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Hilmoe, Peter J. and Family
From Tydal
Norway to Baltic SD
Article
submitted by Robert Pfister as found in the
TRONDELAG-L Archives
Posted
Sunday,
September 13, 2009
In
the year of 1837, Peter J. Hilmoe was born in Tydalen
near Thronheim, Norway, the land of the midnight sun.
At the age of 20, Ane Martha (Aas) was married to
Peter J. Hilmoe. Seven sons and three daughters were
born to them on the father's farmstead in the valley
of Tydalen.
In the early spring, of 1883, Peter
J. Hilmoe, his wife Ane Martha, sold their farmstead
and home in Tydalen Valley, and their livestock and
personal property, and with their sons and daughters,
sailed for America to join their sons Svend and John
and their daughter Magnild, who with Peter J. Hilmoe's
brothers, Jens and Ole, had settled on a homestead
near Baltic, S. Dak. It was a sad parting to leave
their relatives and friends in Norway, but they had
visions of the future to look forward to. Their trip
was saddened by the death of their youngest daughter,
Seri Anna, who was seven months. She was buried at sea
in the Atlantic Ocean.
On May 29, 1883, they arrived at
their destination at Baltic, S. Dak., and had a happy
reunion with their relatives and other
friends who had arrived in South Dakota several years
previously.
Peter J. Hilmoe and family settled
on a small farm near his brother's and their families.
In the spring of 1893 they decided to move further
west, so with their covered wagons, ox teams, saddle
pony, cows, chickens and household goods, started over
the sparsely settled prairie for Chamberlain, S. Dak.
They milked their cows along the way, sold butter, and
lived off the land. When they arrived at Chamberlain,
they laid in a stock of supplies, bought lumber and
other necessities, and crossed the Missouri River on
the Pontoon Bridge to American Island, then on west up
Medicine Creek and then southwest to what is now
Presho, and staked their claims. Peter J. Hilmoe and
family located on the Southeast Quarter of Section 8,
Township 104, Range 78, and Karsten Enang on the NE of
Section 8, Township 104, Range 78. Svend built his
house about 1000 feet northwest of Peter's home, and
Gilbert built his house about 400 feet west from
Peter's home. They immediately set to work to build
dams, sheds and yards, and to fence in a small pasture
and the dams, as this was open range country.
The year 1893 was a busy year for
the little community. There were three homes to be
built, as well as sheds, fences and pole yards. Each
family acquired a team of horses and they had to put
up hay for their stock. A trip to Chamberlain, which
was fifty miles away, took three days, and this was
their only means of replenishing their groceries and
other necessities.
Ane Martha Hilmoe was the
midwife and doctor for the whole community. Their
sheep supplied their wool from which they made
sweaters, mittens, socks and other wearing apparel.
The community had quilting parties and made their own
quilts and mattresses. Their mattresses were made of
heavy ticking filled with hay. Their washing was done
on a wash board and the tubs were barrels
which had been sawed in half. Their "flat irons" were
heated on the stove for their ironing. Wild plums,
choke-cherries and buffalo berries were plentiful and
were gathered and made into jelly. Each family dried
their own beef. Cottonwood logs were hauled from White
River for heat and fuel.
A Lutheran minister or missionary
used to ride the circuit, so about once each month the
community would gather at some home for religious
services. Nels Fosness had homesteaded nearby and the
traveling minister married Nels to Kjerstie Hilmoe,
one of the daughters of Peter J. Hilmoe.
This settlement became known as
"Little Norway.” At the instigation of Jorgen J. Boe
and Nels Fosness, the church, school, post office,
general store and township were given the name of
"Hilmoe" as a tribute to the patriarch of the
community, Peter J. Hilmoe.
In 1905 the railroad between
Chamberlain and Presho was completed and an influx of
homesteaders came into the area. There was a severe
drought during the years of 1908 and 1909, and many of
the homesteaders sold their land.
On July 4, 1897, the Scandinavians
joined together for a picnic and program on White
River and it was then they received news that
Christen, the fifth son of Peter J. and Ane Martha
Hilmoe had been drowned in a flash flood while
crossing Bad River. His brothers recovered the body
and buried it along the Bad River. More than a year
later Nels Fosness, who was a cabinet maker, built a
coffin which Karsten Enang and Peter P. Hilmoe took to
the place where he had been buried and removed the
body and took it back
to Baltic, S. Dak., for burial in the East Nidaros
Cemetery.
Peter J. and Ane Martha Hilmoe
spent the remaining years of their life in the
community which they loved and built. Ane Martha died
on November 14, 1916, and her husband Peter J. lived
only a little more than a year after her death,
passing away on December 26, 1917. There was by that
time a Hilmoe Cemetery, west of Presho, the "Hilmoe
Medicine Creek Cemetery," where they were buried, and
their daughters, Kjersti and Magnild, and their son,
Peder, were buried in the Hilmoe White River Cemetery.
Son John was
buried in the West Nidaros Cemetery and Christen was
buried in the East Nidaros Cemetery near Baltic, S.
Dak. Svend, Gilbert and Ole were buried west of Presho
in the Hilmoe Medicine Creek Cemetery. Peter P. Hilmoe
is staying at the Bethesda Lutheran Home at Beresford,
S. Dak. At 91, ( in 2004) he is still hale and hardy
for his age.
The family of Peter J. Hilmoe and
Ane Martha Hilmoe, 1837 to 1967, consisted of the
following:
Peter J. Hilmoe: Born Tydalen,
Throndheim, Norway, February 7, 1837. Passed away at
his homestead, December 26, 1917.
Ane Martha (Aas) Hilmoe: Born
Tydalen, Throndheim, Norway, September 2, 1838. Passed
away at the homestead, SE Sec. 8 Hilmoe Township,
November 14, 1916.
The seven sons and three daughters
listed below were baptized in the Evangelical Lutheran
church in Tydalen, Norway. All were born on their
father's and mother's farm in Tydalen.
John Hilmoe: Born August 2, 1859,
and passed away on his farmstead three miles east of
Baltic, S. Dak. on May 31, 1941.
Svend Hilmoe: Born December 28,
1860. Passed away at his home, SE 8 104-78, November
8, 1906.
Gilbert Hilmoe: Born October 24,
1865. Passed away at Methodist Hospital, Mitchell, S.
Dak., January 3, 1916.
Magnild (Hilmoe) Enang: Born August
16, 1870 passed away at her homestead, NE 8 Hilmoe
Township, December 27, 1951.
Peder Hilmoe: Born September 24,
1872 and passed away at Bethesda Lutheran Home,
Beresford, S. Dak., on February 10, 1958.
Christen Hilmoe: Born April 16,
1874. He drowned in the Bad River during a flash flood
while crossing the swollen stream, July 1, 1897.
Peter P. Hilmoe: Born April 14,
1876. He took over his father's farmstead after his
death. He is retired and is now staying at the
Bethesda Lutheran Home at Beresford, S. Dak.
Kjersti (Hilmoe) Fosness: Born
February 1, 1878. She passed away July 28, 1939, at
St. Mary's Hospital, Pierre, S. Dak.
Ole Hilmoe: Born May 29, 1880.
Passed away at homestead, SE'4 8 104-78, September 14,
1903. He died of wounds after being trampled by a team
of wild horses.
Seri Anna: Born November 1882.
Passed away and was buried at sea the middle of May
1883.
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