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Helge Aslagson, son of Aslag Arnerson, his wife, Barbo Stengrim,
daughter of Stengrim Halverson and Kerste Knuts, their sons,
Stengrim, Christian, Halvor and Knut left Norway in 1864 (1865)for
America. The oldest son, Engebrit, age 15, remained in Norway to earn
his fare for a later journey to America. The family set sail with 300
other passengers in three masted ships. One record said it took them
three months to cross the ocean. They ran out of food and ate biscuits
made of sea weeds. They came up the St. Laurence River to Quebec
and Toronto, then by rail to Iowa. during the train ride, the men and
boys would jump off at each stop to pile on cord wood for fuel, to keep
the train going. Near Lansing, Iowa, Helge purchased 40 acres of land
for $300.00. In Village Creek, Lafayette Township, he built a house
for his family. Two more boys were born there, Karl in 1867 and Olaf
in 1872. His son, Engebrit came to America in 1866. In 1882, Helge
and his family left Iowa for Walcott, North Dakota, where they had
friends. They loaded their possessions on light wagons, pulled by oxen
and headed west. They hearded their cattle all the way, walking
alongside the wagons and prodding the oxen. Fourteen weeks later,
they arrived in Walcott. Helge took a homestead near there. Helge
and his wife Barbo left a multitude of descendants around the area of
Richland County and elsewhere. Four of the sons took the name
Helgeson, two of the boys, Engebrit and Karl, took the farm name of
Berg. Karl Berg settled in Viking Township and raised his family.
Several of the children attended the Public Schools there.
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