This is Gard Strom. He has done the genealogical research on all the farms from Gamle Gjerpen near Skien Norway. I found his website from doing a search for my ancestors. He offered to take us around Gjerpen and show us the farms we wanted to see. He gave us a fantastic history lesson of the area. Here's a link to his website. http://gamlegjerpen.no/index.htm
Gard said this is the only cultural artifact near the Bestul and Brekke Farms. He also said there was a Viking sword found in the river nearby.
"The name of the farm in Norway was meant as an address" you could think of it that way Gard said to me. When the new immigrants came to America some took their last name from there address, the farm name. Brekke means slope in Norwegian and sure enough the farm is on a slope. The Brekke and Bestul farms are next to each other in Norway and the Untied States. Make pioneer history come alive.
