Many of the Gol Norwegians were living near Walcott, North Dakota, and so they left Iowa and went there. The story is that they took a wagon with their possessions and walked along side the wagon, all the way from Lansing, Iowa, the young ones held on to the wagon. They were afraid of an Indian Uprising as there had been in 1871. Helge was a shoemaker and a cooper by trade. Several of the sons had farms in Walcott. Helge died in 1895 and Barbo died in 1906, they are buried in Walcott, North Dakota.

The oldest son, Engebrit Berg, was born January 7, 1851 in Gol, Hallingdal. He married Hannah Regina Lind in 1874 in Lansing, Iowa. Their children were, Henry, Mary, Martin, Charles, Knut, Halmar, Helen, William, Samuel and Lillian. They lived in Colfax, Richland Co., North Dakota from about 1880. He died on April 24, 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His history was written by his grandson, Martin Berg in 1966.

The second son of Helge and Barbo was Stengrim (Stanley) Helgeson. He was born December 9, 1853 in Gol, and married Nellie Aribelle Randall in 1879 in Waukon, Allamakee County,Iowa. Some of their children were born in Fairhaven, Stearns County, Minnesota, and although he died in Puyallup, Pierce County, Washington, in 1941, he was buried in Kimball, Stearns, County, Minnesota. They had 14 children: Henry, Caroline, Anna, Cora & John, Nettie & Ettie, George, Roy, Raymond, Maymie, Nellie, Lulu and Lester, although almost everyone used his second name: Melvin.

The third son, Christian D. Helgeson, was born in Gol in 1857, and married Agnes Oleson in Walcott in 1882. They had 11 children: Dehiia, Helmer, Lena, Nora, Alfred, Hilda, Willie, Oscar (struck by lightning), Oscar, Adolph, and Christine. Agnes died in 1900 and Christian married Annie Johnson in 1903. He died in 1933 in Wyndmere and is buried in Walcott.

The fourth son was Halvor Albert Helgeson. He was born July 28, 1860 in Gol. He married also Gregorson in 1893, they had 3 children, Herman George, Olga Bentina and Elvina Cornelia. Elisa died and is buried in Walcott, Halvor then married Esther Schosson in 1903, they had three children, Hazel, Halvor and Martin. They were born in Walcott. Halvor died November 16, 1947 in Fargo and was buried in Walcott.

The fifth son of Helge and Barbo was Knut Helgeson. He was born in Gol in 1862. He was unmarried and farmed in Melvin, Minnesota which
is about 60 miles southeast of Grand Forks, N.D.. He died in 1884....only
22 years old.

The sixth son was Karl Helgeson Berg. He was born September 5, 1867, in Lansing, Iowa. He married Andrina Benson in 1892 in Walcott. They had 10 children, Harry Bernados, Bertina (Bertha) Cornelia, Bessie Amanda, Bennie, Clara Selvine, Amanda Louise, Lillian Mable, Clarence Theodore, Vergie Irene and Viola. Soon after the birth of Viola, Andrina died of pneumonia. It was January of 1910, Karl aimed to keep all the children together, but could not manage an infant, so, after all the children held the baby, Karl, and 16 year old Bertha took the baby to Andrina's sister, Helena Golberg, to raise. Through the years, Karl kept close to his children and he never married again, even though there were some who were interested in him. Before he died, his granddaughter, Janice Shaw came to visit him; she looked so much like Andrina, it surprised him and he called out her name. Karl died January 6, 1948 while visiting his son Harry in EI Reno, Oklahoma. He is buried in Walcott, North Dakota.

The 7th and youngest son of the family was Olaf Helgeson, born March 28, 1871. in Lansing, Allamakee Co., Iowa. He married Alattie Gregerson (sister of Halvor Helgeson's wife Elisa). They were married in Walcott and all their children were born there. They had Bessie, Hilda, Gelbert, Emma, Sophie (who died at 5 months), Sophie, Alma, Ethel and Olaf Jr.

I count 60 grandchildren in all. In that time it was good to have a big family, to help run the farm. I see that a few died as infants or youngsters. One boy was struck by lightning, another was kicked by a horse. but the great majority of the grandchildren lived and had families of their own.

Do we have all the information correct so far? If we have made any mistakes or if you notice important things are left out, please let me know. I did not give all the information that I have, much of it is on the internet site. I am sorry that Karl Berg shows only one son....when we know there were 10 children. Lew promises me that we will correct that part of the site soon.

(Lew's note: I have all of the children entered but I need quite a bit of additional information, such as birth dates, where was the person born (city, county, state, country), when did the person due, where was the person buried, when and where was the person married and to whom, was the person divorced, etc.