Anne Olsdtr BERGE

1835 - 1931  (96 years)

• Name	Anne Olsdtr BERGE  [1]
  Birth	12 Feb 1835	Berge 22/4
  Gender	Female
  Death	24 Oct 1931	Manitowoc Co., WI. USA
  Burial	Evergreen Cemetery
  Notes	I Hougen-Berge historien fra USA står det om denne legenden: "A legend concerning Anne Olsdatter's lineage has been perpetuated in America by the far-flungMyhre-Berge clan. When the "black death" struck one Norwegian village during the winter of 1349 50, it is said to have left only one survivor, a tiny gir l too young to know her name. Her rescuers called her "Lina", meaning "alone". Many who use the name „Berge" believe that they are descendants of that little girl. The estate called Berge i Vang dates to the late Middle Ages. *It remaindet undividet until 1627, but by mid-nineteenth century it had been carved into several ga'rd. Anne Olsdatter's father, Ole Gulliksen, was a bonde who owned a division of Berg e called Nordigarden, located in the northwestern part oøf the community of Vang; Nearby loomed the imposing silhouette of Frindane Mountain. Ole Gulliksen's home was at the edge of a beautiful lake called Vangsmjosa, an ancient church standing ne rby." Dette har selvsagt ingenting med virkeligheten å gjøre, men den er interessant fordi det kan ha noe med gårdene langs Helin å gjøre, og kan være med på å bekrefte sagnet om gårdsdriften der. ---------- Anne Iversdatter must have been deeply affected when her 19-yaer-old namesake informed her that she planned to leave Berge i Vang for America. She presented Anne Olsdatter with a large chest, which had probably been a gift from her own mother man y heras before. Inscribed in rosemaling on its front panels was her name, the farm name, and a date, partially illegible: „Anne Iversdatter Thune, Anno 18-3". The rosemaling had probably been done by Anne Olsdatter's grandmother. In the spring of 1854, Anne Olsdatter packed her precious chest and other baggage. Emigrants had to carry their own bedding, cooking and eating utensils, and a three-month supply of food. So Anne would have packed nonperishables such as dried por k and mutton, salted meat and herring, dreid peas, grain, potatoes, and flatbread (unleavened and rolled flat.) Anne Olsdatter probably sailed from Christiania, which was becoming the port most frequently used by emigrants from eastern Norway. And it is likely that she traveled with an emigrant group from Valdres. In any event, family members probably accom panied her to the port for a sad farewell. Her younger sister Berit would follow her to America three years later, but Anne would never again set eyes on her parents, her brother Gullik, or her sister Ambjor. Anne Olsdatter and her companions entered North America through Quebec. That port had become attractive to shippers because they could profitably haul Canadian lumber to England on the return crossing. Moreover, Canadian regulations governing pass enger movement were less restrictive. To the emigrant's benefit, the price of passage to Quebec was less expensive than to New York, about twelve or fifteen specie dollars. Typically, emigrants occupied a large common room between decks, with bunks accomodating up to five persons. arranged in rows on port and starboard sides. Anne Olsdatter probably shared a bunk with other adult women. And she would have carried bla nkets and perhaps a sheepskin cover to make sleeping on the straw tick as comfortable as possible. She would have kept her chest with her between decks, living from it and using it as furniture. Indeed, a chest could become a useful table for foo d preparation and eating, serving as a chair at other times. The actual cooking, however, had to be done topside, on the main deck. Many are the horror stories of the Atlantic passage, but the journey often includet pleasant times. Skippers, for the most part, did their best to encourage cleanliness and healthful habits, such as exercise above decks. If the passengers were luc ky, there would be a physician among them; if not, the skipper would act in that capacity. On holidays, passengers would sometimes don their national costumes (Valdres had distinctive attire.) And if the seas were reasonably calm, out would com e the fiddles and dancing would begin on the main deck. From Quebec, the immigrants traveled by steamboat and other craft on aroute leading up the St. Lawrence river, across Lake Ontario, through the Welland Canal to Lake Erie, then north through Lake Huron to lake Michigan. The newcomers now ha d to be alert for sharp operators whose business it was to separate them from their money. One such incident occurred in 1853, when a jovial Norwegian, pretending to be Manitowoc pastor Jacob Ottesen, joined a group of immigrants on a canal boat . He conducted religious services and led them in prayer before bilking them out of their money and disappearing. According to an oral tradition, Anne Olsdatter's passage lasted thirteen weeks. Such an extendet time would have been unlikely in 1854, for ship-owners had rigged larger and faster vessels to accommodate indreased emigrant traffic; thirteen week s would have almost doubled the average time. But if that time included her journey inland, thirteen weeks could be accurate. In any case, she arrived in Manitowoc July 6, 1854. The Manitowoc County Norwegians When the first settlers arrived in present Manitowoc County during the mid-1830s, the gently rolling hills supported rich stands of pine and mixed hardwood. Great pine forests grew along the Manitowoc River, which twists and turns its way acros s the northern half of the county, entering Lake Michigan at the site of present Mantitowoc. (Both city and county were named for the river, which translated from the Chippewa language means „habitation of the good spirits.") Winding westward fro m the river mouth across woodet hilltops was the old Winebago Road, a trail trodden by countless gernerations of native Americans in pursuit of primitive commerce and the present route of U.S. Highway 151. A series of Indian treaties had cleared the way for settlement of the region some fifteen years before the first Norwegians arrived. But Indians still wandered into the county from the Menominee, Stockbridge, and Oneidda reservations north and we st of Green Bay. Some returned on a redular basis to ancient burial grounds. Bands of roving Chippewa also appeared from time to time. The Indian visitors camped along the rivers and streams, causing no harm, simply hunting and fishing, or gathering berries and wild rice. But the settlers had little understanding of their culture, so their presence was a source of concern. Eve n the proximity of the reservations signalled alarm or panic when rumors of Indian unrest circulated. Boosted by the demand for lumber, logging and lumber milling quickly became the leading industries, remaining so until after 1865. By the mid-1850s, however, most of the virgin timber had disappeared. In any case, the lumbermen helped prepare th e way for farming. Farmers and speculators lost no time gobling up the best land, which sold at the U.S. Land Office for only $ 1.25 per acre. The soil of Manitowoc County was prepared for agriculture by glaciation, a process that repeated itself six times in more than a million years. The glacier movements „pulverized" the surface rock into soil. Pulverized soil is richer than soil crea ted by weathering because it retains more of its valuable minerals and salts. The surface rock of the Manitowoc region was lemestone, which produced soil of incomparable fertility. Moreover, the area was favored by a 35-inch annual rainfall an d a 140-day growing season. Norwegian settlers began to appear in the county during the late 1840s. A census taken in 1846 listed only one name of Scandanavian origin, possibly Norwegian. Another census, taken in 1847, as Wisconsin Territory prepared for statehood, liste d a dozen Scandanavian names, at least three of whom were Norwegian immigrants. Then the number climbed with the 1850 census reflecting some 270 Norwegian residents. And this was only the beginning. By 1850, the pattern of Norwegian settlement in the county had taken shape and the Norwegian origins of the newcomers were already established. The large majority settled in the countryside, but some made their homes in the city of Manitowoc. Th e pattern of rural settlement follwed the Manitowoc River from Branch, in the town of Manitowoc Rapids, to Clarks Mills in present Cato, spreading south and west into present Liberty, Eaton and Rockland. The majority of settlers came from the Vald res „upper valley" communities of Vang, Ostre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, and Nord-Aurdal. Others hailed from the southern coast, especially Gjerpen and Bamble. There were settlers of other nationalities too. Norwegian newcomers might well find themselves with neighbors of German origin, for they were most numerous among the foreign-born. But the neighbors might be Bohemian; or perhaps their speech was in toned by English, Scottish, or Irish accents. To fulfill their spiritual needs, the Norwegians organized a Lutheran congregation. The Rev. Mr. H.A. Stub, of the Norwegian settlement at Muskego, south of Milwaukee, dame to Manitowoc to help. By the early 1850s, three churches were in use: on e was located in the city of Manitowoc; the other two were in the countryside on the old „Winnebago Road." The two rural churches were named for places in Norway: Gjerpen Church, eight miles from the city, served the eastern settlement; Valders Ch ruch, five miles farther west, served the western. In 1850, the congregation called from Norway the Rev. Mr. Jocob A. Ottesen. The signatures of the Berge brothers appear with those of more than one hundred other men who signed the letter of call. Rev. Otteson arrived in 1852, dividing his time be tween the three churches. The Manitowoc church withdrew from the joint congregation øin 1871, but the farmers living near the Gjerpen and Valders chruches liked the joint arrrangement and stuck with it. The importance of the Lutheran congregation cannot be overstated, for it providet more than a place to worship and socialize. Indeed, it became a means to preserve the orwegian language and culture, and to pass it on to future generations. Moreove r, the congregation was a bulwark of strength and security in a strange land
  Person ID	I10447	Valdres Slekt
  Last Modified	20 Nov 2007

  
  

  Father	Ola Gullikson BERGE,   b. 1791, Berge 22/4 d. 1881 (Age 90 years)
  Mother	Anne Ivarsdtr TUNE,   b. 1795, Tune 36/2 Nørre, Nordigarden d. 1880 (Age 85 years)
  Marriage	1816
  Family ID	F1797	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Torger Knutsen HOUGEN,   b. 24 Mar 1833, Jørstadhaugen 36/8 Øs d. 15 Feb 1916, Manitowoc Co., WI. USA (Age 82 years)
  Marriage	30 Nov 1857	Manitowoc Co., WI. USA
  Children	+ 1. Mariane Torgersdtr HOUGEN,   b. 5 Jan 1859, Liberty, WI., USA d. 6 Jun 1956, Kaukauna, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, USA (Age 97 years) + 2. Knute Torgeirson HOUGEN,   b. 31 Jan 1861, Liberty, WI., USA d. 10 Jan 1918, Wausau, WI., USA (Age 56 years) + 3. Ole Torgersen HOUGEN,   b. 22 Sep 1862, Liberty, WI., USA d. 13 May 1913, Chicago, IL., USA (Age 50 years)   4. Nels Torgersen HOUGEN,   b. 7 Dec 1864, Liberty, WI., USA d. 29 Nov 1946, Valdres, WI. USA (Age 81 years) + 5. Gulick Torgersen HOUGEN,   b. 20 Jan 1867, Liberty, WI., USA d. 19 Dec 1950, Portland, OR, USA (Age 83 years) + 6. Emma Maria HOUGEN,   b. 4 May 1869, Liberty, WI., USA d. 2 Feb 1955, Valdres, WI. USA (Age 85 years) + 7. Edward HOUGEN,   b. 19 Mar 1871, Liberty, WI., USA d. 21 Jun 1953, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA (Age 82 years) + 8. Albert L. HOUGEN,   b. 12 Jun 1873, Liberty, WI., USA d. 28 Mar 1949, Manitowoc Co., WI. USA (Age 75 years)   9. Martin Augustine HOUGEN,   b. 6 Feb 1877, Liberty, WI., USA d. 27 Apr 1968, Hawthorne, CA (Age 91 years) + 10. Evelyn HOUGEN,   b. 15 Nov 1878, Liberty, WI., USA d. 12 Sep 1957, Manitowoc Co., WI. USA (Age 78 years)
  Family ID	F6357	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Nov 2007

  
  

• Sources

  [S330] Bruce Simmons.