Dortha Pedersen was born on the small island of Foldøy, seven kilometers off the coast of Jelsa, Norway, on July 21st or 23rd 1831. She was the fifth of six children born to Peder Valentinson/Faltinson and Dorthe Sofia Andersdatter. Jelsa is a shore town in the district of Ryfylke in Rogaland county Norway. She was baptized on August 14th in Jelsa and it is possible she was baptized in the church seen in the picture below. This church was built in 1647 after the medieval stave church was torn down. The first church was founded in the 12th Century and was an important church center for hundreds of years. I have been able to find baptism records for Dortha along with her brothers and sisters (Faltin, Bronla, Ellen, Anders, and Martha). Life was hard in Norway prior to the 1840's, with considerable economic uncertainty, and that was true in Dortha's young life. She lost her mother when she was six years old and there is a story that has been passed down that her father was a drunk and once, after drinking too much, he fell in a ditch and froze to death. There is no way to know if that story is true, but she did lose her father when she was around 14. I had often heard stories that she was an orphan and others have heard that she was put in an orphanage for a time. We do not know what happened to her from the age of 14 until she emigrated to the United States in 1871 at the age of 40. That seems quite old to not have been married or have a family prior to coming to the U. S. She did have two, possibly three, older brothers that had already emigrated to the state of Iowa prior to 1870. That is probably the reason she left Norway- to be with them in Iowa.
Jelsa church picture taken from Google Maps
Map of Foldoy Island
She left Stravenger, Norway on April 27, 1871 on the German-made ship called "Undine" to make the six to seven week journey across the Atlantic. There were over 300 immigrants on board bound for North America. I had heard a story growing up that she was a stowaway, but finding the ship's manifest with her name on it put that story to rest. Another story that was told about her trip to America was that she had to help bail out water from the leaky boat. I did discover from notes about the voyage that the ship was "sailing ballast" From what I can tell, if a ship is not carrying heavy cargo it needs something heavy to keep the ship, in high winds or waves, from capsizing. If the ship was only carrying immigrants and not cargo, they would need something like water in some type of compartment to provide enough weight. My guess is that there might have been to much water and the immigrants had to help "bail out excess water" This is just my theory of where the story of "bailing out water" came from. There was also one last story I was told, which was that Dortha also helped cook on the ship. That might be true if other immigrants paid her to prepare food they had brought for the voyage. (Back then steerage passengers had to bring enough food for the trip)
Other notes about the trip said that there was 38 cabin and 332 steerage passengers. Several of the passengers that embarked the ship in Stavanger were sick with a fever and had to be put ashore before sailing. There was one birth and four deaths during the voyage. When the ship arrived off the shores of Canada, it had to be put in quarantine station on Gross Isle because seven of the passengers were sick with fever. The ship was detained from June 5th-June 11th until it was discharged and it proceeded on to Quebec. Gross Isle was one of several small islands in the St. Lawrence River. All ships were made to stop here and provide proof that no passengers had either cholera or typhus. Once the ship was cleared the Undine's Captain, J. Thorsen sailed the ship to Quebec.
https://www.geni.com/photo/view?album_type=project&photo_id=6000000039257791232&project_id=30935
Below you will find documentation of Dortha's voyage
You will notice above that Dortha was listed as a girl even though she was 40 years old. I am told that they would write girl to mean "unmarried". Was she a "mail order" bride? If so, she didn't marry Christ Miller until two years later.... so who knows
Once Dortha reached Quebec, she made her way to Iowa by train. More than likely she lived with one of her brothers. At some point she met Christian Miller/Muller and they were married in Marshall County Iowa in 1873. Christ Miller had a farm just west of Jewell, Iowa. They had only one child, Anna Matilda Miller born in July 23, 1874. Before they moved to Lexington, Oklahoma, they sold their farm and were living in the town of Jewell. (This is based on the 1900 census) In 1901 they moved to Lexington, Oklahoma to a farm just north of town.
Also based on the 1900 census, it showed that she could not speak English, so they must have spoken only Norwegian in the home. (I have heard that her husband Christ knew several languages) I also learned after listening to an interview of Carrie Olson Henderson, that Dortha was crippled. I am not sure if that was something she was born with or there was some sort of accident.
Here is a painting by Carrie Henderson. This shows the farm Dortha and Christ Miller had near Lexington, Oklahoma. I believe that is Dortha at the gate and Christ can be seen in the orchard. Looks like she is welcoming her daughter and family.
This dresser above was Dortha Miller's and she brought it from Iowa to Oklahoma.
Dortha didn't live long after moving to Oklahoma. She died just six years later on July 14, 1907, just a few months before Oklahoma became a state. I wish we knew more about her. Did she have a family in Norway? What happened to them? Why did she come to the United States? What was her favorite meal to cook? What did she think of Iowa and Oklahoma? So many questions I would like to ask her.
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