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Sivert Larsen
B. August 25, 1861 - Gryttens, Møre og Romsdal, Norway
M. August 12, 1888 - Anna Sofia Jørgensdatter Normann - Trondheim, Norway
D. November 5, 1933 - Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Sivert was born to Lars Andersen Dahle and Brit Olsdatter on August 25, 1861 in Gryttens Parish, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. Sivert was a twin, his brother's name was Lars. Sivert and Lars had at least eight other brothers and sisters ranging from Anders, who was born in 1846, to Mathias, who was born in 1873. Lars was a tenant farmer on a large farm in Nedre Dahle (lower valley) in Grytten, Norway. His Father, Anders Olsen Dahle, owned the farm and was the first to take the last name Dahle (Dale). See extended family tree and maps below.
Sivert worked as a farmhand also when he was young but became a master shoemaker (skomakermester). I am not sure where Sivert learned to make shoes, but his oldest brother Anders was a skredder (tailor) in the 1865 census when Sivert was 5. We don't know much about Sivert's early life, but as with so many Norwegians life was pretty hard, especially when they did not own land. Men worked as farmhands, general day laborers or seamen. Women worked as maids, servants and childcare workers.
We do know that Sivert and Lars were confirmed into the Gryttens Parish Lutheran Church on October 28, 1876 (see the record below or click here). In Norway, Lutherans were baptized at birth and confirmed between 14 and 15 years old.
Sivert moved to Trondheim in the early-1880s and worked as a shoemaker living with his brother Olaus at 39 Øvre Bakklandet in Trondheim. He married Anna on August 12, 1888, at the Bakka Church in Trondheim - see photos below in the slideshow. Anna already had a son when she married Sivert, Carl, who was born in Östersund, Sweden, in 1886. Carl's father is unknown, although in some records Sivert is listed as his father, he is not. I confirmed this with Arne Normann, Carl's son. Alice, Rose, Lydia and Norm were all born in Trondheim. I have a photo of their home (it is part of a row of block houses) I took when I was in Trondheim in 1982. Next to that photo below is a reflection of me in the window of Anna/Nana's former house taken in May 1982. The History, Language and Geography Page has those photos along with many more of Trondheim and Norway.
According to Grandma Ackerman, Sivert, Anna, and her mom Rose, had a nice life in Norway, including live-in help. Anna and the children were happy there and did not want to emigrate to the U.S. However, Sivert had the wanderlust, like so many of our relatives. Sivert traveled around Norway (according to Lars' grandson) and even sailed to Africa (according to family oral history) in search of a new place to live. On May 23, 1906, Sivert set sail for Quebec. He entered the U.S. through St. Albans, Vermont. According to his immigration record (ship's manifest), Sivert entered the U.S. on May 29, 1906, and was going to live with Hans Elisson at 5653 Throop Street, Chicago. He had $45. (click here to see record).
Sivert met a man in Chicago who told him about a farming community in Harbert, Michigan. Sivert traveled to Harbert and decided to buy the farm on Youngren Road on October 15, 1906 from Loetta Atkin for $1,500. To see the sale as recorded at the Register of Deeds for Berrien County click here. Sivert had grown up on a farm and was looking to start over with a new life as a farmer in the United States.
Sivert sent for Anna, Alice, Rose, Lydia and Norm in the spring of 1907, Carl chose to stay in Norway. Anna and the children sailed to New York aboard the Hellig Olav ship - click to see photos of the ship. They had taken a train from Trondheim to Kristiania (which was Oslo's name when they traveled in 1907, it was renamed Oslo in 1925, back to its medieval name). They left Oslo on May 3, 1907 and arrived at Ellis Island in New York on May 15. We know Sivert lived at 432 West 42 Street in Chicago in 1907 because that is where Anna lists his address on her immigration papers. There is a photo of the Chicago home below.
Sivert struggled with the language when he first arrived and like so many immigrants was taken advantage of by less than scrupulous people. Aunt Patty and Grandma Ackerman tell a story of when he bought his first cow she was pregnant. The person who sold him the cow convinced him to give the calf back once it was born because he only bought the cow not the calf. Sivert and his family mostly grew fruit but they also raised livestock. Grandma Ackerman was born on the farm.
Most of what we know about Sivert and his family's life during this time comes from the newspaper "The Acorn," which was published in Three Oaks but had sections for various nearby communities, including Harbert. See the article list below. A few interesting tidbits from the newspaper: Nana and Addie went to St. Joseph for the day in November, 1908, five months before Grandma Ackerman was born - see Genealogical Mystery Page. Sivert was kicked by a horse in his right shoulder in 1917, the same year Norm and him each bought brand new Ford Touring cars. In June 1918, Grandma Ackerman stayed with Anna and Sivert a couple of times (we know that Grandma spent numerous days and weeks with her grandparents but these are the times reported in the Acorn). Both Sivert and Anna survived the Spanish Flu in the fall of 1918 - the first year of that awful pandemic. In June of 1919, Sivert took his family to Benton Harbor in his Touring car, I know today that is no big deal but in 1919 there were no freeways and most roads were dirt.
Aunt Patty recalled that Sivert and Anna rented out rooms on their Harbert farm. Grandma Ackerman used to tell me how much she loved visiting her grandparents on their farms, both in Harbert and in Decatur. There are several photos of Lillian on the farms on the Sivert House Page.
Sivert and Anna paid off the mortgage to Ms. Atkin on October 15, 1917, click here to see record. They sold the Youngren Road farm on September 21, 1921 for $5,000. They moved to Decatur Township, Michigan and bought a 40-acre farm in 1923, and added another 40 acres a couple years later. Norm bought 40 acres right next to them in 1925. They both leased their land for oil and gas drilling in 1927. Sivert sold 40 acres to Norm in 1928 as he was getting too old to farm full time. His health was failing at 72 years old and he had a stroke in the winter of 1933. Grandma Ackerman came to live with her grandparents to take care of him for a few months that year but Sivert's health was so bad that he moved to Chicago to live with Norm that summer and he died on November 5, 1933.
Note: it is really rare to find Sivert's name spelled properly in most of his records. Sivert was not an uncommon name in Norway, but in the U.S. it was and very few of his records have his name spelled correctly. I found it spelled everyway from Lavert, Livert, Seivert, Sivart, Savart in the 1930 Census to just Swe... Larsen on Alice's wedding license. When I first started researching him it puzzled me why I couldn't find any records of him in the United States, including his immigration. It wasn't until record searches allowed for variations in the spelling that I began to find records of him here in America.
Records, Herald Press & Acorn Newspaper Articles About Sivert and Anna:
Sivert Confirmation - October 29, 1876
Sivert & Anna Marriage Record - August 15, 1888
Sivert Immigration - May 29, 1906
Sivert Buys Farm in Harbert (Acorn) - November 16, 1906
Rose Larsen and Addie Dolph Visit St. Joseph (Acorn) - November 8, 1908
Sivert US Census 1910 - Note: Savert Larsen, Engolf not Ingolf - Sivert listed as carpenter
Anna Sick (Acorn) - December 18, 1913
Sivert Injured by Horse (Acorn) - February 16, 1917
Sivert Buys a Touring Car (Acorn) - November 8, 1917
Lil Stays with Anna and Sivert (Acorn)- June 13, 1918
Anna Entertains Daughter Rose, Lil and Sal (HP)- June 27, 1918
Sivert and Anna Recovering from Spanish Flu (HP) - November 1, 1918
Sivert and Anna Visits Relatives in Three Oaks (HP) - January 20, 1919
Sivert Takes Family to Benton Harbor in Motor Car (HP) - June 26, 1919
Sivert US Census 1920 - Note spelled correctly once corrected
Sivert and Anna Sell Farm in Harbert - September 21, 1921
Sivert and Anna Purchase Land in Decatur Township - 1923
Sivert US Census 1930 - Note: Savart Larson and in Decatur
Sivert Obituary - November 6, 1933
Sivert Slideshow
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Family Tree Continued:
Møre og Romsdal (Larsen, Andersen, Olsdatter...)
Møre og Romsdal Birth Locations: Sivert (Grytten), Lars Andersen (Grytten), Brit Olsdatter (Veøy). Sivert's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all born in Grytten. They adopted the last name Dahle (means lived in a valley). Norwegians and Swedes often took the name of the farm or a description of the geographical location where they lived as they started to adopt surnames rather than the patronymic system of taking your father's first name as your last name (Sivert Larsen). Both Sivert's father and grandfather went by their father's first name and Dahle. They list Lars Andersen in one census as living in Nedre Dahle (the lower valley). Many Norwegians didn't own land but rather worked for someone who did. Usually, they are listed in the census or church records as a gårdsmann/dreng (farmhand or worker) for males and pige/tjener (maid or servant) for females.
Møre og Romsdal is just south of Trondheim's county, Sør-Trøndelag. Like so many of the Norwegian counties it is very influenced by the sea. However, in Central and Southern Norway there were more fertile fields and many Norwegians who didn't live on the coast were farmers, or farmhands. Sivert's folks were tenant farmers (worked the land and shared profit with owner). Sivert's older brother is listed as a tailor in one census. I suspect that is where Sivert learned his craft of making shoes, a shoemaker (skomaker). His experience growing up on a farm certainly influenced his decision to buy two different farms in Michigan.
To learn more about the geographical locations of where our ancestors came from Scandinavia go to the Scandinavia Brief History, Language and Geography Page.
Sivert's Wife:
Anna Sofia Jørgensdatter (Normann)
B. April 19, 1864 - Ibestad, Troms, Norway
M. August 12, 1888 - Sivert Larsen - Trondheim, Norway
D. February 20, 1940 - St. Joseph, Berrien County, Michigan
Sivert's Children
Alexandria Lennora Viktoria Larsen
B. December 25, 1888 - Trondheim, Norway
M. September 15, 1908 - Carson Hutchinson - LaPorte, Indiana
D. April 19, 1910 - Harbert, Michigan
Rosa Avilda Larsen (Dolph)
B. September 9, 1891 - Trondheim, Norway
M. September 23, 1911 - Adonijah Dolph Jr. - St. Joseph, Michigan (Divorced 1921)
Children - Lillian (April 1, 1909), Sylvia (Sal) (May 22, 1911)
D. June 10, 1963 - Michigan City, Indiana
Lydia Borghild Larsen (Aunt Lil)
B. September 9, 1891 - Trondheim, Norway
M. ? - Harry Beresford - Kansas ? (Divorced)
M. ? - Daniel Denman - ?
Children - Harry Beresford (Feb. 25, 1910)
D. February 3, 1979 - Berrien Center, Berrien, Michigan
Ingolf Norman Larsen (Uncle Norm)
B. December 15, 1893 - Trondheim, Norway
M. January 7, 1932 - Anna Jacobus - Chicago, Illinois (Divorced)
M. ? - Hannah Larson - Chicago, Illinois (Divorced)
M. ? - Florence - Florida (Divorced - 1951)
M. November 1952 - Jesse Clara McCluer - Lake Worth, Florida (Divorced)
D. July 25, 1975 - Garland, Dallas County, Texas
Uncle Norm was an interesting person and intersected our lives in a real way. He was married four times and had no children of his own. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I from July 29, 1918 through February 4, 1919 while still not officially a citizen of the United States. He applied for, and was granted, citizenship in 1922 based on the fact he was a soldier. Click here for his application and here for citizenship document. In the application, he explains his army service as a private in the 2nd Provisional Regiment, Spruce Division and denounces his Norwegian citizenship and King Haakon VII. I have a huge photo of his WWII unit that must be almost 4' long, you really can't make anyone out in the photo, but I've kept it because of its history. I also have some photos of his service in the Army below. The Spruce Division was responsible for securing wood. They were stationed in Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. The photos are most likely from his training camp.
Norm was quite industrious and had homes in Chicago, Florida, Texas, Harbert and Decatur over his life. Norm learned farming from his dad Sivert and helped him on the farm, later they owned farm land together in Decatur. Norm also did construction work, was a piper fitter (1920 census) and was an upholsterer (1940 census). One of Norm's homes was in Bradenton, Florida, near Nana's winter home for many years. Grandma Ackerman lived with Norm and his wife in 1930 when she was working in Chicago, he lived in Roseland (South Chicago). The photo above is taken in Roseland next to his house.
We remember Norm for bailing us out with a big loan when our car engine crashed in Sparks, Nevada, in July 1965, on our way back from California. In either 1966 or 1967, he came up to our place for Thanksgiving. I remember it well because he was a Dallas Cowboys fan, and we watched the football game while he was there. I think he influenced me into becoming a Cowboys fan.
Norm died at 82 years of age on July 25, 1975 in Garland Texas, in Dallas County. Charlie Scovern is the one who made the application for him to have an Army marker for his grave.
Norm's photos: 1) 1920s, 2) Norm and Nana (Rose), 3) Norm 1960s, 4) Norm Gravesite, 5) Norm in Uniform at training camp, 6-9) Photos from Norm taking most likely at training camp
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