I am going back farther than my 93 years for this story. This time I”ll introduce you to my Grandma Walland. She died 59 years ago. I recall that because I had a baby son and couldn’t go to her funeral 500 miles away. I loved her so much, but it didn’t matter that I couldn’t go because I had so many stories about her stored in my head.
Annie Juliana Norderlund was born on August 31, 1861, in Turpin, Norway. When she was just a little baby a man named Halvor Walland came to visit the Norderlund family. When he saw Grandma, he said, “When she grows up, I’ll surely marry her!”, and he did 20 years later in a far country called America!
She grew up a shepherd girl and went up a mountain to take care of the family’s sheep herd. The only one with her was her little brother. She often talked about the many things that happened while they were taking care of the sheep. One day she came down the mountain, leaving her smaller brother alone with the sheep. It was a big day! She was to be confirmed at the Lutheran church in Turpin. She was so worried about her little brother that she went back up the mountain before the celebration of her confirmation was underway.
The Norderlund family was very poor. Annie’s father died when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise their six children alone. Two brothers had already left the home to find work. When Annie was just 15-years-old, her mother died. Annie tried to keep the four of them fed by doing household work for their neighbors who paid her in food.
One day her older brother came home. He was recently married and had his bride with him. They said they would take the two younger children home with them, but Annie would have to live in the house alone. She was far too old to fit into their new family.
Annie didn’t know what to do. She tried to get a job in town, but it was too small to have any offerings for her. She thought she had to stay in the Norderlund home. One day, a package came from America from her uncle Olaf who had been there for several years. In the package there were many dimes. He wrote that there should be enough for her to come to America where it would be easy to find work. Annie was 16 years old at the time and decided to make the trip to Chicago.
She bought her ticket on the boat heading for America and went through Ellis Island. She then boarded a boat going through the St, Laurence River to Chicago, where her uncle lived. This took nearly all of her dimes, but she had enough to eat some soup at a cafe in Chicago. Annie finally found her uncle who had a housekeeping job waiting for her. The work was hard, but harder still was the difficulty in learning the English language. She was glad when her uncle was leaving for North Dakota and would like to take Annie with him. There were other relatives who had settled there. So, the two of them got on the train heading for North Dakota. Annie lived there for the rest of her life.
Next, I will tell you about her life in North Dakota. Don’t miss it! There is still much to tell about the life of Annie Juliana Norderlund.
GramMa's Thoughts 