THEIR HOME IN AMERICA
THEIR HOME IN AMERICA
Kristoffer Ulleland and Marianne Fitje grew up on neighboring farms in Naustdal. Norway. They married there in 1888. Norway’s economy was hit hard by a “depression” in the 1880s and early 1890s. [1 ] It was not easy to make a living so Kristoffer and Marianne began to think about going to America. Kristoffer’s brother, Olai, had emigrated to the Seattle area a few years earlier. He wrote letters home telling of the availability of land and the abundance of work available at good wages for those willing to work hard.
On April 27, 1890, Kristoffer and Marianne said goodbye to their home and traveled to Bergen, Norway. They spent a few days there visiting with Marianne’s sister Helle. On May 3, they left Bergen for England. From England they traveled by steamship, arriving in Halifax after 13 days on the Atlantic Ocean. They sailed on down the St. Lawrence to Quebec then traveled across Canada to Vancouver by train. They continued to Seattle by boat, arriving on May 28. [2]
Perhaps Olai met them in Seattle. It is unclear how they made their way to Kent, but they joined a small flock of immigrants from Naustdal. They stayed with one of them for a few months until their first child, a daughter Sophia, was born. Their first home was a small house on the site of what was later Kent Elementary School. [3]
Kristoffer obtained work right away. They were doing well until late 1891 or early 1892 when an infestation of hop lice decimated the hop yards in the Kent Valley. [4 ] There was no work available in Kent, so he moved north to Everett where it was plentiful. After three months, Marianne joined him there with their new little boy, Nels. They stayed about two years, then returned to Kent. Astrid had been born in Everett, so now there were five in the family.
Olai had purchased 40 acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad at what is now the northeast corner of the intersection of 116th Avenue SE and SE 256th Street. He decided that he did not want to be a farmer, and sold the property to Kristoffer and Marianne. It would be their home for the rest of their lives.
In 1894, there were no roads on the plateau. Settlers carried supplies on their backs from the trading center about three miles away in Kent. Fir trees towering 300 feet and measuring seven to eight feet in diameter covered the land. The only way to clear the land was to cut down the trees and burn the stumps.
“So it went and year by year the productive piece of land became larger.” Potatoes, turnips, fruit trees, and other food for people, pigs, and chickens were planted. The dairy herd grew to 20 cows. Christopher sold his milk to the old Carnation Condensery and a cheese factory. “Soon there was a road and a horse and wagon that made life a bit easier. Then there came explosives to work with, and land-clearing became easier.” [5]
Klara (Clara) was born in 1897, By then, Kristoffer had changed the spelling of his name to Christopher. [6]
The Norwegian settlers on the plateau gathered on Sundays. It was difficult to attend Kent Lutheran Church because of the poor roads. In 1903, Christopher and several other Norwegian settlers formed The Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Soos Creek and called a pastor. Services were conducted in Norwegian until 1921. In 1958 the name of the church was changed to Zion Lutheran Church of Kent, Washington. [7]
Christopher and Marianne’s last child, Harald, was born in 1905. The Ulleland children lived their entire lives near where they grew up on the plateau. All are buried in the Meridian Cemetery on Kent-Kangley Rd. and 156 th Ave SE, just four miles from their former farm home.
Christopher and Marianne never returned to Norway, however, all five of the Ulleland children eventually traveled to Naustdal and visited the farms their parents had left nearly 80 years before.
Barbara Mattoon
Thank you to Janet Ulleland Labes for sharing the story of her grandparents immigration to the United States and their lives here. She patiently answered my questions and politely corrected my spelling of Norwegian places and names.
1. The Economic History of Norway, Ola Honningdal Grytten, Economic History Association,
https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-economic-history-of-norway/, accessed 1 July 2024.
2. A Letter Home From Marianne, The Emigration from Naustdal, Articles, https://www.utvandring-naustdal.info/emigrant/page7.html, accessed 2 July 2024.
3. What’s It Like to Spend 404 Years In Kent?, Kent News Journal (Kent Wqashington), March 29,1977, transcription privately held by Janet Ulleland Labes [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].
4. Ezra Meeker, Ventures and adventures of Ezra Meeker; Seattle, Wash,: Rainier Printing Co., 1909. 287; digital images i(https://babel.hathitrust.org : accessed 8 July 2024.
5. They Build A Home In The Wood, Astrid Ulleland, translated from Norwegian by Harald and Lily Ulleland, Privately held by Janet Ulleland Labes [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].
6. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947, (Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington, Ancestry.com, Baptism of Clara Bertina Ulleland, image 750, accessed 1 July 2024. Perhaps a Seattle Pastor had traveled to Kent and recorded the baptisms he performed there in the records of his church.
7. Zion Lutheran Church, Our History, https://www.zionkent.org/our_history/, accessed 1 July 2024
©Barbara Boye Mattoon 2024
Thank you to Barbara for getting this story. Send yours to m.strickland@SKCGS.org
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