Family Reunion: Swedahl

Going four generations back to find another line

This surname can be found among my wife’s Sixteen great-great-grandparents. We have to go that far back to find the first Swedahl -

Ingeborg Olesdatter Swedahl - 01 Jun 1858 - 30 May 1934

Ingeborg was the maternal grandmother of my wife’s maternal grandfather, Arvid Wesley “Bud” Holmquist:

Bud Holmquist’s maternal branch

Of course, this is a Scandinavian family, so the concept of “surname” is not exactly as simple as that. Ingeborg Olesdatter was the child of Ole Sivertsen (b. 1827) and Ingeborg Eriksdatter (b. 1831). She was born on 1 June 1858 in Byneset, a parish in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Her family's farm name was Svedal, one of the farms near the village of Aunet. When Ingeborg and her family came to the United States during the 1880s, several of them used variations of “Svedal” or “Swedahl” as their surname. (To keep things simple, assume that the spelling I use for each of them is the spelling seen on their grave markers, where I could find one.)

Ingeborg’s older brother, Erik Swedal (or Erick Olsen), was born on 16 Sep 1855 in Byneset and married Anna Arnsen (born “Anna Arntsdatter,” 1875-1958) in 1880. They arrived in New York on 24 May 1886 aboard a ship called the Republic. Erik’s parents and three of his brothers (John, Sivert, and Ole) traveled together. They settled in Todd County, Minnesota, and raised eleven children on their farm in Iona.

Her next younger brother, Michael Svedal (born Mikal Olsen), was born in Byneset on 17 Feb 1863. While he doesn’t appear in the same emigration record as his parents and brothers, he probably emigrated around the same time (1886), later enlisting in the U.S. Army from 1890 to 1891. He married Johanna Marie Graneg (1860–1947) in 1893, and they adopted a daughter, Nora, whom they raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Sivert Svedal (born “Sivert Olsen,” son of Ole Sivertsen) was born on 6 Dec 1865 and came over with his parents in 1886. He married and settled in Iona, Todd County, Minnesota, where Erik lived. Sivert and his wife, Bertha (born Bergetta) had a son and a daughter before Sivert’s early death in 1897.

Born “Johan Olsen,” on 23 Jun 1868, John Olson Swedahl came over with his parents (see above), settling in Saint Paul. He married Mary Carman (1872–1905) in 1898, and after her death, he married Christina Fryklund (1869–1935) in 1907 in Pepin, Wisconsin. John and Christina raised one son and one daughter in Saint Paul.

Andrew Swedall (born Anders Olsen) was born in on 6 Apr 1871 and appeared in the 1875 Norway census, but when his family emigrated on 5 May 1886, he and his older brother Michael were not listed. It’s likely the two brothers traveled separately for some reason. Andrew Sweedahl is listed at the same address in Saint Paul as John and Ole Sweedahl in 1890 - so that is probably him. Andrew Swedall married Katie Hermann (1870-1957) and lived in Saint Paul.

The younger Ole Olsen was born on 16 Dec 1878 and seems to have chosen a more adventurous life than his brothers. “Oliver Swedahl,” as he was usually recorded, lived in Montana and then moved up to British Columbia, Canada, where he was naturalized in 1912. He seems to have remained single, and I see no records of children. He was 98 years old when he died on 11 Mar 1976.

After arriving in the United States, Ingeborg married Gustav Leander - which you might recall from this previous post:

If you have any Swedal/Svedal/Swedahl ancestors from Minnesota, there’s a good chance you might be connected to this family. I have a lot of work to do before I can put them into WikiTree, so please say hello and let me know you’re there!