Kendall County, Illinois Genealogy

Anderson Family Reunion 1946

NEWARK

The annual reunion of the Anderson family took place Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Paulson in Saratoga. Following a potluck dinner at noon a pageant depicting the history of the Andersons was presented under the direction of Mrs. ______ Anderson of Elliot and Miss Martha Larson of Newark. Sjur Arents was born in Skaanevig, Norway, New Year's Day, 1817, and his wife was born May 10, 1828 in Flakkefjord, Norway. They were married in Kopevig, Norway, in 1852, and a few years latter set sail for America, with their two daughters, Mary and Sena (Sina K.), the later became the wife of Andrew L. Nelson who lived in Newark many years. It took eleven weeks to cross the ocean and during the voyage cholera broke out. They came by way of Buffalo, New York to Chicago and thence to Morris. Their first night in this new land they slept in a barn at Sjur Mathre's home. The next day they were taken to Lars Chally's where the Holland sisters now live and lived in one small room. This room lacked a door so they used a window for an entrance and exit, as they had to be isolated from the other family until they were over the dread disease. After six weeks they found a store building in Newark where they lived until Christmas, when they moved to a log house on Ole Duvick's farm. On Sundays they went to a small schoolhouse where the South Lisbon Lutheran Church now stands to hear the late Rev. P. A. Rasmussen preach. Mr. Arents was an excellent cooper, but barrels weren't in much demand. Mrs. Arents made rugs and wove woolens while her husband worked on farms. After four years he bought a house in Lisbon and built a home, 18x22 feet, where they lived until Mr. Arents' death in 1902. Mrs. Arents died in 1911. Mrs. William Larson, the last of their children, has occupied the home in Lisbon.

Editor's note: Sjur Arent and his wife Inger Katrine Osmundsdatter were buried in the West Lisbon Lutheran Cemetery under the names Severt Anderson and Inger Katrine (Osmundson) Anderson.