4. Lars KNUDSON*
(1) was born on 20 Jun 1843 in Aal, HALLINGDAL,
NOR. He was christened on 26 Mar 1844 in NORWAY. He immigrated on 17 Jul 1868
to Al, Hallingdal, NOR. He emigrated on 6 Aug 1868 from New York City, NEW YORK,
NY. He died on 27 Oct 1937 in Detroit Lakes, BECKER, MN. He was buried on 30
Oct 1937 in Lake Eunice, BECKER, MN. Lars Knudson was born at Aal, Hallingdal,
Norway on Jun 20, 1843. He was a very handsome man, six-foot-two inches tall
and was very straight. He had black, curly hair, very intenses blue eyes and
a big dimple in is chin. He had large, well-shapen hands.
Lars grew up in Aal and Nes. As a young man, he went to Christiania (now Oslo)
and worked in a shipyard, where after a time, he was promoted to nail king, which
placed him just below the ship contractor in rank.
When through with this, he joined the military service. One episode he talked
about took place one summer at Gardermoen when the entire army was collected
there for inspection. (Gardermoen is the military base about 30 miles north
of Oslo.) Crown Prince Oscar, who later became King, was there. He had a lively
personality, took his cap and put it on a stick and held it high above his head
and cried that Hallings must come forward and show what kind of fellows they
were. Hallings were well known for the Hallingkast: how high they could stretch.
Many young men came forward and nade an attempt, but none could reach the Prince's
cap. But then came Lars Knudson, made a leap and kicked the cap far beyong the
mark. The next morning, Prince Oscar commanded the Third Battery, to which Lars
belonged, to march in full parade in front of his tent.
In 1868, Lars came to America. He sailed on the Erin from Liverpool. He landed
in New York on August 6, 1868 and immediately went west. He went by railway
and ferryboat drawn by horses. He worked on the railway in Illinois and Wisconsin
during the winter and in the spring of 1869, he came to St Paul, MN. He had
heard there were good wages in the rock quarries near Duluth. So, with 11 other
men, he set out on foot, but only 3 of the 12 arrived. In the fall of 1870,
he went to St Cloud, the end of the station of the Northern Pacific Line. With
two others, he went on foot to Oak Lake. Near where the town of Audubon was
later built, he took his homestead and spent the rest of his life there.
Lars was a poet and wrote a poem "Can You Forget Old Norway?" He was
a school board member for over 20 years, a town supervisor, assessor and town
clerk. He was one of the founders of Hallinlag (the Society of Americans with
Roots in Hallingdal) He was married to Olianna ENGEBRETSDATTER* on 18 Aug 1873
in Detroit Lakes, BECKER, MN.
5.
Olianna ENGEBRETSDATTER*(2)
(1) was born on 3 Oct 1856 in TOTEN, NEAR SMURVIKA,
NORWAY. She resided Toten, NORWAY in 1865 in Ovrenengen, Toten, NORWAY. She
died on 27 Sep 1937 in Audubon Twp., BECKER, MN. She was buried on 30 Sep 1937
in Lake Eunice, BECKER, MN. Olianne Johannson was born near Gjovik, Toten, Norway
on October 3, 1856; up where the midnight sun is no curiosity. She was 5'8"
tall and was very straight until later years. She had soft, silken hair, medium
sandy and cark hazel eyes. She had a peaches and cream complexion. She was
so slender that at sixteen years, she could reach around her waist with her hands.
Her father died when she was young. She came to America with an older sister,
Inger Marie, and her husband, Jacob Fagerlie and son, Ole. They arrived in Quebec,
Canada in 1870. Olianne was 14 years old. She worked in various places until
the spring of 1872, when she went to a farm which bordered the Knudson place
to be with her sister, Inger Marie, who was dying. She met and married Lars
Knudson when she was 16 and he was 30. Judge Rassman performed the ceremony
in Detroit Lakes, MN. Children were:
i. Bertha
Marie KNUDSON(2) was born on 10 Jul
1874. She died on 16 Aug 1911. Betha took music lessons and learned to play
the organ as a child. She also helped raise her younger siblings. Bertha attended
Detroit Lakes High School, but did not graduate. She went on to teach at home
and in Calloway, MN. She suffered from scarlet fever after her brother, Ivan,
contracted it. Bertha went on to marry Martin Broughton. She became ill and
died after seven weeks of confinement .
ii.
Carl Ludwig KNUDSON(2) was born on
3 Oct 1875. He died on 4 Jun 1904. Carl Knudson never married. He contracted
scarlet fever as a child. He attended Detroit Lakes High School, but did not
graduate. In 1894, Carl took a trip to Shipley, Florida. He joined a group
intending to colonize in Georgia, but he was stricken with the fever then prevalent
in Georgia. Carl returned home. In 1896, he went to Montana, but after a year,
he returned home and worked in the Audubon Hardware store. About 1900, Carl's
illness turned into Tuberculosis and he left for Arizona and Colorado. Carl
returned in May of 1904. He did two weeks later on June 4, 1904.
iii.
Emil Harold KNUTSON was born on 14 Aug 1877. He was a Grocer Merchant between
1900 and 1950 in Miles City, CUSTER, MT. He died on 24 Mar 1967 in Miles City,
CUSTER, MT. He was buried on 28 Mar 1967 in ST PETERS CEM., DETROIT LAKES, MN.
iv.
Oscar KNUDSON was born on 2 May 1879. He was a farmer between 1900 and 1919.
He died on 21 Mar 1918 in Barney, RICHLAND, ND.
v. Ivan
KNUDSON was born on 25 Jul 1881. He died on 9 Mar 1923.
vi.
Ingvald KNUDSON was born on 15 Sep 1883. He died on 7 Jul 1928 in LONG LAKE,
MN.
vii.
Alf Cornelius KNUDSON was born on 26 Dec 1886. He died on 31 Aug 1938 in
Detroit Lakes, BECKER, MN. He was buried on 3 Sep 1938 in ST PETERS CEM., AUDUBON,
MN.
viii.
Anna Louise KNUDSON was born on 4 Jan 1888. She died about 1979.
2 ix.
Berthold Magnus Rudolf KNUDSON*.
x. Herman
Wilhelm KNUTSON was born on 2 Apr 1892. He died on 27 Dec 1949. He was
buried on 31 Dec 1949 in Custer Co Cemetery, Miles City, CUSTER, MT.
xi.
Selmer Nicolai KNUDSON was born on 1 Apr 1893. He died on 4 Sep 1975 in
LONG PARK, MN. He was buried on 8 Sep 1975 in ST PETERS CEM., BECKER, MN.
xii.
Elma Alvina KNUDSON was born on 19 Nov 1895. She died on 11 Oct 1967. Marriage
date: Stock-raising Homestead Final Proof document. Billings, MT.
xiii.
Elvira KNUDSON (Private).