Ole O NUNDAHL, Jr

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V6, P419 As Ole O. Nundal

Notes:

Not living with his parents in the 1910 census.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 8 Nov 1857, Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Birth and christening information from IGI. Parents shown as Ole Throndsen and Kari Mathiasdr.

According to the Bergen emigration records, he departed from Bergen for the U.S. on May 24, 1882, still unmarried, leaving behind two women with his two infant daughters.

Farming in Franklin Twp in the 1900 census.

Shown in the 1900 census as having come to this country in 1882 (and his wife and daughter in 1883).

In the 1905 Wisconsin state census, the Ole O. Nundal household consisted of Ole O., 49, Brita, 45, Clara Morkri, married daughter, 23, Ole, 19, Soren, 17, Martin, 14, Oscar, 19 (sic, should be 9), Mabel, 6, and Tillman, 4.

He had a 160 acre farm in Section 17 of Franklin Twp.

His entry in Find A Grave, originally created by Susanna Parrish and maintained by Deir:

Ola Olsen Nundahl

B. 15 Sep 1857, Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, d. 28 Jul 1928, Vernon County, Wisconsin.

Ola Olsen Nundahl was the son of Ole Throndson Nundal, who was one of the five brothers and 3 sisters born to patriarch and matriarch Thrond and Brita on the Ekra farm in the Nundal Valley. As the second eldest of the family, Ole Throndson Nundal had inherited the tenant rights to Ekra when his eldest brother Anders died in 1863 as a young father. Ole then raised his own family at Ekra, including son Ola Olsen Nundahl, and another son Sever Olsen Nundahl.

Ola and his father Ole Throndson Nundal were both born on the isolated mountainside Ekra farm in the tiny Nundal Valley just outside the town of Ardal, located at one of the eastern end branches of the great Sogne Fjord in Fjordane county, Norway. Sever's paternal grandparents Thrond and Brita had raised a family of 5 boys and 2 girls at Ekra. The farm sat on a valley hillside, with its residents waking every morning to the sound of waterfalls that tumbled down the valley walls into a beautiful aquamarine freshwater lake, the Ardalsvatnet, displayed in a delightful panoramic scene just below the farm. There was a small dock at the water's edge, and the only way to the market town of Ardal about one mile away was by small boat.

Ola Olsen Nundahl, age 25, emigrated to the U.S. in 1882, leaving behind two women with newborn daughters who were his first two children. He emigrated to Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin within a few months of both births, perhaps to escape family "troubles". His younger brother Sever Oleson Nundahl had just emigrated to the same area at the age of 18 in 1880.

Ola conceived his first child, Elisabeth "Lizzy" Olsdatter Nundal, with a young neighbor woman who had grown up on the nearby Hagen farm in the Nundal Valley - she was his paternal first cousin *Brita Anfinsdatter Nundal*, the daughter of his father Ole's younger brother Anfin. Baby "Lizzy" was born on the Hagen farm in the Nundal Valley in January of 1882.

Complicating matters for himself, Ola's second baby arrived just 3 months after the first. In April of 1882 just prior to his emigration to Wisconsin, Ola became the father of Klara Tomina, who was born not far from the Nundal Valley, somewhere in the flatland farm area of Ardal, Norway to mother *Brita Sjursdatter Asperheim*. Ola married her, sometime either before or after she followed him to Wisconsin with her baby Klara a year or so later in 1883-84. They raised their subsequent seven children in Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin. Possibly there were a total of 8 additional children, including the unconfirmed Ole Jr. seen on the list below, who was born in 1886 and died of unknown causes at age 22 in 1908, and buried in the same Kickapoo cemetery as many other family members.

Ola Olsen Nundahl's and Brita Sjursdatter Asperheim's eight children were given the surname Nundahl:

1. Klara Tomina Olsdtr. 1882
2. Ida Olsdtr. 1884
3.(Ole Olason Jr. b. 1886, died in 1908 age 22)
4. Soren Olson 1888-90 (spouse Millie (Erickson) Nundahl; one child)
5. Thea Olsdtr. 1890 (possibly infant)
6. Martin Olson 1893
7. Oscar Olson 1896
8. Mabel Olsdtr. 1899
9. Tilman Olson 1901

Ola's firstborn Elisabeth "Lizzy" Olsdatter Nundal was left behind in the Nundal Valley on the Hagen farm of her birth. She was initially raised by her single mother Brita, along with Brita's parents Ingeborg and Anfin (who was Lizzy's father Ola's paternal uncle). Mother Brita soon left the Hagen farm of her birth to marry. In 1894, when Lizzy was 12, her grandparents emigrated with her to Iowa, following their daughter Brita, who had emigrated and settled there with her husband and several children. Lizzy then lived with her mother Brita, stepfather, and her many half siblings.

Whether this Iowa family associated with Lizzy's father Ola and his family in Wisconsin is unknown. All of Ola's 8 other children were also Lizzy's half siblings. Ola's father Ole and his wife Kari, who were also Lizzy's paternal grandparents, had emigrated to Wisconsin in 1886 when Lizzy was just 4 years old, after they had finished raising their family on the Ekra farm in the Nundal Valley.

Both Lizzy's maternal and paternal grandfathers, Anfin and his older brother Ole (Ola's father), had been born and raised at the Ekra farm in the Nundal Valley. Anfin's and Ole's pioneer brother Johannes lived until sometime after 1900 in Iowa with many grandchildren from his two daughters. Their pioneer brother Sjur had died young in 1883, leaving descendants in the Kickapoo Valley of Wisconsin. The 4 brothers' sister Gertrude had also emigrated with her husband to Iowa in 1888 with half of her children, at the age of 54.

Ola Olsen Nundahl, lived not far from his brother Sever Olsen Nundahl according to the 1920 census. Among Ola's children was Tilman Olason Nundahl (b. 1901, d. 1971) who was just a year or two older than Sever's Tillman Oliver Nundahl. The two cousins may have spelled their names slightly differently. Ola also had a son Soren Olason Nundahl, who had a son by a first marriage named Myron (who used the surname Erickson), and a daughter by a second marriage named Beatrice (see obit below).

Beatrice 'Bea" A. Nundahl (1916 - 2010) Obituary
Beatrice A. Hillbo, age 93 of Viroqua, Wisconsin passed away on Oct. 9, 2010, at her home. She was born in Soldiers Grove, on Dec. 22, 1916, the only child of Soren and Millie (Erickson) Nundahl. She was confirmed at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Westby and on June 22, 1940, she married Arvid R. Hillbo at Our Savior's. He preceded her in death on Oct. 24, 1946. Bea was a graduate of Westby High School, Vernon County Teacher's College, UW-La Crosse and attended Winona State University. For more than 35 years she taught in rural schools in Vernon and Crawford counties, retiring from Viroqua Area Schools in 1982. She was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Viroqua, where she sang in the choir, served on the council and was an active church member. Other memberships include Vernon County Retired Educators, Vernon Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and the Vernon County Historical Society. Bea is survived by her two children, of La Crosse and Madison, and four grandchildren. She is further survived by one niece. In addition to her husband, parents and in-laws, she was preceded in death by her special Hoffland and Methum cousins. Services will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Viroqua, with burial in Southwest Prairie Cemetery.

Ole married Brita Sjursdatter ASPERHEIM about 1883 in United States. Brita (daughter of Sjur Magnusen ASPERHEIM and Ingleit Reiarsdatter) was born on 16 Jan 1860 in Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 9 Jul 1937 in Vernon County, Wisconsin; was buried on 12 Jul 1937 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V18, P41 As Bertha Nundahl
• Baptism: 5 Apr 1860, Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Shown in the 1900 census as having had 10 children, 7 still living. In the 1910 census, those numbers are 9 and 5.

She is probably the Britha born in Lærdal on January 16, 1860, and baptized April 5th. That Britha was the daughter of Sjur Magnussen and Ingeleif Reiarsdatter of Asperheim. That family lived on the Gjelseng farm in Årdal in the 1865 census.

Her obit in the La Crosse Tribune, Tuesday, July 13, 1937:

“Liberty Pole. Funeral services for Mrs. Ole Mundahl (sic), one of the pioneer residents of this community, were held Monday at the home and Kickapoo Lutheran church, the rev. H. T. Haagenson officiating. Burial was in the adjacent cemetery. Mrs. Mundahl passed away Friday at her home after a lingering illness. She is survived by four children and several grandchildren. Her husband preceded her in death some years ago.”

We know that at least five of her children survived her. According to Judi, the exact number is six: Clara, Ida, Soren, Martin, Tilman, and Mabel.

Notes:

Shown in the 1865 Norwegian census with his wife and 8 of their children. The municipality/parish is Årdal i Sogn og Fjordane and the name of the domicile is Ækren. The school district is Nundal, Fardal og Ve. Living with the family were Ole’s parents.

The farm is also called Ekra. Arne Moen’s site has a brief history of this Nundahl farm at:

Ekra

Ole Throndsen and Kari were not living on Ekra in the 1900 Norwegian census. Arne Moen says that Ole and Kari emigrated in 1890 and sold the farm to Anders Throndsen who then gave it to his son Trond Andersen.

In the 1900 U.S. census, Ole was a widower and lived with his son Mathias in Vernon County, Wisconsin. That census shows his age as 78, born July 1821. He came to the U.S. in 1886.

He’s not living with Mathias in the 1905 state census so it’s likely that he had died by that time.

Ole married Kari Mathiasdatter on 29 Oct 1848 in Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Kari (daughter of Mathias THOMASEN and Anna JORGENSDATTER) was born about 1823 in Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; was christened on 27 Mar 1823 in Lærdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 22 Jan 1892 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Her first name is shown as Shana (Carrie) in Sever and Bertha’s marriage record.

Arne Moen calls her Kari Matiasdatter Øvstetun.

In the marriage record for her son Mathias, she is called Kari M Mithun.

A Kari Trondson is shown in the Vernon County death index as dying on 22 January 1892.

Sjur married Ingleit Reiarsdatter. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to Arne Moen, Thrond got the Ekra farm from his father in 1815.

Deir says that Thrond also had a daughter Gertrude who married an Oren and had two sons, Thomas and Ole, both born in 1868, who took the surname Thompson in the U.S.

Thrond married Britha Olsdatter in 1816. Britha was born in 1792 in Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Arne Moen calls her Brita Olsdatter Holsætre and says that she and Ole had 7 children.

Notes:

Married:
date according to Arne Moen

Mathias married Anna JORGENSDATTER. Anna died in Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]