Ole (Ola) Ellestad was born in a humble cabin high above the fjord in Vestre Slidre, Norway. He was both tough and clever, and learned to repair shoes and harnesses, yet was best known for his story-telling, singing and fiddle playing (spelemann). In 1881, he took his family and emigrated to the USA — first to Hull, England, aboard the SS Rollo (from Kristiania) and then from Liverpool to New York aboard the SS Marathon. He ended up on a farm south of Valders that had belonged to his wife's uncle. Some of his exploits, when he briefly returned to Norway in 1923, are recounted in the book "Gamalt fraa Valdres, Kristiania, H. Aschehough & Co., 1911"— written in the Valdres dialect. (His nickname as a young lad in Norway was "Åsagutten", which loosely translates into "Boy on the Ridge".)
Ole (Ola) Ellestad was born in a humble cabin high above the fjord in Vestre Slidre, Norway. He was both tough and clever, and learned to repair shoes and harnesses, yet was best known for his story-telling, singing and fiddle playing (spelemann). In 1881, he took his family and emigrated to the USA — first to Hull, England, aboard the SS Rollo (from Kristiania) and then from Liverpool to New York aboard the SS Marathon. He ended up on a farm south of Valders that had belonged to his wife's uncle. Some of his exploits, when he briefly returned to Norway in 1923, are recounted in the book "Gamalt fraa Valdres, Kristiania, H. Aschehough & Co., 1911"— written in the Valdres dialect. (His nickname as a young lad in Norway was "Åsagutten", which loosely translates into "Boy on the Ridge".)
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Buried with wife
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