Asle Olson (Holm) b.12/24/1842 d.4/24/1908
Sigrid Olsdtr Renslebraaten b.7/19/1841 d.7/30/1883

Asle and Sigrid's Children: 
Ingeborg (aka Isabelle) b.1867 d.1943 m.Ole Torkelson (b.1852 d.1934)
Bergit (aka Betsy) b.1870 d.1944 m.Knudt Mork (b.1860 d.1935)
Children: Rosina, Alma, enock, Sophie, Klara, Abel, Henry, Reuben, Ida, Emma, Ruth, Kenneth
Olea (aka Oleah/Ollie) b.5/41873 d.7/201916 m.JensJenson (b.9/10/1852 d.1942)
Children: .Irene, Selina, Florence, Elvina, Belgie, Alvin, Josie Alfred
Olavus (called Charlie in Dakota) b.1871 d.1942
Aaron b.1875 d.1932 m.Affa Burlingame
Christina b.1879 d.1937 m.Theodore L. Olson
Thorvaid (aka Tom) b.1877 d.1955 m.Kjersti (Clara) Landsgard (b.1891 d.1936)
Lucas (aka Louie) b.1882 d.1950 m.Emma Rhinehart and then Emma Askelson

Asle's second marriage to Helena Blingsmoen:
Carl Mille (aka Milo) b.9/15/1884
Maria Seline (aka Mary) b.9/15/1888
Clara Onetta b.5/30/1891
Lean Adelia b.2/15/1894 d.6/15/1894
Ellen Adia b.4/23/1899
Otto Benjamin b.2/3/1902
Twins died at birth and are buried under the Lilac tree on the fram
 

Asle married Sigrid Renslebraten in Rukkendalen the same day her sister, Ingeborg, Married Knut Smette (Engen). Their first Child, (Isabelle Torkelson) was born 11/13/1867 and they left Norway around April-May 1868 (as soon as Isabelle could have her smallpox immunization). They arrived in Quebec July 6, 1868. They had come on the sailship Norven for 51 spricdolers (about 51 dollars). When Asle and Sigrid came, Sigrid's sister, Bergit also came (Torkel had come the year before). They came to Quebec via the Great Lakes and then probably by train to Prairie du Chien. From there, they came to Iowa. When the got to Iowa, Asle had a dollar. They settled on land just north of Asle's mother's half-brother, Halvor K. Aasen. Asle was a hard worker and not a spender. By 1869, he had $800 to pay H.G. Smart and Witwer for the 40 acre farm. Asle's great grandaughter tells "Grandma told that they got one pair of shoes each year so they went barefoot all summer and on into the fall. She and her sister, Betsy (Mork) would stand on the ground where the catle had lain to warm their feed on their way to school in the fall."

Sigrid died young, she was about 41 when she died in 1841. She apparently had been in bed about a year before she died. She had eight babies, worked hard and maybe was lonesome and homesick - her death is listed in the county records as malnutrition. When Sigrid could no longer care for her family, a daughter of Knudt Olson Blingmoen Jaeger, Helena, worked as the hired girl. At that time, her parents lived not far from Asle (just across the road and what was later known as the Lundt place and is now owned by Sylvn Torkelson). When the chickens crowed at Asle and Sigrid's house, Helena was supposed to have said "Those will soon be my chickens." Helena did marry Asle in 1884. Sigrid's sister, Bergit (b.1848 d.1929) married Knudt Blingsmoen (1854-1894) at the Marion Church in Gunder in 1870, lived by the Turkey river where Ab West once lived. They left Iowa with a wagon train for South Dakota we believe in 1875. Bergit's daughter, Olea Cook, told that the day they left, Sigrid had walked along with Bergit as far as she could and then she had to turn back. That was the last time they saw each other. Asle and Sigrid had eight children:

Asle married Helena in 1884, three years after Sigrid's death - Asle was 42 when he married Helena. Also in this year, Asle became a U.S. citizen 9/2/1884. With a stepmother to care for the smaller children and to keep house, Asle's older daughters, Isabelle and Betsy, went out to work. In the fall Isabelle told that they husked corn down on the Meyer farm (where Mike Cline lives now) for 50 cents a day. Georgia Meyer Mork told that when they did that, her grandmother always gave them a good breakfast before they started to work as they could work better if they were now hungry. Helena had a son before she married Asle but none of her children seemed to have known about him. He did appear at her burial, surprising everyone - apparently he was raised by his uncle, Ole K. Olson. - and his grandaugher's name is Mildred Kullard. Helena and Asle had eight children including a set of twins.

The township plat for 1886 shows a blacksmith shop on the farm. These were often found on farms - but not close to the other uildings in case of fire. There was need of the blacksmith ship as there were horses to b shod and machinery to be repaired. Asle also made money by buying a stallion which was taken to the farms for breeding mares. Through his hard work and seeing to it his children also worked hard, and by frugal living, he became a well-to-do man. In 1877, Asle gave land for a schoolhouse - he only accepted $10 forthe land. The school is still standing and is used as a summerhouse. Carl Torkelson remembered that they could hear Asle hollering at his children way from where they lived on the other side of the mountain. Guess Asle wanted to make sure the kids were working hard! Alma Torkelson Schoien told that Asle had been at Ingegorg and Ole's place when she was carrying her little brothers around - Asle told them they must buy a baby buggy as Alma's back was not strong enough yet to carry those boys.

In Asle's later years, he built a new house on the farm. His years of hard work had begun to take its toll. He became quite crippled with rheumatism or arthritis. They were planning to move to Elgin but he died before that hapened. Ti must have been a heart attack or a massive stroke. The night he died, dimes were laid on his eyes. At his funeral, some of the family caried white handkerchieves edged with black. His funeral was as Highland but he was buried at Marion Luthern Cemetery beside his first wife, Sigrid. The farm is now owned by Vic Schneider. The original buildings are all gone but Vic can show you where the barn once stod. The house was torn down and used in a house near Elkader. There is still a lilac bush standing in the yard that blooms each year.

Asle's Olson Holm's Parents
Ole Anderson Havarsgaard Holm and Berget Rotegaard

Ole and Berget lived on Aasen a few years and then went to Holmen.  Berget is the daughter of Asle Kittleson Rotegaard and Ingebord Asen.  Holmen is an island on the Tunhovd Fjord what is now covered with water of Lake Tunhovd which was formed when the Tunhovd Dam was built in 1929. The small house, which had been built around 1800 of log is now covered with boards, was moved to higher ground and is now the summer home of a couple from Oslo. That is where the name Holm originated. Holmen means "the he island". All of Asle and Berget's sons used the holm name except Asle. In America he was known as Asle Olson, although his tombstone at the Marion Church Cemetery reads Asle Olson Holm. However Asle Olson's son, Tom, used the Holm name after he married Kjersti (Blara) Landsgard from Norway.

While Ole and Bergit were living on Holmen in Tunhovd with their eight sons, one of the boys spotted a boat from olden days at the bottom of the fjord (the water must have been very clear). Being resourceful, he figured out a way to raise the boat finding it in excellent condition. His resourcefulness did not stop there. He set it out for display and charged 1 nd 1/2 ore to see it. Later a teacher bought it and placed it in the museum at Dagali. Ole and Bergit moved to Rukke and then Nesbyen where they lived about fifteen years before emigrating. Haversgaard is in Nesbyen along the Rukkedal River. It is near wher the old church had been. We believe some of the logs from the church may have been used in building the house.

Ole and Bergit had eight sons:
Arne, the older, born 1840 and stayed in Nesbyen until he died
Asle b.12/24/1842
Lukas b 1845 who drowned when young;
Nils b1850 who came to America where he married Ingeborg Grimsgard (daughter of Christian and Bergit Blingsmoen Grimsgard). Nils and Ingeborg lived in Iowa;
Ole b1854 came to Iowa and then went on to Hawley Minnesota and never married;
Halvor b185_ who came to Iowa and married Randi Grimsgard, sister of Ingeborg. The lived in Iowa, Marion township for awhile before moving to Minnesota."
Kristian b.18__, stayed in Norway and moved to Larvik;
Arne , the younger, who came to Iowa in 1878 with his parents. He attended Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis for four years. He married Kjersti Amundsen Langeberg from Worth County, Iowa in 1891. In 1896 the bought land near Hawley. Arne and Kjersti had 5 children - some attended Concordia College at Moorhead. Arne died in 1918, we believe. Kjersti died 7/30/1924. They are buried at he Lysne Churchyard near the Holm farm near Hawley.

Asle Olson Holm's Grandparents (from his mother's side):
Asle Kittleson Rotegard b/_ d/1851/2 married the widow, Ingeborg Grefsgardokken Assen

Ingeborg had a right to live on Aasen so since they lived there, he used the Aasen name too. Asle had been in the war with Sweden (1804-14). He was one of two who served from Tunhovd. Asle was called the Sargent from Tunhovd. It is said he went to war with his own gun and came home with his gun. He was a good mrksman. One time he (apparently to show off) had Ingeborg hold a coin in her hand and he shot it. Another time he and friends were discussing his skill at marksmanship and the friend bet him he could not hit his "snushorn" from a certain distance. Of course, he did and the friend's snushorn was shattered and the story tells "it was a good snushorn, too." Once he danced the HallingKast on a cellar door, and he hicked the hat off the pole. There was a king in the audience who threw him a gold piece. After Asle Kittleson Rothegaard Aasen's wife, Ingeborg, died, he "had his living" on Aasen. H.H. Stron wrote in his book "West to Valhalla" that he remembered Old Asle, sick and bedfast and he remembered going to his funeral in 1951 or 2.

Asle's Great Grandparents
Kittle Bottolfson

Kittle grew up on Rotegaard in Rukke in Rukkendalen. He was a well informed man and was known to be very fair. he helped make all written documents and contracts in Tunhovd at that time. He could read the law. We do not recall when education was made compulsory in Norway but everyone had to be confirmed in order to be allowed to get married. To be confirmed, one had to "read for the minister."

Asle's story... When did it all start....

It is hard to know where to start but, perhaps, with the earliest date recorded. Olaug Herbrandsdatter was born about 1555 and apparently was a nice-looking girl. A farmer wanted to marry her but at that time, instead of asking her himself, it was common to have the priest or a "gig" man to do the asking. The priest, Tollef Stenson, was a widower who had just come from Bergen to be the priest so the farmer asked him to go to Sigdal and ask the girl and her parents. When Stenson saw the girl, he liked her so much that he asked her to marry him! Her parents and she said "yes" and they wer married (there was nothing told about what the farmer said). Tollef and Olaug had seven or eight children. Tollef Stenson died about 1593. In the old days, when a priest died the new priest must take care of the widow. If he was not married, he sometimes married the widow. Jens Roschild married Olaug and thy had only Kleofos. After Jens Roschild died, she married a third priest but she had no children with him. Apparently, time had run out. One of Tollef's sons and Kleofos are both ancestors of Asle Olson.

There is another couple, too, who have been mentioned as wealthy landowners. They are: Gaute Olson Bortness, 1560-1636, and Barb Leksovoll. "Gaute" is dialect for Both.

It is interesting to look at some of the farm names that appear in the ancestrial chart: Devegge, Gulsvik, Olsgaard, Havarsgard, Garnas are all old farms still found today.

Devegge, originally pronounced Donvegge, is Scotch. Count Clement and Countess Blju had come from Scotland in the 1400's. Because of a murder, there was feuding between the McLeod and Argyll clans so when the girl from the McLeod clan of Dunvegan wanted to marry an Argyll, they had to flee! In 1967, Dame Flora McLeod from Dunvegan Castle in Scotland visited her "relatives" in Hallingdal. She believes the story to be true.

Asle Olson Holm

Asle Holm Dead
from Norwegian newspapers, Scandinavian and Decora Posten
Asle Olson Holm with death the 23rd of April in the age of a little over 65 years. He was born on Ness Hallingdal the 24th of December 1942. In the year 1867 he joined in marriage with the girl Sigrid Olson Renslebraten from Ness. In the spring of 1868, they went to America and settled themselves in Clayton County Iowa where they have lived since they came from Norway. This marriage was blessed with eight children, 4 boys and 4 girls, all living.

In the month of July, 1883, his wife died, about 41 years old and he was alone with his children. The oldest about 15 years and the youngest 1 and 1/2 years old. In the year 1884, he went into marriage with Miss Helena Knudtson Jaeger and their marriage was blessed with 8 children of which three died in young years and 2 and three girls lived, the oldest 23 years and the youngest three years. For some years he had...(cannot read text) ... and he had now sold part of his landholdings and was thinking of taking it a little easier in his older days but "Human" heart has its way but the.... (cannot read rest of text)