Anna Ofstedal and Mathias Gronvold (Part One)
Anna Ofstedal and Mathias Gronvold (Part One)
Anna Ofstedal was the youngest of the seven children of Anders and Agate who survived to adulthood and immigrated to America. This web page is the story of her life in America with her husband Mathias Gronvold and their five children. The second page on Anna and Mathias is about their children as adults. Above is a map of Garden Township, Polk County ca 1915. Even though by then Anna and Mathias had moved into Crookston, it shows where Mathias grew up - his father Lars is shown in Section 23 - and Anna’s brother Rev. Andreas Oefstedal is shown in Section 17. Mathias and Anna were married in Andreas’ church.
Anna (listed as “Annie” in one Gronvold family history) was born in Norway, likely at the Ovstedal Farm, on June 16, 1864. Anna was the name of her father’s mother – and she was the second child of Anders and Agate to be named Anna, the first being the family’s first-born – who died sometime before this Anna, the second Anna, was born in 1864. Only Andrew survived longer among those seven siblings who lived to adulthood and immigrated to America. I have been unable to find an identified photograph of Anna.
Anna is listed with her parents in the 1865 census at the Ovstedal farm, age two, and is shown again with them in the 1875 census as born in 1864 in Evanger Sogn. Anna was shown with her family as emigrants from Bergen at age fourteen in 1878, and was confirmed in the Lands church west of Zumbrota, Minnesota the year after they arrived in 1879. She is shown in the 1880 census in Kenyon in Goodhue County, age fifteen, a servant to the Stian S. Gledie family. I have yet to locate her in the 1885 Minnesota state census.
Polk County marriage records show that Anna Ofstedal married Mathias Gronvold on December 13, 1894, he being of Garfield Township and she of Garden Township. [Future records list the immigration date of Matthias and his family as 1881. Matthias was shown in the 1885 Minnesota state census in Garfield Township in Polk County, with his parents: Lars Gronvold, 48, and Anna Gronvold, 53, and Mathias Gronvold, 13, all born in Norway with their parents born in Norway. The Gronvold family history states that he was the only child of Lars and Anna. The map above of Garden Township shows both Lars Gronvold and Andreas Oefstedal, and was posted at the header for this page.] Anna and Matthias are shown in Godfrey Township in the 1895 and 1900 censuses, but by 1910 the are shown in Crookston – where they are shown in 1920 and where Anna is shown by herself in 1930.
Mathias, born May 2, 1872 in Thorpstuen, Hedmark, Norway and died April 21, 1941 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Anna had five known children: 1) Alvin Leonard Gronvold, born October 1, 1895, Godfrey Township, Polk County, Minnesota, and died August 1, 1989, Quincy, Plumas County, California, married first June 24, 1920 in Lawton, Oklahoma, Jo Short, born 1896 in Oklahoma, died 1932, married second November 28, 1958 in Yerington, Nevada, Ida E. “Billie” Hogan, born April 4, 1906 Quincy, Plumas County, California and died June 17, 1993 in Chico, Butte County, California, no children; 2) Arnold Theodore Gronvold, born in Godfrey Township, April 5, 1897, and died November 26, 1981 in Santa Barbara, California, married on October 20, 1920 in Polk County, Minnesota, Tillian Evelyn Vacura, born in Minnesota August 25, 1900, and died on February 5, 1994 in San Diego, California, one child; 3) Mildred Dolores Gronvold, born November 27, 1901, and died August 18, 1905, probably Polk County, Minnesota; 4) Martin Norvald Gronvold, born September 18, 1903, Crookston, Polk County, Minnesota, and died June 17, 1987 at Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota, married August 1, 1929 at Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota, Marie McCormick, born December 29, 1907 at Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota, and died March 3, 1977 at Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota, six children; and 5) Ralph Armand Gronvold, born October 2, 1907, and died on June 21, 1971, does not appear to have been married or have had children.
From a Gronvold family history it appears that Mathias moved with his job from Crookston to Saskatoon in the 1920’s, and appeared to live apart from Anna from that time forward. I will include the brief Gronvold history section on them. Anna died in Crookston in 1931, and there is an obituary for Mathias in an Edmonton newspaper ten years later. The history states that Matthias passed through Crookston at least once after Anna’s death.
It also appears that two of Anna’s children lived in California at the same time as my grandfather Carl Ofstedahl – Arnold in Santa Barbara, and Al in Plumas County – but I have no indication that they and Carl were in touch.
The introductory text above states that Anna was confirmed at Lands Church in 1879, a reference that initially came from the records of the late NAHA Archivist Forrest Brown. That confirmation record is at the right, and is the first known record of Anna since she stepped off the ship from Norway in New York in August 1878. It correctly lists Anna’s birth date as June 16, 1864, lists a baptism a few days later, and lists her parents as Anders S. Ofstedal and Agata Andersdatter. A note in the column to the left indicates that these are records from multiple churches somehow, and the column to the right indicates this record for Anna is from the Lands Church. The online version of the record lists this record as from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota.
However, there seems to be one flaw. The confirmation record lists 1878 at the top. That is not right. It would not have been possible for Anna and her family to be in Minnesota in time for this class. 1879 is the correct year for this class.
Above is “Anne’s” reference in the Kenyon, Goodhue County, Minnesota 1880 census, showing A. Anne Ofstedal, 15, a servant to the Stian S. Gledie family, taken on June 24, 1880. She was shown as born in Norway with both her parents born in Norway and was not listed with any other member of the Ofstedal family. It is possible the first names were reversed in this record, so she was Anne A. (for Andersdatter). I cannot find Anna in the 1885 Minnesota state census, making the next record in which she appears to be her Polk County marriage record in 1894.
Above is the marriage record of Mathias Gronvold and Anna Ofstedal from the records of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minnesota - and a second handwritten copy of the civil marriage record in Polk County from my 1995 trip to the Polk County court house. The date from the civil record for their marriage is December 13, 1894 – but it is only clear that it is December 1894 from the church record. Rev. Andreas Oefstedal – Anna’s older brother - was very present for the couple in this period. He was the pastor of the Little Norway Lutheran Church in Polk County while the Gronvolds were in that congregation. He was the minister of the Trinity Church in Moorhead when Matthias and Anna were married there. And his wife Mathilde was one of the two witnesses (vidner) listed in the church record – implying that Andreas may well have performed this ceremony. The other witness listed in the record was Agatha Ofstedal, Andreas and Anna’s mother. Their father Anders died two years before this wedding. It also appears that there was an eight year age difference between Mathias and Anna - she was born in June of 1864 and he was born in May of 1872.
Information about Anna’s new husband Mathias Gronvold and family . . .
Matthias was from a branch of the Gronvold family that came over from Norway between 1867 and 1881. Jens Nelson Gronvold had five children - three sons, John, Christian, and Lars, and two daughters, Maren and Karen. I was given a brief Gronvold family history that was prepared in conjunction with Gronvold family reunions years ago. That history shows that the family lived in Thorpstuen, Hedmark, Norway. The son John came over in 1865, and eventually made his way to Decorah, Iowa. He married and got to Polk County, Minnesota in 1880. Lars came over in 1881 (according to future census records), having married Anna Springarn. They had one child, Matthias. They settled in Garfield Township, Polk County, where Lars and Anna lived out their lives. They were members of the Little Norway Lutheran Church, where Andreas Oefstedal was pastor. As shown above, Matthias married Anna there in 1884. I will include some documents are Lars and his family below to tell the story of that side of the family - including some excerpts from that Gronvold history.
From the Gronvold Family History . . .
In 1999 I met Larry Hansen, who lived in Saskatchewan, on the internet. He was the grandson (as state in the letter from him to the right) of Matthias’ cousin. He has a Gronvold family history, which he provided. It listed the original immigrants - and had a paragraph on Matthias and Anna, who was called “Annie” in that description.
At left is the introduction to the Gronvold Family History sent by Larry Hansen. Johan Gronvold, whose descendants were at the heart of this history, was the brother of Lars Gronvold, whose son was Mathias.
The piece from the Gronvold history below details Lars - brother of Johan - and lists his only child Mathias. It mentions that Mathias married “Annie Ofstedal, a sister of the first minisiter in the Little Norway Church (Andreas). It lists four sons, but lists Arnold as “Henry”. It fills in the missing pieces of what happened to Mathias, and he and Anna did not live together for the last years of their lives.
Records of Mathias’s father Lars Gronvold . . .
Larry Hansen provided the photo at right of Lars Gronvold and his wife - shown at right.
Above is the BLM Tract Book - Minnesota Volume 9 - Range 44, Twp 147, Section 23. Shown in Section 23 are both John Gronvold and Lars Gronvold. John took out his homestead papers in April 1883 and Lars in April 1884 - completing the process in 1891. John filed for 120 acres and Lars for 40 acres. This is the first record I have found for Lars after immigration.
At left is from the 1885 Minnesota State Census, which includes Lars, Anna, and a thirteen year old Mathias. They are shown in Garfield Township, post office Aldal, Polk County, Minnesota, taken on June 29, 1885. All three are shown as born in Norway.
Shown at right is the Nov 1886 Confirmation Record for Mathias in the Little Norway Lutheran Church in Polk County - where Rev. Andreas Oefstedal, Anna's older brother, was minister at the time. Mathias is shown to have been born on May 2, 1872 – and listed with him is his father Lars Gronvold. This is the one place I have found a clear listing of Mathias’ birth date.
Below is Lars and Anna Gronvold’s 1900 census entry, showing them in Garden Township, Polk County, Minnesota. It shows Lars as a farmer. It shows Anna as six years older than Lars. It shows that they immigrated in 1881, and were married ca 1874. It confirms that they only had one child. Lars was shown in the same place in the 1910 and 1920 censuses, and Lars was shown as a widower in both.
Below is my handwritten note of Anna Gronvold’s 1907 death from Polk County records, which I gathered in my 1995 visit to the area.
Below is from a 1916 map of Garfield Township in Polk County. Lars, as refrenced above in the family history and BLM Homestead record above, has 40 acres in Section 23. By now, his brother-in-law Andreas is shown as having land in Section 17. Both were close to the town of Fertile. This map is posted as the header on this page.
At right is a news article from the Plentywood Montana Producers New of Friday, July 26, 1918.
Above is Lars Gronvold’s death record abstract from Polk County death records, which I copied on my 1995 visit there. I have not found a Find-A-Grave record for either Lars or Anna.
Back to the Story of Mathias and Anna and their Family . . .
The article at right from the Minneapolis Star Tribune of Friday July 28, 1893 lists some postmasters appointed in the Upper Midwest States. Mathias Gronvold is listed as appointed in Valley, Minnesota. This post office was in Garfield Township in Polk County – about four miles east of Fertile, just on the west side of the township border with Garden Township. In the Gronvold history, it was listed that family members later bought this post office ca 1900. This appointment would have been the year before Mathias married Anna.
Matthias and Anna were shown the year after they were married in the 1895 Minnesota state census in Godfrey Township, Polk County, taken in June 1895. Mathias was shown as a clerk in a general store.
The first two children of Mathias and Anna were born in 1895 and 1897 in Polk County. These were hand-copied records I made from the actual Polk County birth records when I visited the courthouse there in 1995. They indicate that both children were born in Godfrey Township, and that Mathias and Anna were their parents – the record of Arnold’s birth lists the birth location of both parents as Norway.
Mathias and Anna are shown above in the 1900 census in Godfrey Township, Polk County. He is shown as M. Gronvold, 28, a painter, born in Norway – shown as having immigrated in 1871 but having been in the country 19 years – pointing to the correct immigration year of 1881. They are shown as married five years and Anna is shown as having had two children with two living in 1900. With them are sons Alvin, four, and Theodor (as Arnold was listed in some records), age three. A boarder, Louise Mosefin, 23, in enumerated with them.
Above are records I hand-copied in 1995 at the Polk County Courthouse from birth records. The unnamed girl was Mildred, shown below with her parents in the 1905 census, weeks before she died. In all three records, Mathias is shown as a painter and Anna as a housekeeper. These births round out the Mathias and Anna Gronvold family.
The 1905 Minnesota state census, the last of the mid-decade censuses enumerated by the State of Minnesota, shows Mathias and his family in Crookston, Polk County. The actual record was quite wide, so it is broken up above – headings and entry shown. This is the one record where Mildred is shown by name. Mildred is buried in Oakdale Cemetery – where she would later be joined by Anna and Ralph Gronvold – having died on August 18, 1905 – just over six weeks after this census entry. Mathias is shown as a painter – just as in the birth records for his children. Once again, Arnold Theodore is shown as Theodore in this entry. For some reason Martin, born in 1903, is not shown in this entry.
The 1906 Crookston City Directory - excerpted above - has an entry for Mathias Gronvold, showing he was employed by the Maplebay Wind Stacker Company, and resided at 231 4th Avenue. In a 1907 edition of the “Farm Implement News”, the Maplebay Wind Stacker Company of Crookston, Minnesota is listed as a “straw stacker”.
The Gronvolds are shown above in the 1910 census in the Third Ward of Crookston, Polk County, Minnesota, in an entry taken in April of that year. While it is not shown clearly above, they are living at 143 Fourth Avenue, which matches the entry below from the 1911 Crookston city directory, but is slightly different from the 1906 city directory reference. Matthias appears to be listed as Mathew. Arnold is not listed as Theodore. All four sons are alive by this year and shown in the entry.
There is a Theresa Jacobson, 8, listed as an “adopted daughter”. This is interesting, for I do not find her in any other record with the family. Teresa is shown in the 1905 Minnesota census in the Third Ward in Crookston, with a fairly large Jacobson family – headed by T. C. (?) Jacobson, 45 (?), a laborer born in Wisconsin with both his parents born in Norway. With him is his wife Mary, 39 and seven Jacobson children ranging in age from nineteen to two. The next youngest of them is Tarssa (sic), 4, born in Minnesota with both her parents born in Wisconsin. In the 1910 census, Mary is shown with some of these children in Sullivan Township, Polk County, as a widow. I have not yet found a further record of Teresa, and hope that over time some record will come forward that completes this story.
An excerpt from the Crookston United Lutheran Church Confirmation Records for 1910, shown above, written in Norwegian, include Alvin Leonard Gronvold. He is shown on the second line of the 1910 class – dated May 29, 1910, showing he was age fourteen and a half, born October 1, 1895 in Maple Lake, Polk County, Minnesota. He is the son of Mathias Gronvold and his hustru (wife) Anne. It was one long entry – shown above in two sections. I am going to include confirmation, high school, and draft records for each of the sons as part of this family web page – and then have a second web page that includes sections on each of the sons which will cover the period of their adult life and information about their families.
The 1911 Crookston City Directory entry for Mathias Gronvold is to the right, showing he was employed by “the Maplebay”, which probably means the Maple Bay Wind Stacker Company, which was listed as his employer in the 1906 directory. Mathias was shown as residing at 143 4th Avenue N. No other Gronvold is listed in the directory.
Above is a 1913 Crookston United Lutheran Confirmation Record for Arnold Theodor Gronvold. Arnold is shown as age 16, the son of Matthias Gronvold and Anna. The record also shows that Arnold was born in Maple Lake, Minnesota, and that his class was in English.
At left is Alvin Gronvold’s photo from the 1914 Central High School (Crookston) Year Book. This photo is used as the header on the adjoining page about Mathias and Anna’s children.
Also from the 1914 Central High School yearbook is the photo at right.
Martin Gronvold's 1918 confirmation record in Crookston First English Church. He is shown in the May 1918 class as Martin Norville (sic) Gronville, born on September 18, 1903.
Above is front and back of Alvin Gronvold's September 1917 World War I draft registration. It confirms other information already known, and also lists prior military service in a Minnesota unit. Additionally, he is listed as slender, medium height, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Above is front and back of Arnold Theodore Gronvold's June 1918 World War I draft registration. It confirms other information already known, and lists his employer at Sims Auto Company in Crookston. M. Gronvold is listed as his bather. He is listed as having brown eyes and brown hair.
Above is the 1920 census entry for Mathias, Anna and family Fourth Avenue in Crookston, Minnesota. All four sons were enumerated with them, indicating that the older two came back home to their family after military service. Mathias is shown as a machinist in a machine shop, Alvin is shown as a bookkeeper, and Arnold is shown as a garage machinist. Mathias is shown as immigrating in 1881 and Anna in 1878 - which matches what is known about the immigration of each.
Alvin and Arnold were both shown in the 1922 Polk County World War I book. The cover page is to the left, and their biographies are shown below. One significant fact is here – Alvin was mustered out at Fort Sill, Oklahoma – which explains how he ended up there and was married there in 1920.
Shown at right is Ralph Armand Gronvold's 1922 Confirmation Record from the First English Church in Crookston. He is shown as born on October 3, 1907.
The Footprints of Yesterday was a Crookston Minnesota Centennial History Book published ca 1979, with the cover page shown at left. There were two references to the Gronvolds in it. One on p. 108, is of Martin Gronvold being on a championship high school sports team. That section is shown just below A second entry is of a photo of a 1931 softball team, that includes Ralph Gronvold, is shown on the brief section about Ralph later in the second web page about the Mathias and Anna Ofstedal Gronvold children.
Above is the 1930 census entry for Anna Gronvold in Crookston - she was enumerated with her son Ralph, who was shown as a newspaper printer and appears to have been at the 4th Avenue address. By now, as per the Gronvold History section on Mathias and Anna much earlier on this page, Mathias had gone to Canada for work.
Anna Gronvold's Polk County 1931 death record as copied by me during my 1995 visit. Anna was mentioned as a survivor of her brother Andreas in his obituary the previous year.
Above is Mathias Gronvold's obituary, from the April 23, 1941 issue of the Edmonton (Alberta) Journal. His name was misspelled, and he had four living sons rather than three. He is shown in the Find-A-Grave database as Matiao Gronvold, buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Edmonton born in 1872 and died in 1941. According to the Gronvold family history earlier on this webpage, Mathias only returned to Crookston once in the years after his wife’s death.
This completes my history of Mathias and Anna Ofstedal Gronvold and their lives . . .
This page includes items about their children while they were growing up. The second page on Mathias and Anna is actually about their children and their lives after they left home. Included is a brief paragraph on their child Mildred, who died young.