Carl Gunnerius Aamodt, 1868

Head and shoulders of a man in his forties with greying hair and a heavy moustache, in a dark suit and patterned tie — Restored · see original

Carl was born at Lille Åmot in Trøgstad, Norway, on July 6, 1868, the son of a farmer who owned his land. He sailed from ChristianiaChristiania Norway's capital, spelled Kristiania from the late 1800s and renamed Oslo in 1925. Emigrants from eastern Norway sailed from its harbor, and the city's police kept a register of them as they left. All the words on the Rollo on May 25, 1888, at nineteen, on a prepaid ticket to Chicago, and settled first at Franklin in Renville County, Minnesota. He married Mina Pederson there in 1893. In June 1895 the state census found him farming in Camp Township, Renville County, with his brother Martin, Mina, their baby son Guy, and Martin’s wife and daughter. After three failed crops he and his brother Torval took horses and machinery to Alberta in 1895, and came back the next summer by wagon through Montana, about 1,200 miles, writing home all the way: The Long Way to Langdon. He reached Moscow Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota, on July 11, 1896, and took a homestead there. He signed his name Carl G. Amoth by 1894, and became a citizen in 1900.

He was secretary of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church from its organization in 1905, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors from its organization in 1909, assessor from 1910, and on the school board for eleven years. In 1914 he and Torval went back to Norway to see their father. Days in the life of Carl and Mina Amoth follows the farm and the neighborhood in his last years.

On May 6, 1924, he went to Langdon with a delegation about the township’s roads and was stricken over lunch. He died the next morning. Nearly a thousand people came to his funeral. His obituary gives the rest.

His story, from the records

Lille Åmot, the spring of 1888, Karl, Aamodt and Amoth, and the brother who stayed.

In his own words: The Long Way to Langdon (his letters)

Read alsoObituary, Cavalier County Republican, May 8, 1924: the Langdon paper on his last day and his life, in full, with the report of his funeral

Timeline

Jul 6, 1868Born Lille Åmot, Trøgstad, Østfold, Norway source
Aug 23, 1868Baptized Trøgstad, Østfold, Norway source
1875Lived Lille Åmot, Trøgstad, Østfold, Norway source
Oct 7, 1883Confirmed Trøgstad, Østfold, Norway source
May 25, 1888Emigrated Christiania (Oslo), Norway, Aboard the Rollo, booked to Chicago, passage prepaid. source
Nov 15, 1893Married Mina Pederson, Renville County, Minnesota, USA
Nov 5, 1894Declared for citizenship Renville County, Minnesota, USA source
1895Lived Camp Township, Renville County, Minnesota, USA source
1900Lived Moscow Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota, USA source
Oct 15, 1900Naturalized Cavalier County, North Dakota, USA source
1910–1920Lived Moscow Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota, USA source
May 7, 1924Died Moscow Township, Cavalier, North Dakota, United States record
May 11, 1924Buried Wales, Cavalier, North Dakota source

Family

Parents: Gulbrand Gulbrandsen 1830–1918
Karen Kirstine Torkildsdatter Studsrud 1843–1913
Spouse: Mina Pederson
Children: Guy Aamodt 1894–1975
Mina Aamodt c. 1896–1900
Anna Caroline Aamodt 1899–1927
Christian “Chris” Amoth 1903–1975
Clarice Aamodt 1911–2006
Marie Amoth
Siblings: Thorvald (Tom) Aamodt 1870–1938
Martin Sevaren Knudson Aamodt 1872–1917
Christian Gulbrandsen b. 1874
Johan Gudbrandsen Aamodt 1876–1947
Nikoline “Lina” Aamodt 1878–1961
Gudbrand Arnt Aamodt 1881–1964
Anna Gulbrandsen 1883–1970
Rina Caroline 1858–1905

Chart

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Photographs (10)

A young man with a large moustache, his arm on a book on a fringed stand, beside a young woman in a long dress with a wreath of flowers in her hair and a bouquet, in front of a painted studio backdrop — Carl Aamodt and Mina Pederson in wedding clothes. The family tree dates their wedding Nov. 15, 1893, two years before Carl went to Alberta. Restored · see originalIn it: Carl Gunnerius Aamodt, Mina Pederson · about 1893

A studio portrait of a family: a man with a heavy moustache and a woman in a dark lace blouse standing at the back; in front, a boy in a tweed suit, a small child in a frilled blouse on a draped chair, and a girl with a large bow in her hair — Carl and Mina Amoth with their children, about 1906. Front, from left: Guy, eleven; Chris, three; and Anna, six. Restored · see originalIn it: Carl Gunnerius Aamodt, Mina Pederson, Guy Aamodt, Christian (Chris) Amoth, Anna Caroline Aamodt · about 1906

A studio portrait of a family of seven: a girl in a white dress and a young man in a suit standing at the back; a man with a heavy moustache, a woman in a dark dress and a boy in a suit in the middle; two small girls in white dresses on the man's and the woman's laps — Carl and Mina Amoth and their children, about 1914. Back: Anna and Guy. Middle, from left: Carl, Mina and Chris. On their laps, Marie and Clarice, who, a note with the photograph says, thought she was two and a half. Restored · see originalIn it: Anna Caroline Aamodt, Guy Aamodt, Carl Gunnerius Aamodt, Mina Pederson, Christian (Chris) Amoth, Marie (Amoth) Berkeland, Clarice Amoth · about 1914

Farm buildings on a flat prairie, with a caption across the photograph — Carl Amoth’s farm, about 1910, in Moscow Township, Cavalier County, as written on the photograph. Restored · see originalIn it: Carl Amoth · Moscow Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota · about 1910

A new two-storey farmhouse with a line of early motorcars and guests in front of it — “Housewarming, Carl Amoth’s, Oct. 1, 1916,” as written on the photograph.In it: Carl Amoth · North Dakota · Oct 1, 1916

Four women and two men in winter coats, several with fur collars, stand in the snow between two Model T touring cars in front of a white farmhouse, with a small Christmas tree between them and a dog looking up at the young man on the right — Christmas 1923 at the homestead in Moscow Township. From left, in the order Pete’s album lists them: Anna, Carl, Marie, Clarice, Mina and Chris Amoth. Clarice, who was twelve, was sure of the year because Carl died the following May. RestoredIn it: Carl Gunnerius Aamodt, Marie (Amoth) Berkeland, Clarice Amoth, Mina Pederson, Christian (Chris) Amoth · Moscow Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota · 1923

An old white-haired man, two middle-aged men with moustaches and a woman with her hair piled up, seated around a carved table with a vase of flowers, in front of a painted landscape — Gulbrand Aamot with three of his children, from left in the order a note in Pete’s files lists them: Gulbrand, Tom, Lina and Carl. The note says, on the word of Pete’s aunt Clarice, that it was taken in 1914, when Tom and Carl went back to Norway, a year after their mother died. Lina was Nikoline Aamodt; in 1903 she married Rudolf Mansrud, a photographer at Askim and Mysen. Restored · see originalIn it: Gulbrand Gulbrandsen Aamot, Thorvald "Tom" Aamodt, Nikoline (Lina) Aamodt Mansrud, Carl Gunnerius Aamodt · Norway · 1914

Five people in front of a painted backdrop of trees, framed in a vignette: at the back, a man with a moustache, a woman in a dark dress with a lace collar, and a taller man; in front, an old white-haired man and a man with a heavy moustache, seated. “Carl” and “Tom” are written in ink across the two men on the right. — Gulbrand Aamot with Lina, Tom and Carl, and Lina’s husband, Rudolf Mansrud, probably on Tom and Carl’s 1914 visit. At the back, from left: Rudolf, Lina and Tom; in front, Gulbrand and Carl. “Carl” and “Tom” are written on the photograph; the others are named in a note in Judy Amoth’s album. Restored · see originalIn it: Nikoline (Lina) Aamodt Mansrud, Thorvald "Tom" Aamodt, Gulbrand Gulbrandsen Aamot, Carl Gunnerius Aamodt · Norway · about 1914

A long white farmhouse in Norway with people standing at its door — Carl Aamodt’s home in Norway before he emigrated. The note with the photograph says it is still a farm and still in the family: his brother Arnt took it over in 1907, and Arnt’s daughter Kirsten after him. Restored · see originalIn it: Carl Amoth · Norway

Sources

Birth · Jul 6, 1868Trøgstad parish register — Carl Gunnerius baptism no. 80 (1868), p. 47. National Archives of Norway ↗
Residence · 18751875 Norway census — Trøgstad, Lille Åmot household and agricultural schedules. National Archives of Norway ↗
Confirmation · Oct 7, 1883Trøgstad ministerialbok I 10 — Carl’s confirmation, 7 October 1883. National Archives of Norway ↗
Emigration · May 25, 1888Christiania emigrant protocol 15 — Karl G. Aamodt, Rollo departure, 25 May 1888. National Archives of Norway ↗
Declaration of intention · Nov 5, 1894Renville County declarations — Carl G. Amoth and Tom Amoth, 5 November 1894. FamilySearch ↗
Census · 1895Minnesota state census 1895 — Camp Township, Renville County, household 99. Minnesota Historical Society ↗
Census · 19001900 census — United States
Naturalization · Oct 15, 1900Cavalier County naturalization — Carl Amoth, 15 October 1900. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
Residence · 19101910 census — United States
Census · 19201920 census — United States
Death · May 7, 1924North Dakota death certificate 1170 (1924) Carl’s death on May 7, 1924, in Moscow Township. His son Guy gave the particulars. State of North Dakota, Bureau of Vital Statistics. Image: Ancestry. The cause of death is blanked out in this copy. View the record
Burial · May 11, 1924Our Savior Lutheran, Wales — Carl (Amoth) Aamodt burial, 1924. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
Obituary, Cavalier County Republican, May 8, 1924 The Langdon paper on his death and his life, with the report of his funeral, given in full. Typed copy in the scrapbook kept by Judy Amoth and her mother, Clara. The original page hasn't been found. Read it
Lusitania returning U.S. citizens — Carl and Tom Amoth, 10 July 1914. Returning U.S. citizens, p. 65, rows 8–9: Tom Amoth, 44, and Carl Amoth, 46. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
British Prince passenger arrival, Philadelphia, 12 June 1888 — candidate identity. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 June 1888, p.6 — shipping background. 12 June1888,p.6
Carl Amoth obituary, 1924 — family typed copy. Family typed copy,1924; source-file-manifest.json item11

Leads, from other researchers’ trees:

FamilySearch Family Tree on MyHeritage (account needed)