was no place on his farm to load the cattle on a truck, so we helped him chase them to Castalia. Everything went pretty well until we got to the main street of Castalia. Along came the freight train and blew its whistle. This scared the cattle. They scattered in every direction! There was absolute confusion. One lady had her wash on the line. You can imagine what happened when the cattle ran through her yard. We finally got all the cattle, except for one big steer, rounded up again. He went wild and took off like a deer into the country. The next day they shot him with a high powered rifle because no one could get near him. We next moved back to my grandfather's farm in Sec. 33, Frankville Twp. My father had bought the farm from the rest of the heirs in 1929. This farm was about 60 acres. When my grandfather bought the farm it was mostly timber. He worked very hard to clear fields to plant crops. He cut and made many posts which he sold. He also cut the beams and poles which he used to build the barn. The soil was very rich and he produced good harvests. The old barn was not very warm and there was not much room overhead. One had to stoop over when working in the barn and many times would bump their head on the ceiling. In the winter the manure froze in the barn. It was time for a new barn! When World War II ended lumber was hard to get, but in 1945-46 we built a new barn which still stands today. The 3 Valland brothers were the carpenters. The neighbors helped when the concrete basement was made.

In 1950 Marjorie and I were married. The next year we moved out to live on the farm until my father sold it in 1967. In the fall of 1968 we moved to our present location near Freeport.”

Lee, Obed & Sylvia (Bentley)

(Sylvia Lee)

In March of 1957 Obed A. and Sylvia (Bentley) Lee and their sons Gary, David and Steven Lee purchased a 375 acre farm in Orleans Twp., Winneshiek Co., IA and moved from Benton Co., Norway, IA.

Sylvia was raised in Highland, Pleasant and Hesper Twps. She was baptized in Big Canoe Lutheran Church, rural Highlandville, IA and confirmed in Hesper Lutheran Church, Hesper, IA. Her parents were Lena (Amundson-Tangen-Jammerdal) Larson Bentley and George Bentley (Bentahauge-Olsen). Her grandparents were Halvor and Sigrid (Olson) Bentley (Bentehauge-Olsen) of Highlandville. Sylvia’s great grandparents were Peter (Simonson) Olson, a miller in early days (in 1866) at Highlandville. His wife was Jane (Hoyme) Olson who was born in Valdres, Norway and was a sister to Rev. Gjermund Hoyme. On Sylvia’s mother’s side Sylvia’s grandparents were Karen (Amundson-Tangen) Larson and Eric (Jammerdal) Larson who were both from Kongsvinger. Sylvia's great grandparents were Amund Amundson and Anna Amundson also from Kongsvinger.

There are ties in that family to Roald Amundsen the North Pole explorer. Jammerdal is another name used by the Larson families. Rev. Gjermund Hoyme was a district or conference head for the Lutheran Church in early days

in 1900.

Obed's parents were Oliver and Thea (Lindanger) Lee. Oliver was born at Norway, IA. His parents were from Stavanger, Norway, Thea (Lindanger) Lee was born near Stavanger. She came to the United States at the age of 18 years.

Oliver's parents were Albert Nels and Olina (Olson) Lee from Skjoldastraumen which is between Stavanger and Haugesund, Norway. Thea’s parents were Anders Johnson Lindanger and Ragnild Gravena-Anderson Lindanger of Skjoldastraumen. The Lee family lived in the Lie area in Skudenesshaven Karmoy area of Norway.

Our sons Gary, David and Steven graduated from Cresco High School. Gary and David work as computer technicians in Illinois. Sylvia and Obed have 3 grandsons-Nathan Lee from the Ridgeway area and Jason and Kevin Lee from Schaumberg (the Chicago area).

Obed has two brothers: Oliver of Des Moines, IA, Kenneth of Norway, IA and a sister June, Mrs. Lee Tow of Norway, IA.

Sylvia had a brother and sister who died as young children. She has a brother who attended Luther College and is now a retired Lutheran pastor, Elder Bentley. She has a sister, Phyllis Bentley, who is a librarian in a high school in St. Paul, MN. Phyllis, Elder and Sylvia attended Luther College. Sylvia also attended Iowa State College at Ames, IA. Sylvia was a teacher in grade schools before her marriage. Obed was in the service in WWII and spent his service days in India and Tinian as a cook and a baker. He was in India when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima, Japan. After his return from service, he became a farmer until he retired. Sylvia and Obed were married at Hesper Lutheran Church 24 Aug 1951.

Lee, Ragnhilda and Lee, Carrie

(Kevin L. Lee)

Ragnhilda K. “Lalla” Lee (b. 17 Jan 1884) and Carrie K. Lee (b. 1 Mar 1889) were the daughters of Knudt A. (31 Mar 1846-1931) and Kjirsti (Nesset) (9 Nov 1848-1933) Lee. Knudt and Kjirsti were married in Norway in 1876. Lalla and Carrie came to America from Laerdahl, Norway in 1891 with their parents and brothers. Their brothers were: Jens (2 Mar 1879-1929), Agrim (25 May 1881-6 May 1969), Knudt (29 Sep 1884-15 Feb 1973) and Jacob Gustin (13Apr1892-2 Jul 1971). Lalla and Carrie lived on the family farm in Sec. 33, Frankville Twp. with their brother Knudt for many years.

Lalla was a very quiet and reserved person except when she was trying to make someone understand her. She had been deaf and almost entirely mute since the age of 2. Lalla was a very intelligent person. She received national publicity in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not" and appeared in a book entitled “Human Oddities”. The remarkable thing about Lalla was she spoke and read in 3 different languages. She often would slip words from each language into her sentences. This was very confusing to everyone except her. Lalla died 27 Jun 1969.

Carrie attended rural schools and Valder’s College in Decorah. She never married. Carrie was a school teacher