Early Pioneers from Biri: their final resting place

As you drive south on Hegge Road, just after crossing Unseth Road, you reach the high point and on your left are three gravestones. Years ago someone thought to protect them by installing a sturdy metal fence around them. The question is often asked, who do these graves belong to, what is their

story and why are they buried there?

The graves on this spot belong to Ole Tostensen Gullord, who died in 1855, Torsten Nielsen Unseth, who died in 1852 and his son, Ole Torstensen Unseth, who died in 1851. They were some of the earliest settlers on Coon Prairie.

When the early pioneers began arriving in Coon Prairie, many were related to each other. In some cases, entire families left Norway to resettle in America. In a number of instances they all traveled on the same ship. Eventually every farm in Gjøvik, Vardal, Snertingdal and Biri were touched by the emigration. The Gullord and Unseth story begins in Biri.

Town of Christiana’s first cemetery

Peder Eriksen Gullord (1759-1841) and Eli Jonsdatter Alset (1756-1826) were the owners of the farm Gullord. They had five children: Even Pedersen Gullord, Rangdi Pedersdatter Gullord, Henrik Pedersen Gullord, Jon (Joe) Pedersen Gullord and Ingeborg Pedersdatter Gullord.  All of Peder and Eli's children, except Henrik, who died in Norway, would make the long journey from Biri, Norway to America.

The story really begins in 1848, when adventurous Even Olsen Gullord, son of Ole Tostensten Gullord (Strandbakke) and Rangdi Pedersdatter Gullord, made his way to Coon Prairie and wrote letters home to Biri encouraging his family and others to join him. At this time, Ole and Rangdi were the owners of the Gullord farm.

And thus the Gullord family emigration from Norway began. In 1849, Even's parents, Ole and Rangdi, sold the Gullord farm in Biri and traveled on the ship Flora along with three of Even's siblings: Henrik, Ingeborg, and Marthe. Even's brother, Peder Olsen Hegge, would arrive in 1850. They departed from Christiana on June 15 and arrived in New York on August 23, eventually making their way to Coon Prairie.

Also aboard the Flora were other members of the Gullord family. Ole and Rangdi's son, Tosten Olsen Gullord and his wife, Berte Evensdatter Galtestad, along with their children, Regine, Ole (eventually Ole T. Westby), and Even. Completing the party of family immigrants were Rangdi's brother, Even Pedersen Gullord, his wife Marthe Hansdatter Daffinrud and their children, Hans, Peder and Mathias.

It appears that Even Pederson Gullord, his wife Marthe and son Hans, died of cholera after reaching the Koshkonong settlement in 1849 on their way to Coon Prairie. Sons, Peder and Mathias were cared for by family members and brought to Coon Prairie in November 1849.

Ole and Rangdi Gullord settled on the southeast quarter of section 30 in Christiana Township on what is today the corner of Hegge and Unseth Road. They also had 40 acres of land across the road on section 31.

In 1850 the boat Petrus would depart from the port of Drøbak, Norway on July 5. Drøbak was traditionally the winter harbor for Christiana. The Petrus would arrive in New York on Sept. 9. On board were other Gullord/Unseth family members from the Biri area who were coming to Coon Prairie. John Pedersen Odegaard (Rangdi's brother), his wife, Bertha Jorgensdatter Honne and their children, Johannes, Ingeborg and Karin Bergitte. Not with them at this time, was their daughter, Eline. She married Torger Nielsen Næperud in Biri and would not come to Coon Prairie until 1852.

Rangdi's sister, Ingeborg Pedersdatter and her husband, John Larsen Kvernstuen, along with five of their seven children, Henrik, Elias, Ingeborg, Randine, and Johanne, were also on this voyage of the Petrus. All were traveling til de Nordamerika Fristates (to the North America free states). They would settle with their family on the remaining 120 acres in section 31, Christiana Township, just across from her sister, Rangdi, on Unseth Road.

On the Petrus also were Peder Olsen Hegge (Ole and Rangdi's son) and his wife Mari Iversdatter, and their children, Martinus, 5 and Iver, 2 months. Baby Iver would die on the journey. Mari's mother, Anne Marie Hegge, a widow, and her other four daughters, Marthe, Karen, Ingeborg and Netta, ranging in age from ten to twenty, traveled with them. 

Peder Olsen Hegge would claim a corner of Hegge and Unseth Roads where the Unseth school would eventually be built, while Torsten Unseth completed settlement of the four corners.

Torsten Nielsen Unseth (Anne Marie's brother), a widower, and his children, Nils, Agnethe, Mari, Ole, Even, Anna Marie and Peter, completed the related family members who made this 1850 journey on the Petrus. Thankfully they all arrived safely.  This would be the last journey of the Petrus which was shipwrecked on the return voyage.

So we return to try to answer the final question: why are they buried here? Did these three men, Ole T. Gullord, Torsten N. Unseth and his son, Ole T. Unseth, stand at this spot overlooking the prairie from the high point on Hegge Road and decide that this beautiful place near their new home in America was where they wanted to be buried? The answer is that we will never know for sure. All we can do is speculate. We do know that until larger cemeteries were started, there were any number of small family plots scattered throughout the area. Some have been preserved. Others, sadly, have been lost to the ravages of time.

In Judy Mathison's book, "Vernon County Cemetery Locations and Histories", she notes that the Unseth Plot/The Country Cemetery, seems to have been the first cemetery for the town of Christiana. Eventually, some of the other family members would be buried in Coon Prairie cemetery.

by Sandra K. Lawrence and Madeline Neprud Anderson

Sandra and Madeline are both descendants of these pioneer families. They both enjoy genealogy and writing. Sandra is descended from John Larsen Kvernstuen and Ingeborg Pedersdatter Gullord. Madeline is descended from Ingeborg's brother, John "Joe" Pedersen Odegaargen and Berthe Jorgensdatter Honne.