Ted came to the United States on November 22, 1901 with his sister Sigrid. First he went to his brother Oscar in Canova, SD and worked for him for about 9 years. Among other things, he helped Oscar build his house.

In 1910, Ted went on to Wibaux County, Montana, where he bought land and homesteaded. He married and raised a family.

The farm crops were not too successful, so he did different outside work to supplement. He was a mailman for several years. He had three horses which he alternated each day. He had a buckboard (a small light four wheel wagon).

Winters could be very severe, cold and windy! They lived in a sod house. In spite of the fact that it was only 300 feet fromt he house to the barn, Ethel had to tie a rope around Ted so he would not get lost on his way back to the house.

Harold and Bernard were born here. Harold at home, Bernard in the nearest town, Beach, ND.

In 1914, Ted had an auction sale and sold off his farm equipment, his stock and furniture and moved to Medford, Oregon. His father and mother-in-law had moved there previously. He worked on a fruit farm there. It was not too good there. It was hard to get work. Robert was born during this time.

Some of the in-laws lived in Enumclaw, Washington. That was a Scandinavian community. Earlier they were advertising for help in the sawmills, even in Sweden and Norway. It is situated near Seattle, 38 miles southeast . Ted contacted the relatives and went up there. He got work at a camp at a sawmill three miles outside Enumclaw.

With his farm experience, they had him take care of the cattle. The company had several logging camps and should feed the loggers. Ted had to slaughter animals every week.

The company allowed him to keep a cow for personal use. It produced quite a bit of milk, which Ethel bottled and sold. Perhaps he got the idea of selling milk from Oscar and Victor.

Ethel was born in Jackson County, Wisconsin in 1890. She died during a flu epidemic on Feb 11, 1919. It was a tragedy. Ted had a rough time. All the family were in the hospital or with friends with the flu when she died.

Ethel’s brother took care of the funeral while Ted was in the hospital. After that, the boys lived with different families. One family wanted to adopt Stanford, who was only 11 months old when his mother died. Ted did not want to break the family up.

Later, all the boys lived with the uncle and aunt in Walla Walla, Washington, 300 miles from Enumclaw.

Ethel’s mother moved back to Enumclaw. After six months, she took Harold and Bernard home. The lived in a small house at the mill camp.

About 1922, Ted moved from the camp into town where he bought a house. Ethel’s mother stayed with them, before moving gack to Walla Walla. She died in 1924. The boys were raised in this house through their high school years.

That same year, Ted bought a shoe shop. That was the first time he worked with shoes in the US. He had learned the profession from his brother, Henrik, Lena Jarskog’s grandfather.

In the mid-twenties, Theodore began to study Christian Science. There were very few days that he did not read and study the Bible. All the family went to church, Ted until his death.

Ted did not play any instrument, but he was interested in music. Harold got a saxophone on 1927. Bernard took piano lessons. Robert had a violin and later switched to drums. Stanford played the banjo.

The oldest three boys and another boy had a band together. Ted gave them instructions and listentd to them. They played at high school, in resort towns from 1927 to 1935. Stanford did not play so much because he was younger.

The family broke up in 1935 and they played very little after that. Harold had an organ in his home in San Leandro for many years.

Another of Ted’s hobbies was sport fishing. All the boys were also fond of this activity. In Enumclaw, they had good fishing, as later in Port Angels, Washington.

In 1935, the boys were all through school, except Stanford, who went to college.

During the depression they could not get a job. Ted bought a shoe repair shop for Harold and Bernard in Port Angels, Washington. It had 10,000 inhabitants and was situated 200 miles from Enumclaw, 17 miles across the straits of Juan De Fuca from Victoria, Canada.

They did not do well up there. They were Scandinavian, but moved into an Italian community. They were protestants, the community was catholic. After about a year, Bernard went home and worked in the sawmill. Later he was a carpenter and contractor.

Harold repaired the shop, cut the rent by getting rid of part of the house. At that time, Harold was married. For 4 years they lived in 2 rooms behind the shop. When Richard was born in 1939, they bought a house.

In 1940, Harold moved the shoe repair shop into a new location for about 2 years. Then he sold it. He began to work for a shipyard for a year, until they closed. Then he worked at the Puget Sound Navy Shipyards.

In 1946, Harold moved to California to work for General Motors truck plant in Oakland. He retired in 1974.

Abbie Larson was married to a man from Norway. He had property in Norway. They lived in Enumclaw, next door to Theodore until 1926. After Ethel died, her mother cried on Abbie’s shoulder. Abbie’s husband died in 1929. After that, Abbie visited Theodore’s family. Finally, in 1942, after all the boys were raised and gone, they were married. They lived happily for 20 years.

When Ted retired, he and Abbie went down to San Diego to find a nice climate. After a while, they moved to the desert where there were mineral hot springs and very hot. It was near the Salton Sea, California. They lived in a camp in a tent for 5 years. That did good for their health. Abbie had arthrosis in her hips. She took many baths for relief.

Then they moved to Los Angeles. Thre Ted had his first heart attack. Ted moonlighted at a dancehall. They lived in San Leandro for a short time. Then they returned to their home in Enumclaw for several years.

While on a trip to California in 1960, Theodore had a heart attack at Harold’s home in San Leandro and died. He was buried at the Enumclaw Cemetery.