Anders (Andrew) Ofstedahl and Maria (Johnson) Ofstedal
Andrew Ofstedal was the second son and second child who lived to adulthood of Anders Ofstedal and Agate Lavik, born February 9, 1850, most likely while his parents lived at the Meland farm. He was named Anders at birth, the name of his father and his mother’s father, but used the name Andrew not long after he had immigrated to the United States with his brother Simon in 1870. Records of him and his family in Norway, before he immigrated are included in the page on the Ofstedal family ancestry and about his parents on this website. Andrew married Maria Ovstedal (daughter of John, from an unrelated branch of Ofstedahls), but she used the name Maria Johnson in their marriage record. Maria was born in November 1853 in Norway, the daughter of Johannes Torkelson Ofstedal and Ingeborg Ingebrigtsdatter Bolstad.
Andrew and Maria had fourteen children with eleven living to adulthood, were married in Mower County, Minnesota – and lived in Goodhue County, Minnesota; Brown County, South Dakota; Beltrami County, Minnesota; and then Dickey County, North Dakota. Andrew’s granddaughter, Marian Matson (daughter of Andrew and Maria’s son Albert, she passed away in January 2015), once attended my mother’s family reunion and told the story that when statehood came to the Dakotas – their house was on one side of the state line and their barn on another. Given that they lived on each side of the state line in that area – it was quite possible.
When they first homesteaded in South Dakota, they lived in Palmyra Township in Brown County – the township abutting the state line with North Dakota. At the time they moved there, it was in Dakota Territory. They were part of a group that formed a congregation in Aurdal, which was just into North Dakota. The first pastor was Nils Ofstedahl, Andrew’s brother, who was in Aberdeen, South Dakota at the time. Nils even filed for a homestead by Andrew, but didn’t follow the process to the end. Andrew and Maria are buried in the Aurdal Cemetery, having come back to the North Dakota side of the area in their later years. Also homesteading in the same area were some of Andrew’s relatives from the Lavik and Flatekval side of the family.
The 1900 and 1910 censuses list Maria with fourteen children, eleven living in each of those years. I have been able to identify thirteen children, so there is likely one unidentified child who died very young. As best as I can identify, Andrew and Maria had fifty-eight grandchildren.
Their thirteen identified children were: 1) Agatha, born May 22, 1875, died on October 16, 1962 in Cass County, North Dakota married in 1897 Herman Stai, born October 21, 1872, died January 27, 1924, six children; 2) Ingeborg Marie, born May 11, 1877, died after 1880; 3) Anders (Andrew Hogan), born October l7, 1878, died April 6, 1958 in Canada m. Olga Konstance Natalie Johnson, born May 16, 1893 and died March 24, 1974, five children; 4) Johannes “Johnny”, born Sept 5, 1880 and died June 23, 1947, m. Alma Hagen, born April 10, 1898 and died June 8, 1958, one child; 5) Bertina (Bertha) Ofstedahl, born October 6, 1882 and died August 15, 1967, married Peter Samuel Kabrud, born January 18, 1874 and died May 11, 1937, eleven children; 6) Bernt (Benjamin or Bennie - twin to Anna), born October 27, 1884 and died March 3, 1951, never married; 7) Anna (twin to Bennie), born October 27, 1884, died sometime after 1884; 8) Nels, born February 27, 1887 and died on May 5, 1959, never married; 9) Dora, born May 7, 1890, died July 2, 1972, on July 1, 1916 married Albert Perrier, born on November 28, 1892, died on August 16, 1968, ten children; 10) Clara, born May 7, 1890 and died July 31, 1974 in Elllendale, North Dakota, married on May 13, 1908 at Wilton, Minnesota, Lester Sylvester Watkins, born on October 6, 1886 and died February 15, 1968, Clara was a twin of Dora’s, eleven children; 11) Ingelbert “Albert”, born in South Dakota on March 16, 1892, died on June 16, 1972, buried at Aurdal Cemetery at Forbes, North Dakota, married Sylvia Mabel Helena Strand on December 15, 1916, she was born December 25, 1895 and died in 1970, four children; 12) Anna Mathilda, born in February 1894 in South Dakota and died on January 28, 1958, in Stettler, Alberta, Canada, married Thomas “Tom” Havig, born in 1887, died in 1959, six children; and 13) Ingeborg (Mary) Ofstedal, born in Brown County, South Dakota on January 13, 1896, died on May 31, 1976 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, married Torvald Jorgen Nelson on May 9, 1917 in Twin Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, he was born in Norway in 1887 and died in 1953 in Mont Nebo, Saskatchewan, Canada, they had six children.
Andrew died in January 1937 and Maria in February 1938. While the widow of John lived a decade past that, and the widow of Andreas lived two decades past that – Andrew outlived all of his Ofstedahl siblings. Of his children, some remained in North Dakota – while others went to Canada, which is why there is a strong branch of the family there. In fact, the Ofstedahl family directory, prepared in the 1990’s, listed states and provinces where Ofstedahl family descendants now lived – and Saskatchewan and Alberta were just behind Minnesota for the locations where most descendants lived - and most, if not all, of the Canadian Ofstedal descendants were descendants of Andrew and Maria.
There was a photograph of Andrew and Maria and one of their children in the Lavik photo collection, and I have received other photos from Andrew and Maria’s great-grandson Dallas Loken. Dallas was able to confirm the one photo from the Lavik photo collection, since a copy of the same photo existed in his family. I have included those photos and other records follow, to try to tell the story of Andrew and his family. One of the photos of Andrew and Maria and a few of their children has been colorized and is in the header at the top of this page.
Andrew Makes His Way in America . . .
At the left is the Mower County Minnesota Marriage Record for Andrew Anderson and Maria Johnson – married in the City of Austin on February 13, 1875. I believe that this record was difficult for some researchers and descendants to find - because it did not contain the surname Ofstedahl anywhere. For me, it took awhile to understand that Maria was from another Ofstedahl line, but had that surname as well. Also, I could not understand Mower County as the location - since Andrew did not appear to have lived there - but this is where Maria’s family lived.
Below Andrew and Maria are shown in the 1875 Minnesota census in Udolpho, Mower County. He is shown as Andrew Anderson, age 25 and she was shown as Mary, age 21 - both born in Norway with their parents both born in Norway. They were married in February in Mower County, Andrew’s 25th birthday was on February 9, the census was taken in May, and Maria’s 22nd birthday would be in November - which all matches.
To the right is an image of Andrew and Maria ca 1875, provided by Descendants Carlinne Trembley and Dallas Loken. It appears to be one of those photos where the images were taken separately and integrated into one photo.
At the left is a biography of Andrew in Norwegian, from the book of immigrants from Voss - which also had biographies of his brothers.
Andrew Ofstedahl Family Worksheet, prepared by Forrest Brown, Late Archivist at the Norwegian-American Historical Association. He did these sheets for certain early Norwegian emigrant families in the Goodhue County area, and made entries from church and other records he was able to access. There are sheets for the Ofstedahl siblings, as well as Rasmus Lavik – and these are helpful affirmations of research on these various family members.
To the left is a closeup of part of Kenyon Township, Minnesota in an 1877 Goodhue County map book, which is also posted in the web site pages of Rasmus Lavik and Simon Ofstedahl. Located close to each other are Andrew and Simon, as well as Peder Tuff – the father-in-law of Rasmus and Simon. Simon’s land was purchased from Rasmus Lavik shortly before this map was made. I have found deed records for Rasmus, Simon, and Peder in Goodhue County land records – but I have yet to find a deed record for Andrew. He is shown in Kenyon Township in this 1877 map and then again in the 1880 census. He could have been listed in records as Andrew or Anders Anderson, just as he was both in his 1875 marriage record and the 1875 Mower County, Minnesota census.
Above is the baptism record for Ingeborg Marie, daughter of Andrew and Marie in the Gol Moland Church record, Kenyon, Minnesota, showing that Ingeborg was born on May 11, 1877 and baptized on the following July 15. Ingeborg was the name of Maria’s mother. I have not found many church records online that include Andrew and Maria. This is a rare one. This daughter is shown as M. Ingebor in the 1880 census record below, and it is the last record I have found for her - she appears to have died sometime after that. Among the sponsors at the baptism are listed Simon Anderson Ofstedal and Kari Peterdatter Tuff - brother and sister-in-law of Andrew.
Above are Andrew and Maria in the 1880 census in Kenyon, Goodhue County, Minnesota. Andrew is shown as a farmer, and Maria keeping house - with their first three children - Agatha, M. Ingebor, and Andes with them. Shown in the same entry are Andrew’s parents, Anders and Agatha. Andrew is shown in the 1877 Goodhue County map book, with his brother Simon near him in Kenyon. Also there before 1877 were his uncle, Rasmus Lavik, and the father of the wives of Rasmus and also Andrew’s brother Simon - Peder Tuff.
Andrew and His Family Move to Dakota Territory . . .
While the Palmyra Township history states that Andrew and Maria arrived in 1883 - the story of their anniversary, the Norwegian Voss history above, and others, say they arrived in 1884. In the 1900 census, a seventeen year old child (born ca 1883) was shown as born in Minnesota, and a child age fifteen (born ca 1885) was shown as born in South Dakota.
Above is the original homestead record for Dakota Territory, Township 128, Range 65 – which is shown in Volume 43, page 194 of Bureau of Land Management Tract Book records - which includes Andrew Ofstedal and other familly members. This is in Palmyra Township in Brown County – in what became the state of South Dakota. Below is a 1911 map of Palmyra Township shows the same Township and Range. Andrew A. Ofstedal is shown in two entries in the land record above, and filed for each one in October, 1884. He paid off his one claim in 1889. On the same page is his brother Nils Anderson Ofstedal, whose claim was cancelled. Also on the page was Ole Stai, whose son married Andrew’s daughter. Knud Flakoll – who was likely Knute, a brother of Agate Lavik Ofstedal and Rasmus Lavik, and uncle of Andrew, is shown on the page. Anna K. Flatekval, a child of this Knute is listed on this page – and married Clarence Fulton not long after, and is shown in the 1911 map by A. O. Ofstedal. A fourth sibling in the Lavik family – a sister of Agate, Rasmus, and Knute and an aunt to Andrew – Maria, married Johannes Flatekval, and their son Halvor J. Flatekval (Flatekval is spelled slightly differently) is shown above as well. I have found no further record of him after this land record. There is also a Meland on this page. So many family members filed for homestead lands in this area at the same time – and tell the story that families settled new lands together.
In Brown County (South Dakota) Deed Book Nine is the receipt at right - showing that Andrew A. Ofstedal paid two hundred dollars against his claim shown above. The amount matches the listing in the homestead record above for Section Eight. He is listed as being “of Dickey County”, which became part of North Dakota in 1889.
At left is a receipt for Andrew A. Ofstedal from Brown County deedbook 27, dated December 1889, which is for the homestead claim in Section Nine. While it states Aberdeen, Dakota - South Dakota entered the union the month before.
The above listing if from the March 1985 edition of the Brown County (SD) Tree Climber. The Tree Climber is the newsletter of the Aberdeen Area Genealogical Society. Andrew Ofstedal is shown as submitting his second papers (final) for citizenship in Brown County on October 18, 1889 - with witnesses being N. A. Giere and Peter Henon. If I get the original record I will substitute it in at this location.
This deed, from Brown County (South Dakota) Deedbook Thirty-One is dated 1890, and shows Andrew purchasing 160 acres in the Northwest section of Section Six. This matches the account of Andrew’s granddaughter Marion Matson, who said that they had land right on the State Line. The north part of this parcel is on the state line.
At right is a record from Deed book 32 in Brown County, which records Andrew A. Ofstedal’s homestead in section nine. It appears to have been dated in 1890 - Benjamin Harrison is listed as president, but it also does not appear to have been recorded in Brown County until 1898.
At left is a deed from Andrew A. Ofstedal and his wife “Mary” of Brown County, South Dakota, selling land in Section Eight. It was dated in January 1893 and recorded the next month.
At right is a record from Brown County Deed Book 46, which is the recording of Andrew Ofstedal’s homestead in Section Eight. The original record lists the date of 1887 and Grover Cleveland as President, but it appears that it was not recorded with Brown County until 1899.
Andrew filed for a third homestead in the Palmyra Township area, in Section 13, dated 1889 and finalized in 1901. That record is shown above.
In Brown County Deed Book 55 is the recording of the homestead in Section 13, matching the original filing shown above. It was dated 1901, listing Theodore Roosevelt as President, and was filed in 1902.
The Brown County deed at right, shown in Deed Book 59 and dated in January 1902, shows Andrew A. Ofstedal and wife “Mary” selling 160 acres of land in Section Nine.
The Brown County deed at left, also shown in Deed Book 59, shows A. A. Ofstedal buying land in Section Eleven in 1901.
This history of Palmyra Township, shown above and for which I do not have the source, make several references to the Andrew [Right above it states “Andres” rather than Andrew] Ofstedal family. This is the one place where it is stated that the Ofstedals arrived in 1883 rather than 1884. It offers some information about his children who remained in the area and states that most of the family members moved to Canada. This account also links the residents of Palmyra Township to the Aurdal Congregation just across the state line in North Dakota. The family names of early settlers - mentioned in the last paragraph - includes Flatekval, Strand, Stai, and Ofstedal. This history also explains why Andrew homesteaded in Section 9, but moved to Section 12 - which explains the different section the Ofstedals lived in on the Palmyra Township plat map posted below. The listing of section numbers matches a lot of the property records listed above.
The Historical Data Project, established in April 1936, was sponsored by the Works Progress Administration Division of Women's and Professional Projects and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The purpose of the Historical Data Project was to gather biographical and historical information on early settlers in North Dakota. Helen Strand of Dickey County was interviewed - and in her file was the “List of Early Settlers” to the right. It includes Andrew and Mrs. Andrew Ofstedahl (sic) of Forbes, North Dakota.
This Andrew and Maria Ofstedal biography is from a history of the town of Frederick, which was slightly to the south and east of where the Ofstedals originally homesteaded in Brown County. I believe this came to me from Dallas Loken. There are two interesting photos, and a list of the children - which, together with two that died in infancy, matches the list at the beginning of this page. The article has a reference to the Aurdal Church as well as the fact that they never owned a car. It also confirms the move to Section 12. Even more interesting is the reference that Andrew and Maria briefly lived in Santa Barbara, California for a time. The photo of the family included is of Andrew and Maria’s 60th wedding anniversary, and a copy of that photo provided by Dallas Loken is posted later on this page.
The photo above is of Tjorbor Lavik, with the family of Andrew and Maria Ofstedal - Andrew being Tjorbor’s nephew. The photo was provided by Andrew descendant Dallas Loken and was enhanced and colorized through a “MyHeritage” website process. Tjorbor was listed in some sources to have died ca 1896, but is now believed to have lived with her brother Rasmus and family in North Dakota near the turn of the century. It is possible that she lived with Andrew - or visited while living with the Rasmus Lavik family, not far away. It is unclear who is in the photo from the Andrew Ofstedal family. Since Andrew and Maria’s last child was born in 1896, so it is likely that this was in that period in the late 1890’s.
Above is the 1900 census entry for Andrew and Maria in Palmyra Township, Brown County, South Dakota. They are shown with the eleven living children - although one, Agatha Stai, is listed as married and shown with her two children but without her husband Herman. The entry confirms Andrew’s immigration in 1870, and shows him as a farmer. Maria is shown to have had fourteen children, which is the same information shown with her 1910 census entry. As stated in the beginning of this page, only thirteen of her children are clearly identified, so there is likely a fourteenth who died in infancy. This is also the census that shows the first four children born in Minnesota, and the other seven born in South Dakota - showing a dividing line in the 1883-1884 period, confirming their move from Minnesota to Dakota Terrritory in that time. There was an 1885 territorial census for Dakota Territory, but Brown County appears not to have been included. There was an 1895 census in the State of South Dakota, but all but a few counties entries were destroyed - and the Brown County 1895 state census was one that does not survive. One of the few not destroyed was Charles Mix County, which is where my grandfather Carl Ofstedahl moved, married, and lived after World War I - so I am grateful to have the entries for the family of my grandmother’s family who homesteaded there. I would have liked to have the record for Brown County, which would have included Andrew and Maria and their family.
Above is a school attendance and work record for students in Palmyra, Brown County in the 1902-03 school year. Among the students are Andrew and Maria’s children Albert, Mary, Annie, Dora, and Clara Ofstedal. All the students on this list were from just three families - Strand, Helland, and Ofstedal.
To the right is a 1905 map for Palmyra Township, Brown County, South Dakota. Andrew and Maria probably left between time of the school records above and the census in Beltrami County below. There are still Strands and Kabruds there, and in the 1911 map below - the Ofstedals returned to Section 12 at some point.
Above is Andrew and Maria’s entry in the 1905 Minnesota state census, where they are shown in Grant Valley, Beltrami County. Andrew is a farmer and their three youngest children - Albert, Annie, and Ingeborg are shown with them. The census had strange markings and was not a good copy. This period is the only time that the Ofstedals were not in the same area of the Dakotas from 1884 until their deaths in the late 1930’s. Beltrami County is about 275 miles northeast of Palmyra Township - and about seventy-five miles eaast of Fertile, Minnesota. It is not clear why they chose to move here.
The article on the left is the Forbes Section of the Oakes Times of December 3, 1908. There is a mention that the far of Andrew Ofstedahl was recently purchased - and the mention describes it briefly. It is unclear whether this is the farm of Andrew Sr. or Andrew Jr.
Above is the entry for the 1910 census in Grant Valley, Beltrami, County, Minnesota. In the entry are four children - the three that were with them in the 1905 entry - Albert (listed as Ingebert here), Annie, and Ingeborg. Also with them is daughter Clara. Also there was William Berg, 4, who appears to be listed as a grandson. I am not sure whose child - of their children - that is. In 1915, Minnesota did not have a state census, but North Dakota did. Andrew and Maria are not shown in the 1915 North Dakota state census - they are back there by 1920, so they must have still been in Minnesota in 1915.
To the right is a map of Palmyra Township, Brown County, South Dakota in 1911. It appears that Andrew and Maria Ofstedal had left for Beltrami County, Minnesota - but there is an A. O. Ofstedal in Section 12 - where Andrew used to live - along with Strands and Kabruds in the northern part of the township.
To the left is a Dickey County deed, dated September 29, 1917, in which A. A. Ofstedal of Ellendale purchased 160 acres of land in Dickey County.
A few Andrew and Maria Photos . . .
There was one photo of Andrew and Maria from the Lavik Photo Collection, and a few sent by family members. It’s hard to date them, and there are some houses in the few photos - but I thought they might be of this period, so they will be here:
This photo was Item #289 in the Lavik Photo Collection. For the first few years I had this photo, I was stumped as to its identification. Then Dallas Loken, great-grandson of Andrew and Maria Ofstedahl, identified this photo as “of my great grandparents, Andrew and Maria Ofstedahl along with Guri Davidson Ofstedal along with what could be her husband (Nels) and sons Arnold and Gerhard”. Then, Don Perrier, a second descendant of Andrew, identified the people in the photo as: “Andrew Ofstedal and Maria Johnson Ofstedal standing with Nels, Gerhard, Guri and Arnold. These are relatives of Maria’s, who was an Ofstedal of a different line.” Nels was Maria’s brother. Nels and Guri must have had children late, because in 1920 Arnold was 11 and Gerhard 9, Nels, 70 and Guri 52. This would appear to be a little before 1920, given the age of the children.
This photo on the right, came by way of Andrew descendant Dallas Loken. They are clearly portraits of Andrew and Maria from the above photo of a larger family group - and superimposes each individually. The date on the photo was ca 1925, and I don’t know where that date comes from.
Above is a photo of Andrew and Maria and likely three of their children, provided by Dallas Loken. I put it through the photograph enhancement and colorizing process of MyHeritage. The photo is undated. This photo is at the head of this page.
At right is a photo of Maria Ofstedal, undated. This also had been in a scrapbook, and was provided through Dallas Loken.
Above is the entry for the 1920 census in Ellendale, Dickey County, North Dakota. Andrew and Maria are shown with their son “Nelson”. Nels is shown as age 32 and single - he never married.
At right is a 1920 Brown County deed from Andrew and Maria to their son Albert in Section 11 of Palmyra Township. Andrew and Maria are listed as of Dickey County and Albert is listed as being of Ellendale.
I looked many different ways for Andrew and Maria in the 1925 North Dakota state census, and I could not find an entry for them. It turns out it was because they were in Santa Barbara, California! Below are three city directory entries for them, as well as one entry showing them on the voter registration rolls there. Thanks to descendant Don Perrier for pointing this out. The Frederick history posted earlier on this page states that they ran a hotel for a few years in Santa Barbara, California. I did not take that seriously until Don pointed out these entries.
Above top left is the 1923 Santa Barbara (CA) City Directory, Top right is from the 1924 Santa Barbara City Directory, and Bottom Left is from the 1926 Santa Barbara City Directory. Bottom right is from the 1920-1928 voter registration list for Santa Barbara. A few items of interest - the Ofstedals’ address is listed as l727 Chino Street in all four records, Marie (sic) is listed as his spouse, she was not listed as registered to vote in that record, and Andrew was listed as a “Farmer” in the voter registration records.
Above is the entry for Elm Township (Ellendale was originally written and crossed out), Dickey County, North Dakota, 1930 federal census. Andrew and Maria were shown as being ages twenty-five and twenty-one, respectively, at the time of their marriage. There was no 1935 North Dakota State Census.
In 1935, Andrew and Maria celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary with all eleven of their children present. There’s an article that was sent by Dallas Loken above. There is a photo with the news article, but I was sent a better copy. The photo is included in the local history earlier on this page. The newspaper in which the article appeared was not identified. The article is significant because it lists where all eleven children were living in 1935. The article also mentions that the Rev. Rudolph Oefstedal attended - Rudolph being the son of Andrew’s brother Andreas, and indicating that the different branches were still in touch during this period.
Andrew died on January 13, 1937 and Maria died on February 13, 1938. Andrew and Maria are buried in the Aurdal Church Cemetery - the church being previously referenced, particularly in the Palmyra Town history — where many Palmyra residents attended, even though it was just across the state line between North and South Dakota. Andrew’s brother Nils is shown as the original pastor, and also shown is A. K. Flakoll – who would be a first cousin of Andrew, the son of Agate’s brother Knute - in the entry below from the two-volume set detailing early Norwegian-American Lutheran churches and their history – published in 1918, and containing church information through 1916. Dallas Loken sent a photograph of the Aurdal Cemetery sign with the church in the background, also shown below.
To the right is the tombstone in Aurdal Cemetery in Dickey County for Andrew and Maria Ofstedal.
This Brown County deed at left is from Maria Ofstedahl to all her living children, dated in November 1937 - deeding her interest in the land in Section Twelve to her children for one dollar. Andrew died in January 1937, and the deed was recorded days after Maria died in February 1938. She signed with an x. The deed is significant because it lists each child, and where the child lived at the time. I also have a record from the probate book of a discharge record, listing each of these children, but this record seems more succinct and detailed.