Flann Family History 1823-1971

After their marriage they settled on the farm near Bird Island, Minn where Albin lives. They took the farm as a tree claim. That was a contract with the government that they would establish a home, plant a specified number of trees within a specified time and farm the land (80 acres). It was all praire therefore the trees were required. They lived there until they moved to Bird Island, they remained there the rest of their lives. They are buried on Our Saviors Cemetary at Bird Island.

Annie was a Saeterjente while in Norway, after she was 14 years old she spent the summers up in the mountains caring for the cows and making butter and cheese. It was delightfully cool up there. There was a spring-house with cold spring water flowing through it, where she kept the butter, cheese, and milk cold. About once a month some one came up with supplies and took the cheese and butter home. Some summers there were two girls up the mountain in the spring-house. It was beautiful up there. She make those kind of cheeses when I was growing up. They were delicious!! How often I wish I had learned to make them.

Some of them were cured to become dry and hard. Those they packed at the bottom of their food-chests when they were preparing to come to America. No dining rooms on those ships. Flat bread and another dry bread were packed next then lefse, regular ivaf bread, soft cheeses and a box or jar of butter on top so that would be eaten first. Some krumkage and other goodies rounded out the food supply. The cheeses were each wrapped in a specially prepared cloth and each of the breads were wrapped separately.

She brought her spinning wheel along with clothing and bedding articles. She also brought two feather ticks for feather beds which she had made completely from shearing the sheep, washing the wool, carding it, spinning it into yarn and weaving the ticking which really was feather tight. Not a feather ever worked its way out and we used it even after I was old enough to remember.

She and John worked on a farm in Norway called Flaa so she was Annie Halvorsdatter Paa Flaan and John Halvorson Paa Flaan. How come they dropped one "a" and made it two "n"s I don't know.

Ole Flann went back to Norway after he had been here a few years and brought their parents over to America.

Their parents lived with John Flann's after I remember them but maybe they lived some place else when they first came over. I do remember that they spent the summers with us. What a day that was when we drove down to get Grandma and Grandpa each summer, "this little girl just couldn't get going early enough!" But come fall she was not in any hurry at all for the day when we took them back to Uncle John's. Still I loved to go there to visit with all those Cousins - they were never too grown-up or busy to visit their little cousin.

NAVY LARSON, Daughter of Annie Flann Mattson "Got to remembering" and Contributed this information.