Anna Elizabeth Svaren

Anna Elizabeth Svaren was born March 21, 1860 in Gloppen, Nordfjord, Norway, daughter of Peter and Anna Ommedahl.

Her father died when Anna was six years old and her mother died the following year, leaving a family of five children.  Anna, next to the youngest of the family, went to live with a neighbor, where she herded sheep, goats and cows to earn her keep.  As she grew older she worked in the "Sater" (mountain pasture) during the summer.

She was married to Markus Svaren, April 8, 1880.  Three daughters were born before they left Norway in 1886.  That spring they immigrated to Brookings County, South Dakota, where a brother of her husband lived.

Mr. Svaren, who was a teacher in Norway, studied theology after he came to Dakota.

While her husband went to school, Mrs. Svaren took care of the children and their two cows.  Twisted hay and cow chips were the fuel they used for cooking and heating.

They bought a quarter of land that provided feed for the horses that Pastor Svaren needed to get around to the seven congregations he served for a time.  Later the group was divided and he had four congregations.

In 1909 Pastor Svaren took sick and was taken to the hospital in Yankton, South Dakota, where he died in 1918.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Svaren's two brothers, Erick Ommedahl and Anton Peterson, and her sister, Mrs. Erick Jacobson had settled in Griggs County, North Dakota, and they persuaded her to come and join them.

In the spring of 1911, she moved to Griggs County.  Her sister had died by the time Mrs. Svaren and her four children came.  There were no buildings on the farm in Willow Township, that was to be the home for the Svaren family, so buildings had to be erected and trees planted to make the place homelike.

Her children were: 

  1. John Svaren,

  2. Carrie Svaren,

  3. Hannah Svaren,

  4. Peter Svaren,

  5. Arthur Svaren,

  6. Martha Svaren,

  7. Lawrence Svaren,

  8. Palmer Svaren and

  9. Anna Svaren.

Mrs. Svaren passed away October 10, 1963 at the age of 103, being the oldest resident of Griggs County at that time.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 507