another Halsten, Walter and Darrel. The Stoens have given land for the church and cemetery and also the large marble baptismal font in the Big Canoe Lutheran Church.

There is an interesting story about the young hired man who worked for Knut Stoen for a few years in the early 1930’s who came over from Norway and then went back there. We had lost track of him except to know that he lived in Voss. We were sent a newspaper clipping of a write up by Johannes Gjerdaker in the 16 Jul 1988 newspaper about Olav Ulvund and his years from 1928 to 1933 in America. When the Voss Wedding Party and the Fjord Horses were in Decorah for Nordic Fest a few years ago, I talked to some of them and asked if they knew of Olav, and they said, “Yes, we see him almost every week.” When our friend Ted Gjere was in Norway, he had looked up this old friend of his too and brought us a nut-cracker of wood made to look like a Nisse with a red stocking cap, and recently he sent us a Christmas card and picture of his house.

Harold and Kari Bergo Stoen 50th Anniversary, 1903

Eunice and I were recently on a trip to Norway and while in Voss we naturally wanted to see him. We called the rest home and were told he just had his 92nd birthday and was quite mixed up at times and weak. But we went anyway and when we walked into his room, he looked at Wilbur and took his hand and said “I know you.” Of course it was because Wilbur looks like Knut and that is what he recognized. He said we could visit in English and his was so clear and he even sang “When It’s Springtime in the Rockies” with all the words and melody correct. He was so alert the afternoon we saw him and when we left he took Wilbur’s hand and said “I’ll see you in Heaven." We received a letter from relatives in Voss saying he had died the week after we were there.

As the train in Norway stopped briefly at some of these small stations around Nesbyen where the Stoens originally came from, Wilbur looked out the window and said, “You know, I really feel at home here. “

Storkerson-Aasum, Ole — History

(Barry M. Dahl)

Ole Storkerson was born 25 Apr 1815 on the Saur farm in the parish of Stod, Nord Trondelag, Norway. The son of Storker Tollevesen of Saur (1761 -1835) and Anne Olsdtr Brunstad (b. 1779). Ole was confirmed in the Stod church in 1829. Ole was married on 21 Nov 1842 to Pige (or Miss) Anna Marthe Larsdtr Nedre (or Lower) Wennes. She was born 22 Jun 1922, the daughter of Lars Jonsen Veines (1783-1853) and Elen Einarsdtr Aalsaunet (1786-1820), both of the Stod parish in Nord Trondelag. Ole was 28 years old and Anne was 20 years old at the time of their marriage. Ole came from a family of seven children and since he was the youngest, he had no chance for the family farm. He then deeded the Lower Veines farm as there were no male heirs to his wife’s family farm. In 1850 he sold the Veines farm for 400 specie dollars, and bought the Saur farm for 800 specie dollars (1 specie dollar equals 14.40 in U.S. currency). The reason he could buy his family farm then was because his older brother Tollev had drowned on a trip to Throndheim. Ole had a half sister by the name of Berit Storkersdtr who married Lars Pedersen Veines. Lars Pedersen Veines had a son by his first wife, Peder Larsen Veines, the fore-father of the Wennes family in the Hesper, IA area. Lars and Berit had a son named Erick Larsen Wennes, whom would be a first cousin to Ole Storkerson Aasum. In 1854 he divided the Saur farm and sold the west part. Later in 1859 he sold the main part for 1000 specie dollars. Ole then bought the Hatling farm for 900 specie dollars, selling it again in 1861 for 1000 specie dollars. It was at this time the family emigrated from Norway. When they arrived here they stayed with his cousin Erick Wennes who lived east of Hesper, where the Paulson farm used to be. As to the origin of the Aasum family name, I am in a bit of a quandary as they never lived on the farm as far as I know, and even as late as 1870 in the federal census they had not started to use the Aasum name.

Top, left to right: U. Andrew Rygg, U. Ole S. Aasum, U. Ove Aasum and Esten Klegseth. Middle: Ellen, wife of Ole Aasum, Tommena Rygg, wife of Andrew, Anna Martha Wennes Aasum and Berit Marie Aasum. Front: Marie Aasum (wife of Ove) and Anna Aasum (John Selness’ wife), circa 1901-1904

The children of Ole Storkerson and Anne Marthe Larsdtr: Ole Swert (b. 3 Nov 1843 in Stod) married Ellen Selness on 18 Mar 1889 in Hesper. Ole and Ellen’s children were: Olaf (1889-1857) married Mabel Johnson; Carl (1891-1969) married Palma Tengesdal; Edgar (1900-