The life of Elsie Olson Jondall
Elsie Olson Tormundsdatter/Rorvik Jondall
The picture below shows the Skulehaugen farm where Elsie grew up. The house would have set just left of the road. The house in the background was built much later and one of our many cousins lives there.
Skulehaugen Farm
Little Elsie was baptized at the local Lutheran church when she was two days old on September 9, 1860. The current church was built in 1872 and is near the village of Husnes. The church she was likely baptized in was located about 1.5 miles down the road. At that site a church had existed since the middle ages and the earliest existing records date back to 1337.
Husnes Lutheran Church
. Tormund and Else Olson are buried just to the right of the church. Their grave stones were removed several years ago.
Elsie's Baptism Record
At some point she met Ole Larson Jondall, who was from an adjacent parish. We don't know how they met, but he might have been working in the area, or there was a family connection or maybe they met through a church activity. We do know that they were engaged prior to him emigrating to America in 1882. After a year, Ole sent for her and must have bought her ticket. The Norwegian data base states that she left Bergen on April 24, 1883. I had thought she traveled with her brother Anders, but when I looked he left a day later with another shipping line. The document shows that she left Bergen on the National Line. After some research I believe that she left on the National Line's ship called the Canada because I found an arrival document that listed an Else Rorvig arriving into NYC on May 16th. At that time the crossing was taking about three weeks. So the times match up. However the document lists her as a German, and going to Ohio instead of Iowa. The age was off just a bit also. Even though the information is slightly off I still believe this is Elsie Olson/Rorvik. I believe the intake person didn't write down the correct information. Rorvig or Rorvik is not a German surname and is only found in Norway and Denmark. Also it would be easy to mix up Iowa and Ohio especially when you are dealing with accents and she didn't know the language. Can you imagine being 22 years old, leaving your country and everything you knew? Making a long trip across the ocean, packing all the food you would need and then arriving in New York City not knowing the language and managing to find the correct train to take you across an unfamiliar land to a small town in central Iowa. What courage it would take to immigrate.
Norwegian Document recording her departure from Bergen on April 24, 1883
A picture of the shop "Canada" that Elsie crossed the Atlantic
http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=cana1
The ship Canada was an iron steamship built in 1863 and could cruise at a speed of 10 knots. It was built to hold 100 first class passengers and 750 steerage passengers. Of course Elsie was one of the steerage passengers. Its typical route was from Liverpool, England to New York City. They must have had some kind of commuter lines running from various points to bring the immigrants into Liverpool before making the crossing to NYC. It would take about three days to travel from Bergen to Liverpool and then about another three weeks to make the crossing. This ship was finally scrapped in 1894.
Just a few months after she arrived in Story City, she married Ole Jondall on Novermber 16, 1883 at St. Petri's Lutheran Church. They would continue to be life long members of the congregation.
The old St. Petri Lutheran church were they were married
St. Petri Lutheran Church today
Elsie and Ole had seven children: Lewis, Thea, Selius, Henry, Lena, Elsie and Marie.
Lewis was born in 1884 and died in 1923. He was married and had five children. He was a farmer and carpenter. He died young from diabetes. His children were Harold, Floyd, Pauline, Kenneth and Luella.
Thea was born in 1885 and died in 1967. She was married and had one child named Theodore Barnes. She worked as a housekeeper before she got married. She is one of the Jondalls that visited Oklahoma in the 1950's.
Thea Jondall Barnes
Selius was born in 1888 and died in 1931. He was a farmer and had farms in both Iowa and Minnesota. He was married and had one son named Vernon. He died from diabetes at a young age.
Henry was born in 1891 and died in 1979. He never married and was a carpenter and farmer. He is another Jondall that visited Oklahoma in the 1950's.
Henry Jondall
Lena was born in 1892 and died in 1952. She was married and had three children, Eleanor, Marjorie and Mary.
Elsie (Ella) was born in 1895 and died in 1974. She was married to Clarence Jacobson but did not have any children.
Marie was born in 1903 and died in 1973. She was not married and didn't have any children.
The Jondall Family around 1900
Not long after this photo was taken Elsie made a trip back to Norway to visit her parents. She left at the end of April 1901 and returned a few months later in September. It had been 21 years since she had seen her parents or Norway. You know there were letters between them and I so wish they still existed. So many more details we could gleam from their life through those letters.
Norwegian documents showing her leaving Norway.
In November of 1923 Elsie and Ole celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary
Elsie lost her husband of 46 years, when he passed away from cancer on August 20, 1929. After his death she continued to serve in her community in various ways. She belonged to several clubs through her church. She was very active in the St. Petri's Ladies Aid Society, Sunset Home Society and the Tabitha Society. I had never heard of the Tabitha Society, so I looked into it. It was also known as the Dorcas Society. The Dorcas or Tabitha Societies were based out of churches and were created in the early 1800's. Their mission was to provide clothing to the poor.
Newspaper articles about her involvement in various church groups.
Family
Birthdays
81st Birthday
85th Birthday
In July of 1937, Elsie had to have her right food amputated. Since her children had issues with diabetes, I am assuming she suffered from it also.
Her grandson, Ted Barnes wrote this about his grandmother: Elsie was very active in St. Petri Church's Ladies Aid Society, fixing lutefisk for their bazaars and other activities. Elsie was honored by being chosen as a life member of the group in 1940. The Jondall residence was located on South Park Avenue in Story City. Many newcomers arriving on the Iowa Central were welcomed in their home with their first meal and a place to stay. Although an invalid in her later years, Elsie continued to keep busy. She knitted more than 30 sweaters for the Red Cross during World War II. She was very concerned about the Nazi's occupation of Norway and kept up with the news from there in the Norwegian newspaper, "Decorah Posten". She lived long enough to see their defeat before passing away on December 28, 1945.
You can tell from the obituary in the newspaper, she was a beloved and well respected member of the community.
The first notice about her death.
Her obituary
Here are the links to the two Norwegian songs that were sung at her funeral.
Akk Hvor Saligt Det Skal Blive "Alas, How Blissful It Will Be"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba9IzezJ4L4
Den Store Hvide Flok "The Big White Flock"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exGgoAYeObo
"If you’re a good person, the goodness will continue through your descendants." -Diane von Furstenberg.
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