Since much of the hoax theory of the Kensington Rune
Stone centers
around the person of Olof Ohman, the farmer who found
the stone, I
should like to turn my attention for a few minutes
to the character of
Mr. Ohman, specifically as to whether he was likely
to take part in any
such hoax.
The Landsverk letters, which I posted here previously,
were most
emphatic in their denial that Mr. Ohman would or
could have anything to
do with a forgery of a runestone. However, rumors
still persist, and
again, I go to the source material in an attempt
to describe the
character of Mr. Ohman.
>From Olaus Olson's account of the 1899 expedition
and excavation on
Ohman's farm (Blegen Appendix 5):
"Mr. Ohman is an honest man who feels that it
is a matter of scorn that
he should be looked upon as a humbugmaker."
George O. Curme, Northwestern University, who studied
the stone in Feb,
1899, in response to a letter from the Minnesota
Historical Society:
"I became acquainted with Mr. Olof Ohman as
far as one can get together
by letter. I have no the slightest lack of confidence
in him. To me
there is no doubt that he found the stone under the
roots of a tree
about forty or fifty years old." (Blegen appendix
10)
O. J. Breda of the University of Minnesota who received
the first copy
of inscription in Jan 1899, and produced the first
(flawed) translation:
"I have never seen any reason to connect Mr.
Ohman or any one else now
living in the neighborhood of Kensington with the
forgery in any way."
(Blegen Appendix 12)
Cleve Van Dyke, another member of the 1899 excavation:
"Mr. Ohman was an interesting character who
had traveled a great deal
and who seemed to have ore or less knowledge concerning
runestones and
other remains. I believe, at the time, he told me
he had visited some
museum in England where he had seen a number of runestones.
I was county superintendent of schools at that time,
and naturally
inquired about him. The school teacher in his district
showed me one
day a number of written excuses in rhyme for his
children, written by
him. My opinion at the time was that Mr. Ohman was
underestimated by
his neighbors and that he had more literary knowledge
than he was
credited by his community as possessing. If Mr.
Ohman is still living,
it would be wise to investigate him. I had great
difficulty in talking
to him because I could not speak his language sufficiently
well to carry
on an extended conversation with him."
Johan Holvik, a detractor, quotes a dentist who described
Ohman as
"one of the keenest and best informed men"
he had ever met. (Blegen p76)
Holvik also quotes a former postmaster from Hoffman,
as Blegen writes:
"He told Holvik that in 1890 he heard Ohman
say that 'he Would like to
Figure out Something that Would Bother the Brains
of the Learned.'
Hendrickson said that he had a long conversation
with Ohman and he even
recalled the Swedish words Ohman used: 'Min Hogsta
Onskan ar at uppfinna
nogot Som ville Braka Hjarnan Po de Lared'
Both these Holvik quotes date from 1949.
>From Winchell's field book:
"Evansville. I called on Rev, T.A Saettre but
found him absent ('at the
cities'). I learned from Mrs. Saettre that Ohman
is not a church
member, but, as she thinks, some of his children
have been confirmed by
Saettre in a small Lutheran church situated near
Ohman's, a branch of
the Evansville church."
(Blegen Appendix 9)
Winchell in his preliminary report on the rune stone:
As a side note, Van Dyke also states in his letter
that he was a student
of Breda, and came to examine the site after the
pronouncement by Breda
that the stone was a fake "his judgement on
this point had great
influence with me". This may or may not have
colored his perceptions of
Ohman. There seems to be no other record of Ohman
having been in
England, though apparently he had seen (according
to Flom) the Forsa
ring (runically inscribed) in his home city of Helsingland,
Sweden.
It appears that those who knew Ohman best were the
ones least likely to
believe that he had anything to do with the hoax,
and that the farther
away from Kensington that one went, the more likely
and more common the
rumors about hims (Hoffman, Alexandria, Brandon,
Elbow Lake).
There seems to be no evidence of Ohman knowing how
to make runes, or of
having any ability to inscribe them in stone. He
was know as being
taciturn, not a joker, quiet and contemplative and
intelligent. And
Honest - that seems to be a universal, even from
detractors of the stone
such as Breda. In short, not the sort of man capable
of commiting this
sort of hoax.
As to how this all reflects on the stone, any attempt
at a premeditated
hoax must have included Ohman at some point - it
was found on his land,
and only he could have been the one to legitimately
unearth it. It
makes no sense to bury a forgery on Ohman's land
unless he were part of
the plot. But, as should be evident from the above
testimony, this is
not a thing that Ohman would be capable of. Therefore,
it was not a
hoax.
<
"Joseph Hotvedt, whose wife runs a boarding
house at Kensington has a
farm adjoining Ohman's and was there before Ohman
came. He is of the
opinion that Ohman may have made the inscription.
He said Ohman had
some old books, telling about runes and is 'quite
a mechanic when he
wants to be.' He says Ohman talked about runes &
showed his books. On
the other hand Holand declared that he saw Ohman's
books & that the only
rune characters he ever found there were in a school
book which gave the
alphabet which Ohman brought from the old country.
Mr. Hotvedt saw the
roots & verifies the description of their flatness,
'such as would be
caused by lying against a stone.' He is also the
only man I have found
who doubts the authenticity of the stone"
"Mrs. Ohman told my livery man that Ohman borrowed
the school book after
the stone was found, for the purpose of dechipering
the inscription"
"I had a long talk with Mr. Ohman, and am impressed
with the evident
candor and truthfulness of all his statements, and
also I find he is a
more intellectual man than I had supposed."
"My livery man made light of the statements
of Mr. Hotvedt as to Mr.
Ohman's making the rune record. 'You cant go much
on what he says. He
is alwats off, and contrary.
It will be noted that he (Hotvedt) confirms the aspect
of the roots -
which is fatal to his idea that Ohman made the inscription,
since by all
opinions the tree was older than the residence of
Ohman on the farm."
"Ohman is a Swede. Must have come to that locality
since Mr. Saettre's
coming and did to his knowledge. Mr. S. has been
here 25 yrs. He is
confident that Mr. Ohman whom he has known ever since
he came here is
utterly incapable of making the inscription. He
has never heard that
Ohman traveled about and made runes on sidewalks
and granaries in idle
hours, nor has he ever heard of a clergyman in this
country who did so,
as is claimed by a rumor that is vogue in Grant &
Douglas counties.
Mr. Saettre's opinion of Mr. jos Hotvedt's reliability
agrees with the
opinion of Mr. Peterson (my livery man) of Kensington
& that his brother
Anon Hotvedt is a different kind of a man, whose
word and judgment can
be relied upon."
"According to Mr. O G Juul of Elbow Lake, the
only man on earth who
could make Mr. Ohman tell the facts of the finding
of the stone is Mr. O
F Olson of Brandon.
Brandon, Mar 18
Mr O F Olson has known Mr. Ohman for 26 or 27 years.
He used to live at
Brandon. He used to make rune characters about Brandon.
He build Mr.
Ingemon's store & others, and was known as a
'queer genius,' talked but
little, thought much. He is (now) reported to have
been practicing in
making runes when working here, but Mr. Olson says
he did not see
characters made by him. Never knew of a preacher
living with Ohman who
has been married since he left. At Brandon he lived
with Dr. Snar, a
distant relative of his. He knows the bible from
one side to the
other. Would not say that Ohman made or could not
have made the stone,
but always had the impression that he may have made
it. Dr. Snar is not
living. They were from northern Sweden - Helsingerland."
"Mr. Gunder Johnson says his little testimony
is not worth anything one
way or the other. He knew Mr. Ohman who built his
house where he lives,
about 26 or 27 years ago. Mr. O & he were talking
about old Norsk one
day, & Ohman said there were old letters which
were called runes & that
Mr. O took a pencil and made some on a board saying
they were runes.
Mr. Johnson never knew of his making runes at any
other time, nor of any
preacher living with Ohman who made runes nor any
living in this country
who could make them nor anyone passing through here
who could make
them."
"Flugelblad, is said to be the name of a man
who stayed with Ohman.
This was told to Mr. Carl Nelson, neighbor of Roald
Bentson, by a man at
Hoffman. Nelson does not know his name. He was
simply driving with
him. Nelson's father was living when the stone was
found. He did not
express an opinion as to who made the stone, but
did not believe that
Ohman had anything to do with it.
Bentson is in Minneapolis. Christ Ashby is son in
law of Benton. He is
a large saloon keeper in Minneapolis.
'Most of the people about here do not think that
Ohman had any thing to
do with the stone' and 'that the stone is all right.'
Ohman has not
been known to be a stone mason. He is a carpenter.
Mr. Carl Nelson
knows nothing of Ohman's making runes."
"19 Mar, Ohmans
Sv. Flugelblad was preacher in Sweden (not here)
went among the farmers
to get a living, sometimes taught the children but
did not work, was
pretty near 70 years old, was dead before I got the
stone, was
intemperate, drinking when ever he had any money,
was always poor - like
a gentleman in manners but he was too fond of 'booze.'
When Flugelblad
died he died ant Anderson's who then had a farm between
Kensington and
Hoffman. He left his books with Anderson. When
Mr. Ohman found the
stone Mr Anderson (whose wife is cousin of Mrs. Ohman
said that Mr.
Ohman should take Mr. Flugelblad's little book so
as to read the stone,
& it has been with Mr. Ohman since. Flugelblad
died about 14 or 15
years ago. (Mrs Ohman thinks so, but is not positive
as to the year).
Mr. Ohman says he can not remember talking with Mr.
Gunder Johnson, nor
making runes for him 26 or 27 years ago (Ohman came
to America in 1879).
He says it was about 1883 when he worked for Mr.
Johnson, & that at any
time if he said anything about runes it was because
he learned it in
schooled in Sweden. Every school boy, and every
Norwegian knows
something about runes, but not so as to use them.
I prevailed on Mr Ohman to let me take the rune book
which has caused
the widespread talk about his knowledge fo runes.
He would not sell it
but I left 50c saying it must go with the stone.
I told him I wanted to
keep it, but he was reluctant to give it up because
it has much about
old Swedish language and he could not get any such
book again. I
replied that he would never want such a book again,
& it was important
that the characters in it be compared with those
on the stone. 'All
right,' he said, 'you can take it' I thik he will
be reconciled to let
it reamins with the stone in the custody of the Historical
Society
permanently.
I found Mr. Gunder Johnson a very talkative man.
I recall it now and
record it for its bearing on the existance and spread
of the idea that
Ohman knew runes long ago and had a number of books
on runes & made
runic characters on the walks, the window casings
and granary doors
about the country. I have traced up, under the direction
of those who
believed and repeated the story, all the promising
lines of evidence,
and I have found the report especially prevalant
and detailed about
Brandon where Mr. Ohman lived 26 or 27 years ago.
I have asked, not for
the story, but for positive statements as to whether
the parties
affirming the story ever actueally kniew of Mr. Ohman's
making runes.
They all said they had not except Mr. Gunder Johnson.
His account has
been given a few pages back. It seems that when at
work for Mr. Johnson
a conversation arose about the old Norsk language
or languages when Mr.
Ohman stated that there were formerly ruinic characters
in which the
ancient Scandinavians wrote, and with a pencil made,
or attempted to
make several on a board. I judge that this incident
was dormant until
Prof Breda and Prof Curme pronounced the stone a
fraud, and the stone
had been returned to Ohman's farm. Then all the
people began to
speculate as to how the stone was inscribed, and
naturally all minds
turned to Ohman and all began to suspect he was the
deceiver. Here the
knowledge of Mr. Gunder Johnson aobut Ohman's making
some runes on a
board at the building of his house sprang into importance
and through
Mr. Johnson, I have no doubt, the idea was (very naturally)
given a
broad cast. There was no other possible explaination
of a fradulent
rune stone found on Mr. Ohman's farm and kept by
Mr Ohman, however
indifferently.
Mr Ohman is a rather taciturn man,
and he took no pains
to counteract the report that he was the imposter.
His neighbors made
sport of him for haveing, or even having made, a
fake inscription. Mr.
Gunder Johnson's knowledge was amplified by rumor,
and some intimated
that as Fogelblad was a scholar he was the man who
traced out the runes
for Mr. Ohman to cut on the stone. More lately as
it became known that
Mr Ohman had 'rune book', the story was credited
by many who had no
personal acquaintance with Ohman, and during the
las few years it seems
to have been accepted by many (all) who took interest
in the stone.
When the recent renewal of inquiry about the stone
became known by the
people of this region of course all the rumours,
however increased in
detail, were revived also, and there is no doubt
that some have
innocently spread the story, for they thought that
what was common
report must be true. In the exaggerated form it
was sent in a letter to
Mr. Upham by Mr (Rev.) Otto G Juul. of Elbow Lake,
and it was his letter
that prompted this thourough examination
I had a long talk this morning with Mr. Ohman. I
though I had some
queries to make of him which would stagger him.
1) Who was the broken-down preacher?
2) Did you make runes for Gunder Johnson?
The first question he answered consistently, and
the second he answered
in the negative, but added that he could not recall
any conversation
with Johnson, nor had any recollection of making
runes for him.
As I can find no one, except Johnson, who affirms
that he has seen Ohman
make runes, and as the rumor is most definite and
common about Brandon,
where Mr. Johnson lives, and as Mr. Johnson said
he never knew of Ohman
making runes at any other time than at that conversation
26 or 27 years
ago, I becam convinced that the rumors is due to Mr.
Johnson, and is
based on that occurrence 26 or 27 years ago."
"The men who found the stone are plain and simple
farmers, working hard
to derive a subisitence for themselves and families
from their land.
The honesty and candor of Mr. Olaof Ohman becomes
evident to anyone who
converses with him.* (footnote: *Not one of all who
have interviewd Mr.
Ohman, wethere believers or non-believers in the
authenticity of the
inscription, has seen any reason to question his
veracity) He does not
speak English readily, but seems to understand English
when he hears it
spoken in common conversation. He states that his
education comprised
six terms of school in Sweden, of six weeks each,
in an elementary
country school wher the children gathered for instruction,
first at one
farm house, and then at another, six weeks in all
making one term. I
was told that Mr Ohman came to his farm in 1890,
and consulting the
resgister of deeds at Alexandria I found lands deeded
at four different
dates, now constituting the Ohamn farm, from 1890
to 1898, from Halvor
Stenson, Ole Amundson, and E J Moen."
It would sem that Ohman was never given any thought
of being a
perpetrator of a hoax until long after he was dead
by such men as
Holvik, Whalgren, and Blegen, and that mostly based
on snippets and
'sound bites' disregarding the overwhelming mass
of positive testimony
about him.
I hope that this will in some way redeem Mr Ohman
from the villification
he has unjustly received perhaps knowingly, but often
by some who" have innocently
spread the story,
for they thought that what was common report must
be true."