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Subject: [SDCLAY] (no subject)
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 00:16:01 EST

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This is a page from a family history collected and written by Mrs. Norma Jean
Bye.
Gunelia is my great grandmother on my father's side.


A Little About Otto N. & Ragnhild BYE's Lives
(This Couple Adopted My Great Grandmother)

Otto Nicholas Bye Ragnhild Kjeldseth
Born: 8 August 1835 26 February 1842
Verdalen, Norway Verdalen, Norway
Died: 7 May 1914 28 December 1928
Married 20 March 1861 in Norway
Both Buried in Yankton, South Dakota
They had four children, The first died in early life
The surviving children were named Albert, Charles and Ellen.

Otto was 45 and Ragnhild was 42 years old. They had three children:
Albert, Charles 17,
Ellen 12 and one adopted daughter Gunelia (Nellie) 22, immigrated to America
from the port of
Trondheim, Norway. It took seven weeks by boat and train for them to get to
Sioux City, Iowa. It
was right about the time of the flood of 1881. Otto pawned some silver
teaspoons for money and
got as far as Vermillion, South Dakota, where the railroad tracks were out.
They walked about
thirty miles following the bluff hoping to get to the Old Tore Hoxeng farm
(people they knew
from Norway). But it got dark, so they stayed at a farm house owned by a
young couple with a
small boy. They had fresh milk, but didn't like it. They wanted sour instead,
so they put cinnamon
in it and drank it that way. The next morning they walked to the Hoxeng's and
stayed with them
for a few days. The Hoxeng's took them to Ole and Sarah Kjeldseth in Irene,
South Dakota in an
old wagon (Ole & Sarah, Otto & Ragnhild were double brother and sister). They
did not have
room so some slept in the grain bins. As they were going to Ole's with the
Hoxeng's the bridge
over Turkey Creek was out, so they had quite a time getting across.
After a few days they started a homestead near Irene. Otto didn't farm
very long. Horses
were much too expensive and as many as eight oxen were needed in a team.
After the ground
was broken, the grasshoppers moved in and took the crops for many years in
succession. They
lived in a dugout. A better dwelling was sorely needed by the family, But no
lumber was
available closer then Sioux City, Iowa, Around 70 miles away. They were
informed that a hill
nearby contained chalk rock. Blocks were sawed from this hill and used to
construct the new
house.
In 1891 the family moved to 315 Picotte Street, Yankton, South Dakota,
where they ran a
boarding house for Great Northern Railroad men. They were great for taking in
children to raise.
They took care of Rose Bye, Albert's daughter, after Albert left his wife and
children. They also
adopted Marie Hart Bye after they came to America. She was born 9 Sept. 1882.
Mr. and Mrs. Bye celebrated their golden anniversary in their home in
Yankton on 20
March 1911. Three years later, 7 May 1914, Otto passed away, aged 77 years, 9
months. He died
in the hospital. Ragnhild, in spi

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