Else Livdahl Ellingson (1844-1932). Else was 16 years of age when she came to America from Norway. Life was hard and she worked as a “hired girl” as so many Norwegian emigrants girls did. When Ellling Ellingson’s first wife died she helped out in his home. To Else he seemed more like a father, but times were hard and when he proposed she married him for he commanded respect and was well thought of. His oldest daughter, Gunhild, was the same age as Else.

(Gunhild married Ole Rauk and they lived on the neighboring farm. Two of their children were “special” to Gena. Bertha Rauk Schansberg was like a big sister and Emma Rauk Billigneur was Gena’s special chum. Whenever Gena told of childhood escapades Emma was involved.)

Else spent only three years of her life in school, yet she loved to read and was greatly interested in politics. She loved to discuss politics, as noted in the Decorah Posten, with her son-in-law, Hemming. She was also incurably romantic and she enjoyed the Ved Arnen love stories as long as she lived. She loved the out of doors and Grandma in her bonnet hunting gooseberries and raspberries was a common sight. Her crazy-work quilts were works of art and so were the hundreds of mittens she knit for her grandchildren.

-- Esther Frost, Remembering

Mrs. Ellingsen, 87, pioneer resident of Spring Grove, Minnesota, died Sunday, Feb. 21. ... Mrs. Ellingson (Else Livdalen) was born in Krodsherad, Norway, Oct. 20 1844. She was the daughter of Amund Nilsen Livdalen and Turi Eriksdatter (Sundet). She emigrated with her parents in 1861, settling in Spring Grove the same year. Her parents were pioneers in the Spring Grove settlement and Mrs. Ellingsen had her full share of the strenuous life incident to pioneer conditions.

In 1865 she was married to Elling Snedkerpladsen at Spring Grove. He died in 1895. Mrs. Ellingsen is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Turi Muller of Spring Grove, Mrs. P. J. Myre of Seattle, and Mrs. Gina Frost of St. Charles, Minn.; by two stepchildren, Mrs. Ingegorg Sundet and Mr. Ole Ellingsen of Spring Grove; also by two sons, Hans and Gustav Ellingsen of North Dakota, and one sister, Mrs. Bent Tingelstad of Silverton, Oregon, and one brother, Knut Liudahl of Hamburg, North Dakota.

-- Pacific Lutheran Herald, v. 15, March 2, 1932, p. 2 [with errors corrected]

“Jack's grandmother Else emigrated with her family (parents and 7 siblings--she was 17). They had moved from Krodsherad to Nes-something and sailed from Flaa. The ocean port may have been Bergen.”

-- Jean Frost

==========

“I looked up the information about Jack's grandmother's family's trip. For starters, I just realized that the Civil War was going on at the time. They went up the Hudson River to Albany, then on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, by boat to Milwaukee, and I suppose overland to Spring Grove. From Buffalo to Milwaukee by boat! That would mean Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. I wonder how long tnat took!

-- Jean Frost, 26 May 1996 email to Mary Frost Steen

==========



==========
Grandma

“I remember the black kerchief which she wore around her head, tied in a bow under her chin, and the broad-brimmed hat on summer days when she went berry picking along the fence lines or in the woods. I recall her profound loyalty to her own language and the customs of her mother country, the dollar which usually accompanied her Christmas greeting to each of us, the peppermint candy and the words of commendation on occasions when I had learned my Catechism lesson well. I remember, too, her fierce prejudice against cats, especially at the moment when she was feeding our favorite dog. I remember her hymn book and her Bible. I recall Grandma's unschooled common sense and her humble faith in God. But most of all I remember her patchwork quilts. ...

“Besides the many colors there were the special embroidered edges and the simple designs which she made. Most beautiful of all were the pieces of black velvet which she interspersed judiciously with many other pieces in order to make full use of their beauty. These were the prettiest when they received their bright floral decorations and embroidery.”

-- Gerhard Frost in These Things I Remember, Minneapolis: Augburg Publishing House, 1963, p.41-43.