On June 12, Thiel and I fly (separate itineraries, due to Frequent Flier miles, etc.) to Dubuque, IA to visit Dana, Katy, Madeline, Caleb, and Lucas. While we are there, I am planning to hijack a car, drive about 2 hours to SW Wisconsin, and do some genealogy. Thiel and/or Dana or others may come along if I can persuade them.
One planned stop is in Westby, site of the famous Coon Prairie Norwegian settlement of the mid-1800’s. That is where we think all of the Larson and Sletten immigrants first arrived. More importantly for me, that is where cousin Norma Samuelson Haakenstad lives to this day. Norma is the de facto genealogist for the Samuelson family (relatives of Ole Larson’s first wife Anne Samuelsdatter, my great-grandmother). There are huge gaps in my knowledge of this branch of the family, and Norma has the material to fill many of them. She has assembled two books, copies of which may no longer be available, but I hope to copy or photograph essential information.
The big thrill will be meeting up with cousin Aline, who has eagerly offered to guide me through the Brush Creek cemetery and nearby sites. Those sites include Ole Larson’s farm, where the original house is run-down but still standing, Olaf Larson’s log cabin, where Aline and Clarice were born, and hopefully, the home of Mari Larsdatter and Hans Hanson Stigen, where great-great-grandma Anne Larsdatter Skurdalshougen lived out her late years. As you faithful readers know, Anne Larsdatter is a “heroine” among my ancestors. I am ecstatic at the prospect of treading the ground she may have trod, visiting her grave, and paying my respects. Equally excited about connecting in person with Aline, whom I haven’t seen for a huge number of years, certainly not since she has become my genealogy “heroine.”
“Pictures at 11 ” :-)>
Lois Larson Hall
Jun 11, 2009
Hi George–hope you and Thiel have a great time visiting the family and KNOW you’ll have an unforgettable exerperience in the Wisconsin adventure in search of ancesters. Give Aline my greetings and love…what a dear person she is.
The contact with Norma Haakenstad should be worth more than gold in your genealogy quest. Is she a daughter of Sidney Samuelson (Grandpa Isaac’s cousin)? If so, she is the sister of another of Sidney’s children, Orion Samuelson, the one they called “the voice of American agriculture” at WGN Chicago radio for many years. He still is co-host of a weekly agriculture tv report that’s on RFD-TV channel weekly. In 1990 Uncles Vernon and Ivan took me along with them to visit cousin Sidney, ailing at the time, and we also went to a cousin’s home in Ontario, WI. She was care-giver for two elderly old uncles but they were Moens so I don’t think it’s the same person as this Norma.
Larry and I went to Wisconsin for Larson-Sletten reunion in 1990 and Myrna and I went in 2005. Visits to the Brush Creek church and the cemetery, final resting places of our great grandparents and great-great grandmother, plus other assorted relatives, really were powerful experiences. Bring Kleenex. It gets to you.
Can hardly wait to get update of your visit to the land of our ancestors—
Love, Lois
George
Jun 11, 2009
Yes, Norma is Orion’s sister. I just recently found out we had such a famous cousin. Celebrated, as you said, as the “voice of American agriculture,” and occasionally lampooned as the daily reporter of pork-belly prices, and other exciting news.
Lois Larson Hall
Oct 3, 2009
I’m getting bored this afternoon I guess and re-checking all the comments posted during the past few months. I have a book, have had it for quite a few years and if I remember right it’s called Our Norwegian Heritage (the book is in Arizona or I’d check to be sure that’s the exact title), by a retired Lutheran pastor, Alan (?) Fiske I believe. It’s filled with vignettes about famous Norwegians, past and present. There’s a chapter in the book about Orion Samuelson. I’ll double check title and author for sure when we go back down to AZ in January.