For reasons we can’t remember, we have in our files a
manuscript with this title. Perhaps it
was given to us by Marion Voxland when she was cleaning out the Voxland files before
her move to Bismarck. It is a
compilation of stories about the family of Dr. Just Christian Gronvold, the
house he built and the lives of the family of his nine children. The house was situated next door to the
parsonage of Holden Lutheran Church in rural Goodhue County Minnesota.
This family saga was published as a series in Norwegian
in the Decorah Posten between April and July, 1943. What we have is the English translation done
by Marie Voxland. In her notes Marie says
that the author, Emma Quie Bonhus and her brother Albert, were also fictionalized
characters in the story. Albert was the father of a former governor of
Minnesota, Al Quie.
Judy and I have read this whole manuscript, 79 pages
single spaced and no formatting, so it was a bit hard to follow, and frankly,
not well written; and some may have been lost in the translation. But we found it of interest because of its’
historical content.
Dr. Gronvold was a prominent pioneer doctor who
immigrated from Norway and came to Goodhue County in 1869.[i] Thus, he would have been well known to my
great grand-parents, Nels and Martha Aaker. My grandparents, Olaf and Ellen
Aaker, would have been contemporaries of the older children in this story; and even
my parents may have known some of the children. In 1873 Gronvold built a beautiful large house
where the nine children featured in the story grew up. Many descriptions of the house are included. The “three clovers” are the clusters of three
older children, three middle, and the three youngest children. The name of the doctor in the story is Dr.
Justin, which was Gronvold’s first name and an old family name. The names of the children are not their true
names, though Marie Voxland thought these could have been their second
names. In fact, she seems to have known
them in person and notes that one of the younger daughter’s name was Thora, and
that “I went to parochial school for her”.
The time period of the beginning of the story is the
late 19th century when this country doctor was seeing patients in
his home office and doing house calls by horse drawn buggy and sleigh in the
area. He died in the line of duty, having contracted pneumonia while out
calling on patients in inclement weather and his wife died just two months
after his death.
The untimely deaths of the parents left the nine
children, the oldest just in their teens, to fend for themselves. Many of the stories have to do with how each
of the older girls took responsibility for managing the house and raising the
younger children, especially the oldest two, whose real names were Marie and
Anna. As they grew up some of the children
went to Kenyon High School and on to St Olaf academy and college, and others to
the Twin Cities to study medicine and others professions. Eventually they scattered far and wide to
Washington D.C., Virginia and Seattle while others lived in the Twin Cities. One son traveled to Alaska and they lost
contact with him. This son, Hjalmer in
the story, didn’t like schooling, but was a hard worker and adventurer. He wanted
to see the world and went North following the gold rush.
Two of the girls (the oldest and the youngest) never
married and continued to return to the house (called “The Magnet” in the story)
every summer, often joined by several other siblings.
I vaguely remember my parents commenting on the “old
maids” that came to stay in the house during the summer. Later I recall seeing the ruins of that
mansion in the trees until Lloyd Voxland bought the property and tore it down
to build a new and beautiful modern home where he and Gerry retired.
According to the Goodhue County Historical Society article footnoted below, Dr and Mrs. Gronvold are buried in the Cemetery of Emmanuel Lutheran Church. That is a church in the Hauge tradition, which may be why they were buried there rather in the nearby Holden Lutheran Church. The story tells something of the family’s participation in church activities, confirmations and Bible studies at the Holden parsonage next door, and that the oldest daughter was organist for a time. Several of the children and spouses are said in the story to be “resting in the nearby cemetery”. Which church’s cemetery?
In the Norwegian American Historical Association posting about this manuscript there is mention of “A six-page manuscript "Notes on the Gronvold ‘farm' and members of the family" by Voxland "based on notes from Harriet Voxland" gives additional information”. That would be an interesting read, and could probably be found at the NAHA archives.
The story also mentions a Gronvold Family Saga, a history of the family going back to Norway and their immigration to America, but NAHA does not list this, (at least in my cursory review).
I am wondering if the Holden Church archives have any documents and stories about Dr Gronvold and his relationship with Rev. Muus and the church. I recall something about this relationship in the book Brent Julius Muus, by Joseph Shaw. I think it was about Dr. Gronvold tending to Mrs. Muus when she broke her leg, and the doctor admonishing Muus to treat his wife better. I think the relationship between Gronvold and Muus may have been a bit frosty.
Though this “book” was not a page turner, I
found myself drawn into the story, especially the last part, to see how all the
children turned out. It is a story of
how it was, as in so many rural families; the Gronvold children persevered in
the face of adversity and try to keep their memories alive as they treasure
their roots in the rural setting of their youth while they all eventually go
off, near and far, to much different lives of their own.
Jerry Aaker
January, 2021
[i] From a 2017 article by Afton Esson, posted by the
Goodhue County Historical Society, we found dates relating to the life of Dr.
Gronvold. He was born in Norway in 1833, immigrated to America in 1865, and
after medical school in St Louis, he came to Goodhue County in 1869. He built the house in 1873 and married Eli
Brandt in 1874. He died in September
1895 at the age of 62 and his wife died just two months later. Thus, they were
married only 22 years and were survived by nine of their eleven children. Dr
Gronvold had a particular interest in the study of leprosy as he had found a
number of cases of this disease among Norwegian settlers in Goodhue County.
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