Nilsen, Ole, 1834-1912.

Ole Nilsen, the Younger, nicknamed "Lille Ola," was born in 1844 in the Norwegian parish of Aal, Hallingdal province, the son of Nils Knudson Gudmundsrud, a teacher and long-time mayor of Aal. Ole studied at Askers Seminary, taught school briefly, and immigrated to America in 1871, settling in Iowa near his older brother and sister. He studied at Cedar Valley Seminary, Osage, Iowa, and at Augsburg Seminary in Minneapolis, after which he became a minister of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. He served congregations in Northwood, Iowa (ca. 1870s-1880s), Scandinavia, Wisconsin (ca. 1890s-1910s), and Grand Forks, North Dakota (ca. 1920s-1930s), where he died in 1933.

His brother, Ole Nilsen, the Elder, nicknamed "Store Ola," was born in 1834 and spent his early life as a non-commissioned officer in the Norwegian army and, later, as operator of the family farm, Gudmundsrud, in Aal, which he later turned over to his brother Nils (1837-1908). Ole married Anne Torjusdatter Holling (1842-1895) and they immigrated to America in 1866, settling first in Estherville, Iowa, and later moving to Luverne (Rock County), Minnesota. Nilsen built and operated a farm at each location and was a lay leader in local Norwegian Lutheran congregations. He died in Scandinavia, Wisconsin, in 1912.

Gro Nilsdatter Svendsen, their sister, was born in 1841 and emigrated in 1862, settling in Estherville, Iowa. There she married Ole Svedsen Skrattegaard and worked as a farm wife until her death in 1878.

The above information was taken from the papers and from Pauline Farseth and Theodore C. Blegen, Frontier Mother: The Letters of Gro Svendsen (Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, Minn., 1950).

From the guide to the Ole Nilsen, the Younger, and family papers, undated and 1857-1933., (Minnesota Historical Society)