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The Berg Family Story My wife's great-great grandfather, Halvor Berg, and his family were among the earliest settlers in what was to become Newburgh Twp., Steele County (at that time a part of Traill County). His parents were Ole Olsen Lundegard and Christine Halvorsdatter. Halvor writes in his Bible (translated from the Norwegian): "I, Halvor Berg, was born to this world the 19th of February 1828 in Bruflads Anez in South Aurdahl in Norway and came to America the 4th of October 1853 to Lodi, Dane County Wisconsin where I first took my homestead and where I lived four years. From here I moved to Iowa in the summer of 1857, Northwood, Worth County, where I have now lived 8 years. In the Spring of 1854 I was married to Britha Nilsdatter Mele from Bergen (Stift) Norway. She was born 24 June 1823. With her I have had 3 children. The first one was named Nikolai, born 26th March 1855 and died 25th of March 1856. Second son born 30th August 1856 was also named Nikolai. The third son named Joseph was born the 6th July 1859 at Northwood, Worth County [Iowa], the first two born in Dane County Wisconsin." The family lived and farmed in Worth County for 17 years. A few years after they arrived in Iowa, the Civil War broke out and young men and heads of families were sent to war. Halvor could not go but was forced to contribute $150 to the campaign fund. In the years 1872-73, acquaintances of Halvor Berg had emigrated to Dakota Territory. He corresponded with them and learned of the good land there. In the fall of 1873, Halvor departed Iowa on a scouting trip and stayed with friends near Mayville, Dakota Territory. From there, he went by prairie schooner up the Goose River and finally came upon a large bend in the river with good land above it. This is where he staked his claim. As it was late in the fall and he wanted to return to Iowa, he hired a nephew, who lived nearby, to build a hut and in the spring plow a patch and plant some potatoes. Halvor then made the journey back to Northwood, Iowa. There, Halvor told friends and neighbors about his scouting trip to the Goose River area. They were all interested in the land that had been so recently opened up for homesteaders. The winter of 1873-74 was spent organizing the caravans for this journey. By early spring of 1874, four parties of about 60 adults and children were ready to leave with their possessions loaded onto oxen-drawn wagons. Cattle and a few horses were herded on the trip, many of the pioneers walking the whole 400 miles while herding. The Bergs had three wagons loaded with provisions and their furniture. They also brought five milk cows, a bull and four calves, a yolk of oxen and a team of horses. Their farming equipment included a self-rake reaper (which was to be the first reaper in the upper Goose River), a McCormick mower, a breaking plow, a broadcast seeder, and two narrow-tired wagons. Their journey began on May 29, 1874. Nickolai Berg, Halvor's oldest son, tells (in 1930) of this trip: " . . . There were many interesting incidents on the four-hundred mile journey. We had to face the hardships with real energy in order to overcome them. It happened to be a real rainy season that year and the month of June was exceptionally wet. We had to climb to the very tops of the hills and bluffs in Minnesota for there were no roads at that time. When we descended upon the flats, there was the danger of sinking the loads in the mire. This often happened. "We crossed the Red River at Breckenridge, Minnesota. There were but few houses in what is now the city of Wahpeton. On the Dakota side of the Red River, we were bothered more frequently with 'gumbo' soil that was sticky and therefore made going harder. Whenever the loads sunk, another team would have to be hitched on the wagon. Oxen were generally used for that purpose. "There were but very few buildings in what is now Fargo, N.D. We herded our 'horned stock' over the paths which are now paved streets. Moorhead, Minn., was a very busy place. There was no bridge spanning the Red River. A ferry boat provided the only means of crossing. "There was a great deal of water in the Red River at that time. Steamboats were in operation between Hudson Bay and Moorhead. One must remember that the water flows north in the Red River, which is the principal outlet for flood waters from eastern Dakota and western Minnesota. It was a natural outlet for the heavy rain and snow in those days. When spring came, the ice and snow would thaw earlier in the south and run downstream over the frozen Red River and flood miles of flat land. I remember seeing marks on trees in the early '80's, cut by floating ice, 15 to 20 feet above ground. Even during the months of June and July, heavy rains would come and raise smaller streams to their capacity. "Swollen streams retarded the progress of pioneers who moved in the Goose River district in 1874. On the way up from Moorhead, there was one stream that could not be forded. The caravan was forced to stop there, and members who had fallen behind were given time to catch up. Someone in the company found out that a farmer farther downstream had built a high-water bridge for his own use. He would not let any of us use the bridge without paying duty. Some of our party wouldn't pay the duty, and others couldn't. "One member of the caravan owned a new wagon box. This was waterproofed as much as possible and used as a row boat. In this manner, all the goods were transported across the stream, including the women and children, who made up the last load. The horses and horned stock were forced to swim the stream. "The Berg party moved down the stream, paid the duty, and crossed on the bridge. We gained about one day's travel that way. "On the 29th day of June, 1874, we reached the Goose River, the place generally called "Stone Point," which is situated about two miles west of what is now Hillsboro. Stone Point served as a camping ground for early settlers for a number of years. To the upper Goose River people, it meant the end of the first day's drive on their way to Fargo, the nearest market place. "Three days later we were at the Newburgh claim shanty built early in the spring by Ole O. Berg, a nephew of Halvor Berg, who resided near what is now Mayville. We unloaded the wagons so there would be more room under the covers. The hut was small, so we had to live in the wagons a long time. "On the Fourth of July, we began to turn some of the first sod that was ever turned in Newburgh Township. This was work for only two men. The writer had to dig a 'dug out,' go into the woods and find material for roofing and for shelves. This cellar was the only means of keeping our dairy products cool. "We managed to break ten acres but did not dare to waste any time, for there were so many things which had to be done before winter set in. We began to cut down trees for logs to build a new house. After the logs had been cut to the desired length, we would hitch a yoke of oxen to them, haul them by means of a chain to the place where we wanted to build the house. We would roll them on cross-logs in order to get them up from the ground in position for hewing to the desired thickness of seven inches. We used a line to guide the hewing, but we would often cut the line. One day, we picked a coal out of the mosquito smudge, used it to color the line, and then snapped it. This gave a fine line on the peeled basswood logs. "One day, when we were hewing logs, there was fine sunshine. Suddenly the sun became darkened. It was not a eclipse caused by the moon shading the sun. Shortly, a great swarm of mountain locusts descended. It appeared like the greatest of snow storms and the locusts were exceedingly greedy. "We had a patch of potatoes in bloom which had been planted early that spring by friends. These were all devoured by the locusts, and only the stalks remained standing. They were so numerous down at the stream that they would bend the willow branches down to the water, and thus many perished. They visited us for three days, and then some became restless and began giving warnings by flying a short distance and lighting again. Soon, they all rose, and sun was darkened again for a short time. The sound of their wings was as the burning of much stubble in high wind. They moved southward. "The Indians had chopped down large oak trees, possibly for the ponies to feed on in the winter of much snow. We used these logs for building stables for our stock. We built a long row of them, and in June of 1875, those buildings all burned down, and two young animals perished. The fire started from a mosquito smudge, which was fanned by high wind. "Mosquitoes were so numerous that we had to use smudge both day and night. At times, there was no use trying to milk a cow unless the smoke covered both cow and milker. When on the road with a team of horses, we would have to drive zigzag in order to have a slight wind facing the team or a side wind. When stopping the team, one would have to hurry down, because the horses would be covered instantly by pests. We would stroke our hands across the horses' backs and mash the mosquitos. Our hands would become stained with blood." During the summer of 1874, two seminary students, Home Mission pastors Peter Andreas Nykreim and Iver Tharaldsen, came to this community to minister to the first settlers. Services were announced in some centrally-located log house or sod shanty home and the people gathered from north and south along the Goose River. The pioneers were not strangers to the church and it was but a few months until they were preparing to organize a congregation. On August 17, 1874, settlers gathered at Halvor Berg's homestead under a big oak tree for an organizational meeting. Here, the Goose River Norwegian Lutheran Church was organized (on December 11, 1876 the name was changed to Hol Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The name "Hol" was chosen in memory of Hol, Hallingdal, the birthplace of so many of the congregation members). The two theological students were present to assist them. Forty families signed up as charter members at this first meeting. One of the students (Tharaldsen) served as chairman and Halvor Berg was the secretary. For several years these settlers met in various homes for worship services before building a church. The Rev. Bernard L. Hagboe was the first ordained pastor of Hol Congregation. Nickolai writes of his wedding: "If I am to tell you about my wedding day, I will have to tell you something I have never told anyone else before. "I became acquainted with Toneta Heskin in the summer of 1873 in Iowa when whe worked for my parents. In the spring of 1874 she went back to her brother Anders Heskin. That same spring her parents moved to Dakota Territory and Anders was to follow in the fall. Toneta came with Anders from Worthington, Minn., where she had been working . . . They came to Jeremias Arneson's place near Mayville . . . the first day of November [1874]. Immediately I went to see my wife-to-be. "Later in the month of November, my father went to Caledonia and on his way home he stopped in to visit Thor Pederson and Marit (Toneta's sister) near Mayville and Toneta was there also. Toneta came along with father to our home (Newburgh). This was the 24th of November 1874. This date has always been our wedding date. That date is written in gold on the clock in our home. It didn't matter to me if no ceremony was given at that time. We didn't know when there would be a minister present. Later a student of theology came. His name was Nykreim. It was late one night. A cloth was laid on the table and the little lamp was lit. Toneta had nice clothes. The best pants I had, had been made by my father and sewed by hand. I called them overalls. "Then we had to find some food. We didn't know a minister was coming that evening. He came with Ole Berg, my cousin, from Mayville. We had butchered an old cow and we had bread and butter. Wedding cake we knew nothing about nor brides maid nor best man. The ones that were in the house were our attendants. "That night mother, Toneta, and I slept in one bed. The minister and father in one bed. Ole Berg and by brother Josef in a bed we pushed under another bed . . . " All these people in a tiny log cabin 16 x 16 feet that had one door, two windows, a sod roof, and dirt floor. Nickolai and Toneta's wedding was the first wedding in Newburgh Twp. Their first child, Beatha, was born August 27, 1875, and she was the first white girl born there.
"The surveyors plats did not return from Washington, D.C. until a year later, and no one could file on a homestead until 1876. In June, 1876, the writer and Halvor Berg decided to file on their homesteads and, as the horses were busy breaking up the prairie lands we decided to go on foot to Fargo. We packed our handbags with provisions, as we could not stop in here and there for a meal or a cup of coffee in those days. "We wandered on until we reached the Red River. Here we observed a steamboat, southward bound for Fargo. We were tired and sore-footed from the long travel, so Father flagged the boat. The pilot swung the rear end of the barge into the bank of the river near where we were standing, and we jumped on. Being it was late in the afternoon we were all night on the deck of the boat. I remember well of trying to get a nap under one of the big steam boilers. This was the most comfortable place to be found on board. In spite of the warmth of the boiler, we were chilled when we got to Fargo. A warm meal in a Fargo restaurant was a delight. "The Land Office opened at 9 a.m., and the receiver's name was Thomas Pugh. Halvor Berg petitioned first, and received his papers after the fee was paid. The fee was $15.00. Next it was Nickolai's turn. Mr. Pugh eyed me and exclaimed, 'You are not old enough to file a Homestead.' 'No,' was my reply, 'but I am the head of a household,' and father witnessed the truth, and that seemed to settle the question. Some in later days have said that Nick Berg married in order to homestead and to hold a quarter of land. That is not quite right. No one could pick a peach in Newburgh in 1874, but surely a man might have one in remembrance. "We traveled the whole way home by foot, and it being quite late in the evening of the fourth day, Father decided to stay with his nephew [near Mayville] until the next day. I walked the last eighteen miles home at night." In later years, Nickolai wrote a number of remembrances of pioneer life in Newburgh Township, which have here been extracted and reconstructed: "On the long trek to Dakota, women held a prominent place in making it possible to live and carry on until their destination was reached. On Sundays, the men would select a camping ground near a lake or stream where water could be procured. Bread was baked once a week, on Sunday. The cook stove was taken out of the covered wagon and wood was gathered along the stream. The women would get out their 'fermenting dough' which was generally kept in their supply of flour, and soften it in warm water. This would be done on Saturday night and, after letting this rise all night, they would bake on Sunday. A part of the dough was saved to start the next batch. "Clothes were washed in a brook or lake and hung on bushes to dry. The women usually did the milking, many of the men not being accustomed to this task in that day. "After getting settled on their claims, the problem of getting water for cooking and washing still confronted them. While the men were busy breaking up the sod, the women would carry water from a brook or nearby stream. The water, being hard, had to be cleansed. The women made lye by soaking ashes for a few days, straining it into large pans or other vessels, as there were no barrels to be obtained in those first years. "The women also made a soft soap from lye and grease. As there were no barrels, a sort of tub was fashioned from a sawed-off hollow tree. Elm bark was used for a bottom. This soap was very hard on the hands but it served when laundry soap could not be obtained. "Some of the first settlers did not even own a broom at first. They made a substitute of a brush made of willows to sweep away some of the dirt. Not many had kerosene lamps, most of them making candles. Those who did not have candle molds used the dipping process. There were those who did not have candles and they used a saucer of lard with a wick in it. "Dairy products provided much of the food. Mush and milk was used very often for the evening meal. The women would make 'prim' and other Norwegian cheeses. "The first steelers did not have chickens, so eggs were out of the question. Very little meat was used as they did not have animals to spare for that purpose. When the women made more butter than they needed for their own use, it would be taken to market, usually to Caledonia where mail was received first. In this way a few groceries could be obtained." "In the early years before much of the land was cultivated, fleas and mosquitoes were pests. The prairie grass seemed to be full of them. A smudge built near the door could help keep the mosquitoes out of the house but they annoyed the cattle, and it was impossible to make the cows still when the milking was being done. "Prairie fires were the fear of the settlers the first few years . . . The fires did not visit Newburgh township in 1874 but there were two big fires in 1875. "The settlers tried to protect themselves from prairie fires by breaking two furrows about four rods [66 feet] apart and burning the dry grass between them. Much land was circled in this way, but the method was later abandoned as there was a danger of the fire getting away from them while burning between the furrows. "In the fall when the fires would be expected, neighbors would take turns as night watch. The first fire came from the northwest. Mrs. Halvor Berg [Nickoli's mother] was the night watch at that time and the family was aroused at three o'clock in the morning. Nicolai and brother Joseph hurried to arouse a neighbor on the north side of the river who was asleep, with the fire only a short distance from his home. [Nickolai] remembers fighting the fire only a short distance from his home , from 3 A.M. to 9 A.M. . . . "In the last days of October that same year [1875], there was another fire. This came from the south. Fanned by a strong wind and burning at least a two-year growth of tall grass, it came with a roar that could be heard for a long distance . . . " The main part of the fire went to the southeast, so what was left was easily whipped out. A neighbor, Andrew Stavens, and a young boy, Nels Gronback, had a thrilling experience in this fire. In some way they became entrapped and but for the cool-headedness of Mr. Stavens both of them would have perished. He wrapped wet sacks around himself and the boy but Mr. Stavens hands and face were badly burned and his eyes were so badly burned he did not see for weeks. Nicolai Berg is of the opinion that his father [Halvor Berg] inhaled so much heat and smoke while fighting prairie fires it weakened his lungs and had much to do with his early death at the age of fifty-three years. In the early years, smallpox, as well as other diseases, hit the early pioneers. Nicolai learned how to vaccinate for smallpox. When he had gained this knowledge, he vaccinated all the children in his family. He extracted the needed serum from the cows in his herd. When word got out that he knew how to vaccinate, he was sought out to perform this service for other families. This he did not like to do, as he did not feel qualified. But with no doctor to help them, he did aid others to vaccinate their own children. In the summer of 1877, a tribe of Indians passed through from the Chippewa Reservation to the Indian reservation at Devils Lake. They were all on foot, marching one behind the other in a straight line. They were friendly and would not harm anyone. They would go from place to place begging for food. Women left alone in their claim shacks would be filled with fear and would gladly part with their last loaf of bread rather than displease them. Halvor Berg [Nickolai's father] had with him from Iowa a self-rake reaper, the first reaper in the community. This machine would rake off from the platform sufficient straw for a bundle and the man who was the binder would make a band of straw and bind the bundle of grain. If there was a large field, there would be stationed four men around the field. When the reaper would come around, the station would be bound and another station would begin. In 1878-79 a harvester came into use. This harvester was built in such a way that two men could stand on the frame, or platform, and bind every other bundle and throw them. In the early 1880's came the Wire Binders. Not many of the early settlers could afford to buy a binder. Neighbors helped each other by exchanging work. Horses had to be purchased as they were better at pulling a binder than oxen. Horses and machinery were bought on credit and notes in that day carried a good rate of interest, so farmers sometimes found themselves 'hard squeezed' to pay their debts. Many who had increased their fields got rid of the old-fashioned harvester and bought a McCormick Wire Binder. These binders were sold at $310 each. Horses were usually bought at sale stables and often were sold for $400 per team. Because of lack of time and proper conveyances, many of the pioneers were unable to get to market for necessities. Whenever Halvor Berg, who never could refuse a neighbor's request, went to Fargo, he would bring back coffee, sugar, tobacco, kerosene, and a number of other articles for several neighbors. Buying for so many and keeping a record of the transactions became too intricate a problem. So in the summer of 1877, he decided to build a store near his home on the northeast quarter of Section 28, Newburg Township. The store was 16' x 14' wide and 9' high of solid oaks grown on the homestead. It had a door facing the south with a window on each side. A dirt cellar underneath served as a storehouse for barrels, kegs, and boxes of commodities that needed to be kept cool. The store proper and the small building at the rear were stocked with hardware, dry goods, and men's furnishings. A post office was added to the store in the fall of 1877 and Halvor was the first postmaster. A Mr. Winters was the first mail carrier. When Hatton was established in 1884 and got a post office, the Newburgh Post Office was closed. After Halvor's death in 1881, his youngest son, Joseph, took over the store and post office. A photographer was also secured. Ambrose Thompson, later of Hatton, worked the tin-type business in the Newburgh Store for some time. On June 21, 1879, the first school district in Newburgh township was organized. Nickolai was the first chairman of the board By 1879, James J. Hill, the railroad builder, visited the Berg farm when on his surveying trips through the Dakota Territory. It was generally believed the railroad would come through the Berg community, but Mr hill decided that the railroad along the river was not the most practical route, so the railroad bed was built six miles to the east in 1881. While this work was being done, Mr. Hill made several visits to the Berg homestead. In 1881, twin girls were born to Nicolai and Toneta. Nicolai continues: "In September of 1881, James Hill, president of the Great Norther Railroad Company, was on an inspection trip of the wilds of the northern part of the Dakota Territory. It was necessary in regards to the building of the railroad that was to be built 2 or 3 years later from the south and up to Larimore, Dakota Territory, that Mr. Hill visited these parts. He was accompanied by his chauffeur and their mode of travel was a surrey drawn by a team of horses. "Newburgh, being the only country store, and also had a place where the way-farers could get a meal, it was perfectly natural that Mr. Hill should stop there. Mrs. Berg [Nicolai's wife Toneta], the landlady, had a thrashing crew to feed that day, but when these guests arrived in the mid-forenoon hours, she gladly served them from what the house had to offer. When she asked them who they were, she recognized the name of Jim Hill, which she had heard at various times. "A short time before the gentlemen arrived, Mrs. Berg had washed and dressed the babies [Helene and Nicoline] and had placed them in a 'baby carriage.' which was a suitable grocery box with rockers nailed under each end and a bow from a willow tree across the top to keep the mosquito netting off the babies' faces. When these men had finished their meal, Mr. Hill wanted to see what was in the box. Mrs. Berg lifted the netting and Mr. Hill exclaimed, 'Two of them!' There was a silence for a while and then he said, 'Oh, they will vote for president some day.' That was his prophesy. No one had heard of Women's Suffrage at that time. "The babies were about six weeks old at the time. Mr. Hill left a silver dollar for each one of them . . . Each [of the twins now] has eight children, all of them living [as of the 1930's]. They have been greatly blessed and surely they have voted for president of the United States many times." Halvor Berg, pioneer farmer, husband, father, shopkeeper, postmaster, surveyor, church organizer, and founder of Newburgh Township, died on February 2, 1881 and is buried in the family cemetery in the NW1/4 of Section 27, Newburgh Twp. His wife Brita died January 24, 1903, and is buried beside him. Nicolai Berg, as active in all those pursuits as his father, died August 28, 1945. His wife Toneta preceded him in death on January 6, 1929. Both are buried in the family cemetery near Halvor and Brita. The textual material is from un-copyrighted and unpublished family manuscripts and documents; and from the files of the Pioneer Historical Data Project dated April 8-9, 1940.
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