On This Day - March 14, 1899

On This Day....March 14, 1899, my grandmother was born in Winona, Minnesota. She was named Edith Viola Dahl. She always went by Viola. Her parents were August and Anbertina (Olstad) Dahl. Viola had an older sister, Lillian, and a younger sister, Ruth.  Viola, along with her sisters, grew up in Winona. She graduated from Winona High School in 1916 and later attended Winona State Normal School where she graduated in 1919. Her sisters stayed in Minnesota where they would get married and raise their families, but Viola had an adventurous spirit. With her teaching credentials in hand she headed West,  I was told that she wanted to see some mountains. She settled in Spokane, Washington, where she would get a job teaching. Even though she did not know how to drive, that did not stop her from buying a car. I am assuming that she bought the car from Riegel Bros. Dodge, because the young man that worked in the parts department talk her to drive. It driving lessons must have gone well, because on May 9, 1926, she married that young man. His name was Frank P. Smith. 

Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you and I miss you!

On This Day - January 22, 1863

On this day, January 22, 1863, Olaus Olstad was born on the old homestead at Long Coulee (Holmen), La Crosse, Wisconsin to Lars and Margaret (Gunderson) Olstad.  Olaus was the oldest child and older brother to my great grandmother, Anbertina Olstad.  Being the eldest son, he was working the farm, you might want to say he was a "Norwegian bachelor farmer" since he was not married, until at the age of 52. In 1915 he married Randine Bjerke.

Olaus as a young man