]]> Andersen, Magnus, 1857-1938]]> ]]> ]]> Wærenskjold, Elise Amalie Tvede, 1815-1895]]> Texas]]> From the Knut Gjerset papers on women and Norwegian American Encyclopedia.

Letters and other writings regarding Wilhelm and Elise Waerenskjold. A pastor's daughter, Elise lead a party emigrating to Texas between October 1846 and March 1847. The Waerenskjolds married in 1848, settling at Four Mile Prairie. Her letters and other writings serve as a primary source of information about the Norwegians who settled in Texas. 

Also includes:
  • Photocopies of letters from Elise Waerenskjold to Oscar Reierson, 1883, 1890
  • Books edited by Charles H. Russell
    • Light on the Prairie: New Writings of Elise Wærenskjold (Houston, TX: Shining Brightly Books, 2010)
    • Undaunted A Norwegian Woman in Frontier Texas (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2006).
View the digital collections online here.]]> Wærenskjold, Elise Amalie Tvede, 1815-1895]]> Russell, Charles H.]]> Gjerset, Knut, 1865-1936]]> ]]> ]]> Brandt, Diderikke]]> Brandt, Nils]]> Decorah (Iowa)]]> Spring Prairie Lutheran Church (DeForest, Wis.)]]> Biography/History: 
Realf Ottesen Brandt was born near Jefferson Prairie, Rock County, Wisconsin in 1859. His father, Nils Olsen Brandt, was born in Slidre, Valdres, Norway. His Mother, Diderikke Ottesen Brandt, was born in Sande Parish, Norway. Nils Brandt was President of Luther College. Realf Brandt graduated from Luther College in 1877, and Luther Seminary in Madison, Wisconsin in 1883. 

Realf Ottesen was ordained in 1883 by Rev. U.V. Koren. Throughout his 44 years in Lutheran ministry, he served Deuel County, South Dakota, and McFarland, Wisconsin. Beginning in 1906, he was one of the first editors of the Lutheran Herald. Realf Brandt married Thalette “Lettie” Mathilde Galby in 1880.

Scope and Content: 
The R.O. Brandt papers consist of various notebooks he kept from 1876-1900, copy books of letters he wrote from 1887-1901, letters from 1906-1907, and a scrapbook created by Lettie Brandt called “Reminiscences of Seventeen Years in the West as a Pastor's Wife” that includes photographs. Also includes letters and documents of Diderikke Brandt.

]]> Brandt, Realf Ottesen]]> Naeseth, Gerhard B. (Gerhard Brandt), 1913-1994]]> Brandt, Thalette]]> Brown County (Minn.)]]>
Dues were set at $3.00 per year, to be used for the purchase of books. The secretary kept track of books received and disbursed. Records show that in the first seven years the group read and disbursed 216 books. At each meeting a book would be read aloud and discussed after coffee was served. During the reading, members often did embroidery or other handwork. In 1907, the group formally decided to read books that emphasized the study of Norwegian history.

Items in the collection include a Glimt history, by-laws, recipe book, secretary records from 1889-2015, and three books by Ruth Sonju Madsen (Open my Eye: Thoughts of a Grandma, So Glad You Asked: Thoughts of a Grandma, Both Sides of the Ocean: The Sonju Family Heritage and Immigration Story).]]> Biography/History: 
Synneve Brugjeld was born in Balestrand, Sogn, Norway, on March 30, 1845 to Peder Nielsen Brugjeld and Gjertrud Olsdatter Thorsnaes. With her parents, four brothers (Niels, Ole, Bottolf, and Peter P.), and one sister (Kari), she left Bergen, Norway in 1848 aboard the sailing vessel Dorothea and arrived in New York, NY on July 5, 1848. 

In 1865, after the end of the Civil War, Synneve moved with her family to Emmet County, Iowa. Synneve eventually Americanized her name to Susan Peterson. On November 6, 1870, she was united in marriage to John Knudtson Skrenes (John Johnson) at Lakeside Farm by Reverend T.H. Dahl. John and Synneve had eight children: Severina Gjertina (Tina) (Johnson) of Bricelyn, MN, Nels J. of Wallingford, IA, Petra Johannah (Hannah) (Olsen) of Pequot, MN, Carrie (Anderson) of Wallingford, IA, Helen (Berg) of Estherville, IA, Sena Josephine (Carter) of Blue Earth, MN, Bertha Randina and Manda Telende (Larsen) of Wallingford, IA. Bertha died at the age of 2, but the other seven children survived to adulthood. 

Scope and Content: 
Family photographs, books, and personal letters of Synneva Brugjeld Skrenes from the estate of Wesley and Irene Anderson.

]]> Coon Valley (Wis.)]]> La Crosse (Wis.)]]> Rude, Ole]]>