Otbragde-Otheim Family History

This artifact is in a bound book with copies of type-written biographies followed by photocopies of personal documents in both English and Norwegian, and obituaries, photographs, news articles, and other documents pertaining to the family history.There is also an inventory of family antiques in the Otheim home as of 1972, and descriptions of the origins of certain family heirlooms. While most of the history pertains to the Otbragde family since the mid 17th Century, in the back there is a longer genelogical chart that dates back to 1250 and traces the lineage of Tallak Ulvsson Brokka.

Historical Note

The family history begins with Captain Bersvein (Olson) Kring, who was born some time around 1640 and became an army captain. His wife's name was Berte Nilsdotter Grue, and they were the owners of the Otbragde farm after the John Rotem, who is recorded to have owned it in 1627. Members of the family were also known to work as schoolmasters in addition to their work on the farms. The Otbragde farm was passed down through the family, but as the family grew and the railroad in Norway was constructed, the farm was divided up. As was the case with many of these larger Norwegian family farms, by the mid to late 19th Century, there was not enough land for each branch of the family to successfuly manage a farm, and therefore brothers ohannes (John) and Sigurd Otbragde emigrated to America, and established businesses in the Dakotas. There they established hardware and automobile retail busineses, and their descendents went on to attend college and continue in commercial industry.