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Rost/Svee Family Lineage

The Svee family originated in Norway. When immigrating to the United States,
the Svee surname was changed by two brothers, Christ and John Svee,
to Rost.  Rost was the family name of their landlord or" hooseman."
Changing a name in this way was a common practice.

LEKSVIK, NORWAY

Christopher Olson Hjellupuvik & Karen Oldsdatter

circa late 1700's, early 1800's
Christopher Hjellupuvik and Karen Oldsdatter were the parents of

Johannes Hjellupuvik Svee.

Johannes Svee married Beret Dorthea Christopherdatter Bian, daughter of Kristoffer Johnsen Bian and Gunhild Johnsdatter.

 

Johannes Christopherson Hjellupuvik Svee 1823-1896

After their marriage, Beret Dorthea Christophersdatter Bian (1834-1908, Norway) and JoHanne Christopherson Hjellupuvik Svee lived a few miles from beautiful Leksvik, Norway. Their house was perched on a narrow spit of land backed by a mountainside that almost came into the back side of the house. Away from the wall of rock, the front of the house faced a dramatic view dropping away to a steep, tree covered slope, then into the blue waters of a fjord. The view was spectacular with the contrast of sky and land plunging into the water below. The property was small with a cottage house where their nine children were raised. The beautiful vista and foundation of the house are all that remain. Two sons, Christ and John would leave this place to begin a new life and a new chapter in the United States. None of the other children would leave their homeland.

 

THE UNITED STATES

A Tale of Two Brothers, Christ and John

Kristoffer Rost & Anne Martha Dahl

Anne Martha Dahl came to America from Norway with her parents in 1881 settling in Ulen, Minnesota, a haven for Norwegian immigrants.

Seeking adventure, Christ, his brother John and a friend, Christ Carlson arrived from Trodhiem, Norway in 1883 settling in Muskegon, Michigan where they worked in a lumber camp. Young, strong and healthy, logging was exhausting, but good work for these young men.  Family stories tell that Christ left a young lady behind in Norway, fleeing a serious relationship with her. John, five years Christ's junior, was 16 years old when he immigrated to America under the careful eye of his older brother.

As was customary in Norway, the two brothers changed their surname from Svee to Rost, the name of their "hooseman" or landlord. In this case, the landlord was also a family friend. Work was plentiful and the brothers were up to the challenge. After a few years, the two moved to Clay County, Minnesota. Christ, handsome and sporting a large mustache, caught the eye of pretty Anne Dahl. Though it is likely they knew each other in Norway, they reconnected in the states. Anne and Christ were married in 1888 in Fargo, North Dakota. Brother John also found a young immigrant bride from Norway. Her name was Ellen Marie Swenson. John and Ellen raised five children: Oscar, Joseph, Clifford, Inga and Ethel.

In 1908 Christ and Annie moved to eastern Montana to homestead. They settled about three miles from Ollie, Montana. Christ farmed as a young man, then was the janitor for the Ollie high school for 25 years. Together Christ and Annie raised six sons, Carl, Norman, Oliver, Alvin, Arnold and Elmer. Christ and Annie were very happy together, always laughing and holding hands. They were married for 65 years. Annie passed away in 1955. Christ followed in 1957. Many Rost descendants remain in the Baker area.

Christ and Annie were our first immigrant ancestors from Norway. A large branch of this family remains in Trodjhiem, Norway where the land has been in our family since the 1200's. Others family are in Leksvik, Oslo and Franhiem.

Christ & Annie - Married 65 Years

 

Christ Rost Family

Top row: Alvin, Carl and Norman.
Bottom Row: Oliver, Annie, Elmer, Christ and Arnold.
 

Norman Rost and Brothers


 

Pictured here are three of Christ
and Anne's sons, Norman Rost
(center) and two of his brothers
at the time they lived in Ollie.

 

John Rost Family

John Rost Married Ellen Marie Swenson in 1892. He was a carpenter
and ran a feed mill at Ulen Mill (Minnesota) for several years. Five children
were born to this family. Oscar, Joseph, Clifford, Inga (Mrs Albert
Olson), and Ethel (not yet born in this photo).

John Rost Family Note

Note: Joseph (d. age 45), married Anna and produced two children: James and Lowell, "Archie". Archie died young. Jim (James) married Esther Larson from Minot ND in 1946. Jim and Esther had five children: 1) James b. 1947, 2) Steve b. 1951, 3) Richard b. 1955, 4) David "John" b. 1956, and 5) Carol Anne (Evans) b. 1958.
 

John Rost with his son Oscar and nephew Oliver
Rost. This photograph must have been taken after
the turn of the century but probably before 1910.
John, like his brother Christ, wore a large,
full mustache and had the look of a Scandinavian immigrant.
The boys look like they are not yet 20 years of age. Notice
the different boots that John seated on the left and Oscar
seated on the right are wearing. Oscars are high button tops,
or spats. Their hats are also typical of the day.



 

 

Jim and Esther Rost circa 1946

.

Jim and Esther Rost live in Seattle, Washington.
This photo was taken in Seattle probably on or
near 4th Avenue. Jim is the son of Joseph and
Anna Rost and the grandson of John Rost
and Ellen Marie Swenson.

 

 

Norman Rost & Bertha Carter Rost

John Norman Rost ( 1898-1970) was the second son of Christ and Annie Dahl Rost.

He was raised in the Ollie Montana country. Though born in the United States, Norman spoke with a Norwegian brogue inherited from his parents. It was most pronounced when he was angry.

In 1919 Norman met a local Ollie girl, Bertha Dora Carter, daughter of James Bright and Alice Jane (Brewer) Carter, at a dance in Ollie, Montana. [See Carter lineage for more historic family ties and stories plantations, slaves, cattle drives, native Americans, and living in dug outs on the river bank]. Bertha was quite taken with the neat little man with the good looks who was rather bashful and drove a Maxwell car. They were married a year later May 31, 1919. Despite the 10 year age difference, Bertha and Norman were very happy together even through the difficult times of the grasshoppers and dust bowls that took out the crops.

Norman was a good manager and hard worker but had to go on W.P.A., making $44 a month and $11 of it went for a car to drive to Baker to work. During the week he live with other men in a shack and came home on weekends. Biscuits and gravy was a main staple for the family of eight. Bertha received second hand clothes for the children and they had to contend with bedbugs in the old mattress's. The children didn't know they were poor though, and they had clothes to wear and food in their stomachs. In time, things improved and Norman found a better job and returned home to his young family.

Photo: Norman, Irene, Tubby and Reva.
Norman loved to cook and taught Bertha a lot about being in the kitchen. She was raised as "one of the boys," and was more of a ranch hand than a homemaker.  Bertha and Norman farmed in Ollie until 1946 when they moved to Baker, Montana. In the Ollie and Baker area they raised six children: Irene, Reva, Tubby (Merrill), Rosie, Mervin and Alice.

 

Bertha and Norman Rost Family

The family photo, circa 1938, '39: back row
left to right, Irene, Rosie, Tubby, Reva and
Mervin. Front row: Alice, Bertha and Norman.

Norman circa 1918, WWI

During World War I, Norman was a machine gunner. He is pictured here in his "Dough Boy" military dress. Bertha was so proud of him and his service. If you look closely at the photo with Norman and the machine gun, you will see Elmer Wang peering between the gun barrel and its base.

The war years were a difficult time for a soldiers family back home. Times were lean with many shortages in food and materials. It was just about this time (1918) that Bertha lost her mother to the influenza epidemic that swept the country.

Though many of their children remained in Baker, Bertha and Norman left the familiar surroundings and lived many several locations to be near their children, finally landing in Livingston, Montana in 1965. In August 1970 Norman passed away. He was one of the last WW I vets to be buried at Custer Battlefield. Bertha passed away in 1988 as is buried in the same plot at the battlefield.

 


 

Irene Norma Rost and John Thomas Ferrel 2nd

.

Irene 1920-1998

Irene Norma Rost was the oldest of the six children. She was born 7 April 1920. As a young girl it was difficult growing up during the Depression and the war years in Ollie. Irene was very pretty and at a young age met and married John Thomas Ferrel from Baker, Montana in 1937 in a double ceremony with Irene's cousin Florence and Tommy's brother Allie. They were married in Hardin, Montana on their way to work at the Toleman Ranch in Clark, Wyoming. In the beginning, they even lived in a sheep wagon for a short time. Several family members would work at the Toleman Ranch, eventually returning to the Baker country.
 

Tom and Irene made their home together in Baker for many years. They were happy though times were not always easy. Tom worked for Montana Dakota Utilities as a skilled arc welder following the pipeline through Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. It was always fun when he would take us to the plant to see the big Turbines at work. I loved looking into his metal lunchbox to see what goodies it held. At home, I would press my face to the window and watch for him to return from work each afternoon.

Sadness struck with the loss of their first born, Larry at the tender age of one year. Three months later penicillin came out on the market, which could have saved his life. Larry is buried in the Ferrel plot at Ollie cemetery.

Irene was ambitious and attended Black Hills Teacher's College in Spearfish, South Dakota. She taught or substitute taught in a one room country school for a short time in the mid 1950's. I remember her showing the children coins and teaching them how to make change correctly. Some of the children had never held coins before. I was too young for school, but would go with her for the day while she taught. Irene was a talented artist and I would sit, fascinated and watch while she drew our portraits. She was my first inspiration to become a professional artist.

Life was one big extended family surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and many brothers and sisters. Picnics and get to getter's in the homes of family and friends to play cards and socialize were great entertainment without a lot of expense. Irene would artfully turn hand-me-down cloths, especially the longer, full skirts, into coats and shirts for the children.

The ice cream shop with it's giant cone atop the roof was just a couple of blocks away. On a hot summer day a nickel would buy a cold soft serve ice cream cone that had to be eaten quickly to keep it from dripping down your arm. A real treat was getting to go to the local movie theater. I remember falling asleep on my father's shoulder watching "The Ten Commandments."
Trips to an aunt and uncles farm was especially fun because we could ride horseback and pretend cowboys and Indian's or battle to keep the pony from taking you under a low branch or the clothes line to knock you out of the saddle. I managed to hang myself upside down on a barbed wire fence falling from a horse. A rush to town and Dr. Hoggeboom stitched up the back of my leg at the tender age of six.

In 1957 the family moved to Mile City, then on to Worland, Wyoming. Irene and Tom were married for 23 years and produced five children together before going their separate ways (Larry b. 1937- d. 1938, Myrna b. 1940, Dave b. 1945, Cheri, that's me, b. 1950, and Kim b. 1957. All were born in and around the Baker, Ollie area). Irene remained in and around the Billings area for the rest of her life. She married to G. Sidney McDonnell in 1962. They purchase a bakery and lived in Red Lodge for many years. Together they had two children, Darla b. 1962 and Shane b. 1963. Irene passed away in 1998 in Billings, Montana. She always retained close ties to family and friends in Baker and visited there often throughout her life.

Tom returned to retire in Baker where he lives today (see Gabriel Ferrel Legacy at page bottom for historic Ferrel family information). Many Christ Rost and Norman Rost family descendents remain in Baker.

History Note

Irene's history on her paternal side leads us back to a large cotton plantation in Alabama with slaves, connections to Native Americans, (her grandmother was half Cherokee) as well as back to colonial Virginia and King Carter and even further back to the Herrings and Wiggins families from England. Irene's grandfather, William Carter, fought for the Confederacy out of Texas during the Civil War.

 

 

Alvin Rost

 

 


Arnold Rost

.

Arnold is the second youngest of Christ and Annie’s six sons. He was born 31 January 1904, in Ulen Minnesota and died 4 March 1984, at the age of 80. Arnold was a professional house painter. Mary was a beautician. They lived in Baker and Ollie Montana, all or most of their lives. Arnold had a progressive hearing loss in his later years. He had a great sense of humor. Arnold and Mary had two boys, Roger and Robert.

Roger married twice and had two children: a daughter, Hope b. 1968 to first wife, and a son, Jeff b. about 1973 to Judy, his second wife. Roger has sense passed away.

Robert (born 1949), and his wife Nancy live in Oregon where they are owners and managers of a merchandise marketing business throughout the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

 

Family Still in Norway

This photo is of Morrie Olson (Joseph M.), wife Gladys and daughter Debbie seated between them (bottom
row seated in center). Morrie is the grandson of John Rost through John's son Joseph and Joseph's
daughter Inga (Olson). Photo taken on a visit to Norway circa 1980's with family still living there.