Like most Americans, my heritage is as mixed as a can of holiday nuts. There’s a lot about it that I don’t know. My father’s side of the family is still a big mystery to me. The one time I asked him where we came from, he said, “I think the Maddys came from Kansas.” This wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for, but it turns out that there is a branch of the Maddy family in Kansas that is prominent and successful.
As to where we came from before Kansas, I haven’t been able to find out. Maddy is one of those names that is found all over the British Isles. I’ve found the Maddy name associated with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, so it’s possible that we came from any one of those places. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever discover the exact town or village where my last European Maddy ancestor was born.
For my mother’s side of the family, however, it’s an entirely different story, particularly concerning my maternal grandmother. Her father’s parents were named Andersen, and they came to the United States from Norway in the early part of the 20th century. They settled in the Midwest, as did many Scandinavian immigrants. In fact, there were so many immigrants in that part of the country with the name Andersen they were having difficulty getting their mail. Eventually they ended up moving to Colorado and changing their name to Wold, the name of the farm where they lived.
Along with all of his brothers and sisters, my great grandfather was born and raised in Colorado. Although he was 100% Norwegian, he never learned any of the Norwegian language. Of his siblings, only his eldest sister ever learned any of her parents’ native language. Today perhaps immigration is seen differently than it was at the turn of the 20th century. It’s considered positive and natural for immigrants to hold onto some aspects of their native language and culture. But for my Norwegian ancestors, immigrating to the United States meant that they were making a conscious decision to leave their old country and culture behind. The quickest way to integrate was to act and speak and think like Americans. I’ll probably never know the reason why they chose to leave Norway and move to the United States, but whatever the reason was it meant leaving Norway entirely behind.
Here is the Wold family. The man in the top row. far right was my great grandfather, Charles Wold. He and his brothers and sisters were born in Colorado, USA. Only his parents, Louis and Mary Wold (Andersen) in the front row were born in Norway.
Only recently have I learned more details about my Norwegian heritage, including specifically where they came from. My grandmother, mother, and cousin took a trip to Scandinavia last summer, partially to see me, but also to visit the ancestral land and maybe even locate the village or house where my grandmother’s grandparents (my great-great grandparents) lived. This was never an easy task, and considering that the family’s Norwegian name was Andersen, one of the most common names in Norway, I didn’t hold out much hope of finding anything specific.
However, my grandmother did some research and discovered that her Norwegian grandparents came from Bergen, which today is the country’s second largest city, located in the west of Norway near Byfjorden, one the country’s stunningly beautiful fjords. She visited Bergen and found her grandfather’s name written down in a town registry, which was an amazing and unexpected revelation.
The breathtaking beauty of Bergen. Why would anybody leave such a gorgeous place?
I found the above photo at the Northern Sights website. More amazing pictures of the city can be found there.
Now that I know, specifically, where I come from I’ve decided that I simply must have my own traditional Norwegian folk costume, called bunad in Norwegian. The designs and colors of bunads are different for each region or city in Norway. Some of them can be elaborately detailed, while others are simple and elegant. The Oslo and Bergen style bunads are similar in design, each is quite simple and consists of an embroidered bodice and a matching embroidered skirt with with a white blouse and matching shawl. However, the Oslo bunad is a periwinkle blue color, while the Bergen bunad is dark blue.
I absolutely adore the Bergensbunad color and design. Apart from the embroidery it looks simple enough for me to make myself:
Simple and Elegant Bergen-style Folk Costume
