100 Years Old-- Happy Birthday, Bestemor

This week my Norwegian grandmother would have turned 100 years old.  Her birthday was May 7, 1913.  I still think about her all the time.

My grandmother, Gyda Kristiansen, around 1928.  I like this period picture of her, and I also own the necklace she is wearing.

My uncle put flowers on her grave for her 100th birthday.

Here is a list of memories I wrote down when she died:

This morning, during the funeral, I thought about those things I found most memorable about Bestemor.

My favorite childhood memory takes place in Norway for Christmas; I believe I was five or six. Bestemor was in the kitchen, making coffee in the same pink kettle, cutting bread ... preparing breakfast. I look out the window, a blanket of snow on the ground, the trees bare. Bestemor tells me to look down, below the window, on the ground. I do. There are two rabbits looking up at us. Bestemor digs in her drawer for day old bread gone hard. She opens the window and throws it out to the bunnies. I am so delighted to see them eat it on the snow. Other mornings it was a squirrel visiting, eating bread.

Bestemor made "traditional" mittens, sweaters, and hats for me my whole life. The last sweater she knit me was around 1995. Whenever I wear one of her sweaters people don't believe a person and not a machine made it. She was that good. She once told me she couldn't remember the first time she knit a sweater. She was five years old or younger. And to her knitting wasn't to be "traditional". She did it because that was who she was, a Norwegian woman in the truest sense. And a strong woman I was proud to know.

I stayed with her the summer of 1988, after graduating from college. I wanted so much to knit like she did. I can still see her face when she asked me in Norwegian, "You mean you never learned to knit? Your father didn't teach you?" It seemed to be a big faux pax that needed remedy immediately, along with my not knowing how to ski. Actually, I had no idea Dad knew how to knit until she told me she used to make him knit for her, and bake "kringlers," too. That seemed a funny image to me.
So that summer I knit my first sweater ever. No fancy patterns, but it did look like a sweater! It was Norwegian red, blue, and white.

Did I say how I got to be there that summer? As a child, Bestemor and Bestefar put money into a savings account for me. The way she explained it was that her other grandchildren were nearby and she'd buy them things occasionally. I wasn't, and so she put money in a bank account so I could one day take the Norwegian course of study at Blindern, the University of Oslo. Even after Bestefar died she continued to put money there, and that summer I was off to study Norwegian. I had three months to know her better than I ever had before.

I learned she loved her garden. I had always admired it because it was so beautiful. It always flowered in a multitude of colors in the summer. She also had strawberries, currants, and all kinds of Norwegian berries I don't know how to name ... And then there was the house she and Bestefar built together.

I can still smell her house. Sometimes I'll be hit with a scent here in the U.S. that
reminds me of it. It all comes back to me-- the small house, the bathroom that
doubles as a shower (and the same towels she's had as long as I can remember), the
sculptures she and Bestefar made years ago (the deer, the old
woman), the clock Bestefar made, the many pictures she had of her family. Oh, I forgot
her sewing machine, her radio, the "old-fashioned" furnace she used. The things that
represented Bestemor to me.

I was always amazed that I could turn around and she would have baked a
kringler, a rhubarb pie, a strawberry cake, a streudel. Just when did she do it? The
birds would have me up in the summer at 4:00 AM, not to mention the sun was already
out. But she wasn't baking even then! During the day she'd work on the garden, mow
the lawn (I couldn't even start a lawn mower). One day, I remember, I came back from
the university to find a new patio with a bench she'd built herself. She'd bought the
lumber and used Bestefar's carpentry shop below the house to cut the wood. She was
always busy. Bestemor was one of those people who "did" things. No fuss, no muss,
as we say here. Get the job done when it needs doing. Mow the lawn, build a patio,
bake a rhubarb pie all in the same day ... that and her famous boiled coffee (make sure
the grounds settle to the bottom of the kettle before you pour it). Oh, I forgot, knit a
sweater, sew a dress, too. And she'd still have time to catch the news or read the
newspaper.

Actually, back to the sewing-- when I was little it was always fun because she'd
make dresses for my doll, too. She was good at that kind of thing. If you were a boy,
she'd take you down to the carpentry shop below the house and make you a wood toy.
I remember my cousin Tord could play for hours with a homemade wooden car.
What am I forgetting? All my life I loved sitting on the swinging terrace furniture.
She had that as long as I can remember. We'd sit out there and have ice cream and
talk on a nice summer day. I can still hear the river running behind the foliage in the
back yard.

Bestemor didn't like fruit. Well, she did, but it was so "dyrt" or expensive. I'd buy
some and her eyes almost always popped out. And she didn't like it that I had "cool"
holes in my jeans once either. Patched them up with her sewing machine, she did. It
made her happy, so why not.

She got to meet her great-grandson. For that I am happy. I have pictures of her
with Kent. I have video of her explaining her pictures in the albums she had. Did you
know the album of her and Bestefar together before they were married was all shot with
a string attached to the camera? They were alone and the cameras back then didn't
have an automatic picture-taking shutter. Bestefar hooked up a string to the shutter and
posed with Bestemor throughout that photo album, all by pulling on a string. Where was
I? Yes, I also have the sweaters she knit, letters she wrote. She was good at writing.
Better than I was.

I tried to get Bestemor's recipes from her, but that was impossible. As she finally explained to me, "I just take a handful of this and a pinch of that. There are no recipes, just the way I've done it since I can remember." And that has stuck with me. I also cook this way. I never follow a recipe, just a handful of that and a pinch of that, and it comes out just fine! Maybe I can pass that on.

These are all just snatches of memories. I'm glad I was able to know what I did about her. But I'll always regret I didn't have the grasp of Norwegian to really talk freely with her. She was always mad about that, too. But at least I knew enough to get by and know her. At least I got to see her often, considering how far apart we were. Especially as an adult I was lucky to see her every couple of years, so I can really remember her. For that I am happy and thankful.

Goodbye my Bestemor; jeg elske deg.

Wordless Wednesday -- Emil Samuelsen Haugen and Family in Finland

Emil Georg Samuelsen Haugen (1871 - 1954) and Hanna Marie Andreasdatter (1871 - 1943) with children, Elvira Helene Haugen (1901 - 1979) and Hans Ereinius Haugen (1906 - 1993).  This picture was taken soon after arriving in Finland in 1914.  They stayed there for 3 years before returning to their home country, Norway.

Tombstone Tuesday -- Database Record of the Burial of Emil Georg Samuelsen Haugen

In the past, I have blogged about DIS Gravminer.  The Norwegian Genealogical Society gives free access to cemetery records in Norway.  The database is not complete yet, but one can find a record of many burials already.  Here is my great-great grandfather, Emil Georg Samuelsen Haugen, marked with a red star.  If one clicks on his name and number, then more information is provided about his burial.



Wordless Wednesday -- Haugen Family

Great-grandparents Thomas and Joergine and children -- Norvald, Eleonore, and Thorolf (my grandfather on his mother's lap).  This picture was taken circa 1917, and I believe it was upon their return to Norway from Finland, where they had been living for three years.

Wordless Wednesday -- a Great-grandmother and a Great-great-grandmother

Click on the picture to enlarge.  Middle row: the second woman from the left is my gg-grandmother, Nikoline Andersdatter (1865-1950), and the third woman from the left is her daughter, my g-grandmother, Joergine Ludvigsdatter (1889 - 1972).  I believe this picture was taken in the mid-1920's.  One nice thing about the picture is that my g-grandmother is wearing a cross necklace I now own.  I was told she wore it daily, and now I know that she had it in the 1920's.  I am not sure when exactly, or how, she got the necklace, but I like to think my great-grandfather gave it to her. 

Tombstone Tuesday -- Borge Church and Cemetery in Østfold

This beautiful church --Borge Kirke -- in Østfold, Norway, is an important one in my paternal grandfather's ancestral line.  The church's Web site says that the location was probably used for pagan Norse whorship in pre-Christian times.  The first Christian church built on the site was dedicated to St. Olav.  Unfortunately, the original church and several others after were completely burned.  The current church was built in the traditional stone style in1861.  I was happy to visit this church last summer and look for old graves, but, as expected, my family graves were long-gone.  However, I did notice that this church had far more old graves than other churches I had visited.

 

A Sister I Never Knew

Today is the day my sister, Ingrid Sonia, was born.  Sadly, she had Down's and a bad heart, and in those days they didn't have the sophisticated surgeries they do today.  The doctors said it was a matter of time before her heart would give out.  My mother took her to Sicily, to her family, for a few months.  Ingrid died in Catania, Sicily, and is at the Cemetery of Catania.

Wordless Wednesday -- Anders Pettersen

My great-great-great grandfather, Anders Pettersen (1823 - 1911), from
Vesten in Oestfold, Norway. 

Treasure Chest Thursday -- GG-Grandfather's Cane

When I was in Norway this summer, I met with several relatives, and many had pictures or objects that had belonged to our ancestors.  Here is my gg-grandfather Emil Samuelsen Haugen's cane.  This treasure isn't mine, but I took a few nice pictures of it.

Hellebæk Sawmill in Kongsberg, Norway

Click on picture for better viewing.

     I received an email from a relative I met in Norway this past summer.  Enclosed was this picture he had dug up with a friend who has access to old pictures of Kongsberg, Norway.  It is a bit hard to see unless the photo is enlarged, but on the left is a sawmill where my great-great grandfather, Emil Georg Samuelsen Haugen, worked.  The house he shared with my gg-grandmother, Hanna Marie Andreasdatter, is behind it (not visible).  There is another sawmill that is close-up, on the right.  Both sawmills are on the other side of river Lågen.  The one on the right (closer sawmill) is Kongsberg Dampsag, and on the left is Hellebæk, where Emil worked. 

     The picture is from the early twenties, and one can see the Kjerrat, a bridge where the timber was transported from the river into the sawmill. There is also a narrow road going north, behind the Sawmill.  As I indicated earlier, the house of Emil and Hanna was on the right side of that road, and therefore hidden behind the sawmill building. 

Thank you, Odd, for sharing!

Norway, Days 13, 14, and 15

On Day 13, we set out on a two-day non-genealogical tour.  However, for all I know my ancestors visited or lived in the areas we were to visit.  My father really wanted me to see Western Norway, which has some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world.  All my life I have visited the Oslo area and not ventured far from there, so this was going to be a real treat.  So, early that morning, we headed to Luster on the Sognefjord, where we had reserved a cabin.  HINT: cabins are the economical way to see Norway.  They are located in campgrounds, but can be very nice with all the amenities included.

One of many pretty views on the way to Borgund Stave Church

Borgund Stave Church

On the way, we stopped to see the Borgund Stave Church located in Borgund, Lærdal, Norway. It is one of only 28 stave churches remaining today and one of the best preserved.  A stave church is a medieval wooden church; these churches were Catholic before Lutheranism came to Norway. All of the surviving stave churches are in Norway, with the exception of one in Sweden and one Norwegian stave that was relocated in 1842 to the outskirts of Krummhübel, Germany, now Karpacz in the Krkonoše mountains of Poland (Wikipedia).

After a lovely drive, through some of the prettiest country I have ever seen, we arrived in Luster.  The cabin we rented was right on the fjord, which was one giant mirror to the surrounding mountain landscape.  The weather was perfect -- not too cold or hot -- and the sun shone through the occasional cloud.  I went down by the water where there was a bench, and I thought this would be the perfect place to learn to meditate or find peace in your life. 
 

Views from our cabin in Luster

One very nice surprise was the Dale stone church that was built in Gothic style in the year 1250.  It was open to the public during evening hours, and what a treat.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and, recently, wall drawings dating back to before the Reformation were found during renovation.  Some may even go back to the 12th century. 
 

Dale Church in Luster

Artwork dating to before the Reformation

The altar in Dale Church

In the high country, on the way to Geiranger.  Notice the
glacier in the background.

After a nice night in Luster, we started the 3 hour drive to Geiranger, Norway.  The route would take us through the beautiful Jotunheimen mountain region. Luckily, the weather was great, which allowed for spectacular views of the Norwegian fjord country. We also drove down the Boeverdal and pass just below Galdhoepiggen, the tallest mountain in Norway.  And when we arrived at the overlook that showed us the beauty of Geiranger below, it was like being in a fairytale because it was almost too beautiful to be real. In fact, it is so exceptionally beautiful that it is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Geirangerfjord is located in the southwestern part of the county of Møre og Romsdal, north in Fjord Norway, approximately 100 kilometres from the town of Ålesund.
 

My Dad poses with Geiranger below him

After taking several pictures from above Geirangerfjord, we drove down through the town and looked for the campground where we had rented a cabin.  The cabin had two bedrooms, a living area, a kitchenette, and a lovely view of the fjord.  We could sit on the porch and watch the boats and ships go by.  Later, we went to town and walked around.  It was really cute and filled with tourists, especially since there was a cruise ship parked on the water in front of the town.  After shopping for some dinner, we headed back to the cabin to cook it.  The plan was to rent a boat after dinner, but, unfortunately, the sun gave in to rain clouds, and by the time it passed, it was too late.  But my son and I went and played ping pong for a while before observing a beautiful sunset and turning in for the night.
 

Sunset view from our Cabin... circa 11:00 pm

The cabin...

The next day, we had to say goodbye to Geiranger and take the route toward Oslo and our return to the United States.  Again, the scenery was lovely -- waterfalls, rivers, lakes, mountains.  I was particularly enthralled by the glacier blue color of the rivers.  The water everywhere looked like a child had picked out a turquoise crayon out of the box and colored it into the landscape, which had somehow magically turned into reality.  

The blue color of the water looked like it came from a crayon box

From the moment we arrived in Norway, striking scenery played before our eyes.  But I have to say, the two days I spent in Western Norway, taking in the aqua-blue color of the fjords and rivers, rocky cliffs with spouting waterfalls, and the dark green vegetation surrounding primary-colored houses dotting the landscape were simply stunning.  And when you have a family history belonging here, it is even more special.
 
Thanks for taking the journey with me through my blog!  Unfortunately, I could not post all my adventures in Norway, but I plan to sprinkle my blog every so often with a lovely picture from this trip -- perhaps Treasure Chest Thursday would work.  This trip was truly a treasure to me.

Norway, Days 11 and 12

On Day 11 in Norway, we took a tour of different farms in the area of Baerum, Norway, where ancestors had lived.  Some of the farms I visited were Bryn, Løken, Grorud, Skollerud, Burud, Bye, and Jordbaerhaugen.  Bryn, Burud, Løken, Skollerud, and Jordbaerhaugen are mostly important to my Christopherson (Kristoffersen) line I often blog about.  This line goes back from my grandmother's father.  Grorud and Bye are farms in the line of my grandmother's mother.  There were other farms I was not able to visit because of lack of time or the logistics of getting there, such as Burudhaugen and Stokker, but I received pictures of them from relatives.

Løken Farm today.  My ggg-grandmother, Ellen Hansen Christopherson
 was born and raised here.

Bryn Farm.  My ggggggg-grandfather (yes, 7 greats) moved from Stokker Farm
to Bryn Farm.  Four generations later, the line moved to Burud Farm.

Houses on Burud Farm (above and below).  Three generations lived on Burud.

Part of Burud today is a golf course.

Jordbaerhaugen Farm where my gg-grandparents, Jonette Kristoffersdatter and
Olaus Kristensen, lived.

Bye Farm.  Several generations on my grandmother's mother's line lived here.

In the afternoon, my grandmother's oldest brother's daughter (aka, her niece) came to visit us with some pictures.  There is an interesting story about my grandmother's oldest brother, John.  When he was born, my g-grandparent's were living in Midtskogen where my g-grandfather worked, tending to the telegraph lines.  But this place was far from civilization, so to speak, and my g-grandparents left their son with his aunt and uncle.  When they left Midtskogen and went to get their son, he didn't want to leave the people he now considered his parents.  I was told that my g-grandmother would say "never give away your children, even for a little while."  She obviously had regrets.  However, John was often visiting his biological parents and all his siblings.

The altar in Tanum Church (built circa 1200).

Day 12 was a Sunday, and we thought we would take advantage of the church services, so we could see the inside of our ancestral churches and also to participate in a Lutheran service.  First we went over to Tanum church in Baerum, which was built around 1200.  The inside was beautiful, and I took several pictures.  We found out that the old baptismal font had to be removed because it needed repair.  It was in the back room of the church, and I was able to see it.  It is about 300 years old and was used for many of my ancestors and even my brother.  Afterward, we drove over to Haslum Church, also a very nice church, and we stayed for their service.  There were two baptisms on this day, which was very nice to see.  I could well imagine a baptism during older times.  After the service, we walked around the cemetery.  The grounds are so lovely and peaceful. 

The baptismal font in Haslum Church (built
about 800 years ago).

For lunch, we went over to another cousin's home -- my father's cousin to be exact.  Several other relatives joined us, and we ate a lovely typical Scandinavian display of cold foods.  Later, when we had coffee, my father's cousin gave me a very thoughtful and wonderful gift.  She had been given a silver necklace with a cross pendant after my great-grandmother's death. and she decided to pass it on to me.  Wow.  I was rather emotional at the unexpected gift.  I have been wearing it quite often, and I was told it was something my g-grandmother Jørgine liked to wear often.  It was probably a gift from my g-grandfather Thomas.  Anyway, we had a wonderful time, and after all that food, we went to our next stop for dinner at the house of some old Italian-Norwegian friends.  Of course, they made a wonderful pizza I was barely able to eat because I was so full from my previous event.

Haslum Church

This marked the last day in Baerum.  The next day, we were to take a trip to Western Norway.  So stay tuned for those pictures and stories coming up soon!

Norway, Day 10

Painting by Christian Krohg at the Maritime museum in

Oslo.  Krohg liked to paint marine scenes in action. 

Here, we see a seaman handling heavy sails high up

in the rig.  My ggg-grandfather Samuel Andreassen

was probably doing exactly this when he fell to his

death on the 3rd of June, 1875.

On Day 10 in Norway, the plan was to visit the Statsarkivene in Oslo (same building as the National Archives) because I really wanted to find my ggg-grandfather's sailor record.  This is the same ggg-grandfather who emigrated to Norway from Sweden in 1869.  He had already been a sailor since 1859 in Sweden.  My gg-grandfather Emil had told my father, who had been working on a school book report on Norway's maritime history, that he had lost his father Samuel when he was only 4 years old (in 1875).  He explained to my father how his father had climbed the mast of his ship and fallen to his death, and that this had happened off the coast of South America. 

On one of my earlier posts from Norway, I told you about my visit to the Methodist church, in Fredrikstad, where I met with an historian who showed me the church's death records (most online records are from the Lutheran church and a few dissenter congregations).  For the first time I saw that my ggg-grandfather Samuel Andreasen had died on the 3rd of June, 1875, by "drowning at sea."  I thought perhaps this meant he was buried at sea.  I was hoping a visit to the Statsarkivene would give me more detail.  Unfortunately, seaman and military records are not available online, and you have to go in person, or try requesting the information by mail or email. 

The "Sjøfartshovedrulle" is the most valuable record to look for, as the personal history and career of the sailors were recorded on this register. You will find the name, residence, date of birth (and death), date of sailors patent issue, and the dates of advancement in rank. The records will also tell you what ship your ancestor was on, his destinations etc...  For good information on the seaman registers, click here.

Microfilm readers at the Statsarkivene in Oslo

Well, all this is good and great, right?  Here is where I will actually make a complaint -- my first for the whole trip in Norway.  Although Norway is phenomenal for having a wonderful online archive site with FREE records of all kinds, and I could go on and on lauding them for being a genealogist's dream come true in practically all things genealogy -- records and bygdeboks and so on... I was quite disappointed with the service at the Statsarkivene.  Who would have guessed!  The people I happened to encounter on this particular day did not seem to know what they had on hand, whether I asked about the seaman records or soldier records (I also wanted to find the soldier record for a gggg-grandfather from Halden, Norway).  I was even told I could find my records online (completely untrue) and given the hint I should go home.  Like I said, this may have just been my bad luck on this particular day, and on another day I would have found some better help.  Nonetheless, I was not taking no for an answer, and with my father's help I explained that the records existed on their site and that they were not available online.  Luckily, I was also meeting a blogging friend -- Laila.  She was the president of the Oslo area genealogy society for several years (find her blog here), and we had planned to meet in person.  I went into the reading area, and she was there with Liv, who also worked for DIS-Norge (genealogy society). After greeting Laila and Liv in the reading room, Laila came out and basically told the front-desk person what records they have available regarding seamen.  I was able to get a print-out of their microfilm catalogue for seaman records, and then we went to the room with the microfilms, found what I needed, and set up the first reel on the reader.  What a relief!  I have to say that by now I wasn't feeling too hopeful of finding anything.  Somehow I'd lost my faith in what I was searching for, but I was so wrong. 

His name was spelled in Swedish -- Samuel Andreasson.  Unfortunately,
the micorfilm printer was not available, and I had to take a picture of the
screen with my camera.

After about an hour and thirty minutes, or so, of reading through the records, I saw his beautiful name: Samuel Andreasson.  It was written with the Swedish spelling, and I wondered if he signed the register himself.  It did seem to me that the names on the register did not always match the handwriting of the other entries or that of all the individual names.  It also seemed odd that a Norwegian official would have written his name with the Swedish spelling "Andreasson" rather than "Andreasen." 

The list of ships sailed are on the left (and the year).  The center colums tell

us where the ship left from and where it was headed.  The last ship listed is

Frithjoff, which was headed to Bristol, England.  Next to the destination is the

death date of 3 June 1875 and the explanation that he had died at sea after a

fall from the top. 

I literally could have screamed, I was so excited.  I ran to get Laila in the reading room because I needed another pair of eyes to tell me I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.  Laila came back with me, and we both looked at Samuel's records.  He had signed up in December of 1869, the same month he married Oleane Jakobsdatter, and there was a list of ships and tours he had been on with destinations such as England, Holland, and France -- among others.  And then there was the last ship where he had served: the Fristhjoff (not sure about the spelling).  Next to the ship's name came the information I had been looking for:  3 June 1875, dead at sea after a fall from the top (literal translation).  He had most definitely died after climbing the mast, probably to fix a sail.  The only thing that my gg-grandfather did not tell correctly was the location of the ship.  Samuel had not died off the coast of South America but off the coast of England, as the ship had been headed to Bristol, England.

Laila, me, and Liv at the Statsarkivene in Oslo

 What a relief!  I felt so happy and so sad at the same time.  I felt that I had brought Samuel back to life.  Here were the voyages he had made toward the end of his life.  These were voyages he took, leaving his wife and small son back at home, and on one voyage he never returned to them.  How sad.  And to think that only two years ago I didn't even know his name.  His descendants had forgotten him and his life's story, but he had come back and he was there on the microfilm screen telling me what had happened to him.  He mattered on this day to me, his descendant, and he was not forgotten.  So, here I tell you that Samuel Andreasen, husband to Oleane Jakobsdatter and father to Emil Georg Samuelsen, was born in Sweden to a soldier and his wife.  I have seen the cottage in Sweden where he was born in 1841.  I have followed his path of emigration to Norway from Sweden.  I have seen the Methodist church where he was baptized as a convert and where he had his son baptized.  I found his voyages on the seas as a sailor and learned of his unfortunate accident and early death.  This ancestor's life truly went full circle for me this summer.

Later that day, my uncle invited us to sail on his sailboat.  Strange, but this seemed rather fitting on this day.  So my son, me, and my father set out to meet my uncle and his significant other at their boat.  It was a surprisingly gorgeous evening after a bit of rain in the afternoon.  The water was beautiful; the view was extraordinary.  What a wonderful way to spend the evening.  We found a spot to anchor for a while and have some coffee and dessert.  On this evening, being out at sea was in my blood.  My ancestors had taken to the seas and at least one had died there... who knows how many there are I will never know about, because I'm guessing some of those pesky Vikings who traveled the world were related to me.

My son and uncle's dog sailing.  Scenes on the fjord below.

Thanks for tuning in.  My last few days in Norway will be posted in the next couple of days.