"Todne" was born in Fyresdal, Norway in 1827 and baptized at Veum church. She emigrated with her mother, sister and brothers to Wisconsin, where the family reunited with Kristi's brother Aslack.   Norwegian Church Records

Aslack's son Ole and Tone were married in Wisconsin in 1849.  In the Norwegian culture of the time, marriage between first cousins was not taboo. Ole and Tone moved to what was then Mitchell County, Iowa, settling outside Silver Lake.    From "Normændene i Amerika" (Norwegians in America) published in 1907:   "Anna Oline Lee, daughter of Ole A. Lee, was the first child born in Mitchell County. She was born on August 14, 1853."   A History of Worth County, Iowa From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 EARLY SETTLEMENT.     The first settlement in the county was an off-shoot of the Scandinavian colony led into Mitchell County by Rev. C. L. Clausen in the Spring of 1858. About the 18th of June Gulbrand Olsen and three others from this company pushed out as far as the Shellrock. Olsen took up 160 acres, embracing a part of the present site of Northwood and the water power adjoining. His companions located in the vicinity, but soon returned to the principal colony, leaving him and his family without a neighbor nearer than fifteen miles. In the Spring of 1854 he was reinforced by four countrymen, Simon Rustad, Christian Ammandsen, Nelson and Ole Lee, and also by three brothers by the name of Hart, who purchased the timber claim near the state line, afterward known as Phelps' Grove, four miles above Northwood, of one of Gulbrand's first company. They remained only until the following Spring (1855), when they sold to David H. Phelps. He was accompanied by Tilly McWithy, and Hiram Bilton and his two sons, with whom he divided the timber. Nelson died in the Fall of 1854, but his widow remained upon the claim. In the Winter of 1854 William Burgert, a trapper, settled near Phelps Grove. In 1855 the Norwegian settlement was increased by the arrival of M. Paulsen, John S. Mark, Aslak Lee, Elling Ellingsen, Ole and Hans Aslaksen, S. Syversen, Ole Hansen, H. Halvorsen, Abraham Christophersen and G. Jorgensen, and may be said to have passed its pioneer days. It received a considerable accession again in the Spring of 1856. May 19, 1855, Charles Johnson made the first claim in the settlement, afterward known as Bristol, near Rice Lake, fifteen miles west of Northwood, and, during the following Fall, Chauncey Lane, Ben Bloker and John M. Bennett (the latter with family) located at the east end of the lake, where they were joined by Haskell Skinner and his family. The following Spring they removed about a mile distant to the present site of Bristol. Here, in the Spring of 1856, they were joined by Otis Greeley and two men by the name of Tyler, with their families, and Henry Greeley. In July, Dr. James Keeler came and located, and in September brought his family from Janesville, Iowa, accompanied by Millard and Frink, with their families. J. S. Loveland, Sperrin, Fuller and Isaac Cummings came in August, or thereabouts, and McPherson in October. Two ministers, named Strobridge and Forbes, came about the same time. July 10th, 1856, Samuel Egbert moved in with his family, and took up a claim on what is now a part of Northwood, where he still resides. During the same season there settled in the vicinity of Northwood and Phelps' Grove, J. W. Thompson, John Bickell, W. H. Pritchard, Thomas Lowthin, N. W. Emory, William Senior, Frank Coop, Jerry Epworth, John Elliott, Benjamin Eyr, I. M. Bolton, Arthur T. Bolton and G. H. Atwood.     In 1855 Ed. Wright located at Glen Mary, but, the following Spring, two brothers, Martin and Amos Bently, took his place at Glen Mary, while Wright, with his brother Samuel, and two others named Crane and Crandall, located at Wright's Grove. Owing to trouble between them and the Norwegian settlement, a club was formed called the Settlers' Club, William Burgert, President; Samuel Egbert, Secretary; whose rules bound them to protect each other in occupying 320 acres each. Late in the Fall the settlement at Elk Creek was commenced by Rugg, Stevens and Platt, and the Silver Lake Settlement was commenced the same year by Lars Larsen and G. K. Hundeby.     The succeeding Winter (1856-7) is known as the hard winter by the pioneers. The snow fell to an uncommon depth, and was, much of the time, impassable to teams. Provisions were hauled on hand-sleds from Osage and other points. The log huts, many of them without floors, admitted the snow in drifts. Deaths by freezing were quite common. To read a history of Hartland Township, Worth County from "History of Mitchell and Worth Counties Iowa" © 1918 Click Here 26 KB pdf format, opens in a new window

Click here for a detailed listing and a link to the census image