Diary of Maren Sophie ANONBY (b.1842), Goodhue Co., MN 1868 trip from Norway to America USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Kenneth Smith Peder Anonby's daughter, Johanna Anonby Kyllo, who was known as "Mum", and died in 1964, re-wrote the diary of Maren Anonby, who was her aunt. A ledger was found in the Kyllo farm home when the farm was being prepared for a final auction after the last of Mum's children, Mickey Kyllo, died. Johanna, who spoke both languages, had copied the original diary of Maren in both Norwegian and English. The date when the copies were made is not known, but family members who knew Mum's handwriting said that it was definitely done by her. The ledger was found by my wife's husband, Howard Kyllo, who is Mum's grandson. I have a photocopy of the original, handwritten copy. I just transcribed it. Johanna married Julius Kyllo and they bought the farm from Johanna's father Peder. They had several children who married and left home. The last two children of Johanna & Julius were Kari and Mickey, who never married. Kari died in the late 1980's and Mickey died in the early 1990's. There was nobody in the family who wanted to farm, so everything was auctioned off and the land sold. The buildings were not in very good shape, so they were torn down, and there is now no evidence of the farmstead where three generations of the family lived. We do have a lot of pictures and other memorabilia, though. Another bit of family lore. Mum was born in the farmhouse, got married there, and died there at an advanced age. The house never had running water. I remember going there with my wife to visit with our kids. There was a big wood burning stove in the kitchen. It was stepping back into the past. Ken Smith Anonby On June 14th, 1867, Peder Gunerius Anonby left Norway, bound for America. He was the oldest son in the family. His mother, Johanne Solerud Anonby, had died August 11th, 1865, in Norway. He settled on a farm near Kenyon, Minn. His mission, apparently, was to pave the way for the rest of the family to emigrate to America, for they followed, leaving Norway on April 24th, 1868. His sister, Maren Anonby, kept a diary of their journey, from the time they left Norway until they arrived at the farm. The diary was written in Norwegian. It was kept by the family, and copied at a later date by Maren's niece, Johanna Anonby Kyllo, Peder's daughter. Johanna copied the story into a ledger book, in both it's original Norwegian and her English translation. Johanna was born in 1879 and died in 1964. The ledger book was found at the Kyllo farm home, after the death of Johanna's youngest son, Martin, when the farm was being liquidated. The home and farm buildings have since been removed, and the land sold, leaving no trace of the family that lived and farmed there for over a century. Because the copy was found in it's original Norwegian, as well as in English, it is very likely that Johanna, who was fluent in both languages, faithfully translated it, word for word. In fact, she slipped back into Norwegian a couple of times. An interesting fact about Johanna, she was born, married and died in the farm home that is now only history, photographs and memories. The English translation follows. From the diary of Maren Sophie Anonby. We, father Iver Anonby, my brothers August, Olai and Ole, and I, boarded ship in Christiania (now Oslo) Apr. 24, 1868. 8 o'cl we were at Kristiansand on Friday morning. Pleasant weather on the North Sea. Left there at 10 Saturday morning, came to Hull, England, Monday morning 4 o'cl, where we got to a hotel, where we got dinner and lodgings. Tuesday at 6 o'cl AM, we boarded the train, came to Liverpool 7 o'cl, where we got aboard the steamship. 1100 passengers. Night before Thursday, Apr. 30, we left England. May 3rd was stormy, waves slammed over the deck. May 4th it was quiet. May 7th, wind strong against. May 8, weather is good, all of us are well, and those we know. Two children from Sweden died and one was born today. May 9, another child died. May 10, now it's the 3rd Sunday we are aboard, fine weather. I long for the time when we can get out of this crowd and be alone. We got a pilot aboard today, that should mean near land. May 13th, today at last, we anchored in New York, but bad news, we are quarantined, small pox aboard. A child died of it and was cast overboard, another child died of something else and will be buried on land. May 14, a girl of our company died today, also two Swede children. May 15, now the time has come that we leave Varrington (name of the ship?), I write these words as we sail from the steamship towards land. We came to Prestegaarden and got free lodging. May 16, today we got hold of our baggage, and shall stay here over Sunday, the 4th Sunday since we left home, all are well. A lot of friends were to "Bedeskiftet", and had a memorable time. Mai 18, 9 AM, we left New York on steamship over the river, came to the railroad train, went 7 PM. The train went with lightning speed. Many new things to see. May 19, the natural loveliness raises my spirit. May 20, the train went through big woods of evergreens and some bushes in bloom and some small towns og stationer (here Johanna slipped into Norwegian) to see. 12 noon we came to Erie, where we moved our baggage, and went on another car. May 21, 10 o'cl, the train from Cleveland, Ohio along the great Erie goes through lovely country. Today is "Kristi Himmelfarts Dag". We came to Toledo 8, where we went on another car, and left there 10 o'cl in the morning. 4 o'cl the 23rd of May, we came to Chicago, where a Norwegian man met us and led us to a hotel where we stopped. We fixed up our baggage and went from there 5 o'cl PM. Came to Watertown 4 AM, the 24th of May. Today is the fifth Sunday since we left home. Here in Watertown we have not met a single person we can understand and talk to. We went from there 12 noon and came to Lakkeroom 7 Monday PM, the 25th of May, and left again at 2 AM, the 26th of May. Came to Red Wing 3 o'cl the 27th of May. The 28th of May we came to Magnus Rod, what happiness to meet relations and friends. Maren Sophie Anonby I was born Sept. 12, 1842 on the Anonby home in Smaalens, Aremark, Norway. Baptized Sept. 18, 1842. Confirmed Oct. 10, 1858 in Odemark Church by Sogneprest Heierdal. Maren married Eric Distad on November 8th, 1870 in Kenyon. They later moved to Beresford, Union County, South Dakota, where she died on January 7th, 1921.