Maria Taraldsdatter was baptized on June 27th, 1813 in Sannidal, Telemark, Norway. She was the daughter of Tarald Nielsen and Ane Helene Knudsdatter and sister to my third great-grandfather Isaac Thompson who I have written about previously. Below is Maria’s baptismal record found in Ancestry.
On January 10, 1834, she married Thor Knudsen Ørevig (sometimes spelled as Ørvik in my 3rd great-grandfather's case). I am not sure why there are so many variations in the spelling of this word. It may be as simple as a lack of reading and writing skills. I do know there is an Ørvik on the map in Norway near Kragerø and Sannidal, where this family lived. Below is Maria and Thor’s marriage record from Ancestry and a map showing Ørvik, Sannidal and Kragerø, Norway.
Maria and Thor had at least 3 children between 1835 and 1843, Niels, Jens and Tor. All were baptized in Sannidal, Telemark, Norway.
In 1849, Maria immigrated to the U.S. with her three sons who at the time were ages 14, 12 and 6. She is listed as her brother Isaac’s wife. I am unsure why she is listed as his wife. There is a biography on Isaac’s Find-A-Grave page that states Maria was a widow at the time of her immigration. However, I cannot find a record of her husband’s death. Below is a picture of their passenger list which also shows Isaac’s future wife and my 3rd great-grandmother Jacobine Halvorsdatter. Isaac and Maria’s last name is listed as Ørvig instead of Taraldsen. They use the place they are from as their last name instead of their patronymic surname. While researching Maria’s life, I see that she used both her maiden name (Taraldsen) and where she was from (Ørvik) as her surname throughout the remainder of her life in America.
Once in the U.S., Isaac moved initially moved to Racine, Wisconsin. According to the 1850 U.S. census, he is married to Jacobine and works as sailor. They eventually move to Holland, Michigan where Isaac works as a schooner captain. Below is a photo of their 1850 census record from ancestry.
Maria and Isaac’s brother Jacob immigrates to America a year later in 1850 with his wife. I cannot find records of the first seven to eight years of Maria, Jacob and Maria’s sons’ lives in America. This may be that they are living in a territory instead of a state. Below is a photo taken from Ancestry of Jacob and his wife’s passenger list from Kragero, Norway to New York.
The first reference I find of Maria and her sons in America after their passenger list is in the Minnesota Territorial Census dated September 1857 seen below. Maria Nels and Tor are living in Taylor Falls, Chisago County, Minnesota. Chisago County was organized in September 1851 and Taylor Falls became the county seat in January 1852. Minnesota was added as a state in May 1858. I am unsure where Maria’s son Jens is living at this time.
What is interesting about Taylor Falls is that between 1949 and 1959, Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg wrote The Emigrants series of four novels which are based on Swedish immigrants arriving in New York in 1850 then traveling to Taylor Falls, Minnesota (the same place and time as Maria and her sons). The 1970’s films The Emigrants and The New Land starring Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow are based on these books. Both the books and films give a good understanding of why they left and the struggles they faced during their travels and settling in a new territory. Another good source is Norwegian author Ole Edvart Rølvaag’s Giants in the Earth depicting Norwegians immigrating to the Dakota territory in the 1870’s and the struggles they endured.
Next I find Maria and her sons, Nils and Jens mentioned in the book “History of Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties, Minnesota”. Maria and her sons moved from Chisago to Watonwan County in 1857, “In 1857 arrived Jacob Tharal and wife, Jens and Thor Torsen, with their mother, Maria Torsen Overig”. It took me a while to realize that Jacob was Maria’s brother due to the misspelling of his last name. Sometimes Jacob’s last name is also spelled at Tharaldson in the book. His last name is listed as Taraldson on his gravestone.
According to the book, Maria and her two sons, Nils and Jens Torson were among the first settlers in Watonwan County. I am not sure what happened to Maria’s son Tor. I cannot find any record of him from this point on. Nils and Jens were very involved in establishing this new territory. Nils was the first postmaster and Jens was the mail carrier. Jens goes on to be a 2nd lieutenant in the Civil War, county commissioner, sheriff, and finally county treasurer until his death in 1881. The book also mentions Maria, her son Nils and her brother Jacob being involved in an attack from Native Americans in the story below.
Books like The History of Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties can be a great insight into the lives of our ancestors and help fill in missing gaps in time. Another great source of information are local historical societies and libraries. While doing my research, I found that in 1876 in Madelia, Minnesota where Maria and her family lived from at least 1860 until death, the James-Younger Gang was captured near Madelia at Hanksa Slough by local citizens. Perhaps Maria’s family was involved in this heroic event which to this day is celebrated annually in Madelia with a reenactment of the shootout.
Maria, her two sons Nils and Jens plus her brother Jacob lived the remainder of their lives in Madelia, Minnesota. Maria died in 1900 at the age of 86. I think that is a long life for a pioneering woman considering the hardships she must have endured.
I hope you have enjoyed this story and have found helpful ideas on how to research your own ancestors. If you have an interesting ancestor story you would like to share, please reach out to me at treasurer.snorre@norwegiansocietyoftexas.org.