Rindal Genealogy

My paternal grandfather was born in 1907 in Rindal, Norway. When he was 17 years old, Olaf immigrated with his family from Rindal, in 1923. In Norway, his name was Olaf Johnson Brandhaugen (or Brannhaugen), since he was John's son and lived on the Brandhaugen farm, in the Rindal community. His father's name was John Holte (from the Holte farm) and his mother's last name was Kristi Rindal (from Rindal, Norway). Norwegians had fairly strict naming laws, and roughly required a first name, the official baptised named, a second name, the name of the father combined with "son" or "datter" depending on gender of the child, and the last name from the farm the child lived on. Also, the first male child had to be named after the paternal grandfather, the second male child after the maternal grandfather, and so on. The first female was named after the maternal grandmother and the second female child after the paternal grandmother, and so on.

A person could originally be named, such as my grandfather, Olaf Johnson Brandhaugen, but go by a different last name after moving to a different farm. One of Olaf's older brothers, Mikkel Johnson Brandhaugen, married and then moved to a different farm nearby called Gryttbk (roughly pronounced gritbekka), which was also called Myksett. Mikkel was then also known as Mikkel Johnson Gryttbk.

After immigrating in 1923, Olaf spent a few months in Wisconsin with relatives that had previously emigrated from the Rindal area. During the winter of 1923, Olaf traveled with nine (9) other family members, including two small children, in a touring car which had no windows but only side curtains, through Montana and to the Seattle, Washington area.

A few of his family members, Peder, Mike and Chris, decided to stay in Washington, but Olaf and his brothers Lars and Anton, and his sister Pauline, returned to Fergus County, around Lewistown, Montana. Olaf homesteaded on the Missouri River. Pauline married George Knutson and remained in the Lewistown area.

I have been in contact with a few relatives still in Norway.

Tor Albu is planning on a trip to the United States and has been putting together his portion of the family genealogy. He is working on a project tracking all the approximately 1,300 immigrants from Rindal, Norway. This first immigrant left around 1853.

Magne Bjornstad, a relative to Oline Rindal, who married Peder Rindal, one of my grandfather Olaf Rindal's older brothers, still lives in the Rindal, Norway area. As you can see in my chart, Oline passed away in 1990. Olaf Rindal is still alive and doing pretty good. He lives by himself in Lewistown, Montana and has family visit him on the weekends or when they are passing through town. The Lewistown area is interesting and is made up of many smaller towns. Lewistown is the county seat for Fergus County, where I grew up. The weather is on the average very nice, with summers providing wide open blue skies. However, the winters tend to provide more snow and ice than the rest of the region because Lewistown is nestled between several mountain ranges.

I am currently researching genealogy on the Rindal family. There appears to be several families in the United States bearing the Rindal surname. I am unsure what, if any, degree of relation they might be. There is at least two (2) other farms named Rindal, both around Lillehammer, but only one town named Rindal. If you know of any Rindal, keeping in mind that U.S. Customs gave the name to people and therefore several spellings might be found, such as Rindahl or Rindall, please forward any information to me. Some Rindal immigrants also changed the spelling of Rindal, probably when they attempted to spell it phonetically. I will further research the family relationships and return any information to the provider of such information.

There is apparently a Rindal family in the Chicago area. Ellen Rindal, an attorney, resides in the area. There is a small town called Rindal, Minnesota also. Joel Rindal is a judge living in the Seattle, Washington area. A group of Rindals live in the Fairfield, Montana area, but they believe they are from a different farm and not Rindal township. I have received e-mail from a Rindal in California also. Please send any and all information to me. Your help will be greatly appreciated.