Lavik Images #241 - #280
This page is part of the sequential posting of the 319 Lavik Photograph Images, and contains Images #201 - #240. The first pages in the Lavik section provide the context for these photos - by describing the background on this collection, the Lavik ancestry in Norway, the biography of Rev. Rasmus Lavik and his family, a listing of all the extended family members and the locations where they lived, and an index to the 319 images. The image at right is #260, of an unidentified couple, apparently at a wedding - and taken by F. W. Gertson of Lidgerwood who took a number of photos in this collection - is posted below with an explanation.
The Lavik Photograph Items
Items #241-#280
Item #241 - Unidentified Man, Woman, and Child, Studio listed as Paul Oleson, Lamberton, Minnesota. Lamberton is in Redwood County, Minnesota – in the southwest portion of the state, to the east of South Dakota, a little north east of Sioux Falls. The Minnesota directory of early photographers places his dates of operation in Lamberton as ca 1898-1899.
Item #242 - Unidentified Woman, Halmrast Brothers, 1429 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota. This studio, where Andrew E. Halmrast was in partnership with his brother Gustav, was operated at different addresses. It appears that they were at this address from about 1899 to 1908.
Item #243 - Unidentified older bearded man, woman, two girls. Taken by O. E. Flaten of Moorehead (sic) and Halstad, Minnesota, and Gardner, North Dakota. The man is somewhat stately in presentation, and there’s a chance he was a pastor.
This is the latest in many photographs in this collection by O. E. Flaten. The Dakota photographer guide shows he was operating in all three places between 1884 and 1928. The other photos in the collection are almost all listed with the Moorhead Studio. A photograph of O. E. Flaten and his wife Clara is in the website page here describing the Photograph Project.
Item #244 - Unidentified Couple in wedding clothes, Emilie Hill, Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. The Minnesota directory shows she was taking photographs in this location in the period ca 1902. Pelican Rapids is in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. A 1957 obituary for Emilie Hill Andrews in Fregus Falls states that she was born in Norway in 1869, immigrated in 1881, married Harry Andrews in 1903 and lived most of the rest of her life in Fergus Falls, where she was in the photography business. Fergus Falls is just over twenty miles from Pelican Rapids, and also is in Otter Tail County. There is a Mrs. E. H. Andrews who photographed in Edmore, North Dakota 1906-1910.
Item #246 - Unidentified Man and Woman, Dorge Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota. There’s a description of Dorge the photographer with the previous photo. For some reason, earlier in my research, I believed that it was possible that this photograph was of Ole Lokensgard and wife. I have no idea where that came from. The man in this photo does bear a strong resemblance to Anders Flakoll - son of Rasmus’ brother Knut, and a student at the Northfield Seminary about the time that Rasmus attended. Anders Flakoll’s photo from the Norwegian-American pastor directory is shown below.
Item #245 - Unidentified man, Dorge Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the Minnesota photographer directory, Elias G. E. Dorge photographed in Minneapolis from 1891 to 1914. Elias Dorge is shown in Minneapolis in the 1900 census, born in Norway in 1863, immigrated in 1881.
Item #248 - Two unidentified older women, no date or location, shown to the right. The original photo was small compared to some of the cabinet card photos posted just above.
Item #247 - Unidentified Older Bearded Man and Older Woman, A. Carlson, photographer, Wheaton, Minnesota. There are eight photographs taken by Axel Carlson of Wheaton. It is unclear how the people in those photos relate to the Laviks.
Item #249 - Howard, Nettie, and Dorothy Nelson. Nettie Matson Carlson was Antonetta Lavik’s niece, daughter of Karen Matson. Nettie married Carl Nelson. Dorothy married Allwin Monson, and one of her two children was Joyce Tsongas. Joyce provided this photo identification.
Item #250 - Unidentified Man, no date or location. Given the appearance, I have wondered whether this is a photo from Norway.
Item #251 - Unidentified Man and Woman, No date or location.
Item #252 - Five young unidentified children, no date or location.
Item #253 - Unidentified couple with two probable children, no date or location.
Item #254 - Two unidentified men and two unidentified women. One of the men looks like the younger man in the previous photo. No date or location evident from the photograph.
Item #255 - Unidentified newly married couple, taken by A. Wastvedt, “Traveling Artist”. The marking at the bottom right of the photo is scanned above (Item #255a). I had initially come up empty in trying to learn anything about A. Wastvedt. There is not a listing in any of the photographer directories for A. Wastvedt - nor was there a census entry that seemed to match. Yet when I went live with this site, Gerry Parker, the person mentioned in connection to the Gertson photos in the introduction to the collection - wrote: “I am so pleased that one of his photographs made it into your collection.” He provided a few photos of August Wastvedt, and a biography of him. I have posted a photo and that biography below.
The biography sent by Gerry Parker:
AUGUST WASTVEDT 1879-1925
Two young men from Norway homesteaded adjoining land near Vining, Minnesota in Ottertail County in the middle 1870’s. Their families attended church together, helped one another planting and harvesting crops and in 1905 Severin Wastvedt again homesteaded land, this time in Saskatchewan and Johan Edvaart Gysler followed suit a few years later. From this serendipitous juxtaposition of immigrants came the friendship between sons August Wastvedt and Albert Gysler that would result in the documenting of so much family history from those early days.
August was afflicted with scoliosis and as a result his physical activities were somewhat affected. He decided to become a member of the growing number of photographers who were offering this new invention for portraits of families, weddings, funerals, and the very popular threshing scenes that happened each fall.
Mr. Wastvedt was living in Fargo by 1918 working in the Cole Hotel as a “checker.” On May 16, 1918 he borrowed from C. N. Forsland of Fargo the sum of $175.00 at the rate of 10% per annum. At some point Ole Skogness of Fargo acquired ownership of this promissory note and in December of 1923 in an attempt to collect this debt ordered “E. E. Cole, proprietor of the Cole Hotel, Fargo, ND” to give to the clerk of court “any and all money in your possession due and owing to said above named Defendant, to wit the sum of $55.00.” It is unclear from the existing records how the other part of this note had been paid. This amount of money was a significant sum for a man of August’s limited income. August died in January of 1925 and is buried in the Hawley Cemetery along with his brother and family.
Item #256 - Unidentified Man and Woman, No Date or Location.
Item #257 - Young Unidentified Man, Friedrich’s Studio, 518 Nicollet, Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Photographer Directory, J. Friedrichs worked in Minneapolis at this address in 1911-1915.
On the left is Item #258 - B. Marie Grimrud and on the right is Item #259 - Agnes Grimsrud. There is no date or location with these photos - they are in identical frames. Both of these photos were identified by descendant Joe Langemo. Both women were the daughters of Rev. Carl Grimsrud and Dora Lavik Grimsrud - Agnes was born in 1907 and B. Marie was born in 1909.
Item #260 - Unidentified Young married couple, taken by F. W. Gertson, Lidgerwood, North Dakota, undated. The photograph marking, listed as Item #260a, is shown above. F. W. Gertson is represented throughout this collection - many of the previous items were in postcard format.
Item #261 - Unidentified Man, No Date or Location
Item #262 - Unidentified Couple and Child, No Date or Location.
Item #263 - Two unidentified Women, No date or location. They seem to match women in previous photos - in particular Item #171 seems to match the woman on the right, who I have termed Marie Lavik. On the left is a woman who is in Item #172. Both those previous items were taken in Northfield, Minnesota. There is no date or location in this photograph.
Item #264 - Thorval Larsen, his wife wife Mary, their daughter Charlotte Larsen Lavik, Charlotte’s daughter Ruth Lavik, and unidientified boy. I had not been able to identify this photo, and Mike Collins provided a second photo, which has been added as 264a, and is shown at right - which is clearly of Thorval and his wife and Ruth Lavik. Written under it is “Ruth and grandparents”. I have added below, as 264b, a 1952 photo and biography of Thorval from the Norwegian-American pastor directory of that year, and the photo of Thorval there appears to match these two photos.
Item #265 - Three Unidentified Women, building steps, no date or location from the photo. Joyce Tsongas identified the location as “Old Main at Concordia College. It is still in use today as a classroom building”.
Item #266 - Three guys around bed, appears to be the same location and people as the shaving photo listed as Item #226. Valley City and other pennants in background. This could be a dormitory room, and it is possible that the man with the pipe on the right is Rudy Lavik. He was a student at Concordia college from 1913 to 1917.
Item #267 - Unidentified Man, undated, Sumner and Son, Northfield, Minnesota. A sticker on the back of the photo, listed as Item #267a, identified the photographer. The Minnesota photographer directory shows Ira E. Sumner and his son Charles Stuart Sumner operating in Northfield as Sumner and Son. Ira, the father, is shown to have worked alone and with partners in the region prior to working with his son in the 1910’s. Ira died in 1918. Charles continued the business into the 1920’s.
Item #134 shows two young men in a room, possibly a dormitory room, with many photographs in the background on a bookcase and wall. This photograph appears to match one in the background of that photograph. With this one being taken in Northfield, it could imply that the other picture was taken in a room at St. Olaf College.
Item #268 - Five women in Norwegian dress, no date or location, faded quality. The woman that’s second on the left looks like she could be Hannah Lavik. It is possible that the woman in the center is Antonette Lavik.
Item #269 - Unidentified family, with husband, wife, and two sons, daughter, marked with the studio of F. W. Gertson, Lidgerwood, North Dakota
Item #270 - Three Men, Two Women, postcard, no date - which after further study, are Peter and Karen Matson, one of their daughters and their sons-in-law. These two photos were discussed in the introductory page about the Lavik Photography on this website - as a demonstration that rescanning something in the background at a higher resolution can provide more information. In the background of this photo, rescanned as Item #270a, shows the writing on a crate is “Mattson’s Home Bakery, Devils Lake” in North Dakota. Antonette Hagen Lavik’s only known sister, Karen Hagen, married Peter Matson (or Mattson), and lived in Devils Lake, North Dakota by the 1910 census. The older man and woman are likely Peter and Karen, and the younger woman one of their two daughters. Hulda was shown in the 1920 to be a clerk in a bakery, and the husband she married within a year of that census was listed as a baker. There are two younger men, and I suspect one is the Hilda’s husband. Since he was Swedish, I suspect he’s the light complected man in the front of the photo. In the 1928 Standard Atlas for Ramsey County, North Dakota, there are advertisements in the Atlas. One was from Matson’s Baking Company, and is shown below.
Item #271 - Young Man in Snow, postcard, no date or location. Appears to match the hat and person ski jumping in photo #3, who has now been identified at Anders Haugen, a well-known ski jumper. In the St. Olaf archives, there is a photograph of Anders Haugen that seems to be close to this very photo - same outfit, similar features - but because this photo is of someone smiling, I can’t tell if it’s the same person..
Item #272 - Group of men posed, as if a sports team, no date or location from the photograph. Joyce Tsongas offered an identification: “Male students at Concordia standing in front of Bishop Whipple Hall, which was the first building at Concordia when the college first opened. It has had many uses over the years and today is a classroom building.” Mike Collins points out that there are baseball mitts in the photo, and that it is possible that the third person from the left in the front row might be Rudy Lavik - who coached at Concordia 1920-1922. By process of elimination, this would likely be a baseball team at Concordia College in the period 1920-1922.
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Item #273 - Anders Haugen, champion ski jumper, with four other men. If you use the link at Item #271 - it links to a photo in the St. Olaf Archives that was taken at the same time, that photo is just of Anders alone. None of the others appear to be a Lavik. Item #3 is the item that is a post card of Anders actually ski jumping.
Item #274 - Unidentified Woman rowing four children in boat, postcard format, no date or location – appears to be small bridge and farmhouse in background. I have wondered if the woman is a Lavik family member, but it does not seem like Antonette or Dora.
Item #275, above left, showed a horsedrawn boat on a dirt street in an apparent parade - determined to be in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The process of identifying this photo - and that above as Item #270 - is described in the introduction page for this photograph project. In re-looking at this photograph after a period of years, I noticed that there was a store front in the background. I scanned that background at a higher resolution. In rescanning the sign on that store front in the background of the parade photo - shown above right as Item #275b - it identifies "Goodwin Land Co." I googled that reference, and found an old 1909 insurance directory, which indicates a business by that name in Aberdeen, South Dakota. While I was at it, I also scanned the items on the boat in the photo, shown in the Lavik index as Item #275a, and above right, which showed “Golden Hind” and E and R around other letters, indicating Elizabeth Rex (or Regina), and indicating that this was to be Sir Francis Drake’s boat That information was interesting, but the real breakthrough was locating the land company and placing the photo in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1909. Carl Grimsrud, who married Dora Lavik in 1904, was a pastor here from 1902 to 1908. It is possible that this was taken during the Grimsruds’ time in Aberdeen and puts a context to that photo. Sargent County, North Dakota is not all that far away. Aberdeen is also the county seat of Brown County – and in the northern Brown County township of Palmyra lived the children of Rasmus’ brother Knute as well as children of his nephew Andrew Ofstedal. There were many possible connections of family members to this photo - which has been placed in time because of an item in the background.
Item #276 -Two unidentified young girls, one in stroller, in a postcard format, no date or location.
Item #277 - Five men, one woman in snow, appears to be Rudy Lavik on the Far Right. No date or location. The headline on the paper held by the man in the middle (shown in Item #277a above) is “O Dry Those Tears”. Item #277b is the sheet music for this song sent to me by Mike Collins, shown at right. The Copyright on the sheet music is 1901, the photo is probably later by fifteen or twenty years.
Item #278 - Unidentified Baby, postcard format, no date or location.
Item #279 - Unidentified Child and pony outside, no date or location, postcard format.
Item #280 - Unidentified School class and teacher, outside of classroom, no date or location. No one in the photograph is an obvious Lavik family member.