This is a letter written by Clifford Stanley Julian Dravland July 13, 1981. He lived at Mission San Jose, Fremont, California.
To: Chuck Dravland
Spokane, Wa. 99207
Dear Chuck,
It was nice to hear from you. Mary and I have not seen your mother and father since 1950 when we saw them at your grandmother and grandfather’s home in January 1950. We did see your grandmother Elinda every year and we have seen your Uncle Mickie and Aunt Millie a few times since then.
The Dravlands have multiplied since the three families came to America from Norway. I have met most of my cousins, but there are many I haven’t seen in 65 years. We are spred all over these United States now. My sister Gladys has great grandchildren now and we expect our first great gradchild in January, so the sixth generation will be exploding on the scene soon. I’m sure there are well over a thousand living here from the first three families that came here from Norway.
The first family to come over was Kristian and Ellen Bergeta Dravland and a baby son John who was one year old. This was 1881, one hundred years ago. It took 54 days by boat from Norway. I suppose there were stops along the way. Anyhow it was a long voyage. I was told by my grandmother or mother that the boat hit an iceberg and that was probably why it took so long. Anyhow they must have been hardy people to stand the trip.
Kristian and Ellen Bergeta settled in Starbuck, Minnesota where Kristian was a carpenter. He also farmed 40 acres there. Five of their eight children were born there: Fred, 1883; Carl and Georgina, 1888; and Elizabeth, 1890. From there they traveled by covered wagon to South Dakota and homesteaded about a half mile from where the town of Rosholt would spring up in 1892. Two sons were born on the homestead: Algot, 1894 and Edwin, 1897.
John was born in Norway in 1879 and never married. I think your father might remember him. John died about 1950.
Fred had four children: Effie and Clarence were born to his first wife. Clarence died about two months ago at age 73. Fred married Mable Dravland (Ole’s daughter) in the 1920’s. ( Fred and Mabel were first cousins.) They had two children: Fred age 47 and Audrey age 45.
Annie married Nels Stovern. I’m sure you must have met her. She and your grandmother Elinda were very close. Annie lived into her nineties. Your dad can tell you more about her than I can. Annie had two children: Orlander (Lonnie) and Lloyd. I’m sure your father new them well. Lonnie is still living. He is the eldest of the third generation at 76 years of age. Ole’s grandson Alfred is a close second.
Carl, your grandfather, was next. I’m sure you know he had a twin sister Georgina (Gina), who died at age 16. I know you know your Uncles and Aunts, but I want to list Carls children: Fern, Ralph, Milton, and Mildred.
Georgina (Gina). I’ll just add a few lines about the death of your grandfathers twin sister. It was very sad. My mother told me the story when I was about ten years old.
Gina was a young lady of 16 when she came down with a sore throat. It wasn’t considered too serious. It got to a point where she could barely swallow so the doctor was called. Gina remarked to my mother (her sister Elizabeth) that they had waited too long. When the Doctor came, he scraped Gina’s throat with a spoon to open a passage. After he left, Gina asked for her father to talk to him. He went into the room where she was laying. She told him she was dying and asked him not to play cards that night. When he came out of the room he was crying. He told the brothers and sisters to go into see her and ask her forgiveness for any wrong they had done her. Each one went in one at a time and asked for forgiveness. She died that night.
Krist did not play cards that night. He also quit drinking from that night. He died shortly after. My mother thought he died from having quit drinking so suddenly. I, myself, think he probably died from the grief he suffereed from losing a daughter at age 16. It was part of the cause of his death I’m sure. I don’t know if if you ever heard this story. I think it is a poignant one. I can’t even write about it without choking up. My mother told me many stories about growing up on the farm.
My mother, Elizabeth, was the next child of Krist and Ellen. She had: Clifford Stanley Julian, 70 yrs. Old; Evelyn Pearl Bertha (who would have been 69 yrs. Old; she died about ten years ago); Gilmore, who would have been 67 in November died in 1965; Gladys is 65; Ruby is 63; John Richard (Dickie) is 53; and Kenneth (Bing) is 48.
Algot was the first of the Dravlands to be born on the homestead. When he grew up and and married he went to Canada and homesteaded. (About 35 miles west of Estevan, Sask.) Editors Note: There is a school and cemetary named after Fred Dravland west of Ounger, Sask. See Fred’s history for pictures of the monument to the school. He later moved to North Dakota and farmed there. He had quite a few children. I can’t remember their names. Some are living in Arizona and some in Washington state. See Algot’s history to get a complete listing of his children.
Edwin or Ed, the youngest of the family of Krist and Ellen, was born on the homestead in 1897. He served in WW I. Your grandfather served in the Army. Ed married Lillian Vane of Minnesota. Your grandmother new her well. Ed and Lillian had two children. They are Donald, age 56; and Patricia Ann age 54. I am sure your grandfathet knows themquite well. He probably has told you that Donald was the South Dakota State golf Champion in 1952.
Ole was the second Dravland to emigrate from Norway. He and his wife and one son, Jonas, and twin sister Ann, came to America in 1889. They settled first in Duluth, Minnesota. Ann and a brother died there befor they reached school age. Ole and Anna homesteaded in North Dakota in 1892. Their children were: Jonas, Olga, Mabel and Albert.
Jonas, the oldest, was born in Norway in 1882. He married Teresa Uttgaard and had nine children that grew to adulthood. One boy died in infancy. Their children are: Alfred, age 75; Oswald, 73; Ted.,70; Alice, 65; Sidney, Allen, Viola, Vernon and Ann (Ann Geiszler). If you go to the reunion in North Dakota this month you can meet them and you can learn more from Vernon who has been studying about the family. He spent a year in Norway on sabatical from the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta.
Olga. I met Olga once. She lived in Montana. She married Ted Rothe. See Olga Rothe’s history for a listing of her family.
Mabel Married Fred Dravland. They had two children (mentioned above under Fred): Fred, age 47; and Audrey, age 45.
Albert was the youngest son of Ole. He died last year, the last of the second generation in America. He was a WW I hero and was decorated by both the United States and Italy. He received the Medal of Honor from the United States. He married Lillian Fagerlie of Duluth. They have four boys, the oldest is Alvin(named after Albert’s army buddy, Sargent Alvin York) about 53. He farms four miles west of Bottineau, North Dakota. There are three other boys: Ordeen, Lyle and James.
The third family to emigrate from Norway was Storker Dravland and Barret Maria Vegstad in 1892 They brought three children with them. One was my father, John, who was eleven at the time, Annie who was nine years old and Amanda who was eleven months old. They homesteaded in North Dakota and had a farm next to Ole’s. By the way, Jonas, who was the father of Kristian, Ole and Storker also homesteaded a farm in North Dakota. However, he returned to Norway and died there in 1908.This Jonas, called Gommer Jonas or Old Jonas, was the grandfather of Ole’s son Jonas, called Little Jonas in Norway. Storker and Barret are buried in the Snaasen Cemetary near Estevan, Sask.
The children of Storker and Barret Maria are:
John Bendik, my father, was born in Norway in 1880. He married Elizabeth Dravland, Kristians daughter. I’ve already mentioned John’s children under Elizabeth’s name above. My father and mother were first cousins.
Amanda was born in 1891 in Norway and was only eleven months old when she left there with her parents. She married a man named Ed Mehus. They had one child, LeRoy, who died a few years ago. He would have been 69 years old now. He had five sons so I imagine if you went to Edmonton, Canada and looked in the telephone book for Mehus you would find a relative. Editors note: Amanda married Eivind Mehus who I suppose was called Ed. They had a child Arthur Edgar Mehus who had four children. See the history for Amanda and Eivind. I do not have a record of a LeRoy Mehus.
Selmer, the youngest child of Storker and Barret Maria was born in North Dakota around 1900. He Married Edith Parson and had three sons. He died the day after his third son was born. His widow married Mr douglas. He was a fine man and adopted the three boys who now use the Douglas name.
Well, now I have given you all the information I can on the first two generations of Dravlands. I looked up the earlier Dravlands when I was in Norway. You can get all the information from the archives in Trondheim, Norway. I did, but the names changed by adding “son” or “datter” to the first name of the father, as they did not all have the same first name it got confusing. Anyhow, all our forebears came from the Snaasa area and most were farmers. Ellen Bergetta, Kristians wife came from Levanger, which is a fairly large town about 80 mile south of Snaasa.
I might mention that, Bengt(Bernt), the younger brother of Kristian, Storker and Ole stayed in Norway and took over the Dravland farm. It is now called the Heggland Farm.Three of his sons are still living. They are Magnus, Karstan and Roald Heggland. Heggland is the name of our relatives in Norway. Magnus, Karstan and Roald are cousins of your grandfather Carl. They are the last of your grandfathers generation. Of course there are many more relatives in Norway. We have many relatives that are the family of the spouses of these four men.
Say hello to your mother and father and all the family there.
Love,