Arne Lima i Griggs County i Nord Dakota - av Karleif Lende

På en av mine turer i USA kom jeg over en veldig interessant bok fra Griggs County i Nord Dakota. I dette distriktet slo en mengde utvandrere fra Rogaland seg ned. Steder som Cooperstown, Binford og Hannaford går igjen i mange beretninger fra Amerika.Denne boka har i en del år nå ligget digitalisert på Internett, og kan finnes på http://www.webfamilytree.com/Griggs_County_Centennial/index.htmHer er utrolig mange beretninger fra de som var i dette området fra før 1900 og fremover.Av de familier som er nevnt har jeg funnet at omtrent 40 av de familiene som er nevnt, har jeg mer eller mindre slektskap til. Dette har resultert i at jeg har kunnet tilføye hundrevis av nye personer i mitt slektsprogram. Som et eksempel, kan vi trekke frem Arne Lima. Han er den samme som en finner i Gards- og ættesoga for Gjesdal, bind 1 side 137. Der heter han Ådne og er sønn av David Lima på Indre Lima.Her er beretningen om ham i boka fra Briggs County:

“Arne Lima was born at Gjesdal near Stavanger, Norway on July 4, 1872. Like so many others he decided to seek his fortune in the land of opportunity and in the spring of 1893 he emigrated to America.

He had borrowed money for his ticket so the uppermost thought in his mind was to find work as soon as possible in order that he might pay off this debt. He worked for different farmers from time to time and for a number of years he worked at the R. C. Cooper Ranch, as did also his brother Ole. His sister, Ane Vatne, worked for Mrs. Cooper.

Later he filed on a homestead in Broadview Township where he put up a small claim shanty. After living in this one-room shanty for some time, he had HANS SELDAL build a two-room house. In the kitchen he had a range, which served for heating as well as for cooking. Much of the time flax straw was the main fuel used. One night after he had gone to bed in the other room he noticed in the darkness something glittering in the region of the chimney, and upon closer investigation he found that the rags he had stuffed into the chimney hole to keep the smoke from coming into his room had caught fire. The fire was quickly extinguished but this would no doubt have ended in tragedy had he been asleep.

After a few years he bought an adjoining quarter Section of land. Many and varied were his experiences as he began farming in 1902. He did his cooking and washing, and from a neighbor he learned to make bread. In order that he might learn to speak, read and write the English language he attended the Freer School for a couple of, winters at the end of which time he received an eighth grade diploma. Upon being asked by his teacher what he now was going to do he replied that he was going to be a farmer.

In due time he became tired of being a bachelor and on his third visit to Norway to decided to look for a help meet. He became acquainted with Karoline Vormedal from Haugesund, whom he married and brought with him back to America. He continued to live on the farm until his death, which occurred in 1954. His wife passed away in 1969.