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Here we have the Andrew Rongley family. A reader tells us that Andrew Rongley was his great-uncle. Rongley immigrated from Norway in 1866 at the very beginning of the great wave of European emigration. He was only 3 years old at the time so he was surely brought to America by his parents. We know that in 1920 he lived in Le Roy, Lake County, South Dakota. We assume he was a farmer. His wife who was 10 years younger was also born in Norway was named Bertha. His children were Herbert (1902), Clarence (1907), John (1909), Dina (1911), and May (1915). (The birth years are estimated here from the ages given in the 1920 Census. Here we see the Rongley family about 1915. We know it is 1915 because May who was born in 1915 is a tiny baby. The three boys wear identical white blouses, floppy bows, and knickers. Their younger suster wears her hair done in braids with hairbows and a white dress.
A reader tells us, " My Grandfather was Andrew Rongley and my father was Herbert Conrad Rongley. My father was born December 28, 1902 and was the eldest child. Bertha, our grandmother died when he was 15 from TB and I think the family had a hard time with the children and the farm. My father went to an Agricultural College in South Dakota and subsequently left the farm. He and my mother married February 22, 1930 and they gradually migrated east to Pennsylvania. Grandpa died in 1946. The next oldest son, Clarence stayed on the farm and married and raised a daughter, Carna (married name Peacock) and they all still live in Madison. The other children, John, Dana, and May all left for California and their families still live there. I am forwarding this site info to family members that I know so we can all share in the fun of seeing Daddy and his family." [Harrison]
Carol would be interested in contacting the cousin who contributed the portrait here to HBC. She writes, "We would love to get information about the "cousin" who submitted the picture. We would love to get in touch." Unfortunately HBC did not retain the original e-Mail address, but if the cousin revisits this page, HBC would be please to put him or her in contact with Carol and the rest of the family.
Harrison, Carol Jean (Rongley). E-mail message, September 15, 2008.
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