John celebrated his birthday on Feb. 2 even though church records apparently list it as Feb. 3.

John Melland (as he eventually spelled his name in America) said he was the only one of eight brothers and sisters to come to America. He left Norway for America in April of 1892 at age 19. Bernice Smith said her father was encouraged to come to America by a man named M. O. Wee, whose family later became prominent in Lutheran church circles in America. Mr. Wee had been John Melland’s teacher in elementary school before he emigrated to America; he may have bought John Melland his ticket. Bernice said he was so excited to see the Statue of Liberty when he entered New York harbor.

John Melland first worked as a lumberjack in Wisconsin and then in 1897 on a farm near Morris in northeastern Illinois. In that community he soon met and married Bessie Torkelsen. Four children were born to them in Illinois, for all of them their mother tongue was Norwegian. In 1911 he bought a farm two miles northeast of New Effington, South Dakota, in Lien township, and moved there with his family. Initially he owned one quarter-section and rented another. In South Dakota he and Bessie had two more children, Jerauld and Bernice. When the doctor wasn’t coming quickly enough to help at Bernice’s birth, someone sent for a registered nurse who lived a half mile away. She was Amalie Okerlund, at that time working at a WWI naval training station but home on vacation. Ten years later, Mollie became Bernice’s step-mother.

On a 1915 census card John’s last name is spelled as Meland.

John was active in the New Effington community, serving many years on the church council and from 1922 as treasurer of the school district. His home was said to be a good place for young immigrants to come. He helped them out, found them work, helped them go on their own. With his wife Bessie he established a good happy family. Both John and Bessie were very active in Brandvold church and in community activities.

Though nobody had ever talked about it, research at familysearch.org in 2024 suggests Bessie gave birth in Minneapolis on March 29, 1920, to another son who did not survive. Subsequently, Cheryl (Smith) found a comment in some papers left by her mother, Bernice Smith, that Bessie had indeed suffered a stillbirth in about 1920 and that her health declined thereafter.

It is known that in about 1920, as Bessie was troubled by a lingering illness, Gladys was asked to stay home from school after finishing the 8th grade and care for her mother. For doing so she was given a piano which was still in her home some 40 years later.

Bessie passed away Feb. 19, 1925, at age 48. Two years later John married the kind Swedish-American Amalie “Molly” Okerlund; she was the daughter of Lars Okerlund and Batilda Nelsen, and had grown up on the farm adjoining John’s. A trained nurse, Mollie may well have been called upon to help Bessie give birth to Bernice in 1917 when the doctor didn’t arrive quickly enough.

John always had a twinkle in his eye and a ready joke to bring fun and joy into the lives of others. In 1944 he sold the family farm to the Earl Feltons and bought a house in New Effington where he and Mollie enjoyed their retirement years. He passed away in 1958 at age 85. Mollie followed in 1964 at age 76.

In December of 2000, a letter from Norway revealed that John Melland had fathered a son just before he left Norway in April of 1892. That son was born eight months after Mr. Melland emigrated to the USA. He was named Johannes Ulvenes, taking his father's first name and the last name of his mother's parents, by whom he was raised. Apparently John Melland never knew of this son's existence.

* * * * * *

The first items below are from a small-format 69-page genealogical booklet privately printed in Norway in 1931. It is called: Tillegg Til Slekten Reinertsens Stamtavle [contributions to the Reinertsen family tree], Omfattende familiene [the extended families] Nervik, Sandvik, Maeland, Nernaes, Reinertsen

The first two paragraphs were loosely translated with computer help by John Windh February of 2012.

1) On the title page:
“Some enlightenment to the families Nervik, Sandvik, Maeland, Nernaes and Reinertsen, compiled by Captain Reintertsen.”

2) Followed by this reflection:
“Friends and relatives and those at home in our childhood’s bright world we shall never, never forget, but take with us on the journey of life, giving them to our children.” “A sacred heritage we did possess, great testimonials of the men and women of a family, where we find relief from life’s burdens.”

Then there is this FOREWORD on page 2, translated here by Robert Eliason in June of 2013:

Honor your father and mother, so it will go well for you and you shall live long on earth.
The present little pamphlet is an addition to the family tree and is only intended for relatives.
The sequence in the families is determined by birth year. It is not heroics and great deeds which are put forth here, but working people’s honorable effort, versus luck, for themselves and theirs.
A lot of stuff some will call “unessential trifles.” But as details in a painting give a naturalness, these “trifles” give us an insight in the individual person’s work and interest and, thereby, the life that developed.
And it was to give a familiarity with the family that this pamphlet should provide.
Even though I have been busy with this, the work has given me a deep contentment of understanding and sympathy, of which I am quite thankful.
Below each family there is room for a notation of changes – births, marriages, deaths.
This gives the pamphlet increased worth for by accurate entering here nothing becomes forgotten for our descendants.
We honor our family by it.

Then on pp. 3-4 there is this INTRODUCTION also translated by Robert Eliason:

In the first mention to the family of the present work there stood that there existed a family tree on grandmother Gunhild’s side, which passed down to her parents. {The familiy tree mentioned here is a large commercially printed chart perhaps 30 inches wide, of which many American descendants have copies. The following paragraphs explain that chart has an irregular layout and certain omissions which this 1931 booklet seeks to address.]
At the time of the work, it was explained that the family tree applied to grandmother, who descended in a same lineage from the Agdesten branch.
Grandfather’s great, great, grandfather, Reinert Agdesten (died 1754), is entered in the family tree.
Space limitations resulted in that grandfather’s grandfather wasn’t able to be connected with his grandfather.
But the relationship is as follows: Grandfather’s father, Reinerd Brandvik, is the son of Reinert Agdesten, whose father is Ole Agdesten, whose father is also the Reinert Agdesten who is entered under the Agdesten branch and who died in 1754.
That these generations have not come forth in the old chart comes simply from this: that on it, for many years, the existing family tree included only those links in descendants that directly affected the descendants down the family line it applied to – here in Valvatne.
Over all in the chart, only the forbearer appears and none of the brothers and none of the children.
In our family tree are all offspring from grandfather included: his children, grandchildren, grandchildren’s children and finally grandchildren’s grandchildren’s children.
The old family tree for Valvatnes’ population was prepared after Galtungenes’ family tree, carried on by H. Chr. Hjortaas. Its content is based on studies from the National Archives, to be sure in this country as in Denmark.
There would not be room in the family tree to include our great grandfather, Reinert Brandvik’s brothers and other children and their families than grandfather. They are entered, therefore, here. Great grandfather’s brothers are: Anders and Ola, both of whom live in Agdesten. Anders had a son, Reinert, who also had a son, Anders, who lived in Agdesten. In addition, Reinert Brandvik had a sister, Anna, who was married to Berge Bortveit and moved here. They had many children, and most of them still live. This in brief.

Reinert Brandvik’s children, except grandfather, are:
--Johannes, who resides in Brandvik. He had two sons, Lars and Reinert, who both emigrated to America, and a daughter, Guro, who lives and resides in Almaas, Stord.
--Elling, who moved to Bergen and
--Thor, who moved to Fitjar.
--Malena, married to Ole Lillbrandvik. Their children are Reinert Brandvik, piano tuner in Bergen, Milljel Brandvik, also in Bergen, Martha married to Jørgen Nysæter, Metta and Britha. Malena and Ole Lillebrandvik’s children are all alive.


John Melland is the youngest of his generation to be included in this booklet. Therefore he appears near the end, on page 65, after which pages 66-69 introduce his six children. Translated in 2013 by Robert Eliason:

Page 65:
Farmer Johannes Mæland was born the third of February 1873 at Mæland in Etne of parents farmer Reinert Reinertson Mæland and house wife Gunhilde Lønning.
After he was finished with school, he went, at a young age, to America, got a farm, and farmed in Morris, Illinois from 1897 to 1911 and in South Dakota from 1911 to 1931 [when this booklet was printed] and still owns this one.
Johannes Mæland was very active in church work in that he was a member of the church board for many years and has been the treasurer for the school in New Effington since 1922.
His home was a good place to go for young emigrants of the family, and many got work, advice and guidance from him until they themselves became so Americanized both in regard to money and language that they started up on their own.
On December 23rd 1897 Mæland was married in Morris, IL, to Bessie Torkelsen, born 21 November 1878 of parents farmer Ola Torkelsen and wife Jørina Vatnebrønd. Their marriage was good and happy. His wife was called away February 19,1925. There were six children in this marriage.
Mæland married again on March 19, 1927 to an amiable and nice Swedish-American, Amalie Okerlund, who before her marriage was a teacher [actually a nurse]. Her parents were Lars Okerlund and wife Botilda Nelsen.

His children are:
1. Gertrude Melland born Dec 28, 1899
2. Russell Melland born Aug. 2, 1902
3. Gladys Melland born Aug. 20, 1905
4. Mabel Melland born Sept. 25, 1907
5. Jerauld Melland born Nov. 28, 1914
6. Bernice Melland born Aug. 1, 1917

* * * * * * * *

A Melland History
By John Windh
An assignment at St. Olaf College, May 1958
Updated in 1981 and 1997

The story of my family’s emigration to this country is a comparatively recent one for my father left Sweden only in 1923 and my mother’s father came from Norway in 1892. My father was the youngest of eight children, five of whom emigrated to the U.S. and to Canada early in this century.
My mother’s father, John Melland (after whom I am named), was also the youngest of eight. But according to a Norwegian-language family history printed in 1931, he was the only one to leave his homeland for the New World.

The Mellands
For generations, John Melland’s family had tilled the Norwegian soil or fixed shoes. His grandfather, Reinert Brandvik (born in Brandvik probably around 1800), was a well-liked farmer and “modern shoemaker.” Quite well read and apparently a good storyteller, he was often asked to entertain in the neighborhood with his humorous tales. Storytelling seems a family trait thereafter for my grandpa John was also known in his community as a clever and imaginative spinner of yarns.

Reinert Reinertsen Maeland, Reinert Brandvik’s son and my great-grandfather, was born in 1826. Also a good student, he passed the necessary examinations and became a teacher but then he quit that and bought a farm after his marriage in 1846 or 1847 to Gunhild Lønning, daughter of Peder Lønning (1781-1833) and Marithe Hage (1799-?). He continued to substitute teach, however, and also tutored occasionally. It was said that teaching was good for him.

In time Reinert bought a different farm in Nernaes and twenty years later one in Maeland, both in the vicinity of Etne near Bergen. It’s interesting that his eight children used four different last names. Peder and Thor took their father's first name Reinert plus "sen" equals Reinertsen. Reinert and Aasmund took the place-name Nernaes, Herman and Johannes took the place-name Maeland (which John changed in America to Melland). The two girls, Metha and Martha, by tradition were named Reinertsdatter.

Reinert was known for developing a method to teach writing to older people, taking just 30 hours to complete his course. His great memory also brought him renown as an entertaining storyteller, like his father. People traveled miles to hear him recite stirring incidents from his wide reading and experience. He liked children and they liked him, and his good humor and light touch made him welcome everywhere. Reinert lived a long and peaceful life, active in mission work and contributing to church papers until his peaceful death at age 87 in 1913, when he said he was ready to die. His children enjoyed him in his old age. His wife, Gunhild, survived him by 13 years and lived to be 95.

Reinert Maeland’s first son, Peder, was born in 1849 and became a teacher and official church song leader (a “klokker”). After graduating from a teacher’s college in 1867, he served several state schools until 1887 when he became teacher and “klokker” at Akershus prison. He retained this position until his retirement in 1919 when he was decorated with a medal for his long service. The citation lauded him for his “work in schools, the church, and the prison,” calling him a “fine and noble person.” Also director of a bank in Oslo, he was active in the Hauge religious movement, wrote a book “Outside And Inside Prison,” and raised a family of eight, one of whom became in instructor at Norway’s military academy and was knighted.

Reinert’s second son, Reinert Reinertsen Nernaes, born in 1853, was a farmer and carpenter. Big and burly, he had the family good humor. A wise and careful farmer, he was a staunch and respected member of his community and church.

The third child, Metha Reinertsdatter, was born in 1857. Continuing a family tradition, she passed the teacher’s examinations and taught for several years before her marriage. She was active in Sunday School work, particularly because her husband was a sailor and often absent from the home. Later he became a farmer and with his wife raised a family of twelve children.

The fourth child was Herman Maeland, born in 1858, and somewhat a black sheep in that he was a man of few words. But he was a handy and industrious farmer who did possess a sense of humor. His home became a neighborhood meeting place. He was also the foreman of the preacher’s farm and tended it much to his credit. Always very level headed, he could keep his good disposition through good and bad days, raising nine children before his death in 1912.

Reinert's next son, Thor, born in 1863, became a baker’s apprentice at age 15. In 1916 he was able to buy a bakery for himself and his sons. Of few words, he was a solid and dependable Christian, serving on a committee for the poor (1907-1930) and on a city council (1901-1928). He was the father of five children.

In 1867 another son was born, Aasmund Reinertsen Nernaes. After his confirmation he studied in Bergen to be a mechanic. For a number of years he worked there as a shipbuilder and metal worker until in 1891 he passed the examinations to become a machinist. From then on he was a foreman and a frequent traveler on the seas. In 1895 he married Jakobine Elisabet Werner, the daughter of a master bookbinder, but they had no children. So they adopted a daughter, Aagot, in 1900. Aasmund was a good churchman, especially active in Baptist mission work.

The seventh child was a daughter, Martha Reinertsdatter, born in March of 1870. She remained on the home place until her marriage in 1894 to Haldor Thorsen Sandvik, a professional soldier and part-time farmer. Haldor had entered the army in 1884 at age 19 and had risen through the ranks until he was a master sergeant at his retirement 30 years later. To this couple were born five children, three boys and two girls.

So it was left to the youngest of Reinert’s sons, Johannes Reinertsen Maeland (my grandfather), born February 3, 1873, to represent the family in the New World. John knew no one in America who could help him make the trip. But some family friends were about to travel to Wisconsin in 1892 so, at age 19, he accompanied them and probably worked for them and/or as a lumberjack to repay their sponsorship. In 1897 he moved to Morris in northeastern Illinois not far from Chicago to work as a farm laborer. By December 23 of that same year he had met and married Bessie Torkelsen (born November 21, 1878, to Ola Torkelsen and Jorina Vatnebrønd). She was of Norwegian ancestry, her parents having come to Illinois from Norway before she was born.

By the early years of this century, John Melland had purchased a small farm near Morris. He and Bessie had four children there—Gertrude in 1899, Russell in 1902, Gladys (my mother) in 1905 and Mabel in 1907. John began to hear talk of rich, rolling prairie on the Great Plains farther west. One of many enterprising land agents who told of huge farms available there for little money was Arthur Marvik. (I believe he was a relative of Mrs. Charlotte Donhowe, who was my piano teacher at St. Olaf.) My grandfather was interested enough to go out west for a look. He was so impressed by what he saw that he bought a farm in northeastern South Dakota, just north and east of New Effington, and then returned home for his family and belongings. My mother, just six at the time, remembered the long 1911 train ride from Illinois to South Dakota, complete with all the family’s belongings, even horses and cows. When the train stopped in Iowa in the middle of the night and the conductor called out “Cedar Rapids,” my aunt Mabel, then four, ran eagerly to the window but was disappointed that she couldn’t “see da rapids.”

John Melland’s new farm was already somewhat improved, though not as much as the Illinois farm he left. It included a large house standing on a little hill and a small, rather old barn off to one side. Soon he had remodeled the house and built a large barn, this being the “home place” I remember eagerly visiting as a boy.

Two more children were born to John and Bessie in South Dakota, Jerauld in 1914 and Bernice in 1917. Tragically in 1925, after my mother had quit school after eighth grade in about 1920 to care for her, Bessie passed away, a profound loss to the family. Two years later John married Amalie (“Mollie”) Okerlund, a Swedish-American nurse working in nearby Sisseton. She was the daughter of Lars Okerlund and Batilda Nelsen who farmed right next to grandpa. Happy again, John farmed (still with horses) until he retired in about 1945 and moved into New Effington. He passed away May 1, 1958.

Throughout his life my grandfather was active in church work, particularly on the church council. From 1922 he was for years the treasurer of a New Effington, South Dakota, school district. His home was said to be a good place for young immigrants. He helped a number of them, found them work, and enabled them go on their own.

John Melland’s oldest child, Gertrude, married George Knudsen who farmed at the North Dakota state line eight miles north of New Effington; she died in 1988. Russell, who died in 1978 at age 75, was a prominent businessman and civic leader in Jamestown, North Dakota. Mabel married Arthur Monson of New Effington, who worked in the bank there, and lived until 1987. Jerauld was a farmer and real estate investor in Lisbon, North Dakota, until his passing in May of 1981. Bernice married Orval Smith and they farmed nine miles north of Groton, South Dakota, near Putney, for many years. It was on their farm that I worked the summers of 1951-1955. They later owned a welding-supply business in Watertown, South Dakota, until Orval retired in July of 1981.

So the John Melland family arrived in South Dakota somewhat later than the earliest pioneers and homesteaders, and perhaps therefore faced fewer dangers and inconveniences. Nonetheless, that they and also my father’s family came to this country from Scandinavia is a point of great pride to me, and something worth savoring and exploring.

From an online genealogy:
When Johannes Reinertsen Melland was born on 3 February 1873, in Etne, Hordaland, Norway, his father, Reinert Reinertsson Brandvik, was 46 and his mother, Gunilde Pedersdatter Lønning, was 42. He married Bessie Torkelsen on 23 December 1897, in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Nettle Creek, Grundy County, Illinois, United States in 1910 and Lien Township, Roberts County, South Dakota, United States for about 10 years. He died on 1 May 1958, in New Effington, Roberts County, South Dakota, United States, at the age of 85, and was buried in Rosholt, Roberts County, South Dakota, United States.

August 2023 - note by John Windh

A random internet browsing, surprisingly, suggests that John and Bessie had another son in 1920, who died also in 1920, perhaps in childbirth. No one has ever spoken of this to me. Bessie died in 1925 after an illness of several years; could it have been a result of this late pregnancy?

October 2023

In the marriage register in Grundy County, Illinois, John Melland’s mother’s name is Gunhild Pedersen. Bertha’s parents are Ole Torkelsen and Gurine Hellicksen. John is described as a farmer. Both John and Bessie are listed as living in Nettle Creek township, Grundy County, Illinois. Henry Torkelsen and Charlotte Torkelsen are witnesses.

February 2024
Curtis Smith learned that his mother had written long ago that Bessie “had a miscarriage after his mom was born [in 1917] and that her health had deteriorated thereafter.”

December 1999
A letter arrived at the Rosholt Nursing Home addressed to Gladys Windh, who had passed away in 1996. Fortunately, the staff remembered the address of Gladys’ daughter Dorothy and sent it to her in Elk Point, South Dakota. It was from Synnøve Ulvenes in Aalesund, Norway, and read as follows.

“I have attempted to find out the whereabouts of the parents of my great-grandfather, Johannes Ulvenes, born in Norway Dec. 12, 1892. His parents were Johannes Reinertsen Meland, born 1873, and Miss Guri Torbjørnsdatter, born 1870. They were not married.

Johannes Ulvenes was born about eight months after his father emigrated to the USA. His mother also emigrated when Johannes was still a little boy. His hip was injured so she did not bring him with because he would not be allowed admittance into the USA.

That boy’s father, Johannes Reinertsen, was from Etne in Hordaland County. His family never knew about his son who grew up with his maternal grandparents on their farm.

Because of his childhood experiences, being abandoned by his mother, my great-grandfather never told anyone about his childhood. However, as I have found out, you and I are related. I have been informed about this by Mrs Margaret Simonsen, who gave me your name and address.

The descendants of Johannes Ulvenes live in Aalesund, a town of 3800 inhabitants on the west coast of Norway, between Bergen and Trondheim, which are bigger cities. He was married to Anna and they had five children (4 boys and 1 girl) of whom two are still alive. Johannes died in 1976 and his wife in 1982.

If I am correct in that we are related and if you have any knowledge about Johannes' father, I would be very glad if you would share some of this information with us in Norway: his marriage and family (children, grandchildren), his life and work, etc.

Yours sincerely.
Synnove Ulvenes
Slarkveioen 1
6004 Aalesund”

Though John Melland’s family were utterly astonished at this news, John Windh immediately posted this genealogy online and sent its URL to Synnøve. Then Bernice Smith and family soon visited Aalesund in the summer of 2001, and John and Elsa Windh in the fall of 2002.