Rosholt.org

The extendend entry contains a text chart of the descendants of Mathias Røsholt (1855-1926).

Now that one chart is posted, which branch of the family should be done next?

Please leave comments about the contents or format of the chart. You can also send a email.

UPDATE: I apologize. The entry looked much better when I was previewing it. I will continue to explore ways of putting family information on the website in a useful form.

UPDATE: (11 March 2004) The chart has been updated and is also available at Descendants of Mathias Røsholt.

Mathias Nilsen Røsholt (NO.7 / M.), b. 16 Mar 1855 at Larvik, Norway, d. 27 Dec 1926 at Itasca County, Minnesota
+Petro Nelson (M.), b. 21 Jun 1864 at Gilman, Wisconsin, m. 10 Mar 1880 at Gilman, Wisconsin, d. 26 Jun 1939 at Itasca County, Minnesota
|-- Melvin Nels Rosholt (M.1), b. 02 May 1881 at Gilman, Taylor, Wisconsin, d. 08 Sep 1965 at Itasca County, Minnesota
|   +Bessie Naomi Rima (M.1s1), b. 28 Jun 1887 at Sleepy Eye, Blue Earth, Minnesota, m. 21 Jun 1905, d. 15 Oct 1927 at Itasca County, Minnesota
|   |-- Melva Charlotte Rosholt (M.11), b. 12 Feb 1908 at Warba, Itasca, Minnesota, d. 15 Jul 1995 at Rantoul, Illinois
|   |   +Robert Willard Hogan (M.11s), b. 10 Oct 1902, m. 28 Jun 1934 at Baltimore MD, d. 14 Apr 1986 at Venice FL
|   |-- Myron Leroy Rosholt (M.12), b. 19 Feb 1910 at Grand Rapids, Itasca, Minnesota, d. 09 Jul 1986 at Union Grove, Racine, Wisconsin
|   |   +Rosella Mae Peterson (M.12s), b. 07 Jan 1910, m. 08 Oct 1955 at Racine, Wisconsin, d. 05 Jun 2002
|   \-- Douglas Alton Rosholt (M.13), b. 05 Jun 1915 at Warba, Itasca, Minnesota, d. 29 Aug 2002 at Urbana, Illinois
|       +Virginia Mae Thomas (M.13s) is living
|       |-- Valerie Jean Rosholt (M.131) is living
|       |   +Bill H. Fulk (M.131s), b. 10 Jul 1941, m. 21 Dec 1963 at Rantoul IL, d. 07 Oct 1978
|       |   \-- Cosette Fulk (M.1311) is living
|       |-- Aleta Mae Rosholt (M.132) is living
|       |   +James Walter Inscho (M.132s) is living
|       |   \-- Todd J. Inscho (M.1321) is living
|       |       +Jenee (--?--) is living
|       |       |-- Morgan Alexis Inscho is living
|       |       |-- Caroline Marie Peters Inscho is living
|       |       \-- Jacqueline Hanna Inscho is living
|       |-- Thomas Douglas Rosholt (M.133) is living
|       |   +Linda Lee Lutton (M.133s1) is living
|       |   \-- Thomas Douglas Rosholt II (M.1331) is living
|       |   +Avelina Levine (M.133s2) is living
|       |   \-- Christina Tracy Rosholt (M.1334) is living
|       \-- Robert Michael Rosholt (M.134) is living
|   +Alice Marie Hagberg (M.1s2), b. 24 Jul 1906 at Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota, m. 21 Jan 1937, d. 26 Mar 1993 at Duluth MN
|   |-- Melvin Richard Rosholt (M.14) is living
|   |   +Sheila Ann Seppi (M.14s) is living
|   |   |-- Paul Richard Rosholt (M.141) is living
|   |   |   +Kimberly Sue Coyle (M.141s) is living
|   |   |   \-- Aren Mathias Rosholt is living
|   |   \-- Peter Jon Rosholt (M.142) is living
|   |       +Mary Elizabeth Turman (M.142) is living
|   |       |-- Warren Richard Rosholt (M.1421) is living
|   |       \-- Nathaniel Rosholt is living
|   \-- Marvin Duane Rosholt (M.15) is living
|       +Linda L Tangen (M.15s1), b. 07 Aug 1942 at Minnesota, m. 13 May 1961 at Des Moines IA, d. 14 May 1972 at Hennepin County, Minnesota
|       |-- Kimberly Ann Rosholt (M.151) is living
|       |   +Jim Enfield (M.151s) is living
|       |   |-- Anna J. Enfield (M.1511) is living
|       |   \-- Kyle J. Enfield (M.1512) is living
|       \-- Kamie Lynn Rosholt (M.152) is living
|           +Matt Tuff (M.152s) is living
|           |-- Ateala Lynn Tuff (M.1521) is living
|           \-- Katlyn M. Tuff (M.1522) is living
|       +Shirley M Bjoralt (M.15s2) is living
|       \-- Kirk Steven Rosholt (M.153) is living
|           +Jane C. Ellingson (M.153s) is living
|-- Theodore Hans Rosholt (M.2), b. 05 Sep 1882 at Henning (Otter Tail) MN, d. 28 Mar 1963
|   +Dora Joyce Whitney (M.2s), b. 14 Jun 1890 at Mapleton (Blue Earth) MN, m. 25 Sep 1912 at Mapleton MN, d. 08 Dec 1972 at Mesa, Maricopa, AZ
|   |-- Charles Mathias Rosholt (M.21), b. 11 Nov 1914 at Warba, Irasca, Minnesota, d. 02 May 1991 at Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona
|   |   +Thelma Stephenson (M.21s1), m. at Los Angeles CA, d. 09 Feb 1944
|   |   +Harriet Eleanor Richards (M.21s2), b. 31 Jul 1919, m. 03 Feb 1945 at San Diego CA, d. Jul 1994
|   \-- Florence Mae Rosholt (M.22) is living
|       +Frank Joseph Jowdy (M.22s2) is living
|       |-- Marilyn Mae Jowdy (M.221) is living
|       \-- Frank Joseph Jowdy Jr (M.222) is living
|           +Joy [_______] (M.222s) is living
|           \-- Daniel Joseph Jowdy (M.2221) is living
|-- Clarence Jacob Rosholt (M.3), b. 26 Jul 1884 at Devoe, Faulk, South Dakota, d. 01 Apr 1973 at Grand Rapids, Itasca, Minnesota
|-- Tilda Karina Rosholt (M.4), b. 21 Aug 1886 at Devoe, Faulk, South Dakota, d. 20 Mar 1976
|   +Gustav Adolph Johnson (M.4s), b. 08 Jul 1880 at Hågsåter (Dalsland) Sweden, m. 01 Jan 1906, d. 27 May 1960
|   |-- Allan Russell Jerome Johnson (M.41), b. 22 Sep 1906 at near Warba (Itasca) MN, d. 08 Oct 1974 at Wisconsin
|   |   +Dorothy Rae White (M.41s) is living
|   |   |-- David Allan Johnson (M.411) is living
|   |   |   +Eloise Skaurud (M.411s1) is living
|   |   |   \-- Ingrid Eloise Johnson (M.4111) is living
|   |   |       +Mark Davis (M.4111s) is living
|   |   |   +Carolyn Elizabeth Carlstead (M.411s2) is living
|   |   |   |-- Jeffrey David Johnson (M.4112) is living
|   |   |   \-- Jolene Elizabeth Johnson (M.4113) is living
|   |   |-- Marilyn Rae Johnson (M.412) is living
|   |   |   +(Male) Fox (M.412s) is living
|   |   \-- Donald Lester Johnson (M.413), b. 17 Aug 1949, d. 02 Jul 1972
|   |-- Pearl Marie Johnson (M.42), b. 25 Jun 1908 at Brookston (Saint Louis) MN, d. 05 Aug 1988
|   |   +Richard Vernon Hill (M.42s), b. 02 Oct 1908 at Puyallup (Pierce) WA, m. 22 Oct 1933 at Seattle WA, d. 05 Sep 1992 at Puyallup WA
|   |   \-- Vernell Marie Hill (M.421) is living
|   |       +Robert James Doyle (M.421s) is living
|   |       \-- Karina Marie Doyle (M.4211) is living
|   |           +Troy Justin Finlayson (M.4211s) is living
|   |       +Ron L. Butler is living
|   |-- Thelma Clarissa Johnson (M.43), b. 12 Nov 1909 at Warba, Minnesota, d. 15 Nov 2002 at Tacoma, Washington
|   |   +Charles Louis Gibbs (M.43s1) is living
|   |   |-- Fern Aileen Gibbs (M.431) is living
|   |   |   +Robert Harry Cook (M.431s) is living
|   |   |   \-- Kathryn Ann Cook (M.4311) is living
|   |   |       +Benjamin Steven Robinson (M.4311s1) is living
|   |   |       \-- William Robert Robinson (M.4311 1) is living
|   |   |       +(Male) Fullingim (M.4311s2) is living
|   |   \-- Charles Adolph Gibbs (M.432) is living
|   |       +Joyce Mathews (M.432s1) is living
|   |       |-- Gail Arlene Gibbs (M.4321) is living
|   |       \-- John Charles Gibbs (M.4322) is living
|   |       +Dana O'Brien (M.432s2) is living
|   |       \-- Nancy Ann Gibbs (M.4323) is living
|   |       +Anneliese [_______] (M.432s3) is living
|   |   +Henry Martin Quinnell (M.43s2), b. 1912, m. 26 Aug 1964 at Portland, Oregon, d. 12 Jul 1996
|   |-- Glen Vincent Johnson (M.44), b. 03 Sep 1911 at Grand Rapids (Itasca) MN, d. 16 Aug 1985
|   |   +Florence Marie Wang (M.44s) is living
|   |   |-- Verna Therese Johnson (M.441) is living
|   |   |   +Lester Lee Downs (M.441s1), m. 10 Mar 1956, d. Sep 1959 at APO New York
|   |   |   |-- Lisa Marie Downs (M.4411) is living
|   |   |   |   +Jeffrey J Cook (M.4411s) is living
|   |   |   |   |-- Brendan Cook (M.4411 1) is living
|   |   |   |   \-- Bryan Cook (M.4411 2) is living
|   |   |   \-- Leslee Leigh Downs (M.4412) is living
|   |   |       +Lt Don Gongaware (M.4412s) is living
|   |   |       |-- Zachary Gongaware (M.4412 1) is living
|   |   |       \-- Leigh Gongaware (M.4412 2) is living
|   |   |   +Col Lloyd James Eason (M.441s2) is living
|   |   |   \-- Steven James Eason (M.4413) is living
|   |   |       +Tracey Carol Dempsey (M.4413s) is living
|   |   |-- Glen Vincent Johnson Jr (M.442) is living
|   |   |   +Patricia Carolyn Smith (M.442s) is living
|   |   |   |-- Gregory Vincent Johnson (M.4421) is living
|   |   |   |-- Michael Glen Johnson (M.4422) is living
|   |   |   |   +Michelle [_______] (M.4422s) is living
|   |   |   |   \-- Jessica Ann Johnson (M.4422 1) is living
|   |   |   \-- Lynda Karine Johnson (M.4423) is living
|   |   |       +Perry Du Long is living
|   |   \-- Duane Curtis Johnson (M.443) is living
|   |       +Wendy Bradbury (M.443s1) is living
|   |       |-- Curt Jarvis Johnson (M.4432) is living
|   |       \-- Stephanie Michelle Johnson (M.4431) is living
|   |       +Teresa Anne Haley (M.443s2) is living
|   |       \-- Kristofer Erik Johnson (M.4433) is living
|   |-- Homer Lincoln Johnson (M.45), b. 09 Nov 1915 at Farm near Warba (Itasca) MN, d. 25 Feb 1990 at Laguna Hills CA
|   |   +Bernice Patricia Mickiewicz (M.45s) is living
|   |   |-- Carol Jean Johnson (M.451) is living
|   |   |   +William Joseph Kudrna (M.451s) is living
|   |   |   |-- Aileen Patricia Kudrna (M.4511) is living
|   |   |   |   +Mark Frederick Gilmore (M.4511s) is living
|   |   |   |   \-- Melanie Jo Gilmore (M.4511 1) is living
|   |   |   |-- Diane Lynn Kudrna (M.4512) is living
|   |   |   |   +Mark R Seeley (M.4512s) is living
|   |   |   \-- Keith Allen Kudrna (M.4513) is living
|   |   \-- Ellen Marie Johnson (M.452) is living
|   |       +Richard A Johnson (M.452s) is living
|   |-- Lester Elvern Johnson (M.46), b. 22 Jul 1918 at Warba (Itasca) MN, d. 16 Apr 1979
|   |   +Elizabeth Omega Parker (M.46s) is living
|   |   \-- Sharon Elizabeth Johnson (M.461) is living
|   |       +Theodore Philip Nelson (M.461s1) is living
|   |       |-- Kristine Lynn Nelson (M.4611) is living
|   |       |   +Jerry Ingle (M.4611s1) is living
|   |       |   +Craig Canham (M.4611s2) is living
|   |       |   |-- Jesse Allen Canham (M.4611 1) is living
|   |       |   \-- Laicina June Canham (M.4611 2) is living
|   |       |-- Kimberly Joan Nelson (M.4612) is living
|   |       |   +Darren Brand (M.4612s) is living
|   |       |   |-- Brittany Brand (M.4612 1) is living
|   |       |   \-- Kathleen Brand (M.4612 2) is living
|   |       \-- Karina Ann Nelson (M.4613) is living
|   |           +Jeffrey Schmahl (M.4613s) is living
|   |           |-- Garrett James Schmahl (M.4613-1) is living
|   |           \-- (Female) Schmahl (M.4613-2) is living
|   |       +Eldon Fields (M.461s) is living
|   \-- May Lillian Johnson (M.47), b. 22 May 1920 at Warba, Minnesota, d. 17 May 2000
|       +Amandus Martin Mann (M.47s1), b. 24 Apr 1918
|       |-- Sandra Joan Mann (M.471) is living
|       |   +Robert Dean Karren (M.471s) is living
|       |   |-- Tracey Michelle Karren (M.4711) is living
|       |   |   +Stuart Wayne Vifian (M.4711s) is living
|       |   |   |-- Breanne Michelle Vifian is living
|       |   |   \-- Kayla Renee Vifian is living
|       |   \-- Teri Lynn Karren (M.4712) is living
|       |       +William Nance (M.4712s) is living
|       |       \-- Chelsea Mae Nance is living
|       \-- Randolph John Mann (M.472) is living
|           +Julianne Margaret Addington (M.472s1) is living
|           |-- Billy Mann (M.4721) is living
|           \-- Eric Freeman Mann (M.4722) is living
|           +Sheila Marie Stout (M.472s2) is living
|           \-- Angela Marie Mann (M.4723) is living
|       +Lewis Alexander Joyce (M.47s2), d. Dec
|       |-- Thomas Ross Joyce (M.473) is living
|       |   +Gayle Francis Vauclair (M.473s) is living
|       |   \-- Karlyn Kathryn Joyce (M.4731) is living
|       \-- Lewis Alexander Joyce (M.474) is living
|           +Susan Christine Officer (M.474s1) is living
|           |-- Lewis Alexander Joyce Jr (M.4741) is living
|           \-- Jennifer Susan Joyce (M.4742) is living
|           +Patti Louise Greer (M.474s2) is living
|           \-- Kelley Rae Joyce (M.4743) is living
|       +George Freemen Riggs (M.47s3) is living
|       +Elmer Alfred Kohler (M.47s4) is living
|-- Olga Marie Rosholt (M.5), b. 08 Aug 1888 at Devoe (Faulk) SD, d. 25 May 1964
|   +George John Fisher (M.5s), b. 25 Feb 1883 at Greene (Butler) IA, m. 20 Jun 1910 at Warba MN, d. 28 Mar 1961
|   |-- Eva Iona Fisher (M.51), b. 03 May 1911 at Mankato (Blue Earth) MN, d. 12 Jan 1962
|   |   +Theodore Hovind (M.51s), b. 08 Nov 1902, m. 26 Jun 1939 at Tacoma WA, d. 06 Jun 1958
|   |   \-- Robert Theodore Hovind (M.511), b. 20 Jun 1940 at Shelton (Mason) WA, d. 15 Jun 1983 at Seattle WA
|   |       +Peggy Louise Burnham (M.511s) is living
|   |       |-- Theodore Paul Hovind (M.5111) is living
|   |       |-- Thomas Eric Hovind (M.5112) is living
|   |       \-- Kathryn Louise Hovind (M.5113) is living
|   |-- Dorothy Ida Petra Fisher (M.52), b. 01 Nov 1912 at Mankato (Blue Earth) MN, d. 07 Dec 1990 at Puyallup WA
|   |   +Eric Ragnar Nordenborg (M.52s1), b. 27 Jun 1907, m. 02 May 1941 at Seattle WA, d. 28 Jul 1968
|   |   +Karl Pedersen (M.52s2), b. 04 Dec 1909, m. 22 Dec 1976 at Bellevue WA, d. 18 Jul 1978
|   |-- George Rosholt Fisher (M.53) is living
|   |   +Mabel Jane "Jay" Custer (M.53s), m. Oct 1940, d. 07 Sep 1991
|   |   |-- George Rosholt Fisher Jr (M.531) is living
|   |   |   +Valerie [_______] (M.531s) is living
|   |   |   |-- Travis Fisher (M.5311) is living
|   |   |   \-- Brian Fisher (M.5312) is living
|   |   |-- Eric Vance Fisher (M.532) is living
|   |   |   +Janice Louise Justus (M.532s) is living
|   |   |   |-- Jeffery Eric Fisher (M.5321) is living
|   |   |   \-- Susan Cherie Fisher (M.5322) is living
|   |   \-- Janice Leigh Fisher (M.533) is living
|   |       +Kenneth Lee Mccall (M.533s) is living
|   |       |-- Kevin Mccall (M.5331) is living
|   |       \-- Kristin Mccall (M.5332) is living
|   \-- Bernice Marie Fisher (M.54) is living
|       +Quin William Rinehart (M.54s), b. 04 Feb 1908, m. 22 Mar 1940 at Puyallup WA, d. Dec 1988 at Puyallup WA 98371
|       \-- Gail Marie Rinehart (M.541) is living
|           +(Male) Zimmerman (M.541s) is living
|-- May Prosper Rosholt (M.6), b. 18 Oct 1890 at Devoe (Faulk) SD, d. 05 Aug 1972
|   +Thomas Olsen Kaarmo (M.6s), b. 04 Nov 1883 at Norway, m. 19 Jun 1932, d. 02 Nov 1971
|-- Carrie Hope Rosholt (M.7), b. 21 Oct 1892 at Henning (Otter Tail) MN, d. 22 Feb 1977
|   +Guy Warden Kelley (M.7s), b. 10 Oct 1892 at Rolfe (Pocahontas) IA, m. 10 Mar 1919, d. 30 May 1968
|   |-- Gerald Frederick Kelley (M.71), b. 25 Feb 1920 at Warba, Itasca, Minnesota, d. 02 Mar 1996
|   |   +Dorothea A Morin (M.71s), b. 26 Jul 1921 at Neche, Pembina, North Dakota, d. 25 Jul 2003
|   |   \-- Kaye Ann Kelley (M.711) is living
|   |       +John Lynn Graham (M.711s) is living
|   |-- Eugene Rosholt Kelly (M.72), b. 26 Jan 1923 at Grand Rapids (Itasca) MN, d. 03 Jan 1990 at Port Angeles WA
|   |   +Delores Richey (M.72s), b. 23 Aug 1932, m. 29 Dec 1951 at Raymond, Washington, d. 08 Aug 1987 at Port Angeles, WA
|   |   |-- Michael Thomas Kelly (M.721) is living
|   |   |   +Sharon Sinnett is living
|   |   |   +Tracy Ann Stream (M.721s) is living
|   |   |   \-- Conor James Kelly (M.7211) is living
|   |   \-- Laura Louise Kelly (M.722) is living
|   |       +Steve Mah (M.722s) is living
|   |       |-- Callida Morgan Mah (M.7221) is living
|   |       \-- E. Daniel George Mah (M.7222) is living
|   \-- Carolyn May Kelly (M.73) is living
|       +Ray Neilsen (M.73s1) is living
|       |-- Nancy Eugene Neilsen (M.731) is living
|       |   +Gerald Robert Ahn (M.731s) is living
|       |   \-- Isaac Rosholt Sione Ahn (M.7311) is living
|       \-- Kathleen Rae Neilsen (M.732) is living
|           +(Male) Stevens (M.732s1) is living
|           |-- Karen Rae Stevens (M.7321) is living
|           |   +Ken Zinski (M.7321s) is living
|           \-- Kimberly Candice Stevens (M.7322) is living
|           +(Male) Mcdaniel (M.732s2) is living
|           \-- Tracey Marie Mcdaniel (M.7323) is living
|           +William Frederick (M.732s3) is living
|           |-- Joshua James Frederick (M.7324) is living
|           \-- Katie Marie Frederick (M.7325) is living
|       +Ted Lee Johnson (M.73s2), b. 03 Nov 1926, m. 02 Dec 1949, d. Feb 1999
|       |-- Gerald Lee Johnson (M.733), b. 05 Dec 1950, d. 12 Mar 1963
|       |-- Calvin Kelly Johnson (M.734) is living
|       |   +Lynnette Carol Brooks (M.734s1) is living
|       |   |-- Buffy Marie Johnson (M.7342) is living
|       |   |-- Jodi Lee Johnson (M.7341) is living
|       |   \-- Julie Ann Johnson (M.7343) is living
|       |   +Cathy [_______] (M.734s2) is living
|       |   \-- Tamra Rae Johnson (M.7344) is living
|       \-- Warden Rosholt Johnson (M.735) is living
|           +Elizabeth Marie Taylor (M.735s) is living
|           |-- Marie Louise Johnson (M.7351) is living
|           \-- Daniel Rosholt Johnson (M.7352) is living
\-- Fred William Rosholt (M.8), b. 09 Feb 1894 at Henning, Otter Tail, Minnesota, d. 20 May 1982 at Grand Rapids, Itasca, Minnesota
    +Sada Margrethe Van Buren (M.8s), b. 10 Dec 1901 at North Dakota, m. 20 Aug 1931 at Wahpeton, North Dakota, d. 29 Jan 1933 at Hibbing, St. Louis, Minnesota
    \-- Wayne V Rosholt (M.81) is living
        +Elsie Edna Elkin (M.81s) is living
        |-- Gary Wayne Rosholt (M.811) is living
        |   +Loretta Grennen (M.811s1) is living
        |   +Azalea Petrov (M.811s2) is living
        |   \-- Stephanie Melissa Rosholt (M.8111) is living
        |-- Susan Marie Rosholt (M.812) is living
        |   +Stanley Freeman (M.812s) is living
        |   |-- Heather Ann Freeman (M.8121) is living
        |   \-- Michael Freeman (M.8122) is living
        |-- Karen Ellen Rosholt (M.813) is living
        |-- Julie-mae Rosholt (M.814) is living
        \-- Sandra Kay Rosholt (M.815) is living

                              
                              

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A bygdebok is a history of a parrish or parrishes in a kommune. There are usually three volumes; One is a general history, one is a history of the farms, and the third is a history of the families.

This entry was on the website earlier. Other entries from the printed Roundup will follow.

LARDAL BYGDEBOK
Volume III
Farm History of Styrvold and Hem Parishes
Published in Lardal, Norway, 1976
Translated for The Roundup by Joy Gundersen, Old Bridge, New Jersey

Printed in the Rosholt Roundup
July, 1987 Letter No. 17 page 116
November 1987 Letter No. 18 pages 119-122

RÖSHOLT GNR.77 [1]

Røsholt is situated on a hill on the west side of the Main Highway between Svarstad and Larvik, a little south of Steinsholt. The farm "Jessetrud" was situated on the plain, closer to the present highway. In 1773 it was sold to Røsholt, the houses probably burned or torn down, and the fields were shared among the four Røsholt farms. "Røsholtmoen" is situated on both sides of the highway, "Snippen" on the east side. The oldest road to Røsholt ran from "Snippen" and followed the natural partition in the landscape towards Steinsholt to the river.

The soil is sand and clay, sandy soil down on "Moen", and clay soil farther up.

Several finds from antiquity have been made on Røsholt. In one grave was found an axe, spear, parts of bronze buttons and parts of a horse. In another grave was found a pair of scissors, two oval bronze buckles, one smaller bronze buckle, glass pearls and skeletons of horse and man. Moreover is found an axe with a pointed neck, miscellaneous pottery pieces and rusty iron fragments.

It is assumed that there are about 16 small burial mounds, believed to be from the 900s (tenth century), of which 12 are easily visible. They are situated on the plains westward towards Bøe river. We have been informed that a burial mound was flattened on "Jøsterud", right in the middle of the fields, without revealing anything. At "Öster" lake, there is a heap of stones which could be a bronze age mound.

From way back, the desolate farm "Oubø" [2] has belonged to Røsholt. Røsholt borders on Bøe to the south, where a large brook forms the border for parts of the way. In the east, the property runs all the way down to "Lågen" (the main large river). In the north, it borders on Steinsholt, where the same brook forms the border. To the west is the forest which previously formed the county border with Telemark, which forest is now owned by Røsholt.

There is nothing in the name that would indicate exactly when the farm was established. But the many finds show that the farm is old and dates back to "norrøn" times (Norrøn usually means at the time of the Vikings).

The name was spelled "Rosholthe" in 1398, but already in 1593 had changed to "Røssholt". Because of this first spelling, it is assumed that the first part must be Ross (hross = horse). It is pronounced Røssølt (ø = something like the "er" sound in "her", said without the "r").

When it comes to the name Jessetrud, there is nothing to find of certainty. It was once spelled "Hielsetterud", in 1593 "Isettrød", in 1604 "Jessetrødt", and from the middle of the 1600s, "Jessetrud".

In 1664, Røsholt was granted to the free estates of Sir Nils Axelsen, whose son Axel Nilsen came to Jessetrud.

Røsholt was originally one farm; but in the middle 1600s, it was parted in three, probably among three brothers.

Part One later became "Innstua BNR 6" (now "Jordet"). Part Two was again parted in two at the end of the century: "Søstua BNR 5" and "Nistua". Part Three became "Veststua", later "Nordstua BNR 1".

Toward the end of the 1700s, these four farms were equal in size, each owing 1/4th of the farm's taxes, and -- as previously mentioned -- each granted 1/4th of the land on Jessetrud. Nordstua BNR 1 was divided into two equal parts in 1846. One half was listed as BNR 2 and, in 1890, this was added to Sostua BNR 5, and that farm is now called Jøsterud.

Some forest land from all the Røsholt farms was sold to Treschow in the 1890s.

The smaller farm (plass) "Myrene" was separated from Innstua in 1855; so also the smaller farm (plass) "Bråtan" with "Høymyråsen" in 1898; the year after also "Røsholtmoen BNR 13 (the dairy and country store) on the east side of the highway.

In 1947, a major change took place with regard to the fields and borders of the Røsholt farms. All the sub-farms got their respective fields more gathered together. Søstua got all its fields gathered on the plains at Jøsterud. The others had their fields higher up on the hillsides.

No other farm in Lardal has had such a large emigration to America as Røsholt. A town in Wisconsin is called Rosholt, so is a bank [3].

In 1880 a typhoid epidemic broke out on Røsholt; their were signs posted saying "Keep out".

Houses. We do not know anything about the houses on Jessetrud. But the old foundations are still visible when the fields are ploughed, northwest of the newly built houses on Jøsterud. The houses of all the four Røsholt farms were previously gathered up on the hillside. This area is still called "Tomta" (meaning the building site). They were close to the later "Søstua". In 1738, we are told, the "Dragonkvarteret Røsholt" (cavalry quarters at Røsholt) [4] was burned to the ground, along with all buildings of the four families, main buildings, outbuildings and all. Nothing was saved except the cattle.

After the 1738 fire

As the houses were rebuilt, they were more spread. The family of half of Part Two built their house farthest to the east and lower on the hill than the others; this was subsequently called "Nistua". We do not know much about these houses. They burned down again in 1835 and this part of the farm was then added to "Veststua", which was situated to the west and farther up.

The houses on "Veststua" (BNR.1) were moved farther east in 1856 and are now called "Nordstua". The main building was built of timber in two full stories, 9 meters by 14 meters (29.5 feet by 46 feet). It was restored in 1964 and lengthened 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). A new smaller main building was built of timber in 1951, 8 meters by 10 meters (26.2 feet by 32.8 feet).

The outbuildings are from 1884. The older outbuildings were situated north to south in the middle of the present ones. The barn is from 1928, the stables from 1922. The "stabburet" (an outbuilding where food is preserved and stored; also used to store out-of-season clothing, wool, hides, etc.) is from about 1865.

The main building on "Jordet" (BNR.6) was situated south of the outbuildings; but in 1952 it was rebuilt east of the outbuildings, 9.5 meters by 15 meters (31 feet by 49.2 feet) in two full stories.

The old dwelling house was very old, demolished in 1960. The barn was built about 1880, the stables 1907, the animal barn 1911, the woodshed and carriage house 1905. Previously, all the buildings had been 200 meters (220 yards) further to the north by "Gata", and the farm was then called "Instua".

The old dwelling house on "Søstua" (BNR.5) was very old, now demolished. The houses were rebuilt when they were moved down to "Jøsterud" in 1949. The outbuilding was built first, then the bryggerhus [5], and then in 1952 the main building. It is 9 by 12 meters (29.5 feet by 39.4 feet).

The main building on "Myrene" is from 1885; the outbuilding is very old.

The buildings on "Snippen" were erected in the 1840's. The dwelling house is 5 by 7.25 meters (16.4 feet by 23.8 feet).

The earlier dwelling house on "Røsholtmoen" (BNR.13), the dairy, was built in 1884. It was torn down and rebuilt in 1955, 185 square meters (1,990 square feet), three stories high. The outbuilding is from 1916.

The building on "Røsholtmoen" (BNR.14) was erected in 1901, 120 square meters (1,291 square feet); rebuilt in 1959.

Other Røsholt place names

Of names we have on "Nordstua":
Gata, Nistudelen, Skauhagan, Søndre Vollen, Nordre Vollen, Vangeren, Myrane and Bråten.

On "Jøsterud":
Nistujordet, Langbakken, Underenga, Moane, Tangane, and the old Jøsterud.

On "Jordet":
Dalene, Vollane, Langekra, Seterenden, Engvøllen, Rønningane, Lia, Briskåker and Steinløkka.

In the forest:
Staurbek, Svingdalsåsene, Östervann, Briskemyr, Romsdalsåsen and Seteråsen.

The cattlepath "Gata" is now a roadway for cars.

Forest

The forest has always been of importance to Røsholt. In 1800, the four farmers of Røsholt agreed upon a sharing of the woodlands. Today approximately 1,100 acres of forest belong to the Røsholt farms.

"Røsholtsetra", the summer farm, was jointly owned by all the Røsholt farmers, but each maintained separate buildings. The operation of "Setra" was shut down in 1930. "Setra" had been situated in the forest 3 to 4 kilometers (2 to 2/12 miles) west of the farms.

Fishing

There have always been fishing rights in "Lågen", which runs near Røsholt. As early as 1633, it is recorded that the farms had fishing rights in "Lågen". At a division of the estate of Røsholt in 1749, five different shares of the fishing in "Lågen" were registered:

3 "øresbol" [6] at the "Kjerrafishery",

1/2 "otting" [6] at the "teine" and "giberne" fisheries in "Vestfossen",

1/2 "otting" at "Hugs Maelens" fishery,

2/3 at the "Grini" and "Skaare" fishery, and

1/3 at the "Flekene" fishery.

All the Røsholt farms still have fishing rights in Lågen, right below the farms.

At "Røytangen" in "Vestervannet" (West Lake), also called "Haukesjø" (Hawk Lake), near the county border, all the Røsholt farmers carried out a kind of fishing with lights to catch "oye" (char, a European trout). This type of fishing took place during fall nights with bonfires along the water's edge to attract the char. Those fishing slept in little log cabins and continued fishing until their horses could carry no more.

Sawmill

From way back there has been a sawmill on Røsholt. It is recorded as early as 1612, that from 100 to 450 planks were cut yearly.

In 1628, the mill was destroyed. In 1632, Erik was fined 8 "daler" because he had put the saw into use again without permission. It was then described as a little brooksaw.

In 1661, there were 1,500 planks cut.

In 1741, the mill was licensed to produce 1,200 planks.

The sawmill was communal property to all the Røsholt farms. It was situated at the waterfall by the bridge, where the old farm road ran beneath "Rinnhaugen". It was first an upright saw; then a circular saw.

It was torn down in the 1920s.

Another mill is also mentioned in the old records. This mill belonged to BNR.1 alone. It has burned down twice, the last time in Ole Olsen Røsholt's time [7].

Cottiers [8]

As early as 1665, a cottier is mentioned under Røsholt. Through the church records, we know some of the names of the cottiers and their families, but we do not always know who lived where.

The first cottier-farm mentioned is "Moen"; both "Nordstua" and "Innstua" had cottiers at "Moen". "Snippen" is probably also an old cottier-farm, belonging to "Nordstua".

The other cottier-farms were situated west of Røsholt. "Enga" farthest to the south, then "Rønningen", "Bråtan", a little cottage called "Bråtastua" where Mathis Borgersen lived.

"Myrene" is situated in the northwest corner of Røsholt.

A little east of this there was a little cottage called "Mariadelen", which was moved north of the "Dale" bridge in the 1930s.

"Enga", "Rønningen" and "Mariadelen" belonged to "Nordstua"; "Myrene" and "Bråtan" to "Innstua".

NOTES

[1] GNR = Gårdsnummer = Farm number.
BNR = Bruksnummer = Also farm number, but usually refers to a smaller unit under a gård.
GÅRD = The main farm unit. In this case, Røsholt is the gård.
BRUK = A smaller unit, the productive part, of the gård. The word bruk means "use".
PLASS = An even smaller unit of the gård; often the dwelling and outerbuildings of "leilendinger", the people who did the farm work on the main or smaller farms. They may own their own little plots, often not.

[2] "Oubø" was probably a part of "Bøe" which had been desolate since the Bubonic plague.
"Oubø" is mentioned in the register on Røsholt at least until 1723.

[3] The (Wisconsin) State Bank of Rosholt has merged with another bank.

[4] Dragon. According to Aschehoug Norwegian Encyclopedia, this referred to cavalry units with dragons on their shields. Today, the "dragonavd" is a panzer division.

[5] "Bryggerhus" - Today, this word usually refers to a laundry room, containing big pans for boiling. However, "bryggeri" means "brewery", and it was common for farm families to brew their own.

[6] We have been unable to determine the modern day equivalents of these units of fishing.

[7] Ole Olsen owned BNR.1 from 1857 to 1910.

[8] A cottier is a tenant.

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The Mathias Rosholt Saga 1858-1926

Written in May, 1972, by his grandson,
Allan R. Johnson 1906-1974

Printed in the Rosholt Roundup
November, 1982 Letter No. 3 page 15
March, 1983 Letter No. 4 pages 19-20
July, 1983 Letter No. 5 pages 27-28

Descendants of Mathias and Petro Rosholt have increased in surprising numbers since the turn of the 20th Century. The significance of the heritage of this family could be lost unless an effort is now made to record it. I here narrate some of the highlights of their lives, having lived as a child next door to their farm in northern Minnesota.

Mathias Rosholt was born on a farm near Larvik, Norway, on March 16, 1858, to Nils Olsen Rosholt and his wife, Thore Marie Tovsdatter Rosholt. He was the seventh of eight children and he had the usual limited education in school and church as a child. He, as had his brother John and several cousins, came to the United States, arriving in 1874 at the tender age of 16 to "gain fame and fortune in the land of opportunity". Although adventure stimulated his imagination, he could not have realized the hardships he would endure to make a living in those early pioneering days.

He reached Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and there he worked at different jobs for six years. On March 10, 1880, he married Petro Nelson, a daughter of a pioneering family that had come from Norway in the late 1850s and had settled in Gilman, Wisconsin. Mathias was 22 and she 16, an early age at which to start out on their own.

Not satisfied with the limited opportunities in their community in Wisconsin, Mathias and Petro, with their son, Melvin, moved to Henning, Minnesota, a town in Ottertail county in western Minnesota. There Mathias worked at carpentry and at farming.

From Henning, they moved to northeastern South Dakota with Melvin and Theodore, their second son. But, after several years of repeated drouths, disastrous prairie fires and poor markets for grain and livestock, they returned to Henning in the early 1890s.

From 1881 to 1894, eight children were born to Petro and Mathias Rosholt:

Melvin Nels, May 2, 1881, in Gilman, Wisc.;
Theodore Hans, Sept 2, 1882, in Henning, Minn.;
Clarence Jacob, July 26, 1884, in Devoe, S. Dak.;
Tilda Karina, Aug 21, 1886, in Devoe;
Olga Marie, Aug 8, 1888, in Devoe;
May Prosper, Oct 18, 1890, in Devoe;
Carrie Hope, Oct 21, 1892, in Henning, and
Fred William, Feb 9, 1894, in Henning.

Other members of the Nelson family (Petro's parents) included great grandmother Kari Nelson, whom I saw once; Uncle John Nelson and his wife, Bertha; great aunt Martha Nelson, who lived to the ripe old age of 102; great aunt Lena Hemmingway, who later lived in Clatskinie, Ore., and the Petersons, who were living in or near Henning at that time.

While in Henning, the Rosholt family farmed and did construction work. Prior to 1900, they contracted to build a church but before it was completed, a misunderstanding arose over unpaid commitments and, even though he completed the work, Mathias Rosholt seldom set foot in a church again.

However, although he was hot-headed and stubborn at times, he read extensively and he religiously followed the "golden rule" in his relationships with his friends and neighbors.

Low prices for farm products continued, so Mathias Rosholt looked for other opportunities to get ahead. He decided to try logging in northern Minnesota as a means of providing for his large and growing family and to develop a farm and a home free of the debt that plagued most families in those early days.

In the summer of 1901, Mathias, his sons Melvin and Theodore and his daughter Tilda, moved to a "claim" in Feeley township in Minnesota's Itasca county to establish a new home.

The men cleared the land and built a log cabin. Tilda did the cooking and the housework, under very primitive conditions. Until they could build bunks, they slept on the floor of their "shanty". They built a log barn for their team of horses and their one cow, and they got it up before snow flew.

At the same time, they had to lay in hay for their livestock. Wild grass was cut by hand by rhythmically swinging scythes. Then, after the grass dried for three days, they stacked it for their winter use. Each horse needed 4 to 5 tons of hay and the cow 3 tons to get through a winter. Wild hay had about 60 per cent of the nutritive value of tame grasses and clover later grown in the area.

In the late fall of 1901, the rest of the family -- Petro and the five younger children -- came by train from Henning to Feeley.

Living in their new home at Feeley was difficult for the Rosholts that first winter.

They had wood for heat. Venison could be had rather easily, and pickerel and pike were in abundance in Swan River a half mile away. Milk and butter were available, the latter by shaking cream in a jar, by cranking a wooden churn or by plunging a paddle up and down in a large earthen crock. Flour for baking bread could be purchased in 100-pound sacks for about a dollar each.

The Rosholts lived off the land. They picked wild blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and wild strawberries. They ate berries fresh, and they canned some in Mason fruit jars for their winter use.

There was some variety: pickled herring and salt pork during the summer; venison, partridges and ducks in the fall, and rabbit -- which they snared -- in the winter. But, within a few years, they could no longer eat the wild rabbits and partridges because they had become infected with tuleremia, a serious disease easily transmitted to man.

Within a year or two, the Rosholts were able to bring in hogs and chickens and they had pork and eggs in addition to the vegetables grown in their garden and the beef butchered on their farm.

Wood, sawed in 16-inch lengths from oak, maple, ash, birch and tamarack, provided fuel for their winter use. They used cross cut saws and axes, and the work kept them "physically fit".

About 1910 a sawmill was brought in, and then slabwood could be cut from logs and the slabs cut into stove lengths. The men laid in most of their wood supply by the Christmas season to avoid having to work in snow three feet deep and temperatures of 20 to 55 degrees below zero.

Kerosene lamps and lanterns gave them light for house and barn, and a daily ritual for one member of the household was the cleaning of the lamp chimneys. Electricity didn't reach their community until 1946.

They carried water from the river in three-gallon buckets. Eventually a well, 3' by 3'and 26' deep, was dug, and a hand pump installed near the house to furnish water for household and livestock use. In later years, a pump was put inside the kitchen at a sink. They put a copper-bottomed boiler, holding l5 gallons or so, on the stove to heat water for washing clothes and for baths.

They had no washing machine. A tub and a scrub board energized by genuine "elbow grease" provided the necessary power for the week's laundry. Clothes were hung on a line outside to dry. In winter, that was a freeze-dry proposition.

Taking a bath in a tub was a Saturday night ritual. And going to the toilet meant going out to the "backhouse", whether it was 90 above or 50 below; wet, dry or 3 feet of snow.

No furnace. The cookstove provided heat for the summer meals. And an "airtight" heater provided extra warmth during the winter. Some heaters resembled large upright iron barrels with fancy brass attachments.

The Rosholts visited their neighbors on occasional weekends. Or they walked four miles to town to pick up mail or to send catalog orders to Sears & Roebuck, Montgomery or Savage, the mail order companies. And sometimes they took a horse-drawn sleigh or cutter or buggy or wagon into town to buy groceries or clothes.

The Feeley road, in the beginning, was a winding "tote" road filled with chuck holes, mud and corduroy. In the summer, it ran through swamp; in the winter, it was under three feet of snow. It was not until 1914, just before World War I, that a straight road was cleared, ditched, graded and gravelled. That reduced their distance to town to three miles. The town, by then, had changed its name from Feeley to Warba.

Warba had no medical services. The nearest hospital or doctor's office was in Grand Rapids, the county seat, 15 miles west. Sometimes, years elapsed between visits to the doctor. Babies came into the world with the help of mid-wives.

Mosquitoes, houseflies, large horseflies and small deer flies were a constant irritation both to man and beast. Smoke from smudge pots was the only means to chase them away. Smudges were made by putting wood chips into an old bucket, setting them afire and then putting green grass on top. That made an acrid smoke disliked by the mosquitoes and flies; but sometimes it took as much endurance for the humans to withstand the smoke as for the insects. Everyone looked forward to the first frost of late summer or early fall, for the frost killed off the flies for that year.

Clothes were not stylish. Men wore good old lumberjack shirts with heavy all wool underwear in winter and lighter underwear in the summer. One "Sunday best" suit lasted for years. Heavy woolen socks inside 10" high rubbers kept feet warm in winter. Two pair of mittens and a cap with ear flaps warded off the winter cold.

Women wore shoe-length woolen dresses and each had a Sunday-go-to-meeting dress for special occasions. The clothes were usually made by the wearer.

Recreation was simple. Tall tales, including the latest Paul Bunyan yarn, made the rounds of the community.

When weather was good, the Rosholts enjoyed their surroundings. They could watch the changes of season to season and enjoy feeling close to nature.

Between 1901 and 1905, several families moved into the community; the Johnsons, Kellys, Fishers, Pogues, Tichnors, Hams, Careys, Bells and Rimas -- to name a few. People who moved in earlier to log the old growth pine began moving out when the virgin timber was gone.

Divorces did not occur in this community at that time, not because marital problems did not exist, but because of the discipline of hard physical labor required to make a living. The tensions of today were virtually unknown during those early pioneering days.

There were accidents. Quick thinking and action averted many. But one brought sorrow to the community. Early in the spring of 1904, five members of the Pogue and Tichnor families were crossing Swan River near Goodland bridge. Their boat capsized and four drowned. The fifth reached the river bank. He crawled up out of the water and shouted for help for the others. But no one was near.

Some winters, one or two people would disappear, falling through air holes in lakes or rivers. Others were injured, some killed, by limbs falling from trees. One time the bones of a man were found in the brush; he probably had been killed years before.

The Rosholt family had become established by 1905. Mathias Rosholt took deep interest in the political life of his community. His leadership in community affairs eventually gained him the honorary position of Patriarch, one whose advice is sought regularly on many subjects.

Prior to World War I, more families arrived, including the Butterfields, Martins, Ingersolls, Dunhams, Starks, Bidgoods, Lunds, Wangs, Nelsons, Patterson and others. Several old bachelors -- Nels Anderson, Otto Rose, Emil Christensen, Jesse Bell and Henry Larson -- lived in small log cabins on their claims. On occasion on a Sunday afternoon, neighbors would come visiting. And, once or twice a year, a square dance would be held in Feeley and, because no one wanted to try walking home on those 'tote' roads in the dark, the dancing would go on until daylight.

There were times that tricks were played on the unsuspecting. One time a buggy was placed on top of the general store. Sometimes a rope would be tied across a path, with cowbells that rang when anyone stumbled into them. And newlyweds got birchbark under their mattresses.

Shows and church activities were unknown until later years, when roads and communications improved. With the roads came literary societies, quartets and organizations such as the farm bureau. And, still later, the county fair at Grand Rapids and the Labor Day parades at Coleraine and Bovey, all special events not to be missed.

Mathias and Petro Rosholt, in those pioneer days, felt that farming offered little in the way of financial reward and they stressed to their children that getting an education was a way out. They often said "This is an investment no one can take away from you."

They encouraged their four younger children -- Olga, May, Carrie and Fred -- to complete high school in Grand Rapids, 18 miles distant. While the four attended school, they worked for their room and board, a task none too easy in those days. Olga later recalled having had to iron table linen every day, and May remembered having to pull a large 12 by 15 rug from the living room in the house where she stayed and to take it outside -- even in the winter -- and beat the dust out of it.

May was slight of build and she was often ill. She once wrote to her mother, "I am coming home. I can't stand it any longer." She underwent surgery and, after convalescing, she went back to school and she graduated in 1912.

Carrie went on after high school to nursing training at Michael Reese hospital in Chicago, and she continued her education at a number of colleges.

Mathias and Petro Rosholt were to see their children select mates from among families near them, families who shared their goals in life, including work, good craftsmanship, education and a code of ethics which grew from the Golden Rule.

Their eldest son, Melvin Nels, married Bessie Naomi Rima in 1905 on June 28th. Three children were born to them. Bessie died in 1927, on Oct. 15th. Years later, on Jan. 21, 1937, Melvin married Alice Marie Hagberg in Grand Rapids, Minn. They had two children.

On January 1, 1906, daughter Tilda Karina married Gustaf Adolph Johnson. He had been born in Sweden, the 10th child in a family of eleven, seven of whom immigrated. Tilda and Gustaf were to have seven children.

On June 20, 1910, Olga Marie married a man from Iowa named George John Fisher. Four children were born to them.

On September 25, 1912, Theodore Hans married a Feeley school teacher, Dora Joyce Whitney. The wedding was held at her home in Mapleton, Minn. They were to have two children.

Carrie Hope, on March 10, 1919, married a neighbor and high school classmate, Guy Warden Kelly. Three children were born to the Kellys.

On August 20, 1931, Fred William married Sada Margrethe Van Buren in Minneapolis. She was a Grand Rapids school teacher and had come there from Wahpeton, N.D. In 1933, she died, a week after having given birth to a son.

May Prosper married Thomas Olsen Kaarmo on June 19, 1932, in Seattle. He had come from Norway in 1905 and had never married. The Kaarmos had no children.

Clarence Jacob had numerous love affairs, but none culminated in marriage.

Little is known about Mathias Rosholt's correspondence with his relatives in Norway. He stayed in touch with one of his sisters; family members still have several of the keepsakes she sent him.

One brother, John, migrated to the west coast where he bought a 160-acre tract of land bordering Puyallup Avenue in Tacoma, Wash. Within a few years, he sold the land and went off to Florida.

Other distant relatives were known to have settled in Wisconsin and elsewhere in Minnesota; and today the Rosholt name can be found in telephone books of a number of major cities of the United States.

Mathias, in his later years, drove a school bus pulled by horses, to take children to the grade school in Warba. During winter months, he wrapped hot bricks in gunny sacks so the children could keep their feet warm.

The Warba Telephone System had been established in 1915, and mothers of school children worked out a system of calling each other as the school bus went by, a notice for the next little ones to run. That way, none had to stand in the cold.

Mathias was a disciplinarian; a walk of several miles behind the bus and there was no more fighting or teasing.

He often sang jolly tunes for the children, such as Harry Lauder's "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", which he had learned from phonograph records.

(ED: Mr. Johnson has confused Harry Lauder's "It's Nice to Get Up in the Morning", popular shortly after 1900, with Irving Berlin's "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", from "Yip Yip Yaphank", a musical which played on Broadway during World War I. Mr. Johnson's grandfather may have sung either of these songs -- or both -- to his school bus passengers. But what is remarkable is that Mathias Rosholt -- now dead almost 60 years -- during his lifetime likely sang the songs of a man who still lives. Mr. Berlin is 95.)

In 1922, a motor bus became available to take students to the high school in Grand Rapids. The driver was August Anderson, who had driven army trucks in France during World War I.

The bus to the high school made it possible for most children in the community to continue their education. The schools were excellent, thanks to tax funds from the iron ore mines in the county. The mining companies were assessed $1.00 per ton for ore shipped to Duluth. One-half of this fund was given to the county for its schools.

Some of Mathias Rosholt's children and grandchildren earned high degrees and worked in professional fields. Others trained in technical fields and trades where they were able to earn good livings.

But the community of Warba, from its earliest years to the present, was plagued by unemployment and low prices. This forced many Rosholt children to leave and to look for employment in other states. Most went west.

In 1914, World War I had begun in Europe and, in April of 1917, the United States entered the conflict. Young men of Warba, including Fred Rosholt, Giles Rima, Wayne Hawkins and Jim, Bill and John McCaffery, and others, entered the armed services. Fred served in France with the Engineers' Division and he returned home in the summer of 1919.

That was the year a flu epidemic hit Warba, followed by scarlet fever and smallpox. Neighbors helped each other through these illnesses and all survived. But many suffered complications from the diseases and died young or spent years regaining their strength.

Following World War I, a group of financiers, wishing to make a "killing" in agriculture, drained the swamp to the west. They dredged several miles of ditches 15 feet wide and up to ten feet in depth. The water emptied into Swan River near the Patterson farm.

In 1920, the bottom fell out of the market and the project was dropped.

But dried out peat is flammable and soon grass and peatbog fires started by train locomotives threatened the community. It took all hands to backfire, plow firebreaks and shovel dirt for up to a week at a time to keep fires from causing serious losses.

The draining of the bogs also destroyed the blueberry crop. Most families had canned up to 300 quarts each summer.

One hot July day in 1920, while the Rosholt men were at work in a field, operating a binder; and Petro, her daughter, Tilda, and granddaughter, Pearl, were picking raspberries, the Rosholt home caught fire. It burned to the ground. Nothing was saved.

Mathias, undaunted, began cleaning out the basement so he could build a new home. Relatives and neighbors came to help. Fred and Clarence were home and they helped. May, who was teaching school, came to help on weekends. The house they built was larger than the old one. It had hardwood floors and there was a furnace in the basement.

By late fall, the family had accumulated some furniture, cooking utensils and clothing, and they moved into their new home in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Within three years, another economic blow came. Mathias Rosholt had pioneered in raising pure-bred Guernsey cattle and had established a Cooperative Purebred Breeding Association in the community. He brought in a second purebred sire from a herd in Alexandria, Minn. This sire was infected with Bang's disease and it spread through the herds of the community, causing a serious loss of calves and a big drop in milk production. Dairying around Warba never did recover, due to the disease and to continuing poor markets for dairy products.

In the early 1920s, Clarence Rosholt left home to live on his own property to the north. And Fred bought a small farm nearby and moved there. That left Mathias and Petro alone on the home farm. Until his death in December, 1926, Mathias continued to do his farm chores. With the help of his wife, he continued clearing land, tending his fields and taking part in community activities. And the two were always available to their sons, daughters and grandchildren for advice on problems and aspirations.

In retrospect, Mathias Rosholt was a kindly man. He was about 5'9" in height, and slender. He wore a mustache and, in later years, a beard.

He had few vices; one, that he smoked a corncob pipe incessantly. One day he asked Petro where he had mislaid his pipe. She advised him to "go look in the mirror".

He worked hard and expected the same of others. He had had little formal education, but he was adept at figures and used them while working in his farm shop and his carpentry shop.

His farming methods may not have been the best, as we know them today; yet he knew what should have been done and only lack of time and machinery kept him from doing it.

At times in his later years, he showed a strong temper, likely brought on by his long years of hard work, much in cold weather. He suffered hardening of the arteries and crippling arthritis. One day in September, 1926, he fell from the second floor of his shop onto a work bench. He was taken to a hospital in Grand Rapids, his first experience in a hospital. But when he found that his stay there would be of little help, he returned to his home -- the home he and his family had built and loved -- to live his last days.

He died two days before Christmas and he lies now in the Warba cemetery on a hilltop west of the village.

His wife, Petro, followed him 12 1/2 years later. She died in her sleep in June, 1939, and is buried beside her husband.

Posted by at 12:02 PM | Print/Email This Story | Comments (0)

The following message is being emailed or snail-mailed to people on the Rosholt Roundup mailing list:

     January 2004

     Dear Cousins:

     We are reviving the Rosholt Roundup.

     It will become an email publication; and for that we need
     your email address.

     Please send an email message to
     dirk{--at--}rosholt{-dot-}org.

     Include any email addresses you have for other members of
     your family.

     Include in your email message your personal family
     identification (shown above your name on the mailing label
     of this envelope).

     For those people who have no access to computers, we will
     continue (for a few months) to send new Roundup letters by
     regular mail.

     The Rosholt families of the United States and the Røsholt
     families of Norway will hold our next reunion in Norway
     sometime during the summer of 2005.

     Greg Rosholt (JT.1422),
     srosholt{--at--}ties{-dot-}k12{-dot-}mn{-dot-}us is the
     current US reunion chairman and will be contacting travel
     agencies to arrange travel to Norway.

     Nils Røsholt (NO.3743), rosholtn{--at--}online{-dot-}no is
     reunion chairman in Norway and will chose dates and events
     of our celebration there.

     We have our own website on the internet. Go to
     www.Rosholt.org any time to see copies of the new Roundup
     letters plus other family stories similar to those that used
     to appear in the old Roundups. Stories will often appear in
     the Rosholt website before they show up in the email.

     Dirk Rosholt (JT.1412)

     PS: We will not be using your email addresses for anything
     other than Roundup letters, and we plan to limit them to no
     more than one a month.

Posted by at 11:41 PM | Print/Email This Story | Comments (1)

The Rosholt.org weblog has been restarted. If you are interested in the technical reasons, see the extended entry below

This year should see a more active weblog. I'll start by reposting the articles from the earlier weblog and website.

If anyone else would like to participate, just send me an email at dirk@rosholt.org

Happy New Year!

Dirk Rosholt (JT.1412)
New York City

In June, 2003, I converted this webiste from using manual HTML coding to using Movable Type Personal Publishing System (a weblog or blog.)

This weblog is hosted by Cedant.com. Late in 2003, Cedant upgraded their systems. The upgrade broke the database system (db) that Movable Type uses. I was unable to access or update the weblog. I decided over the holidays to just restart from scratch.

Posted by at 1:42 PM | Print/Email This Story | Comments (1)