Ole Christophersen Brohaugh
1808-1873
Eidsvoll, Akershus, Norway
Ole Christophersen was born in Norway in 1808. He bought Søndre Brohaug (Southern Brohaug) in 1831 for 400 daler.
Brohaug
Farm in the 1865 Census of Norway The official records show that he
bought the farm from his uncle, Peder Bentsen, who then moved to Rønsen
for better pasture and hay fields. Other records, however, show that
Ole’s father, Christopher Bentsen, also lived on the farm, and had
obtained free maintenance for himself and his wife in exchange for the
deed to the property. Possibly both his father and his uncle had
previously farmed Southern Brohaug.
Ole had married Berthe Olea (Oline?) Jensdatter in 1830. Berthe died in
March of 1836, only 25 years old, leaving one daughter Marthe Christine.
Berthe's Death Record
After the death of his first wife, Ole married Karen Andersdatter
Langseth in 1838. Although we have generally not delved into the
genealogy of the wives, the following information was found about
Karen’s family:
*Karen’s grandfather was:
Henrik Andersen, born 1749. He married Berte Taraldsdatter and had a farm at Langsettun from 1790-1807.
Henrik's Death Record
Berthe's Death Record
Their son, Anders Henriksen, born 1785 (died 1849), he married Olea
Olsdatter and had the farm at Langsettun from 1807-1849. Their children
were:
Ole, Hans, Berthe Marie, Anne Dorthea, Karen and Ingeborg Marie.
Karen and Ole had eight children, but one, Gustava,died at about three years of age.
Augusta's Death Record
Karen herself died in Norway in 1861.
Karen's Death Record
In addition to farming, Ole apparently engaged in logging some of the
forested area of the farm. Once a violent storm came up while his logs
were being floated down the river (Vorma?) to a mill. Rafts were broken
apart and logs scattered. Since the value of the timber would have been
almost one thousand dollars (U.S.), it was a tragic loss for the
family. One of Ole’s sons said later it was the only time he saw his
father cry.
In 1869, Ole Christophersen Brohaugh and the seven children from his second marriage emigrated to America. Rumors have persisted that he left to avoid local pressures to get married again, but these were probably jocular. The more likely reasons would have been economic, as discussed in Chapter 1.
They left Norway in April, 1869 and arrived in New York City in May, on board the ship "Alepo".
Family Leaving Norway
The passenger list for this ship shows the following arriving passengers.
Ole Borhaug age 59 and his occupation was a Laborer from Germany.
Christophin Borhaug age 27 and his occupation was a Laborer from Germany.
Berd Borhaug age 25 and his occupation was a Laborer from Germany.
Olava Borhaug age 29 and she was a spinster from Germany.
Olina Borhaug age 22 and she was a spinster from Germany.
Ole Borhaug age 14 and his occupation was a Laborer from Germany.
Gustav Borhaug age 11 and he was listed as a child.
Marthia Borhaug age 10 and she was listed as a child from Germany.
Hans Borhaug age 38 and his occupation was listed as a Laborer from Germany.
Note the typical misinformation in public records, notably the atrocious misspellings and the wrong country of origin.
From New York they traveled on to Red Wing, Minnesota, the last stage of the journey being made by river steamboat. The youngest son, Gustave, kept a brief record of the trip in a little notebook (which we still have) given to him before he left Norway.
A translation of the trip commentary from this notebook follows: (Translation by George Olaf Brohaugh)
I
left Christiania (now Oslo) the 23rd of April. Had good weather over
the North Sea and Arrived at Hull in England the 26th at 2 o'clock in
the afternoon and then left by train at 10 o'clock in the evening. The
train travelled fast and we came to Liverpool at 6 o'clock April 27th
where we quartered in a hotel. And now we had time to see the city: its
parks, musuem, its cemetery and D.O.L. (????) Tuesday, May 4th at 4
o'clock in the afternoon we left Liverpool on the ship Alepo and had
good weather all the time over the ocean. On the 25th we took on board
the harbor pilot and on the 16th we saw land. On the 17th at 11 o'clock
in the forenoon we landed in New York. Travelled fast and came to
Pittsburgh where we changed cars and lay there several hours. Travelled
again on the train and came to Chicago the 21st at 7 o'clock in the
forenoon. We lay there until the 24th. Left there and came to Red Wing,
Minnesota on the 25th of May 1869.
The family lived in Red Wing for about a year. Then Ole purchased an 80 acre farm near the village of Esdaile, in Pierce County, Wisconsin, just across the river from Red Wing. This farm, the S 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Section 16, is labeled B.O. Brohaugh in the 1877 plat map shown in Fig. 3.2. As part of an 1846 Act of the U.S. Congress approving Wisconsin as a state within the Union, sections numbered "16" in every township were granted to the state for use of schools. This particular section number 16 was sold to a William N. Fairbanks in 1865. He in turn sold the S 1/2 of the SE 1/4 to Ole C. Brohaugh on September 9, 1870 for $800. Thus Ole was only the second private owner of the land, and almost certainly the first one to farm it. Apparently no cash changed hands during this sale, as a mortgage for $800 was also recorded on September 9, 1870 from Ole C. to William Fairbanks.
Ole Christophersen and his family became charter members of the Eidsvold Lutheran Church in Esdaile. The Congregational Member Inventory of 1873 showed them among the 95 members as:
Ole Chr. Brohaugh
Chr. O. Brohaugh
Bernt O. Brohaugh
Ole O. Brohaugh
Gustave O.Brohaugh
Olava Olsdtr. Brohaugh
Oliana Brohaugh
Martine Brohaugh
Ole lived only three years on his new farm: he died on December 16, 1873.
Eidsvold Lutheran Cemetery
Hartland Township
Pierce County, Wisconsin
Brohaugh Clarence O. 1890-28 Mar 1943 WI Pvt. 3rd Inf.
" Mabel 1894-1974
" Joel 1926-1927
Brohaugh George N. 1897-1953
Brohaugh Nels 1865-1942
" Gitta 1866-1946
Brohaugh Ole C. 1808-1873
" Bernt O. 1843-1904
Real Estate:
40 acres..........$850.00
40 acres..........$300.00
Personal Property
One Cow..........$ 20.00
One Cooking Stove..........$ 8.00
One Bedsted..........$ 2.00
One Featherbed..........$ 6.00
Two Chairs.......... 50¢
There were insufficient funds to pay Ole's debts (which included the mortgage) so the farm was put up for sale. At a public auction, held December 14, 1874, one of Ole's sons, Bernt, was the highest bidder and purchased the property for $1,150.00, that amount to be paid in two years.
In a complicated financial arrangement, the mortgage was
paid off by the eldest son, Christopher and two new mortgages, payable
to Christopher and another son, Ole O., were issued by Bernt.
Naturalization Record of Bernt: Brohaugh, Bernt O; 15 Dec 1885; Pierce County WI
The two minor children, Gustave and Martina, were awarded $300.00 each as a part of the settlement at the same time that the court appointed a guardian (Petter Johnson) for them. The two older daughters, Olava and Oliana, apparently received nothing from the estate.
Marthe Christine Olsdatter Brohaugh
1830-1901
Marthe's Family,1880 Census of Wisconsin
Their son Martinus, married Anna Maria Larsen in Wisconsin who was also from Eidsvold and went to Home Lake Township in Norman County, Minnesota and homesteaded. Martinus died in 1904 when a barn door fell on him.
Martinus Larsen Aasgaard
Jens Larsen Aasgaard's, 50th Wedding Anniversary
Anna Olava Olsdatter Brohaugh
1839-1905
Olava moved to the home of her brother, Rev. Christopher, for the last few months of her life, and died in St. Paul in 1905. She is buried in Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Christopher Olsen Brohaugh
1841-1908
Christopher was ordained a Lutheran pastor October 9, 1873 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since he was 28 years old when he came to the United States, he may have had some theological training in Norway.
He started his pastoral career as a member of the Ellings Synod, a synod organized by Elling Eielsen in 1846. Eielsen was a Norwegian lay preacher who came to America in 1839, became very active in the Fox River Norwegian settlement in Illinois and later was officially ordained by a German pastor.
The Ellings Synod changed its name to the Hauges Synod in 1876, remained independent until the large Lutheran merger f 1917, and then became part of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.
Thus for most of his career, Christopher was a Hauges Lutheran. He served pastorates at the following locations:
1873-1876, Red Wing, Minnesota and Esdaile, Wisconsin
1876-1880, Minneapolis
1880-1893, Chicago, Illinois
1893-1906, St. Paul, Minnesota
He was a prolific writer, hymn writer and editor, and is even listed in the St. Paul, Minnesota Directories for 1907 and 1908 as an editor. Some of his editing responsibilities included:
1873-1898, Budbaereren
1885, Bornenes harpe
1887, Vaegteren
1903-1907, Budbaereren
1907-1908, Haugianeren
1907-1908, Bornevennen
The Norwegian paper "Budbaereren" was the official organ of the Hauges Lutheran Synod and "Bornevennen" was an illustrated Sunday school paper established by Rev. Brohaugh in 1877.
He was also the author of several books, including (as co-author) a popular biography of Elling Eielsen, and some music books. Some of his works are:
1883, Eilling Eielsens liv og virke
1887, Vaegterrosten
1887, Missionaer Chr. Borchgrevink
1898, Harpelegeren med guitarskole
1900, Harpelegeren
Christopher married Julia Nelson in 1877, and they raised four children who all graduated from the University of Minnesota.
Their children are:
Mary, the oldest, was a teacher and never married, and died when she was only twenty-eight years old.
Peter Adolph, who worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. and married Amy Owen, but did not have any children.
Oscar, who obtained a legal degree from the Atlanta Law School and became chief of the commerce department for the Southern Freight Association. He married Mabel Wilkes, but they had no children either.
Gustave, who worked as a civil engineer for the Minnesota Highway Department until his retirement and then established his own engineering consulting firm. He married Eulalie Bern (Lally), and they did have several children.
Bernt Olsen Brohaugh
1843-1904
Bernt's Family,1880 Census of Wisconsin
Andrew Lund is to have right of way across Brohaugh land from ...to said Brohaugh's grainary. Brohaugh reserves the right to cut and take away all timber except for what Lund will need for fencing and building a house. It is agreed that all of said timber except 5 acres is to be taken off before 1882 and the last five acres in 1882.
The deal apparently fell through, as Bernt bought back the 40 acres later the same year.
Later on, in 1893, he bought the adjacent 40 acres in Section 15 and an additional 40 acres in Section 17.
Bernt married Julia Paulson in 1875, and they raised seven children on the farm. It was interesting to find that they preferred not to use (or perhaps to spell) the Brohaugh name for the 1880 Federal Census taker. The census lists them as:
Olson, Bernt age 36 and a farmer
Olson, Julia age 28 and his wife
Olson, Clara M. age 4
Olson, Ole A. age 2
Olson, George P. 1/12
Bernt died on his farm, July 23, 1904.
Bernt's sons: Ole, Paul, Joseph and George
Bernt's daughters: Lillian, Clara and Josie
Oliana Olsdatter Brohaugh
1846-1932
Oliana's Family,1880 Census of Wisconsin
Oliana and O.J. raised five children on their farm before they sold it and retired.
Their children were: Karen, who taught in Wisconsin and North Dakota rural schools. She married Gustave Simmons and they operated a drug store in Montana for a while. They had no children. Later she married Bjorlin Orbeck.
Joseph, who operated a hardware store in Norman County, Minnesota for a while and later ranched in Arizona. He never married. Oscar, who stayed on the farm.
Marie was a seamstress who married Frank Ulberth. They too had no children.
Emelia and Oscar remained on the farm, and when their parents retired, moved with them to St. Paul, Minnesota, securing employment in Minneapolis.
Ole Olsen Brohaugh
1852-1932
Ole's Family,1880 Census of Minnesota
In Minneapolis, he and a partner established a meat market (Brohaugh and Sather, 1519 South 5th St.) which operated from 1876 to 1879. In 1880, the partnership was dissolved and Ole ran the market by himself for a short time.
While living in Minneapolis, he met and married Albertina Hansen, and their first children were born there. In 1881, he moved to Ada, Minnesota in Norman County in western Minnesota, just a few years after the village was started. In Ada, he also operated a meat market and in 1885 bought some lots within the city. Later he moved a short distance to Hendrum, Minnesota where he bought into a mercantile store and also became the village postmaster. Some of his children have said that he was too lenient with credit to the local farmers and did not do well financially as a store owner. Anyway about 1900 (the deed transfer is dated Nov. 1900) he traded the store for the A.H. Gordon farm near Shelly, Minnesota and farmed there for twenty years.
In 1920, the farm was rented, the machinery, animals, supplies, etc., were auctioned off, and Ole and his wife moved back to Ada for their retirement.
As mentioned before, Ole married Albertina Hansen, and their first children were born in Minneapolis. Albertina had come from Norway when she was fourteen years old. She had travelled alone, in care of the ship's captain, to join her mother in Madison, Wisconsin. Later she moved to Minneapolis where she was a milliner and met Ole. Ole and Albertina had ten children, nine of whom lived beyond early childhood. The children were encouraged to obtain advanced education, in spite of the lack of available funds. Education came first, before any of life's amenities.
Ole's Family: Agnes, Ole, George, Minnie, Albertina, Joseph and Clara in back row, Luella, Esther, Edwin and Phillip
Gustave Olsen Brohaugh
1855-1928
Gustave,1880 Census of Minnesota
December 1878, Normal School Certificate, River Falls, Wisconsin
1879-1928, Professor at Red Wing Seminary (except for 1893-1895)
June 1889, BA Literature, University of Minnesota
June 1893, LLB, University of Minnesota
1893-1895, Sup. of Schools, Red Wing, Minnesota
June 1895, Admitted to the Bar, Dakota Territory
June 1895, Admitted to the Bar, State of Minnesota
October 1906, MA, University of Wisconsin, Political Economy and History
June 1909, Ph.D, University of Minnesota, (Thesis: The Minnesota Pine Lands)
The Red Wing Seminary played an important part in Gustave's life. The Seminary opened in September, 1879 with Rev. I. Eistenson as principal and Prof. G.O. Brohaugh as his assistant. The purpose of the school was to furnish a general Christian culture and more particularly to prepare ministers for the Hauge Synod. In addition to the theological department, the Seminary had a "preparatory" department in which Gustave taught. He taught English language and literature, mathematics, political science, history and penmanship! He spoke four languages fluently: Norwegian, English, French and German and spent several of his summer vacations in Europe to perfect his linguistic ability. For many years he was the only Ph.D on the staff, giving academic stature and acceptance to the Seminary.
Gustave had several hobbies, including painting. One of his efforts still survives: a large oil painting of the bridge across the Vorma River at Minne, near Eidsvoll, Norway was painted from an old photograph.
Professor Brohaugh was also noted for his frugality and his astute business sense. He told one of his nieces (Agnes) that he had taken his $300 share from the sale of the family farm in Wisconsin, deposited it in a bank, and never withdrew any part of it. He became president of the 1st National Bank in Red Wing and later president of a bank in Dawson, Minnesota.
For forty-nine years Professor Gustave Brohaugh was involved with and taught at the Red Wing Seminary. He had planned to make it fifty years and then retire. Death intervened; he died June 5, 1928 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, overlooking the Seminary. That was his wish.
Karen Martina Olsdatter Brohaugh
1858-1940
Martina,1880 Census of Minnesota
There is no record to indicate when or whey she came to live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but we know she was there in 1885. At that time she became the housekeeper for Dr. and Mrs. George Edwin MacLean and stayed with that family for fifty-three years. She followed them throughout Dr. MacLean's career as:
Profesor English Literature, University of Minnesota, 1883-1895.
Chancellor, University of Nebraska, 1895-1899
President, University of Iowa, 1899-1911
U.S.A. Educational Commission, Washington, D.C.
Martina was a kind, pleasant, genteel person. She was fond of her nieces and nephews and remembered their special days, such as graduation, with appropriate gifts.
After the death of Dr. MacLean in 1938, she returned to Minneapolis where she lived with her niece, Karen Dorr Simmons. She died on August 3, 1940 and was buried in the Red Wing Cemetery beside her brother, Gustave.
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