My dad’s paternal grandparents were Borghild Helgestad Rude (1904-1975) and John Rude (1900-1997). The photo below was taken in May of 1975 shortly after I was born and shortly before my great-grandma Borghild died. Grandma Borghild was so weakened by illness at the time this photo was taken that she asked Grandpa John to hold me.

Grandma Borghild is the only one of my great-grandparents to have been born outside the U.S. Like her parents and her three older siblings, Borghild was born in the community of Østre Toten. She was baptised at Balke Church in July of 1904 at the time that her mother Sofie Hansdatter Kallerustad (1876-1930) was briefly living at a farm called Aurenhagen nedre (red square on the map below).

At the time of her baptism, Borghild’s father Kristian Kristiansen Helgestad (1871-1927) was working in Wisconsin and preparing for his family’s arrival in August of that year.

During the late 1890s and early 1900s, the family had resided at several farms: Skramstad (1897), Øversveen (1900), Paulsrud (1901), and then Aurenhagen nedre (1904). Øvresveen and Paulsrud were part of a collection of farms called Vang (green square on the map above).

Before I left the area today, I stopped and spoke to the current owner of Vang. He showed me how to find Paulsrud, which is a tiny farm up on the hill overlooking the Vang Farm. I had to drive up a little dirt road and then walk a quarter mile through the woods. The house is now deserted.

The family of Borghild’s father Kristian lived and worked on one of the Helgestad farms called Gundersbakken (orange square on the map).

Grandpa Kristian (1871-1927) was the youngest of six children born to Pernille Nilsdatter Ivershus (1831-1911) and Kristian Gundersen Gundersbakken (1826-1897). Their home, Helgestad, is a collection of farms to the east of the town of Skreia in Østre Toten.

There are actually three Helgestad Farms: Store Helgestad vestre (Big Helgestad west), Store Helgestad østre (Big Helgestad east) and Lille Helgestad (Small Helgestad). Gundersbakken was a sub-farm (bruk) of Store Helgestad vestre and lay opposite the bruk called Pederrudbakken. Grandpa Kristian’s father – Kristian Gundersen – also grew up on Gundersbakken. The farm was discontinued prior to 1930.^[1]

Like his first four children, my great-great grandpa Kristian Kristiansen Helgestad was baptised at Balke Church (orange circle on the map). Balke Church was built in the Middle Ages – around 1170 – but had significant changes made in the early 18^th century.

My great-grandma Borghild’s mother Sofie was baptised at Hoff Church (blue circle on the map at the top of this post) when her parents were working the Kallerustad Farm (blue square).

Grandma Sofie was the fifth of nine children born to Berte Helene Johannesdatter (1846-1917) and Hans Kristiansen (1844-1907). By the time she left for Wisconsin, many of her aunts, uncles and cousins had already established themselves there. Her youngest sibling (and only brother) Hans Christian immigrated as well. Hans fought for the US in the First World War and lived in Milwaukee. He died in 1927 and is buried near his sister Sofie at East Koshkonong Cemetery south of Cambridge.*

To my knowledge, however, most of Sofie’s siblings stayed in Norway. One of the siblings who stayed was the eldest, Johanne Augusta (1867-1945), who married Martin Syversen (1855-1932). Johanne and Martin had eight children, including Helene Syversen Iversbakken (1901-1986).

My grandpa Bob Rude’s cousin, Judi Horn Winch, made contact with this branch of the family a few years ago and introduced me to Helene’s granddaughter (the daughter of Helene’s son Johan) — Hilde Iversbakken. Yesterday, Hilde and her family of four graciously welcomed me, my Aunt Cathe, and my cousin Bethany and her family to their home in Kapp. They served us a delicious lunch and gave us a wonderful family history tour of the area, with visits to Hoff Church, Totenvika Church, Balke Church, and several family farms. We also had the opportunity to meet Hilde’s charming mother Svanhild Iversbakken and Hilde’s brother and sister-in-law, Alf Helge and Ida Pauline Iversbakken, and their four delightful children.

It was so much fun to finally meet Hilde and her family after several months of messages back and forth. Now I’m looking forward to returning the favor and hosting our Norwegian family in the U.S. one day.

And I have to add that watching Bethany’s son Xavier playing with Hilde and Alf Helge’s children gave me hope that there will be another generation that will keep these family connections alive.

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* Because Hans took the last name Hanson in the US, I often refer to Sofie’s branch of the family as “the Hansons”. But surnames for the 9 siblings were all over the map. If you’d like to understand Norwegian naming conventions better, I highly recommend checking out this post by my friend (and professional genealogist) David Hovick Lohman: https://hovicklohmanhistory.wordpress.com/2021/03/07/norwegian-cultural-background/

^[1] Information on Kristian and Sofie’s family farms comes from Ødegaard, Svein-Erik. 1984. Totenvika, p. 350 and 471.