Ole Throndsen TØRSTAD

1806 - 1886  (80 years)

• Name	Ole Throndsen TØRSTAD
  Birth	16 Aug 1806	Vang i Valdres, Oppland Fylke, Norway   [1, 2, 3]
  	The year of his birth is taken from the baptismal record and the date of reintroduction of his mother to the church. The day and month are taken from his gravestone, which is otherwise in error with respect to the year.
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	28 Sep 1806	Vang i Valdres, Oppland Fylke, Norway   [4]
  Residence	Tørstad 105/5-6, Rødningen Høre
  Residence	From About 1860 to About 1874	Worth County, Iowa, USA
  Residence	Abt 1874-1886	Hills, Rock County, Minnesota, USA
  Burial	Oct 1886	Silver Lake, Worth County, Iowa, USA   [5]
  Death	8 Oct 1886	Hills, Rock County, Minnesota, USA   [6]
  Notes	He owned Tørstad (Rødningen) from 1837 to 1850, then farmed it as a tenant farmer until emigration in 1858. Ola divided the farm into two equal parts: Rødningen 105/6 and Vøsse 105/5, on 13 Jul 1849. Because of a claim from the War Hospital, he was forced to auction the whole farm on 28 Feb 1850. Upon immigrating, the family settled in Iowa. It is not clear whether all of the children listed as intending to emigrate in the church book actually emigrated, or if Marit and Sigrid emigrated and then returned. There is a recollection, published as a story on an Ancestry.Com public tree -- Howard/Messing <http://www.ancestry.com/s41125/t17455/e867458795/rd.ashx?tid=133589> -- that lists Andres (Andrew), Henry (Endre), Rachael (Randi) and Ingeborg as having made the voyage to America. In this recollection it is stated that a daughter named Mary [Marit] stayed behind in Norway. We know that Marit was living in Norway in 1866 and that Sigrid married in Vang in 1862, then died in Vang in 1865. Ole wrote an Amerika brev dated the 16th of September 1866 that was in the possession of Knut Lajord. I photographed the original letter and a transcription in 1967. It was published in Samhold 10 May 1975, although there are some errors in this article. There is an inconsistency in the birth date between the church book records of Vang i Valdres and the date on his grave stone, which is 16 Aug 1799. The correct date should be 1806, from baptism records, and it is assumed that the day and month are the same as on his grave stone. In the 1870 U.S. Census for Silver Lake, Worth County, Iowa, taken 5 Aug 1870, page 1 (line 40) and page 2 (lines 1-7), the family is listed as Ole Thompson, age 60, farmer; Isabel Thompson, age 57, keeping house; Andrew Thompson, age 22, Rachel Iverson, age 19; Nels Iverson, age 22, farm laborer; Henry Thompson, age 16, farming; Isabel Thompson, age 13; and Nels Anderson, age 9 -- all were born in Norway. Ole Thompson's real estate value was $1,500 and personal property value $860. In the 1875 Minnesota Territorial and State Census for Rock, Martin County, page 872, the family is listed as Henry Thompson 21, Viljer 19, Belle 17, Ole 73 and Ingeborg 64. In the 1880 U.S. Census for McCook County, Dakota Territory, taken 7 Jun 1880, the family is listed as Ole Thompon 87 farmer, Isabelle 67 and Isabelle 22. From Katherine Howard's "Howard/Messing" public tree and Find a Grave listing maintained by Darrell Larson: "Ole Thurston Trondsen & his wife Engeborg Andersdatter both lived at Vang in Valdres, Norway. He worked as a farm hand and at the carpenter trade in this area. In the month of June 1858, Ole and his family sailed from Christiana (Oslo) to America. The children who made the trip were Anders (Andrew), Henry, Rachael and Engeborg. A daughter Mary remained in Norway. Their sail ship furnished its passengers only with water and no fires for cooking were permitted, so all food had to be cooked or prepared before boarding and was eaten cold. When they arrived at Milwaukee, WI, via Quebec, the St Lawrence river and the Great Lakes, their food and money was all gone and the parents had to work at anything and for what they could get to sustain the family. The entire family walked by stages to Calmer, Iowa, working for food as they journeyed. At Calmer, Ole found steady work and here they remained until in 1869, when the family moved by oxcart to Worth County Iowa, near the Minnesota line and northwest of the present village of Northwood, Iowa. Ole took up a claim on government land. It is near that farm that the Silver Lake Lutheran Church is located and the family were probably charter members of the original church. The Children in the family decided that they needed a more Americanized name so they called themselves "Thompson" from their fathers "Trondsen", while Ole took the name Ellingboe from the estate in Norway from which he came. This was often done by Norwegian immigrants on the premises that it helped identify them with others from the same area and also added some importance to the bearer of the name. About 1874, the family moved on to Rock County (Hills), Minnesota, in the southwestern part of the state. Here Ole bought a farm and remained until his death. Henry Thompson remained in Iowa where he became a prosperous farmer with lands and elegant farm home near Northwood, Iowa. Ole was over six feet tall and a large boned powerful man. He had curly dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was an easy going, pleasant and always helpful individual." [7]
  Person ID	I5827	Ellingboe
  Last Modified	23 May 2012

  
  

  Family ID

  F5768

  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Ole Throndsen Tørstad Ellingbøe and Ingeborg Andresdotter Ellingbøe

  
  

  Documents		Ole Throndsen Tørstad Ellingbøe's Amerikabrev This letter was written in Iowa in 1866 and sent to families and friends in Vang i Valdres by Old Throndsen, his wife Ingeborg, and several other immigrants. Photographic copy of the original.
  		"Ole Throndsen Ellingbøe's 1866 Letter from Iowa" James Ellingboe, Budstikken, May 2011, pages 12-15. Many persons mentioned in this letter are described in footnotes and linked to this letter.

  
  

  Headstones

  Gravestone of Ole Trondsen Ellingboe (1799[?]-1886) Year of birth on gravestone is incorrect. Correct year is 1806, from christening record.

  
  

• Sources

  [S128] Frøholm, Anders, Vang C, (Valdres Bygdeboks Forlag, 1991), pp. 186 and 331 (Reliability: 3). [S125] Vang Church Books, (Records found in original books at Hamar State Archives, LDS microfilm, or Digital Archives.), Ministerialbok Nr. 2 (1796-1808) F?dte og d?bte 1806, p. 105, #1. (Reliability: 3). [S131] Gravestone. [S125] Vang Church Books, (Records found in original books at Hamar State Archives, LDS microfilm, or Digital Archives.), Ministerialbok Nr. 2 (1796-1808) F?dte og d?bte 1806, p. 105, #1. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070621000251.jpg (Reliability: 3). [S70] Iowa Cemetery Records, (Ancestry.com. Iowa Cemetery Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Works Project Administration. Graves Registration Project. Washington, D.C.: n.p., n.d.), Tombstone Records of Worth County, Iowa, p. 16. (Reliability: 3). [S70] Iowa Cemetery Records, (Ancestry.com. Iowa Cemetery Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Works Project Administration. Graves Registration Project. Washington, D.C.: n.p., n.d.), p. 16, Silver Lake Cemetery, Tombstone Records of Worth County, Iowa. (Reliability: 3). [S128] Frøholm, Anders, Vang C, (Valdres Bygdeboks Forlag, 1991), p. 331 (Reliability: 3).