My grandpa Eugene Smith’s mother, Elvina Anderson Smith (1898-1983), was born in Wisconsin to Norwegian immigrants Marie Alfsdatter Greibesland (1867-1950) and Anton Andreasen (1875-1931). Elvina never visited Norway, but she felt a close connection to her parents’ homeland. In her later years she jotted down notes about the family’s history and passed those along to her children. One of those children, my great-aunt Shirley Smith Stork, faithfully preserved those notes and added volumes of her own. Both she and her brother Eugene (my mom’s dad) made separate trips to Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reestablished ties with the descendants of their mother’s uncle Andreas Alfsen Greibesland (1856-1940).
Andreas was the uncle who went back. By the time my great-great grandmother Marie and her father Alf arrived by boat into New York in November of 1892, all six of Marie’s siblings had established themselves in the United States. However, the eldest son, Andreas, decided to return to Norway and work the family farm in Øvrebø – a small community just north of Kristiansand in what is now the fylke of Agder.
bottom from left are Anders, father Alf and Andreas
Andreas’s eldest son Albert Greibesland visited his Wisconsin relatives in 1929. In the photo below, Albert is the third man from left in the top row. Incidentally, this is one of the few photos we have of Marie’s husband Anton (my great-great grandfather). Anton is the second man from the right in the top row.
Front row (from left): John Johnson (Hans and Berte’s son-in-law/Gena’s husband), William Frey (Marie and Anton’s son-in-law/Nora’s husband), Hensel Johnson (Gena & John’s son), Robert Petry (Anna & Adolph’s son), Alfred Anderson (Marie & Anton’s son), William Anderson (Marie & Anton’s son)
Albert’s daughter Halldis Greibesland Larsen also took a keen interest in family history, and hosted my grandparents Eugene and Phyllis when they visited Norway in 1979.
Two years later, Halldis and her husband Reidar Larsen visited the U.S., staying with my grandparents in Wisconsin as well as my immediate family (then living in Syracuse, Indiana).
And two years after this, my grandpa’s sister Shirley Smith Stork and her cousin Lois Frey Febock (daughter of Elvina’s sister Nora Anderson Frey) made the trek to Kristiansand and the Greibesland family farm in Øvrebø.
Aunt Shirley set me up as a penpal with Halldis and Reidar Larsen’s oldest son, Kjell Inge, and we exchanged a letter or two in those years. I was nine or ten years old at the time.
Here’s a letter I received from Kjell Inge:
My grandparents’ and great-aunt’s trips, the visitors from Norway, and then this correspondence with a distant cousin – it’s hard to describe the impact they had on me as a boy. My mind expanded to encompass a wider world, a world that extended beyond my little spot on the planet and beyond my brief time on it. I knew that one day I’d go meet those Norwegian relatives, and finally – almost 40 years later – that day has come.
On Wednesday, the Kittelsen family welcomed me into their home with freshly made waffles and showed me the best way to eat one — butter, jam and a healthy helping of brunost — brown cheese. Linda Kittelsen is Kjell Inge’s sister (daughter of Halldis and Reidar).
Sadly, Halldis passed away in 2007, but her husband Reidar continues to reside at the Larsens’ home in Øvrebø. As you can see in the photo below, I finally got to meet my pen pal Kjell Inge at Reidar’s place.
And it was a special treat to visit the Greibesland family farm, which is where Alf (Halldis’s brother) and his partner Torunn live today. Alf had many old photos and memories of the family that he shared with us.
But the biggest reunion of all came today (Thursday). Linda coordinated a huge gathering of Greibesland family members at a community center in Øvrebø. I didn’t count how many family members turned up, but I think it was about 30. Linda and some of the other family members prepared a huge assortment of Norwegian delicacies — salads, mains and desserts — and everything was delicious.
My great-great grandma Marie Alfsdatter Greibesland arrived in America 130 years ago. It was so important to her daughter, my great-grandma Elvina Anderson Smith, that the family connections be maintained. And I’m proud to report that those connections are still alive, still going strong. Thanks to people like my great-aunt Shirley and her second cousin here in Norway, Halldis Larsen (and today Halldis’s daughter Linda Kittelsen), our families are staying in contact.
When I had a chance to walk around the room and meet everyone and explain who I was, there were a couple of comments like, “Oh, that’s actually not so distant.” And it’s true. 130 years might sound like a long time, but it’s only about 5 generations. And the older I get, the more I realize how quickly 5 generations can pass.
Even though I don’t plan on having children, it’s my hope that the next generation in our families will get to know each other and keep these connections alive. I’d like for my 4th cousins in Norway and my nieces and cousins’ children in the U.S. to know that they have a huge and very loving extended family on both sides of the Atlantic. When they experience that — like I’ve just experienced these past two days — the world feels a lot smaller.
Deep Roots 
Leave a comment