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Velgjerd Torsteinsdatter NYSTUEN

Female 1842 - 1953  (110 years)


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  • Name Velgjerd Torsteinsdatter NYSTUEN 
    Birth 10 Oct 1842  Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Nystuen 1/ husmannsplass
    Gender Female 
    Baptism 13 Nov 1842  Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 23 Jan 1953  Northfield, Rice County, Minnesota Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Went by Ellen in the U.S. In the 1910 census, she had had four children, only two still living.

      From the Dalby database:

      Funeral services for Mrs. Velgjer Svien, who passed away at her home Saturday morning, January 24, were held in St. John's Lutheran church this afternoon at 2 p.m. with the pastor the Rev. B. R. Biorn officiating. Burial was made in the family lot beside the graves of her husband and four children. Pallbearers were six grand-nephews, Elmer, Clarence, Luther, George, Paul and Maurice Nystuen. Velgjer Nystuen Svien was born in Norway on October 10, 1842. After the death of her mother, Mr. Nystuen came to America with his family when Velgjer was 11 years of age. The trip from Norway to Quebec, Canada in 1854 took seven weeks aboard the slow sailing ship. The Nystuens first settled in Spring Prairie, Wis. and later moved to St. Ansgar, Iowa. It was there in 1860 that Velgjer married Andrew Svien. They moved to Goodhue county, Minnesota in 1865 where they were engaged in farming until 1876 when they moved to Northfield. She and her husband operated a hotel on Division Street. Mr. Svien also served as policeman. Mrs. Svien was a charter member of the Ladies Aid society of St. John's church and a long time member of the congregation. Mr. Svien passed away inn 1927. For several years she continued to reside at the home on Washington Street. She was cared for later in a rest home and at the time of her death was being cared for by her grandson and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. William Lockren. She is survived by one sister, Mrs. Hans Bergan, Lake Mills, Iowa; six grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. A foster daughter, Mrs. H. E. Frazee (Susie) of Pelican Rapids, also survives.

      and:

      The state’s oldest resident, Mrs. Velgjer Svien, passed away Friday, Jan. 23,1953, at the age of 110 years, 3 months, and 13 days. Funeral services were conducted by the Rev. B. R. Biorn at St. Johns Lutheran church Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 2 oclock. Gertrude Boe Overby was soloist and Mrs. H. J. Westwood was organist. Burial was beside her husband in Northfield cemetery.

      Velgjer Nystuen was born at Valdres, Norway, Oct. 10, 1842. After the death of her mother which occurred when Velgjer was only eight, she came with her father and his other children to the United States in 1854. The trip across the ocean was made on a sailing vessel, taking eleven weeks. The familys first home was in Spring Prairie, Wis. After three years they moved to St. Ansgar, la., and it was here in 1860 that Velgjer was married to Andrew J. Svien. She was then 18 years of age. In 1865 Mr. and Mrs. Svien moved to a farm in Goodhue county, Minnesota. Northfield became their home in 1876 and for the remaining years of their lives. Mr. Svien died in 1926, and Mrs. Svien spent 77 years as a resident here. For a time Mr. and Mrs. Svien had a hotel on Division street in the building now occupied by the Berg and Son Upholstery business, but Mr. Svien is better remembered by the generations of his day as the town policeman, an affable man faithfully walking his beat. Mrs. Svien’s recipe for long life, “Don’t hurry,” she practiced indeed. She never allowed herself to be hurried or worried, taking each moment, as well as each day, as it came, and maintaining a serenity rarely found in this mechanized day of speed. She enjoyed remarkably good health and strength for her advanced years. On her 100th birthday she sat through an afternoon of festivities in her honor given by the ladies aid at St. John’s church, and she showed no weariness from the experience. She was a charter member of the ladies aid and a member of the church. That birthday was also marked by an interview with her on the radio, as well as another party given her at her home, at which about 100 relatives and friends came to greet her. On her 105th birthday another sizable celebration was held at her home. This too she enjoyed thoroughly, making frequent trips outside to pose for pictures. Until she was 98 Mrs. Svien lived alone and took care of her home and of herself. Her daughter Carrie, Mrs. Lervik, then came to live with her. The daughter passed away after a few years. Seven years ago a grandson, William Lockren, and Mrs. Lockren came to care for Mrs. Svien. She clung to the practice of ministering to her own needs until frailty prevented, and that was only about three years ago. The Sviens had two sons and two daughters: Carrie, John, Tom, and Anna, all of whom have died; also a foster daughter, Susie, Mrs. H. E. Frazee, who lives in Pelican Rapids. There are six grandchildren,10 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren. Mrs. Svien has one sister living, Mrs. Hans Bergan, Lake Mills, la. Mrs. Bergan is in her 90s. The pallbearers for Mrs. Svien were all grandnephews. They were all Nystuens, Elmer, Clarence, Luther, George, Paul, and Maurice. Mrs. Svien had seen in her life-time a panorama of marvelous changes—from sailing vessels to steamboats to aircraft; from prairie and woodland country to cities and paved highways; from covered wagons and horses to trains and automobiles. She had seen the wonders of science bring in the telephone, the electric light, the phonograph, the radio, and television. She had seen her country in the throes of five wars; The Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the present Korean conflict. She had lived in this country under 20 presidents. Franklin Pierce was president when she arrived in 1854. The Civil War was raging when she came with her husband to Goodhue county. And their arrival in Northfield was the same year the James-Younger raid invaded the city and met its Waterloo. Her life in the Midwest embraced the period of the development of this great area from its rudest beginnings.
    Person ID I25847  Don Carlson's Tree
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2017 

    Father Torstein Jonsen NYSTUEN,   b. 1805, Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 Jan 1898, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 93 years) 
    Mother Berit Iversdotter UVDAL (UPDAL),   b. 1815, Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1848, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 33 years) 
    Marriage 1837 
    Family ID F2104  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Anders Johannessen SVIEN,   b. 11 Mar 1837, Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1927, Rice County, Minnesota Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 89 years) 
    Marriage 1860  Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Anna SVIEN,   b. Abt 1870, Minnesota Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1948 (Age 78 years)
     2. Carin SVIEN,   b. Abt 1862
     3. John SVIEN,   b. Abt 1864
     4. Thomas SVIEN,   b. Abt 1867
     5. Susie A Peterson SVIEN,   b. 13 Mar 1878, Rice County, Minnesota Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Mar 1964, Otter Tail County, Minnesota Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 86 years)
    Family ID F18173  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2017