YCGL - Minnesota - Day 10 - Tuesday, April 26 - Hayfield - 0 miles

 Last night when I was telling Ray and Darlene that I would be up bright and early after breakfast about 9:30, they both coughed.  Somehow, I got the feeling that  bright and early for them was closer to 7:30, which is still sleeping in for farmers.  On the other hand, I don't think they see too many nights going to bed at 3:30 and calling that early.  There are lots of reasons why I never would have made it as a farmer, but I guarantee that my farm animals would be the most laid back and well rested animals in the county if not the state.  9:30 milking, no problem.....

At the dinner Monday night, I mentioned that I wanted to go to the cemeteries around and do some grave hunting.  Ralph said that he and Wilma would pick me up around 11:00  and we would go to the various churches.  The first church we stopped at was West St. Olaf Lutheran Church.  We went briefly to East St. Olaf but we didn't find anyone from the family.  We ended up after lunch at Evanger Lutheran cemetery.  Mainly Bungums at West St. Olaf, mainly Edgars at Evanger.  They are six miles apart.

(Note on old Norwegian names.  A person had two names, their given name, usually the name of a grandparent and their father's name.  For example, for Eli Olsdatter Opheim, her paternal grandmother was Eli and her father was Ole or Ola and she was his daughter.  The third name was the name of the farm they owned or lived on at the time.  Sally, Erik and I have been on the Opheim farm.  Normally, when the father dies, the farm goes to the oldest son.  If there isn't a son, it goes to the oldest daughter.  This is good news because if you weren't the oldest son, you didn't have property, so you wanted to marry the oldest daughter.  

The first grave we visited was 

Eli Olsdatter Opheim.  She is my second great grandmother on dad's side. Her husband was Lars Knutsen Brunborg Opheim.   The farm was Eli's and Lars was the third son.  After Eli died, Lars moved north to Fertile, MN.  We'll see his later.

Great Grandparents:

Their second daughter was Martha Larsdatter Opheim.  She married Peter Larson Bungum.  Peter's parents died in Norway in 1855, he in an avalance, she died 3 days later from complications of a premature childbirth.  (BTW, the child, who was two or three months early, lived.  She was nursed by her pregnant oldest sister.  She came to the US, got married and had 15 children.)  Peter and Martha had my grandmother Thea Emilia Bungum.

Uncle Ralph                         

My Dad's great grandparents came from another region of Norway, Stengrim Gutormson Ødegård and Marit Evensdatter Mogen.  I spent two days looking for his grave, and I didn't find hers here at West St. Olaf Church.  

Their son was Severt Stengrimson Edgar.  He was married to Anna Arnesdatter Rudningen.  They had ten children, including a son named Oscar Edgar.

Grandparents:

Oscar and Thea got married in 1913.  Dad was born in 1914.  There were two other Edgar/Bungum weddings in the families.  They were a close family.   

Peter and Martha Bungum owned a farm in the NW corner of a section.  When Oscar and Thea got married, they purchased the farm in the NE corner of the same section.  The school was a mile south of the Bungum farm.  Dad and Maurice would ride a horse down to school, they would slap it and it would walk back to the farm.  In the afternoon, the boys would walk back through the Bungum farm around 3:30-4:00 when it was lunch time on the farm.  (Four meals a day, Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Supper)   Somehow, grandma Bungum would have cookies and milk available for the boys to eat on the way home.  

  

Parents:

Dad and mom are buried together in Conroe, TX

Dad's brother Maurice is buried in Evanger Cemetery also.