HAUG, Olaf and Emma (Grafton ND)

OLAF & EMMA HAUG

IDENTIFICATION ON PHOTO: "Venlig hilsen, til Thea Haug, ifra Olaf og Emma"
PHOTO TAKEN: Bindahl Studio, Grafton ND, circa 1909
PURCHASED: 2016 Springfield OR Antique Peddlars Mall

UPDATE - This photo of Olaf and Emma has been claimed by a relative and is going home!
The inscription on the back translates as "Best regards to Thea (or Theo) Haug from Olaf and Emma". While this does not give a surname of the sitting couple, I believe it is the same as the recipient.

There was an Olaf Einarson HAUG and wife Emma MELDAHL-Haug living in Skagen township Minnesota, which is merely 80 miles east of Grafton ND. This Olaf was born around 1873 and Emma (Meldahl), who was born around 1883. 

1920 Census > MN > Roseau > Skagen
HAUG, Olaf E, head, 47, imm. 1880 nat 1897, born in Norway, farmer
HAUG, Emma, wife, 37, born in MN of Norwegian parents
HAUG, Elmer, son, 23, born in MN, farm labor
HAUG, Mabel, dau, 7, born in MN
HAUG, Einar, son, 6, born in MN
HAUG, Olaf Jr, son, 4, born in MN
HAUG, George, son, 3y2m, born in MN
HAUG, Karl, son, 1y7m, born in MN
MELDAHL, Ole, father-in-law, 72, wd

Based on the ages of their children on the 1920 Census, it is clear that Emma was a second wife. This couple was married 12 Dec 1909 at the Skjeberg Luthern Charch in Drayton ND which is about 20 miles from Grafton. This may have been their wedding photo.

Olaf was born in Aasnes, Solør, Norway on 27 Feb 1872. His parents were Einar Tostensen Nyen Haug (1831-1924) and Mathea Pedersdatter Kokkin (1829-1897). 

He had many siblings, but one of them was an older sister was named Thea Haug and I was able to find that Thea's daughter Olivia relocated to Washington State after the death of her husband in 1940. This may explain how the photo ended up in on the West Coast.

He died 29 Jun 1966 in Badger MN.

His first wife was Nellie Hawkins died in 1904.