestead, rebuilt his building and started over again.
Hans and one of his neighbors would help each other break new land. This neighbor said Hans had the speediest oxen he had ever seen. He also said the mosquitoes were so bad he could not sleep, but Hans did not mind them at all and he would sleep all night. During this time in the late 1860’s, the nearest town was St. Cloud, about 70 miles away. Sometimes Hans would walk to town and return carrying flour and other necessary things on his back. Sometimes he would use oxen but they were very slow. A trip to St. Cloud would take four or five days. One time when Hans and a neighbor were returning from St. Cloud, it started to rain. They stopped, removed the produce from the box, turned the wagon box upside down and sat under it until the rain was over and arrived home without getting wet. It is unclear whether they had oxen pulling a wagon or they were pushing a two wheeled cart with a box on it.
About 1870, the town of Benson was established. It was now possible to shop and haul grain to the railroad there. It was 25 miles away and the trip could be made in two days. Hans was one of the first to buy horses and to build a barn with a hayloft. People came from miles around to see his barn.