FROM AN OLD DOCUMENT IN NORWEGIAN, POSSIBLY AN IMMIGRATION VISA, found with some old letters in a box in the attic of the farm where Uncle Martin Rand and his sister, Mrs. Helen Risvold and her daughter, Mabel, had lived before Mabel and Ray bought the farm. It was translated by Mabel and Agnes Knudsen.
“Drenjen Henrik Henrikson Rande was born in Tjelandsvigen i Hjelmelande Sogn on Nov. 14, 1825, the son of “Foraldrerne” Thursmond Henrik Henriksen and Magla Ormsdatter. [“Drenjen” is an out-of-use Norwegian word which means “farm worker.”] He was baptized Dec. 11, 1925, and later confirmed in Stavanger. His wife, Pigen Inger Olsdatter Landangel, was the daughter of “Foraldrerne” Ole Johnsen Landangelböen and Mari Björnsdatter. [“Pigen” means “female person.”] She was born July 15, 1830, and baptized Aug. 29, 1830, and confirmed Oct. 3, 1847. “
They came from a region in Norway known as Saudi, near Stavanger, in 1858. It took eight weeks for their ship to sail from Norway to the US. What a story that would make.
The letters in the box mentioned above were dated 1861, 1866, 1871 and 1876. They were from Henrik’s mother, Magla Ormsdatter (sometimes spelled Magel). Apparently she had different people write these letters for her; they were quite lengthy, filled with greetings and news of life in Norway. God and church events were mentioned a great deal, which leads one to think her pastors may have done the writing for her. In one letter she wrote that she was glad her son had a son old enough to help him. The letters were addressed to Henriksens in LaSalle County, Illinois, though the letter in 1861 was sent to the Lisbon, Illinois, post office.
About 1880 the name Henriksen was dropped and Henrik was called Henrik Rande. There was another Henriksen family in the neighborhood, which made for a certain amount of confusion. By 1881, the “e” had been dropped from Rande and “Henrik” had been Americanized to Henry. We know this from a mortgage paper made out on Jan. 18, 1881, when Henry and Inger Rand bought a farm in Nettle Creek, Grundy County, Illinois. We think Henry and Inger could not write because they both signed the mortgage paper with an “X”, witnessed by a man named Brown.
Of their six children, Henry and Mary died ten days apart. Mary died of consumption (tuberculosis) at age 23. She’d been working away from home, as had Henry, who died at 25. Tuberculosis was quite common then.
We know nothing more about Henry and Inger Rand’s families. Our mother (Emma Rand, their daughter) and her sister, Helen Risvold (whom we called “Entie”) never spoke of uncles, aunts or cousins. Uncle Martin (Risvold), Entie and their daughter Mabel were always very close to us. We all moved to South Dakota from Illinois in February of 1910, and they stayed in our home for several months until they could move to the farm Martin had bought about four miles from ours. We visited almost every Sunday afternoon, at their place or ours, weather permitting. They were quiet people, gentle and pleasant, and their living nearby added a great deal to our lives. Mabel died in June, 1980, at age 85.
Mother’s brother Andrew (born in 1867) and his wife Inger lived in Illinois with their two boys, Harvey and Arnold. We kept in touch with short letters. Arnold died at age 54 and Harvey, now 80, is in a rest home in Morris, Illinois, in very poor health.

From an undated account written by Agnes Knudsen, with corrections and additions by Gladys Knudsen and Aunt Emma Mong.