Four Generations in America 0 (0)

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Google Maps: Hovde, in Beridalen, Nordre Land, Norway.
Hovde, in Beridalen, Nordre Land, Norway: about 110 miles north of Oslo.

I wrote this paper in 1972 for Dr. K. Smemo’s History 349, The Scandinavians in America.

I’m planning to share a ‘family story’ or two about this side of the family in Saturday’s post: which will be both shorter, and easier to read than this.

I’m using a different format for footnotes this time, reflecting which page each one was on: [page number]-[footnote number]. Finally, I’ve added some extra information in square brackets [] — since some of what seemed obvious a half-century back probably isn’t today.

Four Generations in America: From a Gaard in Norway to a Farm in North Dakota

In this paper I am going to follow four generations of Norwegian immigrants in this country and try to show how each generation became increasingly ‘American’.

My great-grandfather, Ole O. Hovde, Sr. was born October 23, 1840 at Hovde, Branting in Beridalen, Gjørvik, Nordre Land, Norway [about 110 miles, 176 kilometers, north of Oslo]. One of six children of poor parents, Ole’s education “didn’t amount to much”.1-1 He could only attend a few weeks in the coldest winter, most of his time being spent making a living by working in neighboring gaards [farms]. He learned to read, but not write, Norwegian. However, “his lack of formal education never seemed to have handicapped him in his figuring as he [was] able to compute figures in his head at a more rapid rate than most people figuring on paper.”1-2

Left to his own devices Ole probably would have remained in Norway, as four of the six children in the family did. However, his brother Lars “was very anxious to go to America to see if the country was as good as he had been told.”3 Lars’ sources of information may have been America letters or statements by a man named Lundsaetter, a Norwegian who had gone to America and returned as an agent for a navigation company specializing in carrying immigrants to America. Lars and Lundsaetter persuaded Ole to go with Lars to America and in 1867 Lars, Ole and Ole’s fiance Mari Gulbrandson and about one hundred other Norwegians left for North America. Landing in Quebec, Lars, Ole and Mari went to Chicago. Ole and Mari found work in the Chicago area and stayed there for several years before moving west.1-4 During this period Mari worked as a maid in Beloit, Wisconsin, and learned English there.2-1

Ole and Mari were married May 1, 1871, at Rock Prairie, near Beloit, by the Lutheran minister Rev. I. Juller Eggen. The brother of the minister’s wife induced Ole to go to Ottertail County [Minnesota]. Ole took out his first citizenship papers at Janesville, Wisconsin, in May of 1871 and2-2 shortly thereafter Ole and Mari Hovde started toward Ottertail County in a covered wagon pulled by two horses, “accompanied by a number of friends with a similar aim.”2-3

Finally arriving at Ottertail County, Ole didn’t like the area and so decided to go on to the Goose River valley with some of the group. Mari and some of the other women stayed behind while Ole and the men went on. They hit the Goose River about a mile west of where Hillsboro [North Dakota] is now. The land was not yet open for filing and the others decided to quit being pioneers, and went back to Wisconsin. Ole stayed on, squatting in the covered wagon until he could get a small log house built for winter. There were only two other settlers there at the time, living about three miles east of where Ole settled. As time went on other people came, including Ole’s brother Lars. Ole Hovde Sr. was “one of the first road supervisors of the township as he was well acquainted with the stakes set by the government surveyors.”2-4 I take this to be an indication that Ole had become sufficiently ‘American’ to cooperate with the local government. After coming to America Ole Sr. learned English, retaining a command of the language in the 1920s. However, he preferred to speak Norwegian, using English when necessary.2-5 While living in the Goose River area, Ole Hovde Sr. was converted to (or led astray by) Methodism. His son, Ole Hovde Jr., learned both Lutheran and Methodist catechisms and was a Methodist.2-6

Ole Sr. retired from active farming early in life, turning the farm over to his son Ole Hovde Jr..

Ole Jr. was born on the homestead May 11, 1874,3-1 and took over operation of the farm at the age of eighteen. He spoke and wrote both Norwegian and English fluently, preferring English to Norwegian, and had the equivalent of an eighth grade education in the local school, plus short courses intended for farmers at North Dakota State University.3-2

In 1905 he married Gunda Olson, who had been born in Norway but had arrived in America as an infant. Her parents had left Norway because her father “had broken away from the state Lutheran Church and was a ‘radical’ Methodist.”3-3

Ole Jr. did not want his child, Dorothy Marie Hovde, to have a Norwegian accent (he himself spoke accentless English) and so after Dorothy was born Norwegian was not spoken in the Hovde home except when relatives or visitors arrived who did not speak English. Because of this, Dorothy speaks only English, although she learned some Norwegian and think could re-acquire it if necessary.3-4

Dorothy Hovde is the first ‘all American’ Hovde. Her only working language is English, and when she thinks of it she regards herself as an American. She moved into Hillsboro with her parents in 1918. After high school she went to the University of Minnesota, receiving a BA and completed work at Northwestern University, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree. At the University of Illinois she got a graduate degree in Library Science. While there she met Bernard Gill and they were married August 24, 1949.

Photo: Brian H. Gill, at his desk. (March 2021)
Me, at my desk, about a half-century after writing “Four Generations in America”.

I was born September 30, 1951 and am the fourth generation of Hovde to live in America. In addition to being ‘American’ in language and custom, I represent a further loss of Norwegian culture by being Irish- Scotch-Irish in background, I enjoy lefse, identify to some extent with the vkings and their accomplishments and wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.

These four generations show a pattern of assimilation which has been fairly common in the United States. Ole Sr., who came over during the first major wave of Norwegian emigration, retained much of his cultural identity although he acquired a foreign language, English, and a foreign religion, Methodism. His son, Ole Jr., was also bi-lingual but preferred to use English and was concerned that his daughter speak American English. In addition, he had some American schooling, which probably contributed to his Americanization. The third generation, Dorothy Hovde Gill, speaks only English and is quite American. She received even more education in America, which probably helped to reduce some Norwegian traits.

Assimilation has gone even further in the fourth generation. In addition to speaking only English I am only half Norwegian, the other half being mainly Irish and Scotch-Irish. This loss of native language and the mixing of ethnic backgrounds is a process which has contributed to the formation of what we call the American culture. This process is still going on, and eventually a person may be able to look back through his or her family tree and select the ethnic background which he wants to display as “his”.

Footnotes

1-1 Ernest Oliver Nelson, July 31, 1924, A Biographical Sketch of Ole O. Hovde, Sr., p. 1

1-2 Nelson, p. 1, 2

1-3 Nelson, p. 2

1-4 Nelson, p. 5

2-1 Unsigned typewritten sheet in Hovde History file

2-2 Nelson, p. 6

2-3 Unsigned typewritten sheet in Hovde History file

2-4 Nelson, p. 9

2-5 Interview with Hazel Ebeltoft, May 21, 1972

2-6 Interview with Dorothy Gill, May 21, 1972

3-1 Nelson, p. 9

3-2 Interview with Dorothy Gill, May 21, 1972

3-3 From a letter from Florence Feehan to Dorothy Gill, May 9, 1972

3-4 Interview with Dorothy Gill, May 20, 1972

Bibliography

Nelson, Ernest Oliver. A Biographical Sketch of Ole O. Hovde, Sr.
The material in this paper was mostly assembled through a personal interview between Mr. Hovde and his grandson,Ernest Oliver Nelson, who was then attending the University of North Dakota. (1924)

Unsigned, undated typewritten sheets giving some biographical material on Mari Gulbrandson and information on the first years spent by Ole and Mari Hovde at their Goose River farm. These sheets, and the paper by Ernest Nelson are kept in a folder marked Hovde History at my family’s home at 1010 South 16 Street, Moorhead, Minnesota.

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Dr. Hong, Ancient History, and the Bible 0 (0)

Posted on August 2, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Minnesota State University Moorhead's photo: an aerial view of MSUM when it was Moorhead State College. (1970)
Moorhead State, when I was there the first time.

I’ve had memorable instructors. Most of them were memorable in good ways. Like Dr. Hong,1 who taught Moorhead State’s ancient history classes in the early 1970s.

By the time I graduated, I think I’d taken every ‘ancient history’ class the History Department offered.

One reason I liked, and like, that subset of humanity’s long story is that we know a fair amount about it: and it’s a part of the story that’s now complete. As I see it, pretty much all the “history” since then is still in progress. Studying it is interesting. But it’s a bit like reading a mystery story, where the last few chapters are missing.

Most students very likely didn’t see ancient history that way, since Dr. Hong’s classes seldom had more than maybe a half-dozen students. That’s probably why they were in what I’m guessing was a conference room in MacLean Hall.

I didn’t mind the class size, or spending 50 minutes at a table in a windowless room, taking notes.

But — now that I think about it, this one student might have enjoyed his snooze. While he was taking it.

The Curious Case of the Somnolent Student

I had no trouble understanding Dr. Hong during lectures, or in conversation.

His syntax was precise, and his diction exact. For example: that upward inflection English-speaking folks put at the end of a sentence to indication a question? Dr. Hong ended questions with a very distinct change in tone. The same one. Every time.

However, and particularly during lectures, his speech did tend toward steady tonal values.

His delivery style was unruffled. Tranquil. Monotonic.

And that brings me to The Curious Case of the Somnolent Student.

Among the handful of folks in one of the classes I took with Dr. Hong was a six-foot-plus fellow who was big as well as tall. He could have played the part of a viking.

My guess is that he’d let himself get short on sleep the previous night. That can happen with college students, for various reasons.

At any rate, he started out the class period in his usual seat, near Dr. Hong’s end of the table, diligently taking notes.

Then, as the lecture proceeded, I noticed that his hand had stopped moving.

A few minutes later, his hand, and arm, began flowing across the table, followed by his shoulders, neck, head and body. By the time his hand had crossed the opposite side of table, he was softly snoring.

Dr. Hong didn’t skip a beat, I kept taking notes, the class period ended, and someone awoke the slumbering student.

He was mildly concerned. Can’t say that I blame him. But to my knowledge, that unplanned nap didn’t affect his grade.

Taking, and Sharing, Notes

Taking notes during Dr. Hong’s lectures was a real pleasure for me. Early on, I realized that he followed an outline. An exact outline.

Organized and prioritized lecturing is good practice, and fairly common. Some professors can be wonderfully informative without that sort of hierarchical structure in their lectures, and I’m drifting off-topic.

But like I said, early on, looking at my notes from one of his classes, I realized that he’d been delivering highly-organized information. The sort of thing you see in how-2 guides:

  • A.
    • 1.
      • a.
      • b.
      • c.
    • 2.
      • a.
    • 3.
    • 4.
      • a.
  • B.
    • 1.
    • 2.

— you get the picture.

I can organize information in outline format, but it’s not my favorite activity. The effort he put into his lectures, and the way those notes made studying easier, helped make Dr. Hong among my favorite professors.

Again, Dr. Hong’s diction and syntax were very precise. But they weren’t the Upper Midwest dialect of English I’d grown up hearing.

Dr. Hong’s speech style — accent? whatever — didn’t keep me from understanding what he was saying, since he spoke very clearly and consistently.

Apparently, though, I was the only one in some of his classes who could follow his lectures.

That resulted in a few conversations, including one where someone asked me if (1) I could understand what Dr. Hong was saying and (2) if I’d mind if she copied my notes.

The other students hadn’t left yet, so when I said (1) yes and (2) no problem: they stopped. None of us had a class during the next period, and the room was still free, so we all sat around the table as I read through the notes.

That happened in a few classes, and was a good experience. I like being useful.

And Dr. Hong gave excellent lectures.

Hearing a Unique Translation

One of Dr. Hong’s classes was — I think it was called “The Bible as History”.

Anyway, during one of the lectures, he read an example of the Bible’s historical aspect from one of the Old Testament books. I don’t remember which one.

Partway through, I noticed that the text he was reading — although familiar — wasn’t quite like any translation I’d run across.

That’s when I glanced at the Bible’s cover. Whatever was written there was in the Greek alphabet. And I realized why the text I was hearing had the same syntax Dr. Hong used during lectures.

I’d been listening to someone who grew up speaking Korean, reading a Greek text, and translating on the fly into English.

That was another reason Dr. Hong is among my favorite teachers.

Understanding and Accepting the Bible: Very Briefly

Joshua 1:1 in the Aleppo Codex. via Wikipedia. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_Codex
Joshua 1:1 in the Aleppo Codex, a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible.

I’ve been reading one of the Bible’s historical books, 2 Kings. Don’t be overly impressed — I’m a Catholic, so reading the Bible is a ‘must do’ thing. And a very good idea.

“The Church ‘forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.'”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 133)

Knowing what the Bible, Sacred Scripture is — and what it’s not — is also a good idea.

“…Know what the Bible is – and what it isn’t. The Bible is the story of God’s relationship with the people he has called to himself. It is not intended to be read as history text, a science book, or a political manifesto. In the Bible, God teaches us the truths that we need for the sake of our salvation….”
(“Understanding the Bible” , Mary Elizabeth Sperry, USCCB)

Okay: so how can I think “The Bible as History” was a valid course title and say that not seeing the Bible as “a history text” makes sense?

Bear in mind that I’m looking at this as someone who is, among other things, an historian.

Viewpoints and Me

Gustave Dore's 'Deborah Praises Jael.' (1866) from Dore's English Bible, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.
Gustave Dore’s “Deborah Praises Jael.” (1866)

Reading the Bible as if it’s a “history text” — in other words, assuming that it was written by someone with a contemporary Western viewpoint, focusing on the political, military, and economic aspects of people and events during a particular period?

That would be a bad idea.

But recognizing at least parts of the Bible as historical documents? The sort of thing historians study as part of an ongoing effort to understand our past?

That strikes me as a good idea.

Bear in mind that I don’t see 2 Kings, or any other of the Bible’s historical books, as merely — or mainly — an historical document. It’s pretty sparse when it comes to the ‘who did what, when, where, how, why and to whom’ details that historians deal with.

But since it gives the names of ‘historical’ folks, along with what they did and who else was around at the time — at a bare minimum, it’s the sort of documentation that can be useful in an academic sense.

Or could be useful, when the notion that everything in the Bible must be ‘fiction’ or ‘myth’ — in the sense of make-believe — becomes less fashionable.

That said, I’m not reading 2 Kings because I think it’s a “history text”.

Reading the Bible, Being a Catholic

'Jesus Cleanses the Temple,' Otto Elliger. (1700) from Pitts Theological Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta (Georgia); used w/o permission.
Otto Elliger’s “Jesus Cleanses the Temple”. (1700)

I’m reading it because it’s part of humanity’s long story: specifically, part of what I call our Lord’s family history.

I’m also reading it because it’s part of Sacred Scripture, where I can learn what God has been showing us. And that is, putting it mildly, very important.

But, again, I’m a Catholic. So it’s not ‘just the Bible and me’. I’ve got access wisdom that’s been accumulated over millennia, and the sort of guidance I won’t find anywhere else.

Here’s a very quick look at how I see the Bible, Tradition (capital “T”), the Magisterium, and the third person of the Holy Trinty:

“BIBLE: Sacred Scripture: the books which contain the truth of God’s Revelation and were composed by human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit (105). The Bible contains both the forty-six books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament (120). See Old Testament; New Testament.”

“HOLY SPIRIT: The third divine person of the Blessed Trinity, the personal love of the Father and Son for each other. Also called the Paraclete (Advocate) and Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the divine plan for our salvation (685; cf. 152, 243).”

“MAGISTERIUM: The living, teaching office of the Church, whose task it is to give as authentic interpretation of the word of God, whether in its written form (Sacred Scripture), or in the form of Tradition. The Magisterium ensures the Church’s fidelity to the teaching of the Apostles in matters of faith and morals (85, 890, 2033).”

“TRADITION: The living transmission of the message of the Gospel in the Church. The oral preaching of the Apostles, and the written message of salvation under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Bible), are conserved and handed on as the deposit of faith through the apostolic succession in the Church. Both the living Tradition and the written Scriptures have their common source in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ (75-82). The theological, liturgical, disciplinary, and devotional traditions of the local churches both contain and can be distinguished from this apostolic Tradition (83).”
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church)

That’s all I have time for this week.

I’ve talked about the Bible, history, and making sense, before:

1 Took me a while, but I found a document that mentioned Dr. Hong:

That led me down a rabbit hole or two, but at the end of the day here’s what I learned about Dr. Hong’s academic background:

Christopher C. Hong, 1968. Professor of History. A.B., Ottawa University; B.D. , Westminster Seminary; Ph.D., University of Chicago
(Graduate Bulletin, 1985-1987 (1985), MSUM)

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North Dakota Tsunami Concerns? 0 (0)

Posted on July 31, 2025 by Brian H. Gill

You can’t make this up.

“National Weather Service quells concerns of tsunami in, erm, North Dakota”
Joe Nelson, Bring Me The News (July 30, 2025)

“After the 8.8 megathrust earthquake struck near Russia Tuesday night, tsunami warnings, watches and advisories were issued for coastlines on the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, there was at least one person concerned that the tsunami threat could impact Fargo, North Dakota.

“‘There is no threat for tsunami impacts in North Dakota,’ said the Grand Forks office of the National Weather Service. The agency was responding to a user on X who pointed out that people had been searching Google for tsunami concerns in North Dakota….”

What the Grand Forks National Weather Service office said was accurate, in the context of that day’s tsunami concerns on Pacific shores. North Dakota is as far inland as you can get on the North American continent.

But, as the article pointed out, North Dakota does have lakes, and lakes can have ‘lake tsunamis’ — but, seriously, in North Dakota Lakes: that’s not much of a problem.

I’m a little curious about why someone Googled tsunamis and North Dakota.

I might have, just to see what Google came up with. But not many folks have a brain that’s wired like mine: for which we should all thank a merciful God.

Someone Googling North Dakota tsunamis out of fear that an aquatic avalanche of apocalyptic proportions might surge over the Rocky Mountains? That raises more issues than I’m going to think about this week. Or want to think about, for that matter.

Oh, boy. My eyes are still feeling smoky — I talked about that yesterday — and I’m still looking forward to waking up this week.

Sharing this weird — and, I hope, entertaining — bit of news seemed like a good idea. I hope you enjoyed it.

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“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes…” 0 (0)

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Weather in the contiguous 50 states: July 30, 2025 15:56 UTC / 10:56 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

Like the song says: “smoke gets in your eyes”, nose and throat.

It’s not really funny. But at least we can get a heads-up on how bad the smoke is.

Oddly enough, despite its name this state’s “Pollution Control Agency” can’t actually control the smoke that’s been drifting past us. And that’s another topic.

Here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, we’ve got an Air Quality Alert that’s running until 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency map: Current air quality conditions'. (July 30, 2025, 3:30 p.m. CDT)
Air quality in Minnesota and surrounding states/provinces. (July 30, 2025, 3:30 p.m.)

This time around, I can’t actually see the stuff that shouldn’t be in our air.

But I can feel it. And I suspect the smoke that’s been drifting through is at least partly behind how I’ve been feeling: tired.

Granted, I’m in my mid-70s. But this “tired” above and beyond the usual ‘not a 40-year-old kid any more’ thing.

On the ‘up’ side, it’s nowhere near as bad as a few weekends back. Several weekends back? Anyway, then the haze here in Sauk Centre was brown. That’s unusual, and not good.

Maybe a cup of coffee will help. Or two. Either way, I’m getting my feet up for a while.

Right. One more thing: I’ve talked this summer’s atmospheric ambiance before:

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Arba Zeri Campbell and the Telephone 0 (0)

Posted on July 26, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Brian H. Gill's photo: L. N. Kaas Company's (520 South Main Street, Sauk Centre, MN) work area, northeast corner. (ca. 2005) see https://www.brendans-island.com/lnkaasco.htm
A corner of my father-in-law’s workshop. (ca. 2005)

One thing I like about families — the one(s) I’m in, at any rate — are the legacies.

In my dialect of English a “legacy” is generally money or property handed down from one generation to another.

Legacies of that sort matter. My wife and I are in the process of updating our will, I suppose it’ll be wills, and that’s another topic.

But the legacies I’m thinking of aren’t worth much, in terms of taxable assets.

Although each of us is a unique individual, we also inherit whatever’s in the genes of our biological parents: along with the experiences, attitudes, habits, values, and stories of the folks who raised us.

I figure our oldest daughter suggested that I start sharing ‘family stories’ here because she sees some sort of value in them.

Anyway, that gets me to an ancestor — my father’s mother’s father — Arba Zeri Campbell.

He was, apparently, a lot like me. He liked high-tech stuff. But, being born 99 years before I was — in 1852 — our high-tech options were a trifle different.

Arba Zeri Campbell may have had, relatively speaking, more disposable income than this household ever did. Or maybe he and I shared interests that put getting new tech near the top of our non-essential priorities.

Either way, he was the first person in his part of the world — northeastern Illinois — with a telephone connection. The first.

That’s an accomplishment. But it also meant that he had to wait a long time before he got any calls on his telephone.

Families: Barker, Hulse, and Campbell

I did a little checking before writing this, and found “Arba Zeri Campbell” mentioned twice in my first search results: as one of the children of Erixna Barker, who married David Samuel Campbell; and as the husband of Eliza Carlina Hulse.1

That may connect with my habit of referring to couples I know as “[woman’s name] and [man’s name]”. Then again, maybe not.

I also learned that Erixna and David had at least six children, one of them dying young:

  • Adelaide Louisa Campbell 1841-1844
  • Zeno Adelbert Campbell 1843-1891
  • Adaline Alice Campbell 1847-1918
  • Arba Zeri Campbell 1852-1937
  • Lois Isabelle Campbell 1857-1923
  • Earl D Campbell 1861-1861

Again, like me and my wife: we’ve had six kids, and four of them are still alive.

Being a Catholic Family: Just the Basics

All this family and genealogy stuff reminded me that I haven’t talked about how family, marriage, and all that fits into what I believe. Not recently.

I’m — obviously, I suppose — a Catholic. So I think that family is important.

“The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2207) [emphasis mine]

Any and all ideas there can be warped: ‘authority’, ‘stability’, ‘security’, even ‘freedom’.

I could, for example, act as if my ‘authority’ as a husband and father means I can do whatever I want. It didn’t, it doesn’t, and acting that way would be a very bad idea.

Basically, in a family, children have responsibilities. Parents have responsibilities. (Catechism, 2214-2220, 2221-2231)

Those responsibilities do not include telling my kids who they should marry. Or whether they should get married. Or what sort of profession they get into. That’s just one aspect of being part of a family. The Catechism devotes more than two thousand words to discussing what a family is, and how families should work: which I see as a good introduction. (Catechism, 2201-2233)

Again, ‘family’ is very important to Catholics, or should be.

Another important point: my kids are people, not property. The same goes for my wife. And, for that matter, me. (Catechism, 2360-2379)

The ‘how to be a family’ thing boils down to what Jesus said about ‘the whole law and the prophets’. I should love God, love my neighbor, and see everybody as my neighbor. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, 10:25–37; Catechism, 1789)

Which, as I keep saying, is simple: and very, very hard to do.

I’ve looked at why ‘family’ matters and how it’s done before. But, like I said, not recently:

1 Folks in the family tree, and me:

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