My dad’s paternal grandfather, John Rude (1900-1997), was born in the U.S. – but only barely. He was actually conceived in Norway and born in Wisconsin five months after his parents and older sister Anna arrived in Wisconsin from Olso by way of Liverpool, England and New York City.
Grandpa John’s parents were Ole Johannesen Rude (1874-1939) and Klara Hansdatter Bokrudstad (1876-1952), and they were both from the Ringsaker area on the north side of Lake Mjøsa in Hedmark. Ole had been working in the tobacco harvests in Wisconsin since 1896 and came back to Norway in 1899 to marry Klara and arrange for her and Anna to join him in Wisconsin.
The photo below was taken shortly before their departure from Oslo (then called Kristiania). Ole is standing at the left, with Klara and Anna seated. I’m not sure who the man with the bandaged arm is (at right). Perhaps Klara’s younger brother Nils? Or Ole’s younger brother Jørgen (who took over the Roterud farm)?
When Ole was born, his family worked on the Sigstad Farm. In 1882, Ole’s father Johannes Christiansen (1843-1927) purchased Roterud, a farm located on the edge of the town of Byflaten. The family attended Veldre Church, which is only a couple of miles from the farm.
Ole’s father Johannes was originally from the Ellefsæterbakken farm. Ole’s mother Anne Olsdatter (1841-1933) was originally from the Kristensveen Farm, which is also in the Veldre area. Anne’s father Ole Andersen (1812-1894) was born on Grinieie Farm, and her mother Johanne Tollefsdatter (1810-1896) was from Altona Farm near Lismarka.[1]
On September 15, 1899, Ole and Klara married at Åsmarka Church, which was fairly close to where Klara’s family was living at the Bokrudstad farm.
The next month they left for Wisconsin where Ole had been working. To my knowledge, Ole and Klara were the only children in their families to emigrate – a surprising fact given how common emigration was at the time and given how many siblings they had collectively (Ole was one of four, Klara was one of 13).
On coming to the U.S., Ole simplified his farm name Roterud as “Rud” or sometimes “Ruud”. But the story goes that the family was getting their mail mixed up with another Ole Ruud family, so they changed it to Rude. Oh, what a fateful decision for those of us born with this name!
Some of the descendants of Klara’s brother Simen Bokrudstad invited me to join them for a backyard barbecue in Næroset this afternoon. Anne Marie Skaugen is Simen’s great-granddaughter*, and she and her husband Aksel Harby run the grocery and bakery in Næroset that has been in the Harby family for 102 years. It was delightful to meet them, and the food they served us was incredible.
Not coincidentally — because we’d planned this for months — I met up with five of my family members from Wisconsin at this gathering: my dad’s sister Cathe, her daughter Bethany, Bethany’s husband Jack, their son Xavi and Bethany’s daughter Lexi. It was a special evening, and one I’ll never forget.
[1] This information comes from the Veldre bygdebok, 1974.
* This makes Anne Marie a third cousin to my dad.
Anne Marie and Aksel also took us to see the family plot at Åsmarka Church.
Deep Roots 
Leave a reply to notquitereadyforpremiertime Cancel reply