MOMERAK
HAUGLAND STORY
Momrak
Farm, Norway
The place in Norway , where
Gjermund Gunderson Momerak came from , was located
southwest of Oslo in the southern mountains of Norway.
The came from a farm named Momerak near
the town of Fyresdal in the county of Telemark. The farm
is very old and is located in an incredibly beautiful valley ranged with
Telemark mountains. The Momraks farm has been in the family since 1581, with one
the buildings dating from 1581 being used for storage.
The other buildings date from the 17th and 18th
centuries.
When Dakota opened for homesteading ten years later, Gjermund and their friends went to Fargo by train, then walked north to the Hoople territory. They liked the area and made a trench shelter along the river Jackson had picked out to live on. They all picked their land and built a cabin as squatters before going back for their families.
The Momeraks came in two
covered wagons with cattle. Gjermund homesteaded one quarter and his oldest son,
Gunder, another quarter across road #9, all in Dundee township (Walsh County).
He was the only one old enough. The family consisted of Gunder, Elsie, Petter,
Ingeborg I, IngeborgII and Lars.
Their house was near the
road, but the water was better in farther, so that is where they built a log
cabin, and later a frame house and barn. Trees were planted for shelter. Grain
and cattle were raised.
. 
They were among the first
members of the Park Center church. Gjermund was a trustee when it was organized.
Mrs. Momerak (Annie Patters ) died in November 1885 and was one of the first to
be buried in Park Center cemetery.
The older Ingeborg married
Gunlick Twedt in 1881. They homesteaded in Glenwood and had 9 children. The
younger Ingeborg married Ole Twedt and also lived in Glenwood for a while. They
had two daughters, Anne (who married Evan H Haugland ) and Julia who married
Eivind Swenson.
Julia
and Anne Twedt
Julia and her husband Eivind
Swenson had three children, namely Selma (Mrs. Russell Hulten), Clarence and
Walter.
Lars went to Oregon where he
married and lived the rest of his life.
The Momerak family lived in
Dundee until 1920 when those living at home moved into Hoople,.
Anne
and her husband moved to the farm when they came back from Climax, Saskatchewan
, Canada. They went to Canada late in the summer of 1913 and returned in the
spring of 1919. They traveled by train in 1913 to Gun Lake, Saskatchewan and
rode a hayrack for 3 days to Climax, spending one night in a house and one night
in a barrio.
Eivend
& Anne 1903
Mabel
Elida Haugland was born October 18,
1904 near Hoople, North Dakota, of parents Eivend Haugland and Anne Gelene
Twedt. In late summer of 1913 the family moved to Climax, Saskatchewan
, Canada traveling by train to Gun Lake, Saskatchewan and rode a hayrack
to Climax, spending one night in a barn.
and one night in house for a total of three days. Eivend attempted to establish
a farm claim, but a series of bad crops forced them to abandon the place and
return in the spring of 1919 to Anne Gelene Twedt, mother’s farm in Dundee,
near Hoople, North Dakota. Because
of this moving Mabel was only able to obtain about 3 or 4 grades of schooling.
Upon return to Hoople, N.D. , Mabel starting doing house work in Park
River. She later married Marlowe
Knutson..
Mabel’s
family was as follows:
Back
row Melvin, Alvin, Mabel, George, Victor.
Front
row Ilah, Annie, Hazel, Evan, Elmer.
Picture
was taken in 1927
An Aerial picture of the Haugland Farm during the 1930's.
Family History Data:
Father- Eivend (Evan) Haugland Born
Dec. 11,1874 Died Oct. 30,
1951.
Mother- Anne Gelene Twedt
Born Sept. 19, 1882 Died
August 26, 1961.
They were married near Hoople N.D. on October 30, 1903.
Children:
(1)
Mabel Elida Haugland
Born October 18, 1904 Died
Sept. 6, 1987.
Married Marlowe
Knutson December 21, 1926.
(2)
Ilah Gladys Haugland Born May 23,
1906 Died March
1983.
Married Milton Edvenson May
1,1933.
(3)
Victor Oliver Haugland Born July
24, 1907 Died 1959.
Not Married.
(4)
Melvin Clarence Haugland Born March
10, 1909 Died 1986.
Married Daisy Sandlan April
17, 1933.
(5)
Alvin Ernest Haugland Born February
6, 1911. Died May 28, 1995.
Married Mildred Johnson 1945
(6)
George Leonard Haugland Born April 28, 1913.Married Lily
Died December 4, 1963.
(7)
Elmer Lawrence Haugland Born
May 4, 1917. Married Lorraine Lunske 1945.
Div Married Stella/?
Died
Sept 20, 1990.
.
(8)
Hazel Lillian Haugland Born January
24, 1920. Not Married.
Evan, Annie and Hazel
continued to live on the farm until Evan died on October 30, 1951 at which time
Annie and Hazel moved to a small house in Park River, North Dakota.
Annie continued to own the farm and rented out the land or arranged for
crops to be planted and shared in
the income realized. When Annie
died August 26, 1961 the farm and house in Park River became part of the estate.
Arrangements were made to assist Hazel in moving to Grafton where she
obtain employment in caring for seniors.. Hazel is now retired and lives in
Grafton. The estate sold the farm and house in Park River and proceeded to
distribute to heirs, after Hazel had been given the necessary funds to
establish a living arrangement and employment in Grafton, ND
.
Note
the picture of the House in Park River, ND and about the last picture of the
family . The only son missing was Victor , who already passed
away before 1960.
Those
in the picture were left to right Hazel, Elmer, George (back) Melvin, Ilah,
Alvin (back) Mabel, and Annie.
This
picture was one of the last of Ingeborg II (Gjermunds) Twedt
and her daughter Annie (Twedt) Haugland before she died July 30, 1940.
The above information about
the Momeraks was written by Selma , daughter of Julia. The balance of the story
was based on information obtained from Mabel, daughter of Anne, and compiled by
Norton Knutson . June 29, 2004.
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