Marit Imsdahl (Marit Hansdatter Husløkken)
Born on 6-17-1862 in Norway
Died on 8-9-1956 in Brooten, MN
Father: Hans Engebretsen Morkehagen (1827 – 1900)
Mother: Marit Olsdatter Elstadkleiven (1829 - 1918)
Husband: Peder G. Imsdahl (1857 – 1949)
Daughter: Isabelle (Ingeborg), born 1884, died 8-8-1936
Daughter: Minnie, born 5-31-1886, died October 1886
Son: Harold, born 12-6-1887, died 2-13-1959
Son: Gustav (Gust), born 10-28-1890, died 2-10-1984
Son: Martin, born 1-24-1894, died August 1905
Son: Arthur Elmer, born 1-25-1896
Son: Menvil Peter, born 11-4-1899, died 4-18-1983
Son: Henry William, born 4-23-1904, died 6-5-1938

Marit is buried at the Trinity Cemetary in Brooten, MN. There are a number of family trees listed on Ancestry.com that have Marit’s name in Norway as Marit Hansdatter Husløkken, daughter of Hans Engebretsen Morkehagen.

The 1875 census for the Ringebu region has a Marit Hansdatter living with her parents, Hans Engebretsen and Marit Olsdatter at the Imsdalen nordre (north) farm in the Imsdalen valley in Oppland Norway. Marit is listed as being born in 1862 and two of her brother’s, Ole (born 1856) and Hans (born 1865), are listed as living at that farm as well. This is the same farm that Peder’s family is living at in the same 1875 census, so it is likely that this is the farm where Peder and Marit met and later were married.

It was the custom in Norway that the third name represented the farm name where the person was living at the time. Members of both Peder’s and Marit’s families living on the Imsdalen farm kept the name Imsdalen (later changed to Imsdahl) after immigrating to America. After their marriage, Peder immigrated to Minnesota and left Marit and their daughter Isabelle in Norway for 2 years until he had enough money to buy a farm in Colfax Township (Minnesota).

I was told that Marit never learned to speak English. Thus, she lived some 70 years in Minnesota speaking Norwegian. My father said that all the old timers in Brooten from Norway spoke Norwegian. He remembers his grandfather Peder could speak a little bit of English, but most of the time he spoke Norwegian. My grandfather Menvil was in that first generation of Norwegian immigrants who were born in Minnesota. I remember he spoke English with a very thick Norwegian accent, the result of growing up in a family that only spoke Norwegian at home. At school, first generation immigrants had to speak English. My wife’s grandfather grew up on a farm of first generation German immigrants. He also told me that at home they only spoke German, but in school the kids had to speak English.

Peder and Marit’s Children

1) Isabelle (Ingeborg) (Imsdahl) Odell (my father’s aunt) was born in 1884 in Norway and died on 8-8-1936 in Brooten, MN. She is buried at Trinity Cemetery in Brooten. She married William Francis Odell (1884 – 1952) and lived on a small farm 1 mile south of Brooten. She died from cancer in the Sonnenberg Hospital (a larger house). They had 3 children (first cousins to my father):

1. Wallert Odell was born on 8-26-1915 and died on 5-29-1979. He married Elnora Ellingboe. He worked on the Soo Line Railroad as a section man.

2. Melbourne Calmar Odell was born on 3-15-1920 and died on 9-17-1971. He married Virginia Mae Johnson (1929 – 1985). Melbourne worked as a plumber in later years. They had a son (second cousin to me):

William Francis Odell was born on 5-7-1958 and died on 6-8-1994 in Corcoran, Minnesota. He was married with two young boys at the time of his death.

3. August (Augie) Odell was born on 11-29-1926 and died on 7-6-1963. He married Gretchen. He died from a kidney disease and had no children. He and my dad played together as kids. There was always sugar cookies and coffee for the kids. Augie is in one of the home movies my dad took with his movie camera in the early 1950s.

2) Minnie Imsdahl was born on 5-31-1886 and died in October of 1886 and is buried at the Crow River Cemetery. She died from a cold or flue.

3) Harold Peter Imsdahl (my father’s uncle) was born on 12-6-1887 and died on 2-13-1959. He is buried at the cemetery in Glenwood. He married Nora A. Ellingson (1891 – 1988). They had no children. Harold was a large man who worked at the Glenwood Creamery for many years. In his later years, he owned and operated a Phillips 66 station in Glenwood. My dad had a house trailer that he brought back from Montana in 1948 and Harold sold it for my dad to Sarah and Anton Berg (from the Evenson side of the family). My dad liked visiting with Harold. My dad bought tires from Harold for his 1946 Ford. Harold’s house was on the south side of the football field.

4) Gustav (Gust) Imsdahl (my father’s uncle) was born on 10-28-1890 and died on 2-10-1984. He is buried at the South Lake Johanna Cemetery. He married Lillie Bersley. They had no children. Gust lived on a small farm all his life. They never had electricity, radio, and no running water. Very primitive according to my dad. He sold his farm to the state in the 1960s for wild life preservation but had life time occupancy on the farm. He used to buy gas from Dale Fauskee $1 at a time. He was very hard of hearing.

5) Martin Imsdahl was born on 1-24-1894 and died in August of 1905. He was a retarded child who was placed at an institution in Faribault.

6) Arthur (Art) Elmer Imsdahl (my father’s uncle) was born on 1-25-1896 and died on 6-12-1990. He married Irene Anderson. Arthur managed a Ford Garage for many years. He was Postmaster in Brooten for many years and then later transferred to a rural route. He was in World War I and gassed in France.
Arthur and Irene had two children (first cousins to my father):

1. James R. Imsdahl sang at my father’s wedding. He married Lorraine Mostad.

2. John Imsdahl

7) Menvil Peter Imsdahl was my grandfather.

8) Henry William (Billy) Imsdahl (my father’s uncle) was born on 4-23-1904 and died on 6-5-1938. He is buried at a cemetery in Fargo or Moorehead. He married Pauline. They had no children, but took in a young girl named Lorraine from a large family. Henry gave my dad a log cabin block set for Xmas one year (my father’s favorite uncle). My dad thinks he was a salesman for some company in the Fargo area.

The 1875 census for Ringebu has Marit Hansdatter, age 13 (Peder’s future wife) living with her parents on the same Imsdalen farm where Peder’s family lived.

The 1895 Minnesota Census has Marit Imsdalen living with her husband Peder on a farm in Colfax township a few miles south of Brooten Minnesota with their children. Their oldest daughter Ingeborg is listed as age 11 and was born in Norway.

1951 - Marit Imsdahl (Marit Hansdatter Husløkken) with her daughter-in-law Mabel (Arenson) Imsdahl and grandson Montelle J. Imsdahl.