Elton SHARP

Notes:

His best man at his wedding was Agnes’s brother Orland.

He had heart surgery to correct a serious heart ailment in February of 1959 at University Hospital in Madison. At that point, he had been unable to work for 18 months. Doctors said that his condition might make him an invalid if not corrected.

Died:
“Descendants of Sever O. Nundahl” says January 7th. Wisconsin Death Index says January 8th.

Earl married Agnes OLSON on 10 Jul 1946 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Agnes (daughter of Odin Bernhard OLSON and Clara Louise NUNDAHL) was born on 7 Dec 1928 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 8 Dec 2013 in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin; was buried in Milton Lawns Memorial Park, Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Her obit:

Agnes C. Olson Sharp Buroker, age 85, of Janesville, died peacefully on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013, at Cozy Lil Acres, Janesville.

She was born in Crawford County on Dec. 7, 1928, the daughter of Odin and Clara (Nundahl) Olson. She was one of ten children. Agnes married Earl Sharp in Viroqua on July 10, 1946, and he preceded her in death on Jan. 8, 1964. They had six children together. She married Clifford Buroker on June 17. 1967, in Beloit and he preceded her in death on Oct. 3, 2011. Clifford and Agnes were snowbirds and spent 23 years in Florida. She had been employed by Piggly Wiggly and retired in January of 1984. She was a former member of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, a current member of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, and the Loyal Order of Moose.

Agnes is survived by her son, Russell (Margie) Sharp of Orfordville; 4 daughters: Cathy (Gary) Melby of South Beloit, Sandra (Richard) Krueger, Lecia (Dale) Heitsman both of Janesville; stepdaughter, Sandra (Mike) Barbour of Lizella, GA; stepson, Sherman (Judy) Buroker of Beloit; 19 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; 3 brothers: Clifford (Mary) Olson, Ervan and Orland Olson; sister, Mildred Tollefson; and 2 sisters-in-law, Alberta Joseph and Betty Hamilton; numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands; 4 sons: Roger Sharp and Ricky Sharp, twin sons, Elton and Edwin; brother, Robert Olson; and sisters, Bennetta Nelson, Helen Erickson, Selma Sharp, and Anna Ewers.

A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, at MT. CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH with Rev. Cory Rajek officiating.

Notes:

Married:
At the home of her parents. This was a double wedding with her sister Helen.

Notes:

He and Maggie and family lived in Clayton Twp, Crawford County, at the time of the 1930 census.

Harry + Magna (Maggie) HANSON. Magna was born on 26 Jul 1890; died on 25 Jan 1963 in Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer
• Social Security Number: 399-09-9188 issued in Wisconsin before 1951

Notes:

Middle name from Ervan’s obit.



Odin was a veteran of the World War.

The history of the Kickapoo United Lutheran Church in Soldiers Grove records the death of an Odin Olson in 1977.

Registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. Shown as single, living in Soldiers Grove. Claimed to have been born in Clayton, Wisconsin. His occupation is carpenter for “Coney Turbine” of Soldiers Grove. (That’s probably Cornelius Turbin, a neighbor of Odin’s father in 1900 census.) He is described as short, slender, blue eyes, light brown hair.

Listed in the 1920 census as age 24, living in Soldiers Grove in Crawford County. He is shown as single, occupation carpenter, age 24, “stepson” living with Martin and Christiana Helgerson.

In the 1910 census, Odin is 15 and living with Martin and Christina Helgerson in Soldiers Grove. Martin and Christina had been married for two years and she had had one child, still living (who apparently was Odin). It is his second marriage but her first so she probably was not married to Odin’s purported father, Robert James Olson.

In the 1900 census, he is Odin B Olson, living with his mother Christina in Clayton Twp. He is the only child Christina has had.

In the 1940 census, Odin and his family lived on a rented farm in Franklin Twp on the Viroqua to Black Bottom Road, a few farms away from the Carl Nundahls. Neither Mildred nor Benetta were living at home.

In the 1950 census, he was a farmer in Soldiers Grove in Crawford County. Ervin, Robert, and Clifford were still at home.

In that census, Christina Olson, and her son Odin B. are living on a farm in Crawford County. Christina is 40 (born Feb 1860 in Norway) and is single and has had one child which is still living. Her son Odin B. is 5 and was born Feb 1895 in Wisconsin. Odin’s father was born in Wisconsin. The farm next door is that of Ingeborg Olson, 69, who may be Christina’s mother.

According to the SSDI:

Residence: Marshall in Dane County
Last Benefit: Readstown in Vernon County

His obit noted that he was preceded in death by one son, one grandson, and one great-grandson. Odin’s obit had him and Clara marrying on February 5, 1918. But that is clearly incorrect because Odin and Clara are living at home and both single at the time of the 1920 census in January of 1920.

In a note that Dorothy McKittrick included in her 1977 Christmas card to Cora, she said, “Odin Olson died - his funeral is Monday. I talked to Benetta last night and she said he was only sick for a day and a half.”

Buried:
funeral Kickapoo United Lutheran Church

Odin married Clara Louise NUNDAHL on 5 Feb 1920 in Crawford County, Wisconsin. Clara (daughter of Sever Olsen NUNDAHL and Brithe (Bertha) BOWE) was born on 23 Jul 1898 in Crawford County, Wisconsin; died on 18 Oct 1956 in Rock County, Wisconsin; was buried on 22 Oct 1956 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Clara’s birth to “Sever Nundal” was reported in the July 29, 1898, issue of the Crawford County Advance (page 1, column 2) published in Soldiers Grove.

The Kickapoo Scout’s 16 Jul 1918 edition noted that Thea Thompson and Clara Nundahl were going to La Crosse for employment.

At the time of the 1930 census, Odin and Clara and family were living in Franklin township on a farm next to Clara's brother Carl at "Brookville & Black Bottom Road." Odin and Clara are shown as renting their farm. The family consisted of Odin, 35, Clara, 32, Benetta, 9, Orland, 8, Mildred, 6, Selma, 5, Helen, 3+, Agnes, 2+, and Clifford, 0, and a lodger/servant named Martin Dahlberg, 21. The household apparently did not have a radio. Odin was first married at age 25, Clara at age 23. Clara's parents are shown as having been born in Norway; everyone else was born in Wisconsin. Odin is shown as being a veteran of the World War.

On the other side of the Olson farm was Anna Thompson and down the road past Carl's farm was Sever Nundahl's farm and Tilman Nundahl's farm.

In the 1940 census, the Olson farm is listed a few households down from the Carl Nundahls but on the same census page. Odin and Clara did not own their farm (Carl owned his).



Cora said that Clara was her best friend in childhood.



Clara was shown as unmarried and living at home at the time of the 1920 census on January 11th.

Clara was living in Beloit at the time of her father’s death. Cora had Clara’s 1953 address as 202½ Short Street in Beloit.

The vocalists at Clara’s funeral were her nieces Martha Nundahl, Norma Nundahl, and Marlene Nundahl Thoftne.

Died:
“Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson” says that Clara died in Beloit.

Buried:
Her funeral was at 2:00 PM. Cora mentions the funeral in her diary. May have wanted to attend.

Notes:

Married:
At the Folsom parsonage by Rev. M. Finstad. Odin’s obit says, incorrectly, that they were married 5 February 1918.

Notes:

Information on Odin’s ancestors from “Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson.”

He is probably the Andrew C Olson, age 38, living with his second wife, Ida, and family in Clayton Twp in the 1910 census.

Andrew + Christina OLSON. Christina (daughter of Ole Olson BERGE and Britha Olsdatter HAUGE) was born on 13 Feb 1860 in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 25 Dec 1942 in Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin; was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Soldiers Grove, Crawford County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 4 Mar 1860, Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Clifford Milford’s obit lists a Mrs. Christena Helgeson as a grandparent which suggests that she was Odin’s mother.

According to the 1900 census, when she lived with Odin on a farm she owned in Clayton Twp, she had only had the one child. She was also shown as single in that 1900 census. In the 1910 census, she had had one child and that child was still alive.

Birth and death Information for Odin’s mother from “Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson.”

In the 1940 census, she was the 80 year-old widow Christina Helgerson living in Soldiers Grove.

Birth:
on the Berge farm near Fortun on the far northeast end of Lustrafjorden

Baptism:
as Kristina

Died:
Julie says Prairie du Chien

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Stone Mason, Farmer
• Vernon County Death Index: V25, P549 As Sever O.
• Baptism: 1 Jan 1862, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Born Sjur. Called Sever S. in the 1900 census.

Because a Wisconsin Nundahl is a member of the Fjord Heritage Club, Sever’s family may have come from the Årdal and Lærdal region of Sogn and Fjordane fylke, Norway.

His obituary said, incorrectly, that Sever was born May 12th.

His obituary claims that Sever joined his brothers and sisters in Wisconsin when he was 19 years old. It appears that Sever left Norway on June 1, 1880. The emigration records from Bergen for people from Årdal note a Sjur Olsen Nundal, age 18, unmarried, born in 1862, leaving on the Amerikanske Linie on that date.

Sever married Bertha in a “condensed M E ritual” conducted by G. N. Nuzum and witnessed by Sever Bowe and Ida Anderson. Sever’s occupation is shown as “mason” in his marriage record.

His obituary also says that Sever was survived by 22 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren.

Played the violin at dances.

In the 1905 state census, the family is recorded as Sever Nundal, 44, stone mason, Bertha, 36, Carl, 7, Clara, 6, and Tillman, 3. By that time, the family had moved to Franklin Twp. In the 1915 plat book for Vernon County, Sever Nundahl owns the 40 acres to the southwest of the original Claus Bowe homestead. By comparing the 1915 and 1896 plats, it would appear that Sever Nundahl bought the southern half of an 80 (two 40s) that Andrew and Sever Bowe owned in 1896.

Sever’s brother, Ole Nundahl, lived not too far from Sever according to the 1920 census. Ole’s children included Martin, Mabel, and another Tilman who was apparently about 2 years older than Sever’s Tilman. The two boys may have spelled their names slightly differently.

At the time of the 1930 census, Sever, 66, and Bertha, 62, were living on Black Bottom Road in Franklin Township on the same road as their children and their families. Sever was 31 when he was first married; Bertha was 27. Sever was born in Norway and emigrated in 1889.

In the 1940 census (indexed as Memlahl), Sever, Brita, Tilman Oliver, and Tilman’s children lived on a farm on Highway 14. For all of them, it was the same house that they had lived in in 1935.

In the 1950 census, he was the 88 year-old widower living with his son Tillman and Tillman’s three children in the town of Franklin, Vernon County. His grandson Sylvan was listed as the head of household.

According to the history of the Kickapoo Church, “Sjur Nundal” was a member of the building committee responsible, in 1926, for the building of the basement under the church.



Find A Grave contributor Deir claims that “Undoubtedly, Sever was the last living person in the U.S. with a memory of the Ekra farm {in Norway}.” This is probably not true because Sever’s older sister Anna survived him by four years.

Sever’s obit said that he had a sister, Mrs. Annie Oren, living in DeForest.

Birth:
The Luster bygdebok, in its description of Kari’s family, says that Sever was from “Ekra under Nundal i Årdal.”

Baptism:
In the churchbook as Sjur Olssen, son of O. Trondssen N?ndal and Kari Mathiasdatter.

Died:
Cora’s diary of May 20, 1954, says that she “got message Sever N. passed away.”

Sever married Brithe (Bertha) BOWE on 19 Sep 1896 in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Brithe (daughter of Claus Sjursen BØE (BOWE) and Kari Andersdatter MAREIM) was born on 28 Sep 1868 in Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin; died on 16 May 1944 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin; was buried on 19 May 1944 in North Kickapoo Lutheran Church Cemetery, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Vernon County Death Index: V21, P126 As Berthe

Notes:

Probably named after her paternal grandmother according to the Norwegian naming convention.

If Sever Bowe was born in May of 1866, Bertha could not have been born in September of 1866, the date shown in the 1900 census. Later censuses, and the 1870 census, suggest that September of 1867 may make more sense. Beth’s research says September 28, 1868. Bertha’s obit said September 28, 1869. Norma said, in a 4-1-2004 email, that her sister Eileen told her that Bertha was born in the house that Norma grew up in. That would seem to argue for the 1869 birthdate for Bertha although 1868 would not be ruled out.

“Ancestors of Benetta Celia Olson” says that Bertha was born on 28 Sep 1867. If that is true, Kari was pregnant during the passage to the U.S. and Bertha was born soon after the famiy’s arrival in Wisconsin. That would have been too soon for Claus to have completed building his house on his farm. If Bertha was born in September of 1867, she probably would have been born in Liberty Pole, not the farm house. If Bertha was born in the farmhouse, then her birth year couldn’t have been any earlier than 1868 and was probably 1869. If we believe the age two in the 1870 census, Bertha was born in 1867. If we believe the age 11 in the 1880 census, Bertha was born in 1868.

Her death was precipitated by a fall that broke her hip about 4 weeks before she died. After that, she had been taken to the Lutheran hospital in La Crosse where she died.

She and her family initially lived in Soldiers Grove and later moved to a farm next to Clause Bowe's (where Cora was living by that time).

Loved to dance according to Cora.

At the time of the 1900 census (June 6th), the Nundahls were living in the village of Soldiers Grove. Sever is 34 (born Nov 1865), Bertha is 33 (born Sept 1866), Carl O. is 2 (born Aug 1897), and Clara S. is 1 (born July 1898). The couple had been married 4 years; Bertha had had 2 children, both still living. Sever’s occupation is stone mason. They owned their home free and clear and it was not a farm.

In the 1905 state census, Sever and family are living in Franklin Township. Sever is 44 and a stone mason. Bertha is 36, Carl is 7, Clara is 6, and Tillman is 3.

In Sever Nundahl’s obituary, it is noted that “for a few years they resided in Soldiers Grove. Later they moved to a farm near Mason City where they lived the rest of their lives.”

The 1910 census shows Sever and Bertha living in Franklin Town, not far from the Bowes and Andersons apparently. Sever is 45, born in Norway, apparently came to the U.S. in 1886 (the date is not clear) and owns his mortgaged farm. Bertha, 42, is shown as having had three live births, all still living. Carl is 12, Clara is 11, and Tilman is 8. Everyone can read and write (except Tilman) and the three children were all attending school. Sever and Bertha had been married for 13 years.

Census-taker Douglas Nelson visited the Anderson/Nundahl/Ekum farms (they were contiguous, apparently, which is consistent with Cora’s memory) on January 11, 1920, and found:

Sever Nundahl, 56, owner of home free and clear, immigrated in 1880, naturalized citizen in 1905, can’t speak English, farmer in general farming, an employer. His wife is shown as “Brita”, 52, born in Wisconsin. Carl O, son, 22, farm worker working on own account. Clara (middle initial maybe “L”), 21, daughter. Tilman O., son, 17, had not attended school since September 1, 1919.

Her obit said that she was preceded in death by two grandchildren (which must be Clara’s Clifford and Carl’s Ivan).

Birth:
born in Wisconsin according to the 1870 and 1880 census

Died:
died at Lutheran Hospital

Notes:

Married:
date according to his obit, confirmed by La Crosse marriage record Vol. 4 p. 66