Gertie Selma Selland

Gertie Selma Selland

South DakotaConfirmed

Dorothy's mother · 1903–1991 · the Norwegian line

Born

1 October 1903, Clear Lake, Deuel County, South Dakota

Died

8 December 1991, Schertz, Texas

Buried

Lakeview Cemetery, Clear Lake

Parents

Mons Selland & Julia (Lone) Selland

Married

Benjamin LaRoy Peters

Sources

15

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED — named as mother of Dorothy LaVonne Peters in her obituary S36; also S40S41

Life in the order the records give it

Death—

SELLAND is the maiden name, and it is Norwegian. Two independently published obituaries, eight years apart, from funeral homes in two different states, both spell it Selland S40

Census1910

🆕 The 1910 census image, read in full, shows the whole family at Brandt Township: Mons, 41, who came from Norway in 1889 and owned his farm free; Julia, 39, mother of five children, all living; and Ida, 10, Andrew, 8, Selma, 6, Tilla, 4, and Oscar, 1 Confirmed S951. In January 1920 she was Selma G., 16, working on the home farm, with Andrew, Tilda, Oscar and two younger siblings, George, 7, and Myrtle, 2 Confirmed S952. added 29 September 2026

Census1950

🆕 In 1950 she was at 1032 Duluth, Sioux Falls, keeping house, with Benjamin, a stationary fireman at the railway roundhouse, and their children LeRoy, Marlene, Betty and Eileen Confirmed S953. added 29 September 2026

Birth1903

Born 1 October 1903, Clear Lake, Deuel County, South Dakota; died 8 December 1991, Schertz, Texas S41S42

Burial—

Buried Lakeview Cemetery, Clear Lake, plot Block C Lot 16 Grave E1

the grave adjacent to her husband's S41

Death—

The obituary of her son LaRoy names "Benjamin and Selma (Selland) Peters"; the obituary of her daughter Betty names "Benjamin, Sr. and Selma (Selland) Peters" and lists "Dorothy Walker of Fort Worth, TX" among the siblings

which is what proves this is the same family and not a same-name collision S40

The Norway trips in Dorothy's obituary are the tell. She and her sister Shirley visited the "homeland of their maternal grandparents" — a sentence written before anyone knew the maternal grandparents were called Selland, and which turned out to name the right branch S36.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents1868

Her father Mons came from Røldal, Hordaland, on the parish's own record

baptised there 21 June 1868, entered in the out-migration register for "Dakota, Amerika" in 1889 S74S75. See the Selland chain in the deep lines.

Marriage1925

🆕 The church's own marriage register for her wedding on 16 November 1925 names her parents as M. T. Selland & Julia, and the groom's as Benj. Peters & Edna; Tillie Selland and Hazel and Mildred Peters stood witness S774. It is the first record written at the time that ties her to Mons Thorson Selland and Julia Lone; until now that link rested on family testimony and the Røldal registers. added 26 September 2026.

Parents1918

🆕 A second record written at the time: her confirmation on 21 July 1918, entry 9 on p. 112 of a Lutheran confirmation register, gives her birth as 1 October 1903 and her parents as “Mons og Julia Selland”; her brother Andreas, entry 6 on the same page, has the same parents S813. The page does not name the congregation. Added 28 September 2026.

Parents1903

🆕 Her parents now have their own cards: Mons Selland and Julia (Lone) Selland. FamilySearch's South Dakota birth index gives her birth as 1 October 1903 in Deuel County, parents Mons Selland and Julia Lone S819, the first entry found that gives her mother's maiden name (an index row, so Probable confirm or correct →); a Lutheran baptism index has her baptised on 15 November 1903 in Deuel County S820, and in 1910 she was in her parents' household at Brandt, Deuel County S821. added 28 September 2026.

Marriage1925

Married Benjamin LaRoy Peters on 16 November 1925 at Brandt, Deuel County, South Dakota

state marriage record, certificate 109784 S71

Marriage1925

Her fuller given name "Gertie" is written on both 1925 marriage records, the state return and the church register S71S774; it was first taken from an online tree S42

In the record Generation 4 — Kristin's maternal great-grandparents

1. S36Obituary of Dorothy LaVonne Peters Walker (12 February 1926 – 13 August 2022), Greenwood Funeral Home, Fort Worth — greenwoodfuneralhomes.com; the same text transcribed on FindAGrave memorial 242876604, Mount Olivet Cemetery, Fort Worth. Family-written. It names her husband "Melvin Walker," her parents "Benjamin 'Pete' and Selma Peters," her three daughters, her Chicago birth and Sioux Falls upbringing, the Norway trips, and — decisively — "Kristin (Earl) Proeger of Austin, TX" among her grandchildren. ⚠️ Only the funeral home's own copy carries the "ROUND ROCK" dateline; the FindAGrave transcription drops it. The funeral home's page is published in full in the Documents grid (Earl's per-item exception, 25 Sep 2026).
2. S40Obituaries of Dorothy's siblings — LaRoy J. "Pete" Peters (d. 25 January 2021), Miller Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, millerfh.com; and Betty Jane Sanders (d. 10 September 2013), Pitts Chapel, Bolivar, Missouri, via Legacy.com. A third, Shirley Darlene Peltier's (May 2026), names the same parents. Two funeral homes, two states, eight years apart, both spelling the mother's maiden name Selland. Betty's names "Dorothy Walker of Fort Worth, TX" as a sibling, which is what proves it is this family and not a same-name collision.
3. S41FindAGrave memorials 70460076 and 70460158 — Benjamin L. Peters (1905–1993), plot Block C Lot 16 Grave E2, and Selma Selland Peters (1903–1991), Grave E1, the adjacent plot — Lakeview Cemetery, Clear Lake, Deuel County, South Dakota. Headstone transcriptions. Benjamin's SSA death date and the stone agree exactly. Family links on FindAGrave are contributor-asserted and are corroboration only; the obituaries at S40 carry the finding on their own.
4. S42Toni Walker Family Tree, hosted by Ontario Ancestors — ontariofamilyhistory.org. A user-submitted tree, not a record. Everything drawn from it is tagged Probable and nothing else on this page depends on it: the fuller given names "Benjamin La Roy B" and "Gertie," the 16 November 1925 Deuel County marriage, and the four names in the generation above Benjamin and Selma. The tree's own dates and places are confirmed, but by S38 and S41, not by it. Last modified 22 January 2025; it still lists Dorothy as living.
5. S71Benjamin Leroy Peters and Gertie Selma Selland — South Dakota marriage record, 16 November 1925. South Dakota State Board of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, certificate 109784, registered no. 250, Deuel County; South Dakota, U.S., Marriages, 1905–2024 (Ancestry collection 8561). Read on the certificate image 16 September 2026. Solemnised at Brandt; both parties of Clear Lake, Deuel County; groom 20, bride 22. Upgrades a marriage date this page previously carried on a family tree's word to a state vital record. ⚠️ Ancestry's index misreads the bride as "Gertie Selma Sellana"; the certificate itself reads Selland, which is why a search on the correct spelling had been returning nothing. She went by her middle name, Selma. The parents' names sit below the fold of the captured image and have not yet been read.
6. S74Røldal parish register — baptisms, 1868. Entry no. 7: born 9 May 1868, baptised 21 June 1868, child Mons, ægte (in wedlock); father Gbr. (farmer) Thore Thoresen Selland, mother Ingeborg Ivarsdatter. A primary church record, read by eye from the full-resolution scan rather than from an index or an OCR sidecar. Four of the six named witnesses are Lone and Hegerland people, which is what makes the Julia Lone lead worth chasing. Rødal is in Hordaland, at the head of the Hardanger valleys; Selland is the farm, not the family name.
7. S75Røldal parish register — G. Udflyttede (those moved out), folio 203, year 1889. Entry no. 3: Mons Thorsen Selland, birth year 1868, destination "Dakota, Amerika", certificates issued for birth, baptism and confirmation. Read by eye at full resolution. The register names no ship, no port and no sailing date — the Naar udflyttet column carries the bare year. A Norwegian out-migration entry is a clerical hand-off between parishes, not a passenger list, and it should not be expected to yield a crossing. The birth year here and the birth date in S74 are the same man.
8. S774U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records — marriage register (“Egteviede”), 1925 no. 3: Benjamin Leroy Peters and Gertie Selma Selland, 16 November 1925. Ancestry record 7608849. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, September 2026. Confirmed Groom Benjamin Leroy Peters, parents “Benj. Peters & Edna”; bride Gertie Selma Selland, parents “M. T. Selland & Julia”; witnesses Hazel Peters, Tillie Selland and Mildred Peters. Ages and birthplaces left blank. The church's own register, written at the wedding, and the same couple and date as the state return S71. Ancestry indexes the bride's father as “W T Selland”; on the image it is the scribe's capital M, the same letter that opens “May” and “Mildred” on the page. The church name (Highland Lutheran, Brandt) is Ancestry's catalogue entry, not on the page, and the foot of the entry is cut off in the filming.
9. S813Lutheran confirmation register, 1918, p. 112, entries 6 and 9 — Gertie Selma Selland and Andreas Selland, confirmed 21 July 1918. Ancestry collection 60722, record 151605887 (image 41742_314328-00544). Image examined, read 28 September 2026. Confirmed Entry 9: “Gertie Selma Selland”, born “Okt 1-03”, parents “Mons og Julia Selland”. Entry 6, Andreas Selland, gives the same parents. The congregation's name is not on this page. Collection: U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781–1969.
10. S819FamilySearch, South Dakota birth index — Gertie Selland, 1 October 1903. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:QKD8-TM6W, checked 28 September 2026. Probable Gertie Selland, born 1 October 1903, Deuel County, South Dakota; parents Mons Selland and Julia Lone. An index row from the South Dakota Department of Health; the image was not examined. The only entry found so far that gives Julia's maiden name.
11. S820FamilySearch, Lutheran church baptism index — Gerty Selma, baptised 15 November 1903, Deuel County, South Dakota. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:QVNT-MT8H, checked 28 September 2026. Probable Gerty Selma, baptised 15 November 1903; parents Mons and Julie Selland. Index entry; the image was not examined. The index gives her birth as 10 October 1903, a variant of the 1 October on every other record. FamilySearch also indexes the 1918 confirmation (S813) as ark:/61903/1:1:QVNT-MKVP.
12. S821FamilySearch, 1910 U.S. census index — Mons Selland household, Brandt, Deuel County, South Dakota. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:MPXP-W49, checked 28 September 2026. Probable Selma in the household of Mons and Julia Selland. Index entry; the census image was not examined here.
13. S9511910 United States Federal Census — Brandt Township, Deuel County, South Dakota, ED 161, sheet 2B, lines 90–96 (19 April 1910). Ancestry record 157278470. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24–25 September 2026. Confirmed Dwelling 28: Selland, Mons, head, 41, married 11 years, born Norway, immigrated 1889, first papers, farmer, farm owned free of mortgage; Julia, wife, 39, born Norway, mother of 5 children, 5 living; Ida, 10; Andrew, 8; Selma, 6; Tilla, 4; and Oscar, 1 2/12. The children were all born in South Dakota. The index lists six people and drops Oscar on line 96. Selma is Gertie Selma Selland; age 6 fits her birth on 1 October 1903. Mons's 1889 matches the year of his Røldal out-migration entry (S75). Collection: 1910 United States Federal Census.
14. S9521920 United States Federal Census — Brandt Township, Deuel County, South Dakota, ED 125, sheet 11B, lines 51–56 (26–27 January 1920). Ancestry record 99871215. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24–25 September 2026. Confirmed The end of the Selland family, which begins on sheet 11A: Andrew, son, 18, labourer on the home farm; Selma G., daughter, 16, servant on the home farm; Tilda M., 14; Oscar, 11; George, 7; and Myrtle J., 2. All were born in South Dakota to Norwegian-born parents. The index reads her occupation as "Brevet", which is a misreading of Servant. It also loses Oscar, George and Myrtle across the page break. The index gives the head as "Morris T", but he is on sheet 11A, which was not read, so the site keeps Mons. Collection: 1920 United States Federal Census.
15. S9531950 United States Federal Census — Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota, ED 50-76, sheet 80, lines 16–21 (May 1950). Ancestry record 8605848. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 24–25 September 2026. Confirmed Dwelling 92, 1032 Duluth: Peters, Benjamin L., head, 44, born Iowa, stationary fireman at the railway roundhouse; Selma J., wife, 46, born South Dakota, keeping house; LeRoy J., son, 20, born Iowa; Marlene E., 15; Betty J., 13; and Eileen Y., 6. On Selma's sample line both her parents were born in Norway. The "J." is the enumerator's. Every other record gives Gertie Selma, and the site does not add a middle initial. Collection: 1950 United States Federal Census.