Our Family Genealogy
Two cousins have done serious ancestry work on
different branches of our family. One has the data online the other does not.
My father’s mother was Sigrid Halvorsdatter Graven, raised by an aunt and
uncle, as a young adult she joined her parents, Halvor and Annie Graven,
(Annie’s pictures hangs at the foot of our guest bed) at Lac qui Parle, MN. It
was there she married Lars Andreas Negstad, who she knew from Norway. The late
Manfred Awes, son of Annie (Graven) Awes, (Annie was my father’s cousin) traced
the Graven family back to the 1600s. Unfortunately his work predated computers
and was largely on 3X5 cards. The last I knew of his records they were with his
sister in Texas.
Many years ago, in the 1960s,
I visited Manfred and Annie at their home in Madison, MN. Manfred never
married. My memories of the visit are fairly sketchy though we did talk about
genealogy. I also had a visit with his sister some time after Manfred had died
but do not remember much about it. This is how I know she had his research.
Cousin, Dorothy Bergh
Steinberg, with her late husband, Jay, have done very extensive genealogical
work on the Bergh family. Fortunately it is all on a computerized data base and
goes back several generations into the 1700s. There are thousands of persons
listed in the data base, tracking various branches of the family.
Dorothy, the last surviving
of the eight children of Oscar and Julia Bergh, says she has retired from
genealogy. Dorothy was born July 1, 1925, at Cereal, AB., Canada, where her
father was farming. Dorothy recently informed me that South Kasson Lutheran
Church will be celebrating 150 years this summer. The church was founded by our
great grandfather, Ole Anderson Bergh. Dorothy is hoping to attend the
festivities.
I came across this bit of
interesting data on my father, Albert, in Dorothy’s material.
“Edith Bergh...married Albert
L. Negstad,...Nov. 28, 9139 in St. Paul, MN (parent’s home), (he was) born Dec.
22, 1883 in Riverside Twnsp., Lac qui Parle, Co., MN, (son of Lars Andreas
Negstad and Sigrid Halvorsdatter Graven) died March 2, 1969 in Brookings,
SD/Brookings hospital, buried March 5, l969 in Sinai, SD/Sinai Lutheran church
Cemetery, occupation Farmer. Albert came to the Dakota Territory with his
parents via oxen pulled covered wagon from Lac qui Parle, MN in 1885. His dad
bought the homestead rights for the old home place for $500. Albert grew up in
homespun clothes made from material from his mother’s spinning wheel. His first
ready-made clothes were purchased for his confirmation at age 16. Albert got
his first train ride in 1904 when he obtained free passes from two different
railroads. The railroads, Milwaukee Road and Chicago Northwestern, were in a
promotion fight over the relocation of the state capital from Pierre to
Mitchell. Albert was a member of his local school board, a member of the local
grain elevator board for 50 years and a 54-year member of the Sinai Bank board
of directors.”
Dad, Albert, was one of a
group of men who organized the new bank in Sinai, SD., after the bank crash and
thus began his term on the board. My brother, Richard, was on the board at the
time of his death. Brother, David, succeeded him on the board and served until
the bank was sold.
Lars Negstad’s (Lars died of
diabetes in 1929) estate lost significant money when the old bank failed,
though I never heard how much. Fortunately $28,000. had been withdrawn to buy
160 acres of land so that each of Lars’ four heirs could inherit that much,
i.e., 640 acres or a square mile. Lars had done very well with his $500.
purchase of homestead rights though Dad should have some of the credit
With the depression, land
values also plummeted but all of Lars’ children were able to keep their land.
In 1968 my brother Richard, bought the 160 acres (quarter section)that had been
purchased with money from the estate. He bought it from Uncle Henry for $28,000.
It took that many years for the value to recover after the depression. Wayne
Negstad now owns the property which lies west across Highway 81, from his home
on the original homestead quarter.
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