opened another store in Upham, ND. where he eventually retired.

Carl Adolph was born 4 Sep 1879. He too left Decorah and worked some for his brothers in Kramer. He married Pearl Monkman whose family owned a confectionery store in Kramer. He moved to Souris, ND where he worked in a bank. Carl left Souris and ran a grain elevator in eastern North Dakota near Minnesota. Carl moved to Long Beach, CA and owned a very good plumbing business for many years. He retired in Long Beach.

Bernhard “Tony” Ferdinand, born 3 Aug 1883, was the shortest of these boys and not much taller than his wife, Lillian Jane Barnhart, born in Iowa. Lillian owned a small restaurant no matter where they lived. Tony loved to garden and was a handy carpenter. He worked on the Soo Line near Gambetta, ND as a cook when he was a young man. He moved to California and worked in the produce mart for many years and then moved to Hayward, CA where he lived for about ten years in retirement and died. They had one son, Ron.

Tilla Cornelia Kirkeby in front of her loom at 407 Montgomery Street, Decorah, Iowa. I would guess about 1940. She made rag rugs and sold them, comforters also.

Alfred Cornelius was born 9 Mar 1889, the same year that Anton purchased 220 acres, 9 miles east of Decorah in the Glenwood Parish area, Section 11, Twp. 98, Range 7, on 22 Nov 1889. This is where these children grew up and helped with the farm work. Alfred left to homestead land near Granville, ND. Prior to that he worked for his brother, Hans, in his general store in Kramer. This is where he met Maude Mae Fraley (b. 22 May 1891) from Linden, IN. They homesteaded about 10 miles east of Granville. Prior to that Alfred had a contract to manage the Riga Cooperative Grain Elevator in Riga from Feb 1910 to Feb 1911. Alfred married Maude at Rugby, ND 4 Jul 1910. He was earning $75.00 per month as manager. Homesteading did not pay off, so he moved to Great Falls, MT and worked in lumber yards. They eventually settled in Spokane, WA.

George Wilhelm was born 29 May 1891, the last of the seven children. He went to a Decorah business school and worked at a number of banks - Ronan, MT, Souris,

ND and Milaca, MN. He enjoyed an illustrious banking career and married Margaret Amelia Orrborn 12 Jun 1917. She was born 6 Dec 1890. He moved to Elgin, OR in 1945 and was hired as the cashier at the newly chartered First State Bank of Elgin. He was made president of that bank in May 1956. They had two sons.

After his family was grown and had moved elsewhere (with the exception of Oscar who returned to Decorah to care for his mother), Anton sold part of the family farm on 10 Mar 1909 to Frank Drew. He sold the farmhouse separately; it was moved into town. He sold the remaining property to his neighbor, PA. Rocksvold 14 Feb 1911. He rented a house in Decorah 9 Jul 1910. He then purchased a home at 407 Montgomery Street in Decorah for $1800 with two adjoining lots.

At this home Tilla had a large loom on which she made rag rugs and sold them. She also made comforters for her relatives.

When she was 80, she fell down a flight of stairs at home and walked by herself two blocks with a broken arm to the hospital nearby. Anton was a religious man and was on various committees at the Glenwood Lutheran Church. He liked to have his granddaughter, Thelma, read the Bible to him. He acted as a referee in a land dispute and was a respected member of the Decorah community. In 1924 Anton and Tilla celebrated 50 years of marriage. He died 26 Mar 1930. Tilla died 16 Dec 1945.

Anton had three brothers who emigrated to America after he came. He also visited in Norway three times, staying with his brother, Bernhard, who had purchased the family farm for 3000 kroners.

One brother, Thorvald Hansen came on the ship Hero, leaving Oslo 31 May 1872 with a destination of Lansing, IA - he settled in Decorah. Martin Hansen Kirkeby sailed for America in 1881 and worked in Wisconsin for two years. Christian Hansen Kirkeby sailed on thePacific, leaving Oslo 28 May 1880. He lived in Waukon, IA after marrying Anne Amundsdtr 11 Jan 1888. Another brother, Olaus Hansen Kirkeby, may have come to America. If he did he didn’t stay in the Decorah area. Reports are he returned to Norway.

Kirkeby, Martin Hansen and Helene (Moe)

(Tom Kirkeby)

Martin Hansen Kirkeby came to America in 1881. He was married in Norway to Helene Moe who was born 28 Nov 1854. Martin was born in Hakedalen, Norway on the family farm 9 Apr 1854. His brother, Anton, had come to America in 1871 and he followed suit. He initially went to Wisconsin where he was a woodcutter for two years. He saved his money to bring his wife and four children to Decorah in 1883 where he resided after their arrival.

Helene and her four children landed in New York. She later recounted that the trip from Norway took seven weeks; she was alone with the kids, didn't speak a word of English and just in case of separation from the children she had her name and destination sewn into their coats. When she arrived in Decorah she was picked up by a neighbor of Anton’s in his buckboard wagon. He