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Earlier this month (January), several descendents of the Boyum families of the Peterson and Arendahl areas met to begin plans for a major Boyum family reunion, scheduled for August 1-3, 2003. It will be held in the Peterson-Arendahl area and will gather descendents of the immigrant family, which first began to settle on North Prairie in 1856.
A young Norwegian, named Arne E. Boyum, from Fjaerland’s Fjord, a branch of the Sogne Fjord, north of Bergen, in Norway, arrived in America in 1853, accompanied by a sister, Gjertrud and joining a sister, Britha, already in the new world.
In 1856, after Arne had been ordained into the ministry, he brought his parents, Ellend and Anna Boyum, and younger brothers, Sevath E. and Ole E., to Arendahl Township where the family took up farming and Arne became the first pastor of the newly formed Arendahl Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Rev. Arne Boyum served the congregation for 38 years.
Gjertrud Boyum, married Mons Langeteig, and Britha, married Anders Maland. Sevath, upon reaching maturity moved to Mayville, ND and later to Louisiana. Ole E. and Rev. Arne farmed large farms in Arendahl Township. The five sibling Boyums, in turn, became parents of several children, most of whom lived in Southeastern, MN. However, as the years and the generations have come and gone over the last 150 years, the Boyum family, now some seven and eight generations later, with an estimated relationship of well over 2,000 living persons, finds itself scattered across North America and elsewhere.
In addition to those described above, two other major Boyum families settled in the Arendahl area. They are known locally as the O.B.Boyum and the Knut Boyum families. All the Boyums originally came from the large Boyum farm at the head of the Fjaerland’s Fjord, which lies beneath the spectacular Jostedal Glacier in Norway. The reunion is being planned to occur in conjunction with the annual Fjaerland picnic and will involve any and all other families and friends, which have derived from immigrants from that area of Norway.
Among the descendents planning the reunion are The Rev. Allan Thoreson (athoreson@marshallnet.com), Marshalltown, Iowa; Mrs. Doris Fox; Mrs. Ruth Black; and Bertha Boyum of Peterson. They are actively seeking other descendents of the Ellend & Anna Boyum family to be involved with the event.
Plans include a time for registration and fellowship on Friday, August l; a full-day of talks, genealogy charts, pictures, entertainment, food, visiting, sub-family gatherings, etc. on Saturday, August 2; and, a worship service at Arendahl Church, followed by an old-fashioned Church Picnic; and short program on Sunday, August 3.
A “Boyums in America” web page, (www.boyum.org), established some time ago, is filled with much information and posts a long list of descendents of Ellend and Anna Boyum, will have details regarding the reunion as they are developed. Todd Boyum, a descendent of Sevath E. Boyum, has designed the site. Until he began his web page, he was unaware of the history and the size of the Boyum family.
The planners of the reunion will also have an “enrollment brochure” or leaflet which will give pertinent details and provide a registration form to assist the planners in regard to the number of persons to expect. Copies of this brochure may be obtained by early April, from Doris Fox: (cdfox@acegroup.cc); RRl, Box 97, Peterson, Mn. 55962; telephone, 507-875-2847; Ruth Black and Bertha Boyum of Peterson. The form will be posted on the Internet site(s) or can be obtained by mail. Multiple copies of the enrollment brochure an be ordered to distribute to members of the relationship. In this way, the planners are hoping the word can be spread to as many of the living descendents of the Boyum family as possible.
Last updated: Sunday, May 18, 2003 11:22:38 PM