Individual Details
Bertina Staberg
(17 Sep 1884 - 23 Nov 1966)
Bertina has the distinction of being born "at sea" , September 17, 1884, on the trip from Norway to America. The family first settled in Zumbrota, Minnesota, moving to Lakeland in 1891 and finally, about 1896, to Hudson, Wisconsin where, on May 16, 1900, she was married to Nels Sangsland.
In 1909 they moved to Black Butte, North Dakota, and in 1920 they moved to Hettinger, North Dakota. They had eleven children, five boys and six girls.
In 2001, Doris Hite, a granddaughter of Bertina shared Bertaina's biography of her parents as well as a story of her own life. She noted "It was qute difficult to read as the pages were very worn and penmanship so light. She was 82 years of age when she wrote it. As you will note, she really loved her home in Hudson. I remember as a little girl when she lived in Hettinger, where I was raised, she would talk about Hudson so much. She certainly had fond memories of Wisconsin. She also loved her home in Hettinger and she really liked Sacremento."
Our Life--Bertina and Nels Sangsland
My home in Hudson, Wisconsin, was the most beautiful with a large front room that was wallpapered, white woodwork, three very large windows with beautiful expensive thin white lace curtains given to us by my mother and father, wall-to-wall carpet, very pretty velvet like--wool tan and brown, one large couch green with little yellow flowers, and a set of Satees of ligh color maple and red mohair. The one chair was a gold color, the other was a bluish gray, one rocking chair from Joe and Lena, one rocker stand still from Donaldson Bros. Druggist, a marble top table of brownish marble, one throw rug in front of the Sattee, one in front of the couch. In our bedroom, we had the most beautiful bedroom set I have ever seen. It was walnut. The top headboard was the root of a walnut tree, the dresser had a long glass and a white marble top with little marbe shelves on each side of the long glass. All varnished drawers inside with silver rings to open them. A wash stand with a white marble splusher and top. Dotted swiss lace curtains with wide ruffles. A green and yellow matting on the floor with throw rug in front of the bed. The other bedrooms has nice bedroom sets. In our dining room, we had a lovely dining room set with french cut legs on the table and chairs with three boards to make it very large. A green and yellow rug, white lace curtains for two windows and glass doors, a home-made dish cupboard, a bookcase built in the wall and a couch. We ate in the kitchen. We had a table, chairs, cupboard and a dish sink. Also a large pantry and with a ice box in it. Another room for the clothes rack and ironing board. The kitchen was painted pink, trimmed in white with pink and white curtains. A set away room--back porch with two windows and two doors which wasn't closed in. We had our hammock out there and vines growing in front of it. Outside on one side, along the front side, was a 16 inch wide trench with solid Pansies and also a high fence for swet peas and red Dahlies. In the back, we had three rose bushes--white, peach yellow and red, and Four O'clocks. We had a wonderful garden in back of the house. Green lawn in front only. The house was paintted yellow, trimmed with white, green screens, painted outside and inside. We also had a shed for our buggy, horse and a cow.
When we moved in, it belonged to an old lady and she lived with us. She was the nicest old soul alive. She had two rooms for herself upstairs. I washed and ironed her clothes. She was a very good eater but no lunching. She helped me with Albert and Norman. I had the loviest home of any common people in Hudson and prettier than any of my sons and daughters or my sisters and brothers. We had very nice neighbors.
When I lived in Hudson, Wisconsin, I did a lot of canning, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, plums, peaches, pears and tomatoes. I made jam, sauce and pickles.
I left my beautiful home in Hudson and went with four small children and my husband, Nels Sangsland, to the North Dakota prairie to live on a homestead, where we lived in one room. Nels was gone most of the time. I saw big prairie fires that were like big clouds and hailstorms with hailstones as big as small hen eggs of all shapes. We didn't have a ceiling, just a roof on the shack, so I couldn't hear the children cry when it stormed. During one of the bad storms, our cow had to swim across a stream. A neighbor man came and got her home for me. I had to milk her three times a day. Nels was way off thrashing. I had a cow, calf, pig, chicken and a rooster to take care of. When that big hailstorm was over, there wasn't a grass left, just black earth. I had to go down by the little stream and stake the cow, carry water for two days, sometimes a pail in each hand and little Albert carried a gallon pail so I could wash clothes, unless I had a way to catch rain water, which was seldom. There were blizzards in the winter and deep snow. The boys, Albert and Norman, had one mile to school. We had take them when it was a lot of snow but you never knew when the wind and a blizzard would come up. There are a hundred horror experiences I could tell, but its no use. I will always remember all the suffeirng I went through with four small children on this farm by myself with Nels gone most of the time.
In November, two years later, we moved to Hettinger, North Dakota where Nels had work and was home all the time. Estella, Neva, Elmer and Edward were born in Hettinger and Lillian died at one and half years. Anna was the only children born at Black Butte, on the homestead, where we lived for two years. Albert, Norman, Sigrid and Carl were born in Hudson.
After moving to Hettinger, the home I loved and our work. We had a 320 acre farm, but we lived in town where Nels worked at the schoolhouse and church as janitor. All our children went there to school. We had sorrow and hardship, but sunshine too.
Bertina's landlady, who owned the beatiful house in Hudson, was Helena Olson, widow of Andrew Olson, a Norwegian immigrant, who had been owner and proprietor of the Olson House, a hotel, in Hudson until blindness forced him to retire. In 1882 the Olson House was leased to Andrew Harris who later became the owner and operated it until his death in 1922. I haven't learned where Helena Olson's home was in 1900 to 1910 but with such a large home and furnished as it was, she may have continued to take in boarders for a time after leaving the Olson House Hotel.
Christmas card to John & Karine from Bertina, ca 1941-1945
Dear John & Carrie,
I hope you are as well as can be expected. I most heartily sympathize with you. Edward is home now after 5 years in the service, 44 months in Africa, Italy and Sicilly in the Infantry and Tanks, almost killed many times. He shot ten Germans with the machine gun once, landed in fox holes and thank God learned to pray. Elmer is in the Navy now at Memphis, Tenn. He will have to go across I am sure, he has been in so short. Well it was all a big spree of killing, and help the millionaires and big shots. Pearl Harbor is a mystery. I think they all had a fault in it in Washington. I would sure like to hear from you both. Love, Bertina & All.
Unknown newspaper [possibly Adams County Record or Hettinger Tribune]
BERTINA SANGSLAND CELEBRATES HER 82ND BIRTHDAY SEPT. 17
Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, longtime Hettinger resident now living at 2000 G Street, Sacremento, Calif., celebrated her 82nd birthday on Sept. 17, 1966. She makes her home with her son, Carl Sangsland.
Mrs. Sangsland retains a keen interest in her old home town and her many old time friends in the Hettinger area. Her daughter, Estella, said: "My mother reads every line in the Adams County Record, when she is able to read, even the legal notices. And on the days when her eyes are bad we have to read the Record to her."
Mrs. Sangsland sent greetings to her Hettinger friends through her daughter, Estella, who, in company with her husband, visited in the Hettinger recently.
The children of Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, all of whom lived for many years in Hettinger, are:
Carl Sangsland, who is a retired government worker.
Sigrid and her husband, Almer Olson, Sacremento, Calif.
Estella and her husband, Rex Cartwright, North Sacremento.
Neva and her husband, Norval Lemm, Sacremento.
Elmer and his wife, Dora, and family.
Edward and his wife, Ruth, and
Anna and her husband, Edwin Skogen and family, all of Hettinger.
Copy of Obituary from unknown newspaper [possibly Adams County Record or Hettinger Tribune]
LAST RITES FOR MRS. SANGSLAND HELD ON NOV. 29
Bertina Sangsland was born the daughter of Andreas and Sigrid Staberg on a ship on the Atlantic Ocean three days before it docked at the New York City harbor.
They had left their home in Norway on Sept. 17, 1884, to make their home in this country.
The family first located at Lakeland, Wisconsin [Lakeland, Minnesota], where she grew to womanhood and was confirmed in the Lutheran church.
On May 16, 1900, she was united in marriage to Nels Sangsland at Hudson, Wis. After their marriage they resided in Hudson for seven years and then moved west and filed on a homestead near Regent, N.D., in 1907.
In 1910 they moved to Hettinger, N.D., where she lived until 1943, when she moved to Sacramento, Calif., to reside until her death on Nov. 23, 1966.
Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sangsland, four of whom, along with her husband, preceeded her in death.
Surviving family members are three sons and four daughters, Carl, Elmer and Edward of Sacramento, Calif; Sigrid Olson, Estelle Cartwright, and Neva Lemm of Sacramento, Calif.; Anna Skogen of Hettinger, N.D.; 15 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.
Funeral services were conducted in the Miller & Skelton Chapel in Sacramento Nov. 25 with Paster Romeis of St. Johns Lutheran Church officiating.
Her remains were brought to Hettinger to be laid to rest by the side of her husband in the Hettinger Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were James Clement, Joe Clement, Eric Eneberg, Elmer Erickson, Fred Forthun, and Bud Anfinson.
Honorary pallbearers were Jonas Johnson, Harley Erickson, Alfred Hallen, Carl Muller, Duwayne Lemm, Donald Sangsland and John Cartwright.
Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, although gone from this area for many years, always maintained a keen interest in the people of this area and always thought of Hettinger as her "home town".
In 1909 they moved to Black Butte, North Dakota, and in 1920 they moved to Hettinger, North Dakota. They had eleven children, five boys and six girls.
In 2001, Doris Hite, a granddaughter of Bertina shared Bertaina's biography of her parents as well as a story of her own life. She noted "It was qute difficult to read as the pages were very worn and penmanship so light. She was 82 years of age when she wrote it. As you will note, she really loved her home in Hudson. I remember as a little girl when she lived in Hettinger, where I was raised, she would talk about Hudson so much. She certainly had fond memories of Wisconsin. She also loved her home in Hettinger and she really liked Sacremento."
Our Life--Bertina and Nels Sangsland
My home in Hudson, Wisconsin, was the most beautiful with a large front room that was wallpapered, white woodwork, three very large windows with beautiful expensive thin white lace curtains given to us by my mother and father, wall-to-wall carpet, very pretty velvet like--wool tan and brown, one large couch green with little yellow flowers, and a set of Satees of ligh color maple and red mohair. The one chair was a gold color, the other was a bluish gray, one rocking chair from Joe and Lena, one rocker stand still from Donaldson Bros. Druggist, a marble top table of brownish marble, one throw rug in front of the Sattee, one in front of the couch. In our bedroom, we had the most beautiful bedroom set I have ever seen. It was walnut. The top headboard was the root of a walnut tree, the dresser had a long glass and a white marble top with little marbe shelves on each side of the long glass. All varnished drawers inside with silver rings to open them. A wash stand with a white marble splusher and top. Dotted swiss lace curtains with wide ruffles. A green and yellow matting on the floor with throw rug in front of the bed. The other bedrooms has nice bedroom sets. In our dining room, we had a lovely dining room set with french cut legs on the table and chairs with three boards to make it very large. A green and yellow rug, white lace curtains for two windows and glass doors, a home-made dish cupboard, a bookcase built in the wall and a couch. We ate in the kitchen. We had a table, chairs, cupboard and a dish sink. Also a large pantry and with a ice box in it. Another room for the clothes rack and ironing board. The kitchen was painted pink, trimmed in white with pink and white curtains. A set away room--back porch with two windows and two doors which wasn't closed in. We had our hammock out there and vines growing in front of it. Outside on one side, along the front side, was a 16 inch wide trench with solid Pansies and also a high fence for swet peas and red Dahlies. In the back, we had three rose bushes--white, peach yellow and red, and Four O'clocks. We had a wonderful garden in back of the house. Green lawn in front only. The house was paintted yellow, trimmed with white, green screens, painted outside and inside. We also had a shed for our buggy, horse and a cow.
When we moved in, it belonged to an old lady and she lived with us. She was the nicest old soul alive. She had two rooms for herself upstairs. I washed and ironed her clothes. She was a very good eater but no lunching. She helped me with Albert and Norman. I had the loviest home of any common people in Hudson and prettier than any of my sons and daughters or my sisters and brothers. We had very nice neighbors.
When I lived in Hudson, Wisconsin, I did a lot of canning, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, plums, peaches, pears and tomatoes. I made jam, sauce and pickles.
I left my beautiful home in Hudson and went with four small children and my husband, Nels Sangsland, to the North Dakota prairie to live on a homestead, where we lived in one room. Nels was gone most of the time. I saw big prairie fires that were like big clouds and hailstorms with hailstones as big as small hen eggs of all shapes. We didn't have a ceiling, just a roof on the shack, so I couldn't hear the children cry when it stormed. During one of the bad storms, our cow had to swim across a stream. A neighbor man came and got her home for me. I had to milk her three times a day. Nels was way off thrashing. I had a cow, calf, pig, chicken and a rooster to take care of. When that big hailstorm was over, there wasn't a grass left, just black earth. I had to go down by the little stream and stake the cow, carry water for two days, sometimes a pail in each hand and little Albert carried a gallon pail so I could wash clothes, unless I had a way to catch rain water, which was seldom. There were blizzards in the winter and deep snow. The boys, Albert and Norman, had one mile to school. We had take them when it was a lot of snow but you never knew when the wind and a blizzard would come up. There are a hundred horror experiences I could tell, but its no use. I will always remember all the suffeirng I went through with four small children on this farm by myself with Nels gone most of the time.
In November, two years later, we moved to Hettinger, North Dakota where Nels had work and was home all the time. Estella, Neva, Elmer and Edward were born in Hettinger and Lillian died at one and half years. Anna was the only children born at Black Butte, on the homestead, where we lived for two years. Albert, Norman, Sigrid and Carl were born in Hudson.
After moving to Hettinger, the home I loved and our work. We had a 320 acre farm, but we lived in town where Nels worked at the schoolhouse and church as janitor. All our children went there to school. We had sorrow and hardship, but sunshine too.
Bertina's landlady, who owned the beatiful house in Hudson, was Helena Olson, widow of Andrew Olson, a Norwegian immigrant, who had been owner and proprietor of the Olson House, a hotel, in Hudson until blindness forced him to retire. In 1882 the Olson House was leased to Andrew Harris who later became the owner and operated it until his death in 1922. I haven't learned where Helena Olson's home was in 1900 to 1910 but with such a large home and furnished as it was, she may have continued to take in boarders for a time after leaving the Olson House Hotel.
Christmas card to John & Karine from Bertina, ca 1941-1945
Dear John & Carrie,
I hope you are as well as can be expected. I most heartily sympathize with you. Edward is home now after 5 years in the service, 44 months in Africa, Italy and Sicilly in the Infantry and Tanks, almost killed many times. He shot ten Germans with the machine gun once, landed in fox holes and thank God learned to pray. Elmer is in the Navy now at Memphis, Tenn. He will have to go across I am sure, he has been in so short. Well it was all a big spree of killing, and help the millionaires and big shots. Pearl Harbor is a mystery. I think they all had a fault in it in Washington. I would sure like to hear from you both. Love, Bertina & All.
Unknown newspaper [possibly Adams County Record or Hettinger Tribune]
BERTINA SANGSLAND CELEBRATES HER 82ND BIRTHDAY SEPT. 17
Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, longtime Hettinger resident now living at 2000 G Street, Sacremento, Calif., celebrated her 82nd birthday on Sept. 17, 1966. She makes her home with her son, Carl Sangsland.
Mrs. Sangsland retains a keen interest in her old home town and her many old time friends in the Hettinger area. Her daughter, Estella, said: "My mother reads every line in the Adams County Record, when she is able to read, even the legal notices. And on the days when her eyes are bad we have to read the Record to her."
Mrs. Sangsland sent greetings to her Hettinger friends through her daughter, Estella, who, in company with her husband, visited in the Hettinger recently.
The children of Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, all of whom lived for many years in Hettinger, are:
Carl Sangsland, who is a retired government worker.
Sigrid and her husband, Almer Olson, Sacremento, Calif.
Estella and her husband, Rex Cartwright, North Sacremento.
Neva and her husband, Norval Lemm, Sacremento.
Elmer and his wife, Dora, and family.
Edward and his wife, Ruth, and
Anna and her husband, Edwin Skogen and family, all of Hettinger.
Copy of Obituary from unknown newspaper [possibly Adams County Record or Hettinger Tribune]
LAST RITES FOR MRS. SANGSLAND HELD ON NOV. 29
Bertina Sangsland was born the daughter of Andreas and Sigrid Staberg on a ship on the Atlantic Ocean three days before it docked at the New York City harbor.
They had left their home in Norway on Sept. 17, 1884, to make their home in this country.
The family first located at Lakeland, Wisconsin [Lakeland, Minnesota], where she grew to womanhood and was confirmed in the Lutheran church.
On May 16, 1900, she was united in marriage to Nels Sangsland at Hudson, Wis. After their marriage they resided in Hudson for seven years and then moved west and filed on a homestead near Regent, N.D., in 1907.
In 1910 they moved to Hettinger, N.D., where she lived until 1943, when she moved to Sacramento, Calif., to reside until her death on Nov. 23, 1966.
Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sangsland, four of whom, along with her husband, preceeded her in death.
Surviving family members are three sons and four daughters, Carl, Elmer and Edward of Sacramento, Calif; Sigrid Olson, Estelle Cartwright, and Neva Lemm of Sacramento, Calif.; Anna Skogen of Hettinger, N.D.; 15 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.
Funeral services were conducted in the Miller & Skelton Chapel in Sacramento Nov. 25 with Paster Romeis of St. Johns Lutheran Church officiating.
Her remains were brought to Hettinger to be laid to rest by the side of her husband in the Hettinger Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were James Clement, Joe Clement, Eric Eneberg, Elmer Erickson, Fred Forthun, and Bud Anfinson.
Honorary pallbearers were Jonas Johnson, Harley Erickson, Alfred Hallen, Carl Muller, Duwayne Lemm, Donald Sangsland and John Cartwright.
Mrs. Bertina Sangsland, although gone from this area for many years, always maintained a keen interest in the people of this area and always thought of Hettinger as her "home town".
Events
| Birth | 17 Sep 1884 | On Ocean |  | ||
| Marriage | 18 May 1901 | Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin - Nels Sangsland | | ||
| Death | 23 Nov 1966 | Sacremento, CA | | ||
| Burial | Hettinger ND, Hettinger Cemetery |
Families
| Spouse | Nels Sangsland (1866 - ) |
| Child | Albert S. Sangsland (1901 - ) |
| Child | Norman Bernard Sangsland (1903 - ) |
| Child | Sigrid A. Sangsland (1906 - 1998) |
| Child | Carl K. Sangsland (1907 - 1973) |
| Child | Anna Clarissa Sangsland (1909 - 1989) |
| Child | Estella M. Sangsland (1912 - 1999) |
| Child | Neva B. Sangsland (1914 - 1998) |
| Child | Elmer William Sangsland (1916 - 1983) |
| Child | Edward S. Sangsland (1919 - 1998) |
| Child | Lillian E. Sangsland (1921 - ) |
| Child | Alice Sangsland (1924 - ) |
| Father | Andrew Staberg (1857 - ) |
| Mother | Sigrid (Jonsdatter) Floren (1853 - 1925) |
| Sibling | Joseph Staberg (1876 - 1962) |
| Sibling | Berit "Martha" Staberg (1878 - 1952) |
| Sibling | Ellen Sigrid Staberg (1880 - 1964) |
| Sibling | John Arnt Stayberg (1882 - 1952) |
| Sibling | Anna Staberg (1886 - 1948) |
| Sibling | Baby Boy Staberg (1891 - 1891) |
Endnotes
1. The California Department of Health Services Office, Health Information & Vital Statistics Section, California Death Index.
2. Marriage, St. Croix Co., Register of Deeds, Hudson WI; Vol 8, page 208.
3. The California Department of Health Services Office, Health Information & Vital Statistics Section, California Death Index.