Sandra Ann SOINE

Notes:

The three sisters, Sandra, Sheila, and Sherree, made a lengthy pilgrimage back to Norway in 2007 and saw at least 30 churches and 9 family farms.

Cannon Falls High School, 1955.



Sandra A. Soine Olson, age 84, of Nerstrand, died Tuesday, Feb. 22, at her home.

Sandra Ann Olson was born in the Sogn Valley on May 7, 1937, the daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Otterness) Soine. She grew up there and graduated from Cannon Falls High School. She graduated from Nursing School at St. Lucas in Faribault as an R.N. Sandra earned a BA from Barat College in Lake Forest, IL. She took graduate classes from Mankato State University and the University of Minnesota, obtaining a master’s degree in Health Care Administration.

Sandra worked with people with disabilities.  She was instrumental in the development of Riverview manor, the first residential group home in Wanamingo.  She also worked for many years with both the Developmental Activity Center in Red Wing and the Faribault Regional Center. She later worked in the fields of staff development and administration.

On March 18, 1961, Sandra was married to Richard Olson at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault.

She was a member of Vang Lutheran Church in Dennison, the Minnesota Nurses Association, the Goodhue County Historical Society and The Minnesota State Historical Society. In her younger years Sandra was a supporter 4H and the FFA. She served on the Vang Lutheran Cemetery Board. Her hobbies included her dogs, gardening, barn preservation, and spending time outdoors. She most especially loved the time spent with her grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband Richard, children David (Lisa) Olson, Heather (Brian) Holley, Barbra (Tim) Olson, and Catherine (Brad) Luebke; grandchildren Blake and Zachary Olson and Madi and Cal Luebke; sisters Sheila (Arlen) Olson and Sherree (Larry) VanDeWalker; brother Terry (Sandy) Soine; many nieces and nephews, and her beloved dog Scottie. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Goodhue County Historical Society, Vang Lutheran Church or nursing scholarships at St. Olaf College Nursing Department.

Sandra married R.G. OLSON [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1911-09154
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1989-MN-031121

Thomas married Ruth Bernice OTTERNESS on 21 Mar 1934 in Goodhue County, Minnesota, and was divorced. Ruth (daughter of Lawrence Oliver OTTERNESS and Ingeborg (Belle) MIDJE) was born on 4 Jul 1915 in Goodhue County, Minnesota; died on 23 Nov 2003 in Wanamingo Twp, Goodhue County, Minnesota; was buried on 29 Nov 2003 in Holden Lutheran Cemetery, Kenyon, Goodhue County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Birth Certificate: 1915-10861
• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2003-MN-039378

Notes:

Birth:
Kenyon

Notes:

Married:
Thomas A Soine and Ruth B Otterness

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1944-MN-004632

Notes:

Married his first cousin.

Farming in Warsaw Twp, Goodhue County in the the 1900 census. Living next to his father Lars.

In the 1930 census, he and Anna were still living in Warsaw Twp with their sons Ludvig and Abraham. Son Carl was living next door.

Thomas married Anna Theoline ELLESTAD on 2 Jul 1892 in Swift County, Minnesota. Anna (daughter of Ole Tomason ELLESTAD and Sigrid HOLLEN) was born in Dec 1873 in Minnesota; died on 9 Mar 1943 in Goodhue County, Minnesota; was buried in Vang Lutheran Church Cemetery, Dennison, Goodhue County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1943-MN-004921

Notes:

Or Thealine.

Married her first cousin.

At the time of the 1900 census, she had had 4 children, only 2 of them (Ludvik, Clarence) still living.

Shown in the 1910 census as having borne 8 children, 6 still living. In the 1900 census, that was 4 and 2.

Notes:

Married:
#C-391; West Norway Lake

Notes:

Called Lorenzo in the 1880 census. Called Bengt Lawrence in his father’s history.

In the 1920 census, he was L. Otterness, a farmer in Warsaw Twp, Goodhue County.

His obit in the Faribault Daily News:

DENNISON (Special) -- Funeral services were held Thursday, Aug. 22, at 2 p.m. at the Urland Lutheran Church for Lawrence Otterness, 87. The Rev B. J. Blikstad, pastor of the Vang, Urland and Wangen Prairie parish, officiated. Mr. Otterness died Monday, Aug. 19, at Rochester, after a long illness. Mrs. Blikstad sang two request numbers, "Nu Kristi Blod, Retferdighet" and "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", accompanied by Mrs. Truman Skaro, church organist. The pallbearers were Clarence Quam, Joseph Quam, Louis Lee, Edward Otterness, William Thomas and Hans Underdahl. Burial was in the Urland Cemetery. Lawrence Otterness, the son of Odd and Randi Otterness, was born April 19, 1876, in Leon Township. He was baptized and confirmed in the Urland Lutheran Church. He grew up in the rural Dennison area. He worked in Yellow Medicine County for about 16 years and then came back to the Dennison community, where he has made his home. He was married to Ingelborg (Belle) Midge on Nov. 19, 1914. The couple lived in Warsaw township the most of their married life. He is survived by his widow, Ingelborg; one son, Edward of Dennison; two daughters, Mrs. Ruth Soine of Dennison and Mrs. May Degiovanni of St. Paul; 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Relatives and friends attending the funeral services from away were from St. Paul, Granite Falls, Clarkfield, Cannon Falls, Zumbrota, Le Sueur, Minneapolis, Pine Island, Rosemount, Mellen, Wis., and Prospect Park, Pa.

Lawrence married Ingeborg (Belle) MIDJE on 20 Nov 1912 in Goodhue County, Minnesota. Ingeborg (daughter of Ole Sjursen MIDJE and Brynilda Andersdatter TURLI) was born on 15 Mar 1883 in Minnesota; died on 2 Sep 1972 in Goodhue County, Minnesota; was buried in Urland Lutheran Cemetery, Goodhue County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Some family trees on Ancestry incorrectly have Ingeborg’s father as Torger Sjursen. Ingeborg’s parents were Ole Sjursen Midje and Brynilda Andersdatter Turli. Their children, in the 1905 state census were Sivert, Rognald, Ingebor, and Knut. The family lived in Leon Twp, Goodhue County, with a mailing address of Cannon Falls.

Notes:

Married:
as Lawrence O Otterness and Ingebor J Medge

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1917-MN-004721

Notes:

Traci’s tree refers to him as Lars Kristofferson Soine.

“Alias Lars Christopherson.” That’s what he was called in the 1880 census.

In the 1885 state census, he was Lars O. Støine of Warsaw Twp, Goodhue County. The household consists of Lars, 55, Anna, 57, Tom, 24, Gertrude, 19, Berit, 16, Christina, 9, Martha 7, “T.A.”, 25, Anna Austin, 27, Mabel A., 3, and Anna Maria, 20. From this and other information we can infer that “Anna Austin” is Lars’s oldest daughter, T.A. is her husband, Tom Austinson, and Mabel A. is Maybel Amanda Ellingboe.

As Lars Christopherson Soine, he is listed as one of the initial contributors to the start-up of St. Olaf College.

He was a farmer in Warsaw Twp in 1870.

in the 1900 census, Lars, Anna, and their single daughter Christina were living in Warsaw, Goodhue County, next door to their son and brother, Thomas Soine and his family. Lars is shown to have come to this country in 1853, Anna in 1856.

In the 1910 census, Lars and Anne are living with their son Tom and his family on Tom’s farm in Warsaw.

He is listed in “The Valdris Book”, a history of the Valdris Samband published in 1920 (available on Google Books) but his entry specifically says he was not a member of the Samband.

Shown as Lars A. on his death certificate.

From one of Lars’s descendants: "Lars Christophersen Soine was born on 14 June 1830 in Vang, Valdres Norway. He came to America with his parents in 1853, he was 23 years old. He went by the name Lars O Christophersen. He worked in the logging camps in Wisconsin. He rode the logs down the river to keep them from jumbling. Several times he was thrown, by the force of the swift current and the jerking logs, into the water. In 1856 he married Anna Ellestad. Three of their nine children were born in Wisconsin. In the early 1860's Lars and Anna went moved to Goodhue County in Minnesota where they rented a farm for a few years. Then they purchased 160 acres in Warsaw township in Goodhue County. At this time he returned to using the name Lars Soine. Lars and Anna lived in a small house on their land until 1884 when they built a 12 room house for two families. He planned this house for two families so that he would have a place of his own in their old age. Lars and Anna lived in four rooms, tworooms downstairs (12x14 and 14x16) and two rooms upstairs. Their son, Thomas, and his family of 12 lived in seven of the rooms, four big rooms downstairs and three upstairs. The room above the kitchen was used as a store room for both families. Both families used the same stairs and hallway to the second floor.Each family had their own cellar and stairs. The pump was on the porch between the two kitchens. (Don't you think many oldfolks would love this arrangement nowadays instead of the old folks home?) (Denne ideen hare nok Lars hatt med segfra Vang, han har nok tenkt på kårstuene der, da han bygde detstore huset.) These two families lived in Harmony for 24½ years. In 1916 Anna and Lars celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Anna died that fall at the age of 83 and Lars died the following April, 1917." (This is a transcript of a handwritten remembrance of one of Lars O Soine's grandchildren). Lars was a 'charter member' of the 'Valdres Laget' of Goodhue county.

Lars married Anna Tomasdatter ELLESTAD about 1856. Anna (daughter of Tomas Knudson TØRSTAD and Berit Johannesdatter ELLESTAD) was born on 4 Sep 1833 in Lomen, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; died on 6 Nov 1916 in Goodhue County, Minnesota; was buried in Vang Lutheran Church Cemetery, Dennison, Goodhue County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1916-MN-004884
• Baptism: 8 Oct 1833, Lomen, Vestre Slidre i Valdres, Oppland, Norway

Notes:

In the 1900 census, she is claimed to have had 10 children, 8 still living. Those numbers are 10 and 7 in the 1910 census.

Shown as Anna E. on her death certificate.

Buried:
252 HN 4 N

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1928-MN-015666

Notes:

In the 1865 Norwegian census, he is probably the 25 year-old unmarried Ole Thomasson, a laborer on the Løken farm in Lomen, Vestre Slidre.

The records for the Norway Lake Lutheran churches in Kandiyohi County show: “Ole Ellestad, born in Balders, married Sigrid Hollen, born in Balders. Came to Goodhue County in 1866.”

In the 1875 Minnesota census, he and his wife and three daughters live in Kerkhoven Twp, Swift County.

In the 1880 census, O.T. (indexed as O.J. Ellestod), 39, and his wife Sigri, 31, were farming in Kerkhoven, Swift County. The children consisted of Betsy, 8, Anne, 6, Ida, 5, and Sophia, 1. The family had a servant, Chas. Johnson, 20, born in Sweden, living with them.

In the 1885 Minnesota census, when the family lived in Kerkhoven Twp, the household consisted of Ole, 44, Sigrid, 36, Betsy, 13, Anna, 11, Julia, 9, Soffia, 6, Emma, 3, and Thomas, 3 months.

Shown as Ole Ellestad in the 1900 census (census enumerator was Ole Ellingboe). (Ole T. was indexed incorrectly as Ole A., census form shows Ole T.) He and his wife and two sons were living in Kerkhoven, Swift County, which is just over the county line from Sunburg, Kandiyohi County. Ole was renting his farm. Sigri had had nine children, six still living.

Lived in Sunburg, MN, near Kerkhoven. Later moved to North Dakota. Living in Kerkhoven Township, Swift County, MN, at the time of the 1900 census (June 1).

The 1900 census shows him as having come to the U.S. in 1866.

In the 1905 state census, Ole and Sigre live in Murdock, Kerkhoven Twp, next door to Rangdy Flattan (#12828) and family.

In the 1910 census, Ole T. Elestad, 69, and Sigre, 62, were living in on a farm in Dunn County, North Dakota. Ole and Sigre had been married for 40 years. Sigre had had 9 children, 6 still living. Ole’s farm is shown as being in Section 22, Twp 145, Range 94. Ole came to this country in 1866 and was a citizen. Sigre came to this country in 1869. The farm adjacent to them, shown as Section 26, was Thomas Ellestad, 25, and his wife Hannah, 27. It was the first marriage for both and the had been married 0 years. Hannah had been born in South Dakota and her parents in Norway.

An Ole T. Ellestad died in Swift County in 1928.

Birth:
Ellestad

Ole married Sigrid HOLLEN about 1869. Sigrid (daughter of Even Helgessen HØVERSTAD and Anne Tostensdatter VØVLISEIGA) was born on 24 Aug 1848 in Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; died on 10 Feb 1918 in Dunn County, North Dakota; was buried in South Lake Johanna Cemetery, Pope County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 3 Sep 1848, Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway

Notes:

The 1900 census showed her as having borne 9 children, 6 still living. That census also showed her coming to this country in 1866.

Birth:
North Dakota death index says 1849, other sources say 24 Jul 1848

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 13 Sep 1840, Aurland, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

Farmed in Leon Twp, Goodhue County.

Called, or at least indexed as, Edward L in the 1880 census.

His bio in History of Goodhue County (1909):

E. L. Otterness, of Leon township, was born in Norway, September 7, 1840, son of Lars and Martha Otterness, natives of Norway. He received his education in the common schools of Norway, and came to Leon township in 1857 and joined his brother, who came in 1855. He remained with his brother, working on the farm for seven years, after which he purchased 160 acres of land in the township where he built a small house and other buildings and improved the farm, carrying on general and diversified farming. In 1866 he was married to Randi Bergman. Mr. and Mrs. Otterness have had seven children: Jensine (deceased); Lars of Minneapolis; Bengt Lawrence, of Yellow Medicine county; Ingebor, of Leon, and Edward, living at home. Mr. Otterness has now retired from active life, and his son manages the farm and owns eighty acres of the homestead. Mr. Otterness is a Democrat in his political views, and has been assessor, supervisor for three years, and member of the school board for thirty years, but holds no office now. The family faith is that of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

Baptism:
as Aad; one of his sponsors was L. Knudsen, Ytre lie

Aad married Randi Olson BERQUAM. Randi (daughter of Ole Olsen BERQUAM and Inga Eriksdatter) was born on 15 May 1843 in Aurland, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died on 24 Jul 1919 in Minnesota; was buried in Urland Lutheran Cemetery, Goodhue County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 28 May 1843, Aurland, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Notes:

In the 1880 census, she is noted as having a “female complaint.”

According to the Dalby Database, her parents were Ole Olson and Inga E Olsdatter Bergvam/Berquam.

Notes:

The Midje farm in Sogn og Fjordane is southeast of Sogndal, southwest of Lærdal, northeast of Flåm.

Ole married Brynilda Andersdatter TURLI. Brynilda was born on 17 Jun 1851 in Norway; died on 24 Jan 1935. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Turli farm in Sog og Fjordane is northeast of, and very close to, Aurland.

In the 1910 census, she was Bertha Medje, a widow living in Leon Twp, Goodhue County, with three of her four living children: Rognhold, b. ca 1877, Ingebor, b. ca 1882, and Knut, b. ca 1890. She had come to the U.S. in 1870.