Text

Letter from Ole Rølvaag to Jennie Rølvaag, 1926 June 29

Dublin Core

Title
Letter from Ole Rølvaag to Jennie Rølvaag, 1926 June 29
Identifier
p0584_10339
p0584_10340
Date
1926 June 29
Description
Translation: 

Dear Jennie!

Yes, here I am sitting at this table- this sitting room- and writing these lines. Big Island is as beautiful as it used to be. Yesterday evening I went down to the front and stood on land while we took the fish we wanted for breakfast. The mosquitos were awful! Today we were out on Big Ole and took 4 Northern Pike.

Fritjof got two and Ole Hetle two; the one was so large that we gave away the other three. 

Mrs. Olaf Hetle is a good cook- I am glad she joined us! 

They are all at Big Ole swimming while I am sitting here writing. I don’t dare to go in the water yet, although I feel good; my side is not totally alright yet.

Everything in the cabin is alright, but the heavy pine trees are dead. There are not many strawberries this year.

We get milk at Oakland’s, so that matter is alright. 

Things are expensive up here. Ole Oakland wants $1.56 per night for the cabin when one rents for just a few days.

Yes, now I do not remember more, and I must get this sent tonight. 

Hope that Tulla has come home and that you both are alright. Fritjof is well.behaved and useful. 

Your boy

Ole


You should greet Hetle and say that “They are having the time of their life”. 

If you should not get further letters before you come, can you tell Thompson that he must drive the new road from Grand Rapids to Marcell; it’s not good, but it is quite possible to arrive that way. Stop on Main Stre

Jennie Marie Berdahl was born on June 1, 1879 in Minnehaha County, South Dakota to Andrew James and Karen Oline (Otterness) Berdahl. Jennie was born in a sod hut before South Dakota received statehood. She attended Augustana Academy in Canton, S.D. and was a county school teacher. Jennie Berdahl married Ole Rølvaag in 1908 and lived in Northfield, MN. Together they had four children: Olaf Arnljot (1909-1915) Ella Valborg Tweet (1910-2003) Karl Fritjof (1913-1990) Paul Gunnar (1915-1920).
Funding to digitize the O.E. Rølvaag Papers was provided to the Norwegian American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008.
Ole Rølvaag's letter to Jennie Rølvaag.
Type
Text
Format
Letters (correspondence)
Rights
No Copyright - the United States
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
Bibliographic Citation
[Indicate the cited item here]. O.E. Rølvaag Papers. Norwegian American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota.

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Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931, “Letter from Ole Rølvaag to Jennie Rølvaag, 1926 June 29,” Digital Collections, accessed October 18, 2026, https://www.norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/items/show/4921.