Gustav Gudmunson/Gudmundson

My research trip out to South Dakota was very successful. I was about to get about 90% of everything I wanted to accomplish. One of those things I wanted to find was to find about was my great-granduncle Gustav Gudmundson's family out who lived near the town of Nunda, South Dakota.

The first place I went to look was in the Karl E. Mundt library on the Dakota State University campus in Madison, South Dakota, which is the county seat of Lake County in which Nunda is located. The Mundt library has an obituary index to the Madison Daily Leader from 1930 to present. There I was able to find two obituaries for Caroline Gudmundson, Gustav's wife, and one for Clarence and Howard, Gustav & Caroline's sons.

From the obituary you can tell Caroline was born September 1, 1878 in Fillmore County, Minnesota and died October 11, 1962 in Madison, South Dakota. Also she married Gustav Gudmundson, June 10, 1899. Burial was at the Prairie Queen Cemetery next to her husband and four of her children who proceeded her in death.







The two other obituaries I collected were for Howard and Clarence Gudmundson. Howard Gudmundson was born January 29, 1905, in Fillmore County, Minnesota, and died February 14, 1940 when he was only 35 years old. It says in the obituary that he died in Colinga, California, but I believe they mean Coalinga which is just south of Fresno. According the obituary is states that he had been living in California 12 years working as a oil well driller. He was buried in the Prairie Queen Cemetery. Clarence Gudmundson was born 1902 in Minnesota and died February 22, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It doesn't say in his obituary but I know he is buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.




After I was finished looking at the newspapers in the Mundt library I traveled north about 10 miles, just to the southeast of Nunda, where the Prairie Queen Cemetery is located.






Apparently the second 'I' in prairie fell off but the bird above the 'E' posed quite nicely while I took the picture. It is not a large cemetery so it did not take too long to find the Gudmundson family. Another interesting observation was everyone in the family used the surname Gudmunson without the second 'D' which is not uncommon for people to slightly change their last name back then.

















Gustav Gudmunson








Caroline (Olson) Gudmunson









Agnes K. Gudmunson









(Ella) Mildred E. Gudmunson









Bertha L. Gudmunson









Howard E. Gudmunson









Gladys A. (Gudmunson) Hart

South Dakota or Bust

I promised to document my itinerary for my research trip out to South Dakota. The details of the trip are not set in stone but there are a few places that I need to hit.

Thursday:
I plan to leave very early Thursday morning so I can attempt to get there and visit everything in one day. My first stop is in Willmar, Minnesota, where I try and acquire a birth certificate for my grandfather, Melvin Scheevel, and attempt to find a land record for when they lived in Kandiyohi County a few years. My next stop will be in Montevideo, Minnesota. There I have to visit the city offices to inquire about a cemetery plot location for Martha Johnson, my great-great-great grandmother. I know she is buried in the Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Montevideo but it's a cemetery of about 5000 people so I'd be there all day if not for a plot location.

From there I cross over the border into South Dakota and visit the town of Madison. Madison is the county seat of Lake County, South Dakota, which is the county my great-grandfather and grandfather lived during the late 1800s. Hopefully there I am able to find a birth certificate for my grandfather, Joseph Larson Sr., at the courthouse and possibly acquire a land record for where they lived. I do have a 1900 census record for the family which lists they are living in Summit Township of Lake County so that should narrow my search a bit. Also in Madison is the Dakota State University which holds a large collection of obituaries for Lake County. I have a few people I'd like to acquire obits for while I'm there. Just to the northeast of Madison are two cemeteries I want to visit. South Lake Campbell Cemetery is where Joseph Larson's father Jonas' first wife Ragnhild is buried and Prairie Queen Cemetery is where Jonas' second wife Bergitte's brother Gustav Gudmundson (my great granduncle) is buried. That'll be great if I can manage to stop at all those places in one day.

The next day I'd like to spend in Sioux Falls going to the zoo and a few other fun things. On the way home I want to visit the Oslo Lutheran Church Cemetery in Trent, South Dakota, to see if I can find the grave of my great-great-great grandfather, Ole Skadsem. I have the grave and lot numbers so it shouldn't be to hard to find. Have a few other places I may visit but that is the extent of my research trip.

2009 Research Trip

I have been planning out my research trip through central Minnesota and into South Dakota. I will be visiting many places in which my ancestors once lived. After the holiday weekend I am going to post the detailed itinerary of my destinations.

Memorial Day

It is a week past Memorial Day but I was rather busy last weekend. I wanted to recognize two of my great-uncles who fought in the World Wars.

The first one is actually my half-great-uncle Edward Larson, who would have been the son of my great-grandfather Jonas with his first wife Ragnhild. Below is his draft card.


Some interesting information from this page is that he was born while the family is living in South Dakota. The family lived in South Dakota until just after 1900 when they moved to Wisconsin for a few years before moving back to Fillmore County, Minnesota. As listed Edward is living in Harmony, Minnesota.


This page gives an interesting physical description of Edward. Medium, stout, blue eyed, brown hair is a fairly accurate description of myself. Also the date puts things in context because in 1917 his father Jonas Larson was running the hardware store in the neighboring town of Mabel.


This is a page of the listings for all veterans from Minnesota who died during World War I. Midway down the third column you will see Edward J. Larson's name from Mabel. Edward is buried in Somme American Cemetery, Bony, France.

This is my great-uncle's, Floyd Eldon Scheevel, obituary from 2008. He was also a veteran but of World War II serving the in Army in the Pacific Theater. I remember my grandfather showing me old black and white photos of Floyd in his Army uniform. I only knew Floyd well after his time in the Army so my impression of him was just of a great man.

It's great to honor those veterans who died and returned from protecting our country. Hopefully someday we will not have any new wartime veterans.

Goodbye Grandpa

The person who introduced me to genealogy passed away last week, May 18th, 2009. My grandpa Melvin Scheevel used to show me this red three ring binder which his brother Theodore put together chronicling our family lineage from Holland. Ever since then the exploration of my family tree has been my passionate hobby. He was my last living grandparent. I have posted the obituary from the local News-Record newspaper. Melvin will be greatly missed.

Newspaper in Canada

I found a newspaper article referencing the accidental death of Peter Tollefson while searching the newspaperarchive.com this weekend. The unusual thing is that it comes from a newspaper in Manitoba, Canada. It is a couple weeks after the accident.


They did get part of the incident incorrect because Peter's wife was not fatally injured during the accident even though she was severely hurt. It does not provide any new information but interesting how a report of a death in the countryside of Minnesota can make it's way into a Canada newspaper back in 1905.

Updates from Ginger

Here are some updates on questions I have posted earlier about Peter Tollefson. I named three unknown people who were listed on historical documents connected with Peter; Ginder? Benson, J.N. Blexrud, and Sans S. Sennig/Senmg?.

Gunder Benson is listed on the 1885 Minnesota Census as the following entry to the Tollefson's. On the 1900 Census he is listed as to have immigrated to the US in 1867 which is 10 years later than Peter.

It appears the J.N. Blexrud is actually G.N. Blexrud or George N. Blexrud. He is listed on the 1900 and 1905 Census as living in the adjacent township of Caledonia in Houston County.

The man who I thought was Sans. S Sennig is probably Lars L. Lenning who is the husband of Peter's wife's aunt. Considering he is also in the area at the time it is the correct person.

Even though these names have been discovered it does not present any obvious clues into the identity of Peter Tollefson.

Peter & Ann's Marriage Record

Here is a copy of the marriage record for Peter Tollefson and Ann Sarah Mary Johnson on February 17, 1877. Her name changes on different records such as Ann, Anne, Anna and Anna Severine Marie. The two witnesses are Ole Johnson, who is Ann's father, and Sans S. Sennig/Senmg?, who I have not found any information about. From this record and his Naturalization record, we have 3 witnesses attached to Peter; Benson, Blexrud & Sennig/Senmg.

Peter Tollefson's Death Card, Obituary & Tombstone

Below I have included photos of Peter Tollefson's Obituary, Death Card and Tombstone. I have transcribed the obituary because it can be hard to read in spots. It tells the story of how such a small incident can lead to a tragic accident.

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tollefson of Black Hammer, while returning home from Caledonia, Thursday evening had a runaway, which caused almost instant death to Mr. Tollefson, and severe injuries to his wife.

While in town the horses broke the buggy pole, having been frightened by an automobile. A new pole was replaced but as this was of a different type than the old one, it being too small for the neckyoke ring, which probably the main cause of the accident. As they were crossing a grade in the road near the county poor farm the neckyoke slipped over the pole, throwing the buggy onto the horses who at once started off on a mad gallop. For half a mile the couple clung to the buggy when suddenly they were dashed to the ground, Mr. Tollefson striking a stone breaking his neck and in about two hours he expired. Mrs. Tollefson escaped with three broken ribs, an injured arm and several bruises, she also was knocked unconscious, but recovered sufficiently so that she was able to go to a house in the neighborhood for assistance. Mr. Tollefson leaves a wife and eight small children to mourn the loss of a kind husband and father. Funeral was held Saturday at Black Hammer.


Peter Tollefson was 49 at the time as stated in his death card. The obituary does not give any clues to who is parents were or where he was born. The death card does list his birth location as Norway which narrows it down a more than the information provided on his Naturalization papers. It is able to tell us that he had 8 children and that his wife survived the accident. She would live about another six years.

Peter Tollefson's Naturalization Papers

For my first post, I will present a clue into trying to identify the mysterious Peter Tollefson. This is a copy of his naturalization papers dated February 22nd, 1898. That would make him 31 at the time of this document. There are also two names listed as witnesses, Ginder? Benson and J.N. Blexrud, whom I am unfamiliar with. Will have to do more research on those two individuals. The naturalization papers were issued for Houston County, Minnesota which corresponds to Peter appearing the 1880 and 1900 population census for Houston County. There is a Tollef Tollefson according to the Ancestry naturalization records also was issued his papers in Houston county. I don't have any information on Tollef. According to this document, it lists Peter as immigrating from Norway and Sweden which is also in agreement with the census records. (Norway was not an independent country until 1905). I will be posting more about Peter and all my ancestors later down the road.