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Subject: Diary of Elisabeth Koren - 124-132
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:11:04 -0700
Acknowledgment
The following selection is taken from "The Diary of Elisabeth Koren"
translated and edited by David T. Nelson and published by the
Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) in 1955. The Volume is
still in print and available from NAHA at http://www.naha.stolaf.edu
where you will also find the first 33 volumes of Studies and Records
online as well as Theodore C. Blegen's 2 volumes on Norwegian Migration
to America. This chapter is published with the kind permission of NAHA.
The book this selection is drawn from is under copyright and permission
has been granted for educational purposes and it is not to be used in any
way for commercial purposes.
Monday, January 9. I had to wait until it was all of four this afternoon
before Vilhelm came and, to tell the truth, I was glad of the wait, for
we have been in a mess here all day. Helene had a large washing, and I
did not care to have Vilhelm come in and turn up his nose at the wet
floor and the nasty lye smell. {10}
I was awakened this morning by hearing Per scream, "Kari, Kari!" at the
top of his voice. "Hold your tongue, young fellow!" I called, very
sharply, from behind my curtain. My words had their effect, for he did
not know just where the voice came from. There was no one in the house
except the children and me. I put my head out between the curtains and
discovered the wash boiler standing on the stove full of snow and Helene
outside the window with a bucket getting more. That made me recall this
miserable washing and got me up in a hurry.
I wanted to be through with it soon as possible, but my patience was to
be tried a little first. Helene went to Suckow's for a kettle while I sat
and plied my needle on some of Vilhelm's things, waiting for the snow to
melt. That took an eternity, however, and it was late in the forenoon
before the washing began. Helene, with her copper kettle on the floor in
the middle of the room, rubbed away on her washboard with a fury that
made her face glisten with countless beads of perspiration. Now and then
she gave Per or Kari a good smack on the cheek with one of the wet pieces
when they got too much in her way. I stood at the table with my fine
linens and sorrowfully watched the great pond which spread farther and
farther around Helene's kettle, thinking to myself, "Now we shall see
Vilhelm return right in the midst of all this."
It was then somewhere near noon, according to our reckoning at least;
such a luxury as a timepiece we do not have. So the pork was fried, the
coffee made, and Erik and I sat down to eat. Finally we reached the point
where the clothes were to be hung up. I wrapped my apron about my head
and went out to the hazel bushes, where the wash is now hanging --- and
in here a beautiful row of stockings too. Now, I thought, we are through
at last and can put things in order. But no, first the whole floor had to
be washed. "I must make use of my good lye water while I have it; there
is nothing like it to wash off the fat stains," said Helene, and began to
scrub with all her might. There was nothing to be done. I put wood in the
stove, opened the door, moved the table over to the driest spot in the
room, and took up my letter to Christiane. {11}
At last Vilhelm came. I believe I shall reconcile myself somewhat to his
frequent journeys, for I look forward with so much joy to his return. He
had fared well, met friendly people, and brought me a large supply of
nuts, which Erik has been busy cracking, and we eating, this evening.
They are very hard to crack, have the same shape as chestnuts, and taste
like walnuts. {12} They grow wild in the woods. Well, tonight I shall
escape going to bed at half-past eight --- unless Vilhelm takes it into
his head that I disturb him and chases me to bed.
Tuesday, January 10. It is almost evening; I expect Vilhelm any moment.
He went six miles "southward" this morning to make arrangements about
hiring a horse. I walked with him a long way on the road; it was
beautiful to be out in the lovely morning hour. It was like a spring day.
When the sun shines and it does not blow, the weather is beautiful here;
the sky is so pure and clear and the atmosphere so extraordinarily
transparent. We went some distance over a prairie. There was nothing to
see but the friendly groves of trees on the farms adjoining the parsonage
land. We separated on the top of a hill and I wandered back well content
with the walk; I came home with wet feet and little desire to iron my
blue dress.
While I was busy with that task (Helene had gone out), I had a visit from
a dalesman, who appeared to be about seventy years old. "This must be the
pastor's wife, I suppose," said he to me, " a hearty welcome to you!" It
was strange to hear that old man call me "Mother." He wished to get work
at the pastor's. {13}
I struggled with my dress until Helene came home. It was a tiresome job,
for the dress is so awful that I can hardly wear it; all the spots, which
are a reminder of our days aboard ship, have turned white, and since
there are many of them, one can readily imagine how it looks.
My noon meal, consisting of coffee and bread and butter, I ate alone
today, and then read a little before I took out my writing case. I had
not written many lines, when Knud Aarthun and a man from Minnesota who
wished to talk to Vilhelm came in and sat down and interrupted me. I had
to talk to them, of course, and at last brought out my knitting, for I
saw no indications that they would leave. At last it dawned on them that
it was really time to end their visit, and they left, saying they would
come back later. This they did, too, coming before we were to eat, and
leaving only now, near nine o'clock. There was so much chatter that I had
to put my writing aside.
Vilhelm came back before it was dark; he had gone various roundabout ways
before he reached his destination, and had found things disagreeable and
squalid at the home that he visited. Early tomorrow he goes to Decorah
with Knud and will doubtless be gone all day, and day after tomorrow
there is to be a meeting of the congregation; so he is never home even
when he is supposed to be. Now I had better get to bed and try to be up
early tomorrow for my ironing.
Wednesday, January 11. I have had a busy day. Vilhelm left for Decorah
after breakfast, at which we were surprised with roast prairie chicken,
which one of Knud's boys had brought over and which tasted delicious.
When Vilhelm had gone, I began to starch my clothes. I did not finish my
ironing until it was almost dark. (It is not easy to iron shirts for the
first time.) I went outside the house a little to breathe the fresh air,
and I enjoyed the beautiful evening star, the lovely sky, the moon, and
everything. I walked about for a time and looked every now and then to
see if Vilhelm might not be coming, but in vain; so I went in and took up
my knitting until the light was lit, for then, naturally, my dear writing
case had to come out again. It was not opened, however, for Ingebret
Sørland came in, and Vilhelm a little later. Then Nils came; both had
supper here. I tried to write, but was continually disturbed by talk
about certificates, counties, stations, and Nils's comical answers when
he was asked about the date of his birth and when he was married. {14} In
general men are not very good at remembering these dates.
I had to go out once more and admire the radiant evening star, and at the
same time I inspected a marvelous contrivance in which Vilhelm is to ride
when he takes trips. {15} Afterwards we talked of all sorts of things,
and Vilhelm made the most wonderful drawings of an overcoat which I am to
make for him and for which he had brought home the material. It is very
late tonight; I had better begin to clear away the countless things with
which the bed is always covered.
Thursday, January 12. Vilhelm and Erik just drove off to Thrond Lommen's,
where the meeting is to be held. They rode in that remarkable sleigh Erik
has manufactured; it looked as if they might fall out of it, each from
his own side, but I hope not. I went out and tried it first by driving
around the field; it went quite famously. We are expecting Anne Aarthun
over today; she is hardly likely to keep us waiting long, I imagine.
Helene is baking biscuits for the occasion. Now she has gone out to
"water the cattle," and I have my attention divided between this task of
writing, Kari and Per, and a milk pot which I am to keep from boiling
over. The congregation will certainly not gather early today; it is
almost eleven o'clock and still people keep going by.
The day is gray, but not cold. I must go out and take a walk; if I were
not expecting Anne, I would walk to Katterud's. Now I am going to work on
my letters to Norway so that they finally may be finished and sent.
Our guest just left; it is well past five, I imagine. She kept us waiting
a long time, so long that we ate dinner and I sat down again to write,
thinking she would not come today. It was not long, however, before Kari
cried that she saw Aarthun; a moment later she knocked at the door.
Helene put the coffeepot back on the fire and I had to join the party and
taste her biscuits, which were much to her credit. Anne asked me to show
her some of my fine linens and I did so, to her enjoyment and Helene's.
They inspected and admired every piece and were not through until it was
time to fetch a light.
Soon afterward a man from Turkey River came; he wanted to give the pastor
the necessary directions, for he believed he was unacquainted down there,
he said; I think Vilhelm will be pleased to have a guide. He was a
comical, laughing little man; he questioned me about a great many things,
marveled greatly that I, who am so young, can be satisfied to stay here,
and invited me repeatedly to accompany Vilhelm when he goes down there.
{16}
"What is it you are knitting there?" said he to me, "that isn't a garter,
is it?" (I had just begun to crochet a waist.) "No, I should say not!"
answered Anne. "Here, I'll just show you something," and she held up a
finished bodice.
I looked down so as not to laugh too much at the interest and wonder with
which he gazed on that piece of work and puzzled over the manner in which
it was made; thereupon he expatiated very elaborately on how clever they
were at handwork in the eastern part of Norway.
"But you will have to make your clothes over now, won't you?" said he.
They cannot conceive that people use the same styles in Norway as here.
He accompanied Anne home; so now Helene and I sit alone and wait for
Vilhelm and Erik to return. Helene watches her potato kettle and her
pork, goes outside every moment or two to listen for their coming, and
keeps thinking she hears someone talking along the road; but just the
same, I do not see them. But I am very hungry, and am going to set the
table; then, surely, they will come.
True enough, it was just as I thought: we had scarcely made the table
ready before Erik arrived --- but without the pastor. He had remained
behind and did not get here until an hour later, and then had his first
chance at a bite to eat. The meeting had gone well, it seems. Tomorrow a
couple are to be married; they are coming here. What fearful weather we
have all of a sudden! It is blowing violently.
Friday, January 13. The weather was disagreeable last night; the wind
woke me several times. Thank God Vilhelm was not out on a journey! Now if
he will only wait until tomorrow, for we have the same wind today and it
is exceedingly cold. I do not believe the bridal couple will come today.
Ingebret Sørland brought over some certificates while we were eating
breakfast. When that was finished, Helene wanted to scrub the floor,
since there was to be a wedding, she said, and she had the water all
ready; but Vilhelm protested, and now I shall have that pleasure tomorrow
after he has left.
The man from Turkey River is here and is giving an account of where he
lives and where the other settlements are. I think Vilhelm is discovering
that there are more waiting and asking for him than he had dreamed of. He
is really a comical little man, this John Andreas [Axdal]. He just came
over to me and said: "You write beautifully, you do! My, how beautifully
you write!" Doubtless it did not enter his mind that I was writing of
him.
It was really a good thing Helene did not scrub her floor. Just now two
men, Thorgrim and another, came stamping in with their dirty wet boots.
{17} I don't know what they want; they have seated themselves on the
kitchen bench, where one of them is talking to John and Thorgrim is
smoking some abominable tobacco and spitting on the floor with abandon. I
cannot understand why there is not a spittoon, and a mat for wiping the
feet. Apparently that is not done here.
Evening has come at last. I do not know why this day has seemed so long
--- perhaps because there have been so many people here; the more variety
there is, the longer seems the time. John and the men ended their talk at
last. We discovered that the stranger was Thorbjørn Omager, whose
daughters we had met in McGregor; we now gave him the greetings from
them, and he was much pleased at receiving them. {18} He very eagerly
offered Vilhelm his services to describe the road he should follow on his
journey. Thereupon arose a laughable dispute between him and John, for
the latter thought that since he lived down there and had just made the
journey up here, he ought to have better information than the former. I
wish I could repeat John's dry, quiet answers, which called forth much
laughter from all those present. At last he won the victory, too, and it
was decided Vilhelm should follow his instructions. Now there remained
the question whether they should venture out in that wind.
John stayed and took dinner with us, as Vilhelm wanted to wait a little
to see if the bridal couple would not make their appearance, as had been
agreed. The clock was near two and no one had come. They had just decided
to postpone their trip until early tomorrow morning when there was a
knock at the door and two men came in. It was the bridegroom and one of
his friends, the former quite drunk; the other I thought was sober, but
still he was not very steady. The bridegroom wanted to have the marriage
ceremony performed; the bride was waiting in a house in the neighborhood,
he said. Of course, this could not be done. Vilhelm took him outside to
talk to him seriously. While they were outside, John began making
observations on the fact that the bridegroom came to be married without
having his bride along.
"Yes," answered Ola's friend, "she should have been with us, it is true;
but this is a strange affair. He is so contrary, this fellow. The
arrangements are not the same here as they were in Larvik or Skien," he
added, turning to me. {19}
I asked, "Are you possibly from one of those places?" "Yes, sir," he
answered, "I crossed over in one of Treschow's vessels, the brig
`Lolland.' " {20}
Meanwhile Vilhelm and Ola came in again; Ola persisted in wanting the
marriage this evening. Vilhelm said no, he would stop there on his way
tomorrow; otherwise they would have to wait until he came back. They did
not like to agree to that and asked if they could come early in the
morning; this request was then granted and now we are expecting the
bridal couple tomorrow at eight o'clock. Then, I hope, he will at least
be sober. Poor bride! To get a man who drinks!
John went over to Nils Katterud's and it has been quiet here since.
Vilhelm set to work again; I crocheted; Erik contemplated my work very
attentively and tended the fire in the stove efficiently; Helene was
frying pancakes for us for supper and now and then hushing the children.
It turned dark early; we sat for a time by the light of the stove and
talked of our friends at home before we lit the lamp and ate supper.
After we had finished and had been busy with our work for a time, and
Helene had gone to bed, Vilhelm looked at his watch --- and who would
have believed it? It was only seven o'clock. Helene ought to get enough
sleep tonight. But then we are to be up early in the morning and have
everything ready. God be praised, Vilhelm did not leave early today! It
has been very cold. I hope the weather will be better in the morning so
that he will not freeze too much in his open sleigh! Now he is going to
sit up and work half the night again.
Saturday, January 14. It is evening; I have just finished supper ---
roast quail, which Helene had brought from Aarthun's, and fresh biscuits.
I ate alone, for Erik is at Suckow's. Although the children have been put
to bed, there is not much peace, for they are making a great racket. This
switch Helene just brought in is surely the third today, but it is used
probably just to scare them. Her usual method of punishing them is first
to say, "If you do not keep quiet, I shall pull your hair, you rascal."
And if that does not help, she watches for the moment when they come near
her and plucks them by their thin hair. That happened this noon to Per.
He paused a moment, then said, "That hurts, it does," and then stormed
away just as merrily as before.
Well, the bridal party came on time today. We had just finished breakfast
(while we were eating, John [Andreas Axdal] and Eli Sørland came in),
cleared the table, and spread a cloth over it, when they came. Today,
they were sober. Ugh! that must be an unpleasant way to be married! The
bride's sister and brother were with her. I had to hurry and pack
Vilhelm's things while the bridal party was still here. He did not get
away, however, until ten o'clock. {21} Eli left soon afterward, and
Helene began to dust and have a grand cleaning, so I thought it best to
take a walk while that was in progress. I walked almost to Aarthun's,
rejoiced at the good weather Vilhelm is having, and came home with a good
appetite.
I read a little in Welhaven's "Travel Sketches," but noticed that I was
not in a mood to read such descriptions from Norway, and broke off and
sat down to write Marie. {22} I was busy with this until dark; then I
poked the fire in the stove, drew my bench nearer to it, and fell into
musings, from which I was roused now and then to hush Kari and Per. Thus
I sat, quite alone, until Helene came back and gave my thoughts a
different turn. The light was lit, supper prepared and eaten. Erik has
come home and the whole family is already in bed. I am going to read a
little before I follow their example.
<10> It was customary to make lye from wood ashes, wood being the usual
stove fuel. Lye mixed with drippings made good soap; but the lye odor was
probably unusually strong in the homemade product.
<11> Christiane Koren Hysing (1826-80) was Elisabeth's sister in Norway;
Johnson, Slekten Koren, 1:188.
<12> They were probably hickory nuts.
<13> A dalesman was one who came originally from one of the valleys in
Norway. The old man was the father of John Dysja, whom the Korens visited
later, on January 25.
<14> Mrs. Koren uses the word "stations," but she probably should have
written "sections." Pastor Koren wrote, "It was only after I had learned
how the country, in surveys, was divided into townships and sections that
I found something by which to guide myself"; Symra, 27 (1905)
<15> The pastor described his vehicle as follows: "You would have been
amused to see my primitive means of travel: my first sleigh, consisting
of runners and thills in one, constructed from two long hickory limbs, on
top of which there was a little box with a board over it to be used as a
seat, all put together with wooden pins without the help of a single
nail. Or my first carriage, a single wagon with wooden axles and
linchpins, and no springs under the seat. Or my first harness, in which
all the running parts, including the reins, were made of clothesline";
Symra, 29 (1905).
<16> The man from Turkey River was John Andreas Anderson Axdal. Axdal and
his wife Martha Malene Larsdatter were members of the Stavanger
settlement south and east of Calmar. It seems probable that they took
land in Military Township, Winneshiek County, in 1850 or early 1851; A.
Bredesen, in Symra, 101 (1907); "Ministerial bog for Little Iowa
norsk-evangelist lutherske menighed." The latter is a manuscript volume
now on file at the Koren Library, Luther College. The Turkey River
settlement was in Read, Wagner, and Marion townships in Clayton county,
and extended westward into Fayette County; Gronlid, "Norwegian
Settlements in Iowa," 21.
<17> "Thorgrim and another" were Thorgrim Busness and Thorbjørn Omager.
<18> See ante, page 93,
<19> Skien is a town in Norway about sixty miles from Oslo.
<20> The Treschow family, friends of the Hysings, were the owners of
Fritsøhus, manor house at Larvik (Mrs. Koren's original home), and also
of Fritsøverk, an important industrial establishment of southern Norway.
They owned a number of merchant vessels.
<21> Pastor Koren preached in the Turkey River settlement near Clermont
on January 15 and succeeding days, and in Paint creek on January 22.
<22> J. S. C. Welhaven, Reisebilleder og digte (Travel Sketches and Poems
- Christiania, 1851). Christine Marie Cappelen Hysing (1886-67) was a
younger sister of Elisabeth Koren; Johnson, Slekien Koren, 1:188.
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