John Dahl Family

John Dahl was born in Minnesota on September 12, 1884 and was married to Anna Pearson at Hannaford in 1915.

Anna Dahl was born in Sweden on July 9, 1890 and came to the United States in 1905.  She traveled alone and sewed her money in the hem of her dress to prevent it from being stolen.  It proved to be a wise procedure because a friend on the ship had her money taken by an unknown thief.  When she first came to America she went directly to Hannaford, where her grandmother lived.  Later she worked at a private home in Fargo.  She returned to Hannaford where she worked at the hotel before her marriage.

The Dahls lived in Montana from 1917-1918.  During the winter of 1920-21 they lived on the Carl Nierenberg farm north of Cooperstown.  There was one especially bad snowstorm.  The door to the house opened in and when it was opened in the morning, snow was piled to within about a foot of the top.  They hoisted Oscar Dahl, John's brother, to the top so he could crawl out and then shoveled out the doorway.  If the door had opened outward, the family would have been trapped.  

Anyone who knew John remembers his love of horses.  In fact, he did not buy a car until 1926.  His sons recollect one horse named Jessie that John sold to someone in Montana.  It was shipped out there and 20 years later, Dewey Dahl purchased Jessie and brought her back.  When she was brought to her old home, she walked right to her stall in the barn.

When John's older sons were going to high school in Cooperstown, the country roads were usually blocked in the winter so John pulled the car 1  1/2 miles to where the road was good and the boys drove the next 2  1/2 miles.  In the evening he met them and pulled the car home again.  This got tiresome and then the boys drove the entire way with horses.  To pay for barn rent for the horses during the school day, they shoveled snow after school.

During the winters in the 1930's Ed Stromme, August Harmon, and Torkel Anderson got together to cut ice and wood by the river.

There were eight children in the Dahl family: 

  1. Simon, born 1917; now living in Bennett, Colorado.  He has three children:
    1. Marlene
    2. Phillip
    3. Rodger
  2. Kenneth, born in 1918.  He and his wife, Daisy, live in Clearfield Township.  They have two sons:
    1. Ronald
    2. Steven
  3. Clifford, born in 1920.  He and his wife, Frances, live on the home farm.  They have four sons: 
    1. Wayne
    2. John
    3. Thomas
    4. Kevin
  4. Gerald, born in 1921.  He and his wife, Beatrice, live in Washburn Township.  They have four children: 
    1. Richard
    2. Mrs. Kirk (Marilyn) Peda
    3. Carol
    4. Milton
  5. Mary Ann (Mrs. Edwin Larsen), born in 1923, now living in Seattle, Washington.  She has two daughters:
    1. Jean
    2. Evie
  6. LeRoy, born in 1925, is now living at Wichita, Kansas.  
  7. Violet (Mrs. Thilford Walsvik), born in 1927, now lives near Hatton, North Dakota.  She has five children: 
    1. David
    2. Daniel
    3. Ramona
    4. Joel
    5. Jon
  8. Norman, born in 1929.  He and his wife, Lois, live in Rosendal Township.  They have four daughters: 
    1. Nancy
    2. Ranae
    3. Janel
    4. Karen  
    John Dahl died in March 1956.  Anna Dahl is a resident of the Tri-County Nursing Home at Hatton. 

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 477