ents were buried in Roscoe, ILwith his brother Joel Alvardo Andrus and other relatives."

Erastus and Abigail were married 13 Mar 1845 and settled in Winneshiek Co. in 1848. Abigail was born 10 Aug 1827 in Ohio. Her father Alva and his wife Sallie and the children moved to Winnebago Co., IL, where Alva and his brother Elias ‘staked their claim’ to land adjoining the Pecatonice River which is 14 miles northwest of Rockford, IL. Here in 1836, Alva and Elias built a windlass operated ferry boat and established the first commercial ferry there. Abigail helped her father in this work. In 1836 this ferry was the only way to cross this river on Route 70 unless they went several miles upstream. Later the Trask Bridge was built there, the first wooden bridge and was used until 1868. It was at this bridge that the Trask Picnics attracted as many as 10,000. From the May 8 1865 Rockford News, “In its beginnings it was a field

day for politicians.....known as the world's largest one day

picnic."

Abigail's genealogy has been traced back to Rev. John Rogers (1630-1684), the third president of Harvard, who emigrated from Somerset, England with his father Nathaniel Rogers in 1636. "In 1830 Joshua P Trask married Mary E. Rogers...” From a history of the Forest Preserve of Winnebago, IL, we find that Capt. William (and Osmond) Trask arrived in 1628 from Somerseth, England.

Abigail was Erastus¹ second wife. Their children were: Matilda (1841-31 Mar 1926), Elsie (20 Dec 1840-17 Nov 1909), Electa (21 Apr 1861-17 Jun 1894), Emma (10 Dec 1864-9 Sep 1937), Leah L., Seneth and Joseph Edwin Andrus.

Matilda married Burt Davis and moved to Estherville. Mathilda's daughter, Anna Davis Smith, was a member of D.A.R. #155272 (Daughters of American Revolution). Elsie’s first marriage was to Ezra Mansfield. Her second marriage was to S.W. Decker in the Decorah Methodist Church. Electra married Theodore Mansfield 29 Dec 1875 in Decorah. Leah married Thomas Jergens. Seneth married John Bosh. Joseph Edwin, the Andrus’ only son,

married Mary_in the Catholic church and moved

to Mason City. Emma married Adam Wepler, whose ancestors were from Alsace-Lorraine. (See Welper/Andrus story.)

Erastus V Andrus saw service in the Civil War as a Private in Company G, 12th Infantry and Company E, 38th Iowa Infantry. Erastus was a drummer. He was captured by the Confederate Army in Shiloh, TN. He never fully recovered from the hardships he suffered as a prisoner of war. He died 19 Nov 1890 and was buried in the Phelps Cemetery in Decorah. His wife Abigail died 18 Dec 1897. Their daughter Elsie and her husband, Steven Decker, who also saw service in the Civil War, are buried in the same plot.

Erastus’ ancestors were from England. His grandfather, Joel Andrus, saw much service as a Revolutionary soldier and his maternal grandfather, Seth Cole, also served in the Continental Army and fought for American independence.

Joel Andrus married Anna Moore in 1787. He served with and was personally acquainted with General

LaFayette. His only son was Daniel Lewis Andrus (b. 1788).

Minerva Cole’s descendants in America have been traced back to 1634 when Sir James Cole and his wife, Mary de Lobel, arrived from London. 'About the time of the first pilgrims’ settlement at Plymouth Rock, MA, he was given a grant by King James (his uncle) to most valuable land there...” When Gail Welper Ode toured at Plymouth Rock, she was pleased to see Sir James Cole’s home on Cole’s Hill, the tablet commemorating the death of the first settlers and Plymouth Rock, which Sir James’ grandson gave to be made into a national park. In 1920 an elaborate canopy was erected over Plymouth Rock.

In the book Surnames in 1790 of the U.S. Census, there were 10 different spellings for Andrus, 147 heads of family and 8 spellings for Cole with 155 heads of family in Massachusetts, New York and all of New England.

Anfinson, Sjur and Brita Andersdtr. (Berdahl) The Anfinson’s in America

(Kathy Arbogast)

A gathering of some of the Anfinson children about 1942. First row: Lil Anfinson, Louise Kerr, Betsy Arveson. Back row: Albert Anfinson, Sander Anfinson, Josie Kerr, Lizzie Anfinson, Alma Arveson, Julia Anfinson, Bertina Osmundson, Marie Anfinson, (Picture taken by Clara Anfinson)

The winter of 1856 found Sjur Anfinson Tveiten preparing for the voyage to America. Ole, Sjur’s brother, had gone to America in 1853 and Arne Boyum, a friend from their area, had gone in 1855. People were talking in the marketplace, at church and with their neighbors. The word was beginning to spread that in America there was land available. America, the land of promise.

Sjur’s prospects in Norway at the time were similar to every young man of his age and circumstance. Since he was not the eldest son, he and his brother and sisters would have to find their own way to other farms as workers or to marriages with farm connections. The Tveiten family farm, located at Leikanger, Sogn, Norway, had been handed down for 4 generations since the time of Mons Sjurson in 1721. Now it would go to Sjur’s oldest brother,