Brelje Family History

This week's blog is, of course, about the history of my family. My father's side was pretty simple, but I must say, my mother's side took a lot of digging. After shuffling through many, many ancient papers, I was finally able to come up with some interesting information.

My mother, Becky's, maiden name was Tolyan. Her mother is JoAnn Tolyan. JoAnn's maiden name was Oppedahl. JoAnn's parents were Bernice Hove (Oppedahl) and Gilbert Oppedahl. Bernice's parents were Bertha Hove (Nelson) and Peter A. Hove, and Gilbert's parents were John Oppedahl and Lillian Andrews. Bertha Nelson's parents were Iver Nelson and Ingeborg Oppedahl. Iver and Ingeborg emigrated from Vik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. They came to the US in 1869. Peter A. Hove's parents were Anna Lewis and Peter J. Hove. The Hove's emmigrated from Norway to the US in 1872. Peter J. Hove had seven children by his first wife and two by his second wife. He served in the Norwegian army for six weeks as a soldier. They came to the Clear Lake township of Iowa on May 25, 1872. Most of my relatives from my mother's side settled around the Clear Lake, Iowa area. An interesting story about my mom's family is that my great grandma married an Oppedahl, and it turns out that her grandma was an Oppedahl as well. That means that her and her husband were actually distantly related.

My mom's dad was James Tolyan. His parents were Katherine Galetich of Croatia and Emil Tolyan of Germany. Katherine emmigrated to the US from Croatia to what is now the town of Madrid, Iowa. There, she met my great grandpa, Emil, and they got married. That side of my family stayed in Madrid, Iowa until my grandma, JoAnn, moved to Boone. My mother grew up in Madrid.

My father's side of the family is not near as extensive or interesting because they all come from the same place, Germany. On my dad's side I am 100% German. My dad's parents are Larry Brelje and Karen Brelje (Eggerding). Larry grew up in California, and his parents were Clara Paulus and Edwin Brelje. Edwin's family initially lived in Steelville, Illinois, which was about 60 miles from Redbud, Illinois. When Edwin was a small boy, the Brelje family all went to California. Karen grew up in Redbud, Illinois. This is where most of the Eggerdings originally immigrated to, and some remain there to this day. Karen's parents were Edwin Eggerding and Leona Hitzemann. Both Leona and Edwin's parents emmigrated from Germany. So, my grandparent's ancestors actually lived only 60 miles away from one another.

Although it took me quite some time, and caffeine, to do all of this research, I found it a very rewarding experience. It was very interesting to find out where I come from and who my ancestors are. My mom's side of the family was especially interesting. It really helped that one of my grandma's cousins compiled a ton of information on the family's past and gave it to all of the cousins. I had a lot of information to use. In conclusion, I can now officially say that I am very little Croatian, a little bit more Norwegian, and a lot German! That's all for now!