They Came From Kviteseid
Notes from Val Hvidston, Box 2751, Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada S0E 1T0 Email: val@ hvidston.com
The following story "They Came From Kviteseid" is a collection of stories, letters and news articles about Houkom and Kirkebø families from Kviteseid, Norway. Of particular interest to me is the story about Ole Bjørnsen Haukom, my great-great-great-great grandfather. Originally these were all written in Norwegian. Alvilda Houkom Loberg gave the letters to her niece, Helen Forbes. Helen gave them to Dordi Round of California who spent considerable time translating them into English. I first learned of Dordi's books "They Came From Kviteseid - Part I" and "They Came From Kviteseid - Part II" (referred to as TCFK - Part I and II) in 2001 while reading the delightful book "Here Come the Norwegians" written by Carol Schwinkendorf Hansen (also an Ole Bjørnsen descendant).
I emailed to Carol and asked her how I could get a copy of TCFK - Part I and II. Carol wrote back and gave me Dordi Round's mailing address. I wrote to Dordi explaining who I was, a descendant of Ole Bjørnsen) and asked if she had any copies of her books. She did not and at the age of 80 did not find it easy to arrange to have her own book copied however she offered to contact Helen Forbes (another Ole Bjørnsen descendant by his third wife Torgjerd - Helen is a good friend to Dordi) and see if Helen could do that for me. A few months later, I was extremely pleased to receive my very own copy of TCFK - Part I and II.
Dordi is an interesting person. She has no Norwegian blood but she calls Norway her "Shangri-la". She emigrated to the USA in 1951 from England. She visited Norway in 1948, 1961, 1969, 1972, 1974 and 1996. She taught herself Norwegian and has made a life-long hobby of translating letters and documents into English. Her name is actually Beatrice Dorothy Round but a 90-year old Norwegian friend gave her the name Dordi and she likes it best so uses it for her translations.
Part I is over 50 pages including Notes from the Translator, Poem: On - and By Kviteseid Lake, Maps (Southern Norway and the Kviteseid District), Genealogical Charts, Old Records from Langelim, Ole Bjørnsen, Biographical description, 90 Year Family Festival at Coon Prairie, Letters from Friends, 1870, Olaf Svennungsen Houkom, by John A. Houkom, Pastor Olaf S. Houkom's Letters, and Letters from Friends and Family, 1871 - 1891.
Part II is about 130 pages and includes Notes from the Translator, Fragment by Anders S. Houkom, Letters to and from the Houkom Family 1856 - After 1900, Olaf Sveinungsen's Personal Documents, Aslak Sveinungsen's Teaching Certificate Aslak's Report to the School Board, 1888, Newspapers from 1824-1833, Aslak Houkom's Notes about the Family, Aslak Houkom's Notes about the name Houkom and News Item by Olaf S. Houkom.
I am very grateful to Dordi for sharing her books with me, to Helen for copying them for me and to Carol for her wonderful literary works and putting me in touch with Dordi. I asked Dordi and Helen for permission to post them to this site so that all our family could share in them. I was so pleased when they agreed.
You may print them from this site if you would like a copy for your own personal use. All I ask is that you email me and let me know you are doing so. Thank you.
Val Hvidston
val@hvidston.com or hvidston@sasktel.net
If you can read PDF Files (note: the program Acrobat Reader is free), I have provided a PDF version:
They Came from Kviteseid - Part 1
They Came from Kviteseid - Part 2
THEY CAME FROM KVITESEID
Part I
a partial history
of the
HOUKOM and KJØRKJEBØ
Families
Collected from Old Records, Letters, News Items and printed Biography.
Table of Contents
Poem: On - and By Kviteseid Lake
Maps (Southern Norway and the Kviteseid District)
Ole Bjørnsen, Biographical description
90 Year Family Festival at Coon Prairie
Olaf Svennungsen Houkom, by John A. Houkom
Pastor Olaf S. Houkom's Letters
Letters from Friends and Family, 1871 - 1891
Notes from the Translator (Dordi Round)
I hope the descendants and relatives of the HOUKOM and KJØRKJEBØ (Kirkebø) families will enjoy reading this translation as much as I have enjoyed working on it. It had given me many weeks of delight, and I am almost sorry that I have finished the work.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Norwegian language and customs I will include a few items of general information which may make some of the references easier to understand.
I must also point out that, unlike Olaf S. Houkom, who was well educated, the writers of some of the letters had apparently had very little schooling. The Telemark dialect is not found in the standard Norwegian - English dictionaries, so even in the well-written biography of Ole Bjørnsen, I had many word-puzzles to untangle; but some of the writers of the letters used their own methods of spelling, and NO punctuation! I have sprinkled commas, semi-colons, and periods here and there, for easier reading, but I have tried to preserve their style of writing, because it obviously reflects their conversation; and almost every phrase begins with "so".
I have done the best I can with unfamiliar dialect words, which even my first generation Norwegian-American friends did not know; but I am still stumped by one, so I have not tried to translate it. In one letter Egelev Midtsund asks her brother to send her a pair of 'kaler'. I guessed many things from wool cards to galoshes, but did not feel justified in using any of them. Can any of you help?
Note: Erling Brauti wrote: I am not sure, but I think they meant a word which we now write "karder". I think the English word is card(s). It is a tool you need to card fx wool before you spin it, and you must have two of them, a pair. It looks like: A grip with a flat full of "nails" or "needles".
A brief historical note may be worth adding: for over 400 years Norway and Denmark shared a king, with the government in Copenhagen, and Norway treated like a poor relation. During the 1700's the Norwegians began to feel national pride and a desire for independence. Denmark sided with Napoleon during his wars, and was defeated along with him. The British forced Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden; but the Norwegians wanted independence, and adopted a Constitution, in 1814, which the Swedes agreed to recognize. Your ancestor, Ole Bjørnsen, (first to use the name Houkom) was a member of the 1815 Storting (Great Parliament) and helped to make vital decisions for the future of Norway.
However, he and the other rural representatives were constantly out-voted by city members on matters of rural welfare, and it was for this reason that many wealthy farm families, such as the Houkoms and Kirkeboe, emigrated. Not all the emigrants came with "nothing but the clothes on their backs".
Now about names: the old custom was for a child to be known by three names: the baptismal name, the father's baptismal name plus son (sen, son) or dotter, and the name of the birthplace or family home; or of a home adopted in later life. In this way, Olav son of Bjørn from Hestehaga (the Horse Farm) was Ole Bjørnsen Hestehaga as a small child, but he lost the last name when his widowed mother remarried to a different farm. When he purchased the farm Houkom as an adult, he became Ole Bjørnsen Houkom - or Haukom as it was formerly spelled. Ole himself used both spellings.
It was also a custom to use all the family names for children, so seven brothers and sisters might produce five or six boys called Olav, plus a group named Aslak, and a few girls named Gunhild, etc. Ole Bjørnsen himself had two living sons named Aslak, one by his second, one by his third wife, who were sisters, and both wanted a son named after their brother, Aslak Kjørkjebø. The older one was known as Aslak Gotuholt, because his father gave him the farm with that name, and his youngest brother was Aslak Houkom. Perhaps these notes will help you to keep your ancestral relatives sorted out.
Have fun, and thank you for sharing your history with me.
DORDI ROUND
Descendants of Ole (Olav) Bjornson Hestehaga Haukom
1 Ole (Olav) Bjornson Hestehaga Haukom b: 25
December 1783 d: 16 April 1845
.. +Tone Talleivsdotter Hemmestveit b: 1775 d: 1807
2 Infant Haukom b: 1807 d: 1807
*2nd Wife of Ole (Olav) Bjornson Hestehaga Haukom:
.. +Egeleiv Aslaksdotter Kyrkjebo b: 1788 d: 02 June 1823
2 Bjorn Olavson Gotuholt b: 1812 d: 1840
... +Dordi Sveinungsdotter Haugland b: 1814 d: 1842
3 Sveinung Bjornson Gotuholt b: 1833 d: 1903
.... +Asgjerd (Ashur) Larsdotter Espetveit Omtvedt b: 17 September 1835 d: 1929
.. 4 Dordi Bjornson b: 24 February 1853
.. 4 Anne (Annie) Bjornson b: 07 February 1855 d: 1922
...... +Christian Skamser b: September 1851 d: 1921
.. 4 Bjorn (Ben) Bjornson b: 06 August 1857
...... +Elizabeth See d: 1936
.. 4 Gunhild Bjornson b: 08 December 1860 d: 1932
...... +Martin Severson b: 1857 d: 1945
.. 4 Hege Bjornson b: 14 December 1863 d: 1864
.. 4 Dora Bjornson b: 23 September 1869 d: 16 January 1957
...... +Ole Iverson Haugen b: 04 September 1856 d: 29 October 1929
.. 4 Lars or Lewis Bjornson b: Bet. 1872 - 1874 d: 1944
.. 4 Ole Bjornson b: 1876 d: 1976
2 Aslak Olavson Gotuholt b: 22 March 1814 d: 10 August 1895
... +Tone Knutsdotter Flekstveit Lundevall b: Bet. 27 July 1821 - 1824 d: 01 June 1850
3 Torjus Gotuholt b: 22 May 1843 d: 11 July 1843
3 Egeleiv Gotuholt b: 01 September 1844 d: 24 October 1882
.... +Hans Knutsson Utboen b: 14 October 1849 d: 19 October 1875
.. 4 Gunhild Anna Utboen b: 1875
...... +Christian Bjelke
3 Anne Gotuholt b: Bet. 24 - 27 March 1847 d: 01 December 1874
*2nd Wife of Aslak Olavson Gotuholt:
... +Gro Saavesdotter Vesterdal b: 28 November 1831 d: Bet. 20 - 29 November 1887
3 Tone Aslaksdotter Gotuholt b: 21 December 1852 d: Bet. 10 - 12 June 1874
.... +[1] Gunnar Jonson Brauti-Flekstveit b: 09 May 1850 d: 24 October 1907
.. 4 Tone (Thone) Flextveit Brauti b: 10 June 1874 d: 10 April 1875
3 Dordi Aslaksdotter Gotuholt b: 15 June 1854 d: 13 November 1899
.... +[1] Gunnar Jonson Brauti-Flekstveit b: 09 May 1850 d: 24 October 1907
.. 4 Tone Gunnarsdotter Boen Brauti b: 1880 d: Unknown
...... +Hans Halvorsson Storlid Berge b: 1884 d: 1929
.. 4 Tora Gudrun Gunnarsdotter Boen Brauti b: 1882 d: 1962
...... +Olav Sakrissen Langkaas b: 1884 d: Unknown
.. 4 Aslak Gunnarson Brauti b: 06 December 1883 d: 24 June 1967
...... +Dordi Tarjeisdotter Skafsaa Lauvvik b: 15 March 1886 d: 15 April 1966
.. 4 Jon Gunnarson Brauti b: 30 January 1887 d: 19 September 1962
...... +Gro Olavsdotter Raamunddalen Omtveit b: 22 January 1887 d: 29 December 1967
.. 4 Einar Gunnarsson Brauti b: 1890 d: 1971
...... +Anne Olavsdotter Svolsbru Tveit b: 1892 d: 1979
.. 4 Toralf Gunnarsson Brauti Omtveit b: 1893 d: 1974
...... +Tone Olavsdotter Raamunddalen Omtveit b: 1889 d: 1979
.. 4 Signe Gunnarsdotter Brauti b: 14 May 1897 d: 1992
...... +Halvor Jonsson Kyrkjebo Nyland b: 25 May 1897 d: 1975
3 Birgit Aslaksdotter Gotuholt b: 07 May 1856 d: 04 July 1883
3 Olav Aslakson Gotuholt b: 12 April 1858 d: 1940
.... +Anne Kaasa
3 Saave Aslakson Gotuholt b: 18 July 1860 d: 1937
3 Knut Aslakson Gotuholt b: 04 September 1862 d: 01 February 1953
.... +Aase Persdotter Syftestad b: 26 February 1859 d: 27 April 1953
.. 4 Dagfinn Gadeholt b: 30 January 1890 d: 31 May 1945
...... +Nancy Karoline Brynildsen b: 28 March 1891 d: 14 July 1962
*2nd Wife of Knut Aslakson Gotuholt:
.... +Laura Peterson b: 1882 d: 1966
.. 4 Elvira Gotuholt b: 05 December 1899 d: May 1984
.. 4 Emma Gotuholt b: Bet. 1900 - 1907
.. 4 Nora Gotuholt b: 03 February 1908 d: March 1986
...... +Anton Johnson b: 1904
.. 4 Gerda Gotuholt b: 1911
...... +Einar Johnson b: 1901
.. 4 Mildred Gotuholt b: 1916
...... +Walter Haugland b: 1907 d: 1977
3 Aslaug Aslaksdotter Gotuholt b: 15 April 1865 d: 1937
.... +Leif Torsson Storgaard d: 1896
.. 4 Alfhild Storgard b: 1889
...... +Gunnulv Olavsson Sandland
.. 4 Aslak Storgard b: 1890
...... +Aasne Johannesdotter Marheim b: 1895
.. 4 Thov Storgard b: 1893
.. 4 Gudrun Bergljot b: 1894
...... +Andreas Gregarsson Rolleivstad
*2nd Husband of Aslaug Aslaksdotter Gotuholt:
.... +Johan Pontius Gustafsson b: 1875 d: Unknown
3 Bjorn Aslaksson Gotuholt b: 04 July 1867 d: 1898
.... +Kari Sveinungsdotter Groven b: 1869 d: 1893
.. 4 Gunnar Bjornsson b: 1890 d: 1941
...... +[2] Randi Aamundsdotter Skeide b: 1888 d: 1973
.. *2nd Wife of Gunnar Bjornsson:
...... +[2] Randi Aamundsdotter Skeide b: 1888 d: 1973
.. 4 Sveinung Bjornsson b: 1892 d: 1974
...... +Gunhild Jonsdotter Brauti b: 1867 d: 1934
.. *2nd Wife of Sveinung Bjornsson:
...... +Aase Olavsdotter Hustveit Byggland b: 1896 d: 1986
*2nd Wife of Bjorn Aslaksson Gotuholt:
.... +Gunnhild Jonsdotter Lonnegrav Brauti b: 20 January 1867 d: 06 November 1934
.. 4 Bjorn (Ben) Gadeholt b: 1897 d: 29 January 1980
...... +Myrtle Rilea b: 20 January 1904 d: March 1990
3 Gunhild Aslaksdotter Gotuholt b: 15 July 1870 d: 1952
.... +Jorgen Olavsson Berge b: 1854 d: 1916
.. 4 Olav Berge b: 1899
...... +Ingeborg Norgaard b: 1902
.. 4 Borgny Berge b: 1900 d: 1926
.. 4 Alf Berge b: 1902
...... +Marie Tomine Tomasdotter b: 1902
.. 4 Gudrun Dagny Berge b: 1906
...... +Lars Hagen
.. 4 Ragnar Lone b: 1909
...... +Kirsten
*3rd Wife of Aslak Olavson Gotuholt:
... +Hege Jorundsdotter Oyan or Oiland b: 1853 d: Bet. 21 December 1911 - 1912
3 Sveinung Aslaksson Gotuholt b: 15 March 1889 d: 15 April 1973
.... +Anne Tarjeisdotter Bergland b: 24 June 1897 d: 23 September 1967
.. 4 Hege Gotuholt b: 1917 d: 1996
...... +Karl Karlsson Rui b: 1908 d: 1985
.. 4 Aslak Gotuholt b: 1920 d: 1991
...... +Birgit Haugen b: 1920
.. 4 Ingeborg Gotuholt b: 1921
...... +Notto Lovland b: 1903 d: 1985
.. 4 Egeleiv (Lillemor) Gotuholt b: 1923
...... +Peder Arnold Ostgaard b: 1923
.. 4 Tone Gotuholt b: 1925
...... +Alf Sigurd Sveinungsson Lundevall b: 1920 d: 1998
.. 4 Tarjei Gotuholt b: 1929
...... +Ragnhild Torgersbraaten b: 1932
.. 4 Olav Gotuholt b: 1930 d: 1993
...... +Aslaug Signe Kilen b: 1936
.. 4 Andreas Gotuholt b: 1932 d: 1975
...... +Kristi Stoyva b: 1938
.. 4 Margit Gotuholt b: 1935
...... +Eivind Skjold b: 1926
.. 4 Bjarne Gotuholt b: 1939
...... +Edit Fjeldheim b: 1939
3 Gro Gotuholt b: 28 May 1893 d: Unknown
.... +Sverre Bentsson Bakke b: 1884 d: 1964
.. 4 Bent Bakke b: 1921 d: 1990
...... +Thorbjorg Bruserud b: 1923
.. 4 Ragnhild Bakke b: 1926
...... +Holje Klonteig b: 1924
2 ? Gotuholt b: 26 May 1817 d: 1817
2 Tone Olavsdotter Gotuholt b: 1819 d: 1819
2 Tone Olavsdatter Hestehaga Haukom b: 1821 d: Unknown
... +Sveinung Auversson Kyrkjebo b: 1825 d: Unknown
3 Olav Kyrkjebo b: 1846
3 Auver Kyrkjebo b: 1851
2 Infant Gotuholt b: 02 June 1823 d: 1823
*3rd Wife of Ole (Olav) Bjornson Hestehaga Haukom:
.. +Tarjer Aslaksdotter Kyrkjebo b: 1800 d: 1875
2 Egeleiv Olavsdotter Haukom Gotuholt b: 1826 d: Unknown
... +Hans Paulsson Midtsund b: 1826 d: 1866
3 Olav Midtsund b: 1847 d: 1848
3 Paul Midtsund b: 1849
3 Dorte Midtsund b: 1852
.... +Knut Bergseth
3 Tarjer Midtsund b: 1860 d: 1867
3 Olav Midtsund b: 1865
2 Sveinung Oleson Haukom Gotuholt b: 1829 d: 1909
... +Marie Hansdotter Saltevje b: 1825 d: 19 June 1896
3 Olav Sveinungsson Gotuholt Haukom b: Bet. 30 - 31 May 1850 d: Bet. 05 - 06 November 1920
.... +Anna Marie (Marie) Glerum d: 01 July 1891
.. 4 John Asbjorn Gotuholt b: 27 January 1890
.. 4 Sveinung Marius Gotuholt b: 24 April 1891
*2nd Wife of Olav Sveinungsson Gotuholt Haukom:
.... +Anne Johansdotter Dallum b: 1874 d: 1958
.. 4 Joe Magnus Gotuholt b: 17 November 1894
.. 4 Marie Tonette Gotuholt b: 16 April 1896
.. 4 Avhilde Margarette Gotuholt b: 20 December 1897 d: 1982
.. 4 Agnes Birgitte Gotuholt b: 09 October 1899
.. 4 Hans Olaf Haukom b: 13 August 1902
.. 4 Carl Ingeman Gotuholt Houkom b: 13 April 1905 d: 1978
...... +Goldie Ilene Barnes
.. 4 Harold George Gotuholt b: 27 February 1908 d: 1985
.. 4 Margarette Christine Gotuholt b: 11 September 1911 d: 1968
3 Anne Haukom b: Bet. 07 - 08 April 1852 d: 22 February 1916
.... +Ole G. (Olaf Saltevje) Ness b: 27 September 1848 d: 02 January 1925
.. 4 Gunnuld O. Ness b: 11 January 1879 d: 02 October 1926
.. 4 Svennung Ness
.. 4 ? Ness b: 1883
...... +G. B. Miller
.. 4 Simon Ness
.. 4 ? Ness b: 1886
...... +J. G. Gustafson
.. 4 Alfred Ness
.. 4 Tonie Ness
.. 4 Thone Ness b: February 1891
3 Hans Haukom b: 08 April 1855 d: 18 June 1901
.... +Ragna Martine (Lie) Lee b: 1864 d: 1949
.. 4 Karl Samunder Haukom b: 20 September 1888 d: 27 February 1976
.. 4 Tona Maria Haukom b: 11 February 1891 d: 22 July 1973
...... +Aksel Olson Gaasebyseteren - Axel Sather b: 20 February 1886 d: 19 February 1944
.. 4 Anna Malina Haukom b: 1893 d: 26 July 1972
...... +Elmer A. Nelson b: 1892 d: July 1971
.. 4 Thora Kristiane Haukom b: 1895 d: 1976
...... +Louis Johnson b: 1880 d: 1976
.. 4 Martha Regina Haukom b: 1898 d: 17 December 1992
3 Tarjer (Thora) Gotuholt Haukom b: 16 September 1856 d: 07 June 1925
.... +Peder Mayer
3 Tone Gotuholt Haukom b: 30 July 1859 d: 23 March 1888
3 Anders Gotuholt Haukom b: 17 August 1861 d: 04 June 1938
.... +Nellie Johnson
.. 4 Alf Gotuholt Haukom b: 1894
...... +Mathilde Nyland
.. 4 Bjarne Gotuholt Haukom b: 1897
.. 4 Malene Gotuholt b: 1901
.. 4 Sverre Samuel Gotuholt b: 1905
3 Aslak Haukom b: 04 May 1864 d: Bet. 16 October 1938 - 1939
3 Anne Andrea Gotuholt Haukom b: 19 June 1866 d: 17 November 1943
2 Olav Olavson Haukom Staaland b: 1832 d: 1896
... +Anlaug Leivsdotter Roholt b: 1831 d: 1894
3 Olav Gotuholt b: 1853
3 Tarjer Staland Gotuholt b: 1855 d: 1862
3 Elen Staland Gotuholt b: 1858
.... +Tor Olavsson Sanden b: 1852 d: 1934
.. 4 Olav Sanden b: 1883
...... +Asgred Botn Skafsa b: 1885
.. 4 Olaus Sanden b: 1885
...... +Andrea Sandan b: 1888
.. 4 Grothea (Thea) Sanden b: 1888 d: 1930
...... +Torgeir Sinnes Lauvik b: 1843 d: 1920
.. *2nd Husband of Grothea (Thea) Sanden:
...... +Soren Knutsson Slemmen b: 1903
3 Tarjer Staland Gotuholt b: 1863
.... +Tarjei Tarjeisson Austbo b: 1868
3 Leiv Staland Gotuholt b: 1866
2 Birgit Olavsdotter Gotuholt b: 1834 d: Unknown
... +Olav Paulson Kjeldel Midtsund b: 1832 d: Unknown
3 Paul Midtsund b: 1860
3 Olav Midtsund b: 1864
3 Hans Midtsund b: 1867
3 Tarjer Midtsund b: 1870
3 Dorte Midtsund b: 1873
3 Aslak Midtsund b: 1876
2 Aslak Olavsson Gotuholt Haukom b: 1837 d: 1913
... +Signe Jonsdotter Lonnegrav Brauti b: 1845 d: 1906
3 Olav Haukom b: 1866
3 Gunhild Haukom b: 1868
3 Tarjer Haukom b: 1870
3 Egeleiv Haukom b: 1872
3 Jon Haukom b: 1874
3 Signe Haukom b: 1876
3 Bjorn Haukom b: 1879
3 Ottar Haukom b: 1883
2 Aslaug Olavsdotter Haukom b: 1841 d: 1884
... +Olav Jorgensson Gjersund b: 1836 d: 1907
3 Jorgen Haukom b: 1861 d: 1945
.... +Tone Skare b: 1863 d: 1937
3 Olav Haukom b: 1864 d: 1935
.... +Birgit Grave b: 1858 d: 1944
3 Knut Markus Haukom b: 1867 d: 1947
.... +Gunhild Juvland b: 1887
3 Aaste Haukom b: 1870 d: 1944
.... +Gunnleik Berge b: 1862
3 Tarjer (Tillie) Haukom b: 1873
.... +Bredesen
3 Aslaug Haukom b: 1875
.... +Gunnleik Heggtveit b: 1862 d: 1950
3 Olav Haukom b: 1876 d: 1950
.... +Aase Juvland b: 1881
3 Thone Haukom Gjersund b: 1879 d: 12 April 1964
.... +Andrew Anderson b: 05 September 1874 d: 1963
.. 4 Arthur Anderson b: 1902 d: 1967
...... +Julia Loyland b: 1912
.. 4 Agnes Theoline Anderson b: 1904
...... +Olaf George Hanson b: 1900 d: 22 May 1970
.. 4 Leonard Anderson b: 1906
.. 4 Bjarne (Barney) Anderson b: 1908
...... +Mabel Myran b: 1907
.. 4 Sylvia Anderson b: 1910
...... +Arthur Copeland b: 1905 d: 1973
.. 4 Thelma Anderson b: 1912 d: 12 April 1944
...... +Morris Carrico b: 1913 d: 1966
.. 4 Joseph Gilmer Anderson b: 1914
...... +Dorothy Ann Simpson b: 1921 d: 1976
.. *2nd Wife of Joseph Gilmer Anderson:
...... +Mildred Dahl Syverson b: 1920
.. 4 Hildor Anderson b: 1916
...... +Margaret Vacura b: 1923
.. 4 Volborg Anderson b: 1919
...... +Lou Dillon
.. *2nd Husband of Volborg Anderson:
...... +Ernest Patitucci
3 Andres Haukom b: 1884
.... +Aasne Hustveit b: 1881
Old Records from Langelim
from Langelim in Aamotsdal Parish, Seljord District
Kviteseid, August 15, 1930
Aslak Visterdal
About the middle of the 1700's Gunhild Lavrantsdotter was married to Ole (Bakken ?) And had two children with him:
1. Ole Olsen. He was owner of Bakken and died childless there about 1825.
2. Gunhild Olesdotter was born about 1757. She was probably married to Høydal or Jønnardalen in Langelim, but was still unmarried in 1789.
Gunhild Lavrantsdotter became a widow and re-married, to Ole Niculsson Sudgarden, who died in August 1788; they had two children:
1. Niculs Olson, who became the owner of Sudgarden when his father's estate was settled April 2, 1789. His mother still lived and was granted a pension from the estate. It was therefore only the right to use of the estate that was settled then. Niculs Olson was married to Haege Olesdotter and had two children: Ole Niculsson Sudgarden and Gunhild Niculsdotter. Gunhild remained unmarried, but Ole Niculsson has descendants in Langelim.
2. Bjørn Olson Hestehaga. Bjørn Olson (Sudgarden) Hestehaga was not very tall, although he otherwise seemed to be big and stalwart. He was fairly stout, thickset and unusually strong. But he was good-tempered and did not like to use his strength against others. However, the story is told that once at a party he encountered the bully from Numedal. The Numedolan wanted everything his own way at this party and danced solo all over the floor, boasting and flaunting himself. Then Bjørn couldn't restrain himself, but expressed himself: "You are just a head of froth, and you always will be a head of froth". Of course the big man from Numedal couldn't tolerate that; he flew at Bjørn's immediately, and there was a fight. The Numedolan was bigger, but Bjørn was more lithe and agile. It took a long time, but the end was that the big man from Numedal was just froth for the Telemarker. But it had been a hard struggle: the second day Bjørn's neck was so swollen that he couldn't turn his head; he had to turn his whole body.
Bjørn was married to Bergit Tovsdotter Store-Kallaak from Morgedal. They managed the place Hestehaga in Øyfjell and settled down there.
Bjørn didn't live long. He was at the settlement of his father's estate in 1789, but died not long after. He left two children;
1. Ole Bjørnsen, Haukom in Kviteseid.
2. Gunhild Bjørnsdotter, born 1785, died April 17, 1852, married to Johannes Guthormson Skare, Morgedal.
Excerpts from
Ole Bjørnsen
Biographical description
by
Rikard Berg
Selected and translated by Dordi Round
Ole Bjørnsen was born at Hestehaga in Øfjell, (at that time in the parish of Laardal), on Christmas Day 1783. His family were newcomers from other districts. His father, Bjørn Olavsson, had come from Sudgarden in Selgjord, and his mother, Bergit Tovsdotter was from Kaldaak in Brunkeberg.
Kaldaak was one of the best farms in Morgedal, and at that time the family was wealthy, so the Kaldaak girls were reckoned among the finest marriage-prospects in the area. Birgit Kaldaak, like many young girls, wanted to know which of the suitors she would marry, so she followed an old custom. She dressed the old log chair in her church clothes, put a light on the seat, and lay down in the shadow of the chair. On the table she had put three bowls, one with brandy, one with beer, and one with water. Whoever did this on Christmas Eve would dream of her suitors. Birgit dreamed that at first a clever, handsome young man came in, wearing a long coat and knee-britches, with wide, fancy sock-bands, she could still envision them after she awoke. He drank from the beer-bowl, and tied his sock-bands around her neck before leaving. It was Bjørn Hestehaga. When a long time afterwards, she visited Hestehaga, and Bjørn took her up in the loft-room, she distinctly recognized the fancy sock-bands which were hanging by his church clothes, and in that way she knew him as the young man from her dream.
Also she dreamed that a young man came in and drank from the water bowl. It was Torgjus Hosleberg. Drinking from the water bowl predicted death, especially by drowning, and Torgjus later drowned in Nisservatne, (Nisser Lake).
She dreamed, too, that a non-commissioned officer came in and spread a blue blanket over her. That predicted that she would have a bad time with him; others would say that he would spread the funeral cloth over her. But the third man was Anders Torge, who became her third husband.
Birgit's life followed her dream. She was married three times, and to the men she had dreamed about. Bjørn Hestehaga courted her, and she liked him so well that they were soon engaged. Old Tov thought she could have chosen a better man than the one from Øfjell, and made fun of her because he was a mountain man. "No you'll have to put on a mountaineer's coat, Birgit", he said. "I can see Old Bear (Bjørn) in Honnaas Pass". People claim that it's possible to recognize a man coming through Honnaas Pass, above Bjaaland in Morgedal, while watching from Kaldaak; but one would need to be long-sighted.
Birgit was true to her Øfjell man, and moved to Hestehaga in 1776 or 1777. Bjørn and Birgit had a daughter, who soon died, and then a son, strong and vigorous; but he met sudden death. One day, when his father was working in the mill-house, the child toddled after him and fell into the mill-race. They found him in a back-water of the river. Bjørn grieved deeply over his son, especially as he felt it was partly his fault. He lay in the farm yard for days, sobbing, and could do no work.
Their third child was called Olav, and he was baptized when only one day old. In those days mountain people feared that trolls would steal babies and exchange them for their own, so it was necessary to Christen a child as soon as possible. The day after Christmas Bjørn wrapped the baby well and skied to church with the child in his arms. Luckily it wasn't far to church, otherwise it might have been harmful. Two years later, 1785, Bjørn and Bergit had their last child, a little girl whom they named Gunnhild. She grew up and married Johans Guttormson Skarde in Morgedal.
Bjørn Hestehaga lived only one year after the birth of Gunnhild. He had been a hard worker, and wore himself out before his time. (Note: This account would put the death of Bjørn Hestehaga in 1786, but Aslak Vistedal states that he was at the settlement of his father's estate in 1789, but died not long after. He also states that Bjørn 'managed' Hestehaga, but the fact that Ole had money from his birthright to the farm indicates that his father owned it.) He built a loft which still stands at Hestehaga. He kept his farm in excellent condition. In those days it was bigger than it is now. Parts of it have been sold.
Birgit was married the second time to Torgjus Hosleberg in Ordal, (Brunkeberg), and had two sons with him, Bjørn and Tov. Bjørn came to Sandvik in Sundbygd and was the father of Torgjus Sandvik, the smith. He was a strong and faithful worker, and sometimes worked for his brother, Olav, threshing and woodcutting. Tov Torgjusson lived for a time at Skovik, about where Haugen in Kviteseid is now, and later moved to Brekke.
After the death of Torgjus Hosleberg Birgit was married the third time, to non-commissioned officer Anders Torge in Brunkeberg. She died on November 17, 1841, over 84 years of age. Anders lived a while after.
Because his mother moved down to Brunkeberg after her first husband's death, Ole (Olav) Bjørnsen grew up there. He was clever and hardworking, so he was among the first in confirmation class. He was 17 years old when confirmed by Pastor Windfeld. The pastor considered him so clever that he gave him the best testimonial to Bishop Hansen in Kristiansand, who at that time took in boys and educated them to be teachers. Olav inherited 200 riksdaler (640 kroner) from his father, and also had some money from his birthright to Hestehaga, so he could afford to go to Kristiansand in 1802.
It was hard work for country boys to sit from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm daily, for 8 weeks; but the boys all seemed to enjoy it. Ole Bjørnsen was certainly not the worst of the students. There he laid the groundwork for his clear and firm penmanship, and for the definitive and graceful style, and excellent choice of words which characterize everything he wrote.
For the rest of his life Olav (Ole) sought learning at every opportunity, read all kinds of books, and learned other languages; but he always wished he had had more schooling as a boy. Once he said of one of his sons, "I'll pay for Bjørn to be educated as a pastor". His wife was scornful, but Ole continued, AIf I could have had schooling when I was growing up, I'd be a pastor now.
In 1802 he became a teacher in Kviteseid, and taught for 17 or 18 years. In 1807 the people of Brunkeberg sent a request to the bishop asking that Ole be appointed parish clerk, and in 1808 he was named to the office. It was not child's play to be clerk for such a large area as Kviteseid was then. The clerk had to sing in six churches, and accompany the pastor no matter what the weather or state of the roads. In 1810 Nissedal was separated from the parish, so after that there were only four churches to serve.
He was an excellent clerk, with a deep and powerful voice, which could be heard throughout the congregation. "He bellows like a bull", said his enemies. "A handsome young man, with a delightful voice", said Clause Pavels. "...resonant as a church bell", said the famous writer, Henrik Wergeland, about him. He couldn't tolerate competition. Once the young Crøger ladies, who were music teachers at the Kosa School, began singing the psalm ahead of him in Brunkeberg Church. Ole glanced over to them where they sat in the choir loft, and then he began the psalm, with such power as had never before been heard in Brunkeberg. It was a cold winter day, and his breath turned to a frosty cloud as he sang. The congregation followed his singing, and the Crøger ladies had to give in. If people wanted a singer, they sent for "Olav the clerk". For the Reformation Ceremony in Kviteseid, October 31, 1817, they had a concert in the church, and Olav was the leader; and when Prince Oscar visited Chamberlain Løvenskiold at Fossum, Ole Bjørnsen was sent for to lead the singing, and everyone was pleased with him.
He was an excellent teacher, and he kept strict discipline in school. Sometimes he had to teach confirmation classes, too, if the pastor was elsewhere. He arranged it so that he was paid 12 shillings by every candidate for confirmation. Finally a fuss was made, and some refused to pay. They said he had no right to it. "I know I have no right to it" he said "but I've fired them up so well, I thought I might as well get it, as long as I'm clerk." But that was the end of that arrangement.
It is uncertain where Ole Bjørnsen lived the first year he was schoolmaster. In 1811 Pastor Jens Zetlitz moved to Kviteseid, and Ole Bjørnsen moved into one of the buildings at the Parsonage there. The building was known as "Rulla" because there was a big stone roller by it. In the years when Ole was a Stortingsman (like a Senator, or Member of Parliament), attending the Storting in Christiania, he and Zetlitz exchanged many letters, and often the pastor wrote that he was "going down to Egelev", that is, going down to visit Ole's wife, Egelev, in Rulla.
According to Ole's son, Aslak Gotuholt, Ole moved to Haukom on June 14, 1817. He had bought a half-share in Haukom in 1813, when Chamberlain Aall bought the other half-share; but by 1822 Ole owned all of it. In 1842 he bought Gotuholt, where his son went to live. But Ole lived the rest of his life at Haukom, except for his duties in Christiania.
Like his mother, Ole Bjørnsen was married three times. He was a big noble-looking man, over six feet tall, light haired and blue eyed, fair complexioned. He was very sociable, and it was no wonder the girls liked him. But he was not fat, rather of slender build.
Ole Bjørnsen had a "first love". She was Anne, who later married Knut Flekstveit in Laardal; and she was crazy about Ole. One Sunday she was Godmother at a Christening, and gave mixed-up answers to all the pastor's questions. Afterwards when people asked her what happened, she replied" Yes, what are you surprised about? I happened to see the clerk, and I forgot everything." But Anne was changeable, and her family were against Ole.
Bjørnsen was still young when he courted Anne, because on June 23 1806, he married Tone Torleivsdotter Hemmestveit in Brunkeberg. She died the following spring, and their baby died soon afterwards. It was a short but very happy marriage. On March 25, 1811 he married Egelev Aslaksdotter Kyrkjebøen in Kviteseid, and with her he lived perhaps his happiest days. His letters are full of beautiful compliments for her. She died June 2, 1823.
In his home everything went like clockwork. For Christmas the woodshed had to be full, and at his house all was ready for Christmas Eve. According to Jon Orlid, Christmas began every year the moment the master stepped into the bathtub. After him, all the other could get cleaned up, and when everyone had bathed, they sat down at the table, the Christmas psalm was sung, and all the old table manners were kept. One evening during Christmas the whole household would gather for a dance, Aslak would get out his fiddle, and the family and the servants danced. The master himself enjoyed looking on. Especially was Sveinung, a son of the third wife, praised for his beautiful dancing, and then young Olav thought he ought to ask his father if he wasn't first-rate, too. "Just as fine to watch as that is, I can do it myself" said little Olav. "Oh yes, you're very clever, too" said his father, smiling. It was altogether a fine household, and Ole Bjørnsen's servants stayed long with him.
To understand the spiritual development of Ole Bjørnsen one must consider his friendship with the poet-pastor, Jens Zetlitz.
Even while Zetlitz still lived in Vikedal he and Bjørnsen were acquainted through letters. In 1811 Zetlitz was named pastor for Kviteseid, and he immediately wrote to various people in the area for information. One of them was the parish clerk, and so they became acquainted. By early Mar, 1811, Zetlitz was addressing him as Dearest Friend, and complimenting him on his beautiful penmanship and excellent style.
Soon after Zetlitz moved into the parsonage the clerk moved into the Rulla house on the parsonage property. In 1812 the pastor dedicated his second collection of poems to Bjørnsen, and included in it six of Bjørnsen's own poems. Zetlitz was very happy to have a companion who could appreciate and criticize his work, discuss all subjects with him, and advise him on some matters. The first time Bjørnsen was absent from Kviteseid, to attend Storting, Zetlitz really missed him. "I have forced myself to work harder, in order to better bear the boredom caused by lack of your company."
It would not have been a true friendship if they had not told each other the truth when necessary. They had much to teach each other. Zetlitz was negligent and careless, Bjørnsen was clever and absolutely orderly. There are many stories about the pastor's carelessness in church services; he often came late to communion; he frequently sat drinking most of Saturday night, so he had to sleep off his intoxication on Sunday morning, and the clerk had to shake him and pull him out of bed. The pastor objected to this, and one day he took his revenge. They were to hold communion in Vraadal; the clerk usually stood on the runners of the sled behind the pastor when he drove to church. This Sunday the pastor was up very early, the horse was harnessed to the sled, and with the whip in his hand he peeped in to Rulla. The clerk was still in bed. "What's the matter with the clerk?" he asked. "The pastor is leaving" and as Bjørnsen jumped out of bed and struggled into his clothes, the pastor jumped into his sled and drove away. That day the clerk had to use "the apostle's horse" over Vraadal Moor.
It was well known that Zetlitz was a heavy drinker; on the other hand Bjørnsen was moderate in all ways, and often talked to the pastor about his drinking. One Saturday night they visited Ole Blom at Nese, and the pastor drank too much. The next day they were due at Flaabygd for the service. "It looks bad, if the pastor comes to church drunk" said the clerk. "Better a drunk pastor than half a clerk" said the pastor. Although Bjørnsen was not a heavy drinker, he maintained his friendship with Zetlitz, and often bought or transported brandy for him, and the pastor thanked him in rhymed verse.
It is also certain that Bjørnsen was often angry and unhappy about his friend's behavior, and suffered for his faults. After a sincere New Year's wish for him in 1814 he added:
Although I cannot hide
the quiet sorrow, the pain
which to my tender side
and heart came back again,
when weakness took control
and my Friend into error slipped
and laughed like a lost soul;
my tears of pity dripped.
Although Ole Bjørnsen was temperate, he was not "holier than thou". In the matter of drink, as in all things, he followed the custom of the country, but no further than he could retain his self-control; and yet far enough that his companions could accept him as one of their own. He often refers to parties in his letters, and Ole Blom reported in his diary for 1826, "The 14th November I went with Ole Bjørnsen to Hvidesøe, where we drank punch and played cards til 2 o'clock at night, and I won 4 2 speciedaler". We who live in a later era, with different opinions, can not understand how the pastor, the parish clerk, and the assistant clerk could sit in the parsonage, drinking and playing cards for money; but in those days people were not surprised by it. (Translator's note: the last sentence is an expression of the author, Rikard Berg. The book gives no indication of what "era" he lived in.) The amazing thing is that the one who was closest to Zetlitz kept himself from over-indulgence, and Ole Bjørnsen should be honored for his moderation, which showed what a steadfast man he was. He always went along; he drank, he played cards, sometimes for money, and he enjoyed parties among his good friends. He missed them when for some reason he could not join them. When his political duties prevented him accepting a party invitation from Gudmund Fjaagesund, he wrote a poem expressing his regrets.
In a letter to Ole Blom in 1821 he wrote: "We had some guests over Pentecost, and had a lot of fun. I'd been lucky enough to get some beer, which heated their heads. My neighbor, Halvor, became so crazy that he not only overwhelmed me with curses, but he was determined to knock me down. I couldn't get away until I had thrown him on the floor a couple of times; but then he became quite peaceful, and the day after he came to me and begged me very humbly for forgiveness, which he received on condition that next time he would behave himself, and he promised faithfully. Whether he keeps his word, time will tell." Bjørnsen was so far from being angry over this, that he tells it with laughter in his eyes; and because he was moderate, he kept his self-control, and could laugh at another man's craziness.
He was not against brandy. He voted for the brandy law in 1816, and he set up a brandy distillery at Haukom. He thought it would bring in a good profit. However, it seems that he became much more temperate as he grew older. In 1841 he was one of the founders of a Temperance Society. The year after he wrote to his son, Aslak Gotuholt, that it was very good if people could remain sober at parties, and in a letter to P. Mandt later in 1842 he wrote, "Would to God that drunkenness might diminish more and more." It seems that he had deep personal reasons for saying this; because it coupled it with the news that his son had been too early laid in his grave.
Zetlitz was naturally the "Sun" who gave light to all around him; the most popular, the best poet, the best educated, the cleverest, a fount of wit, the merriest, and with a firm ability to weld together all the best talents of the area. He got all of them writing poetry, even the ones who were sure they couldn't.
The one who received most benefit from Zetlitz was of course Bjørnsen. For six or seven years they were together almost daily, and whenever they had any spare time, they discussed all possible subjects. Bjørnsen learned most from the association; but friendship with Bjørnsen was, for Zetlitz, "a necessity like light and air" and if anything broke the friendship, he would be completely devastated, he said. Bjørnsen set him up as a pattern, and in his many poems to Zetlitz he praises his poetic spirit and friendship:
How rare and seldom is the joy
to find a friend like you,
whose heart and spirit more and more
completely charm my mood.
This Friendship's strong eternal band
not even Death can sever;
however grim and cold its hand.
Our Friendship is for ever.
When Zetlitz died in 1821 it was a great loss for many, and most for the leaders of the district, because they were best able to appreciate him. Both Ole Blom and Tormod Knutsen wrote poems in his memory, but it is perhaps Ole Bjørnsen who best expressed the sorry, and felt it the most deeply:
Thoughtful and deep in sorry I stand
and see with tear-filled eyes
the grave where Zetlitz lies,
where his dust becomes part of the land.Over the heavy loss Friendship sighs,
He who brought happiness everywhere
when his comrades gathered to share
in the grave's cold embrace now lies.The man with the spirit of light,
with the open, generous heart,
who only good thoughts could impart,
has sunk into Death's dark night.The Post whose echoing lay
rang joyfully over the land
from Norway's hills to the strand
now lies in the silent clay.The Speaker, religion's tongue,
who the Truths of Jesus spoke,
sharing Love with all the folk,
is no longer his people among.
(Translator's note: There are eight more verses, but in the interest of brevity I have omitted them.)
As early as 1822, the publisher C. N. Schwach had written to Ole Bjørnsen asking him to arrange for a complete collection of the poems of Zetlitz, and asked that Bjørnsen send him all printed and unprinted poems in existence. Before he died, Zetlitz had begged Ole to take care of all his literary works, and he did so most faithfully. Schwach also asked him to gather material for a biography, and suggested that Bjørnsen himself would be the best person to write it; but Ole protested that he had neither the time nor the ability, and sent all the material to Schwach, who expressed gratitude for his association with Bjørnsen, and wrote the biography himself, Bjørnsen praised him greatly for it.
Ole Bjørnsen had to take care, not only of Zetlitz' literary affairs, but also of his economic matters, and here his friendship was really put to the test. He had a great deal of trouble with the task, and helped the widow and the son, Søren Zetlitz, as much as he could. There was insufficient value in the estate to cover the debts, so he applied for a year's grace for the widow, but it wasn't granted. He managed to gather in about 400 speciedaler owed to the pastor, but there should have been 550. Zetlitz had been very casual about his affairs while in Kviteseid, and had never demanded the payments that should have been made to him. There was very little for the widow, and less for Søren Zetlitz, who was a student in Kristiania, and continually wrote to Bjørnsen for money. Fru Zetlitz showed no gratitude for all Ole's help. In fact, she accused him of plagiarizing Zetlitz' poetry.
Zetlitz had great benefit from his association of Bjørnsen, who was an excellent farmer, and in politics followed the desires of his constituents. Bjørnsen was not ashamed of his "farmer" status. When in the Storting, in 1815, he still wore his homespun, homemade clothes. He thought it ridiculous for a farmer to dress up in a tall hat and tail-coat. Many people admired him for his attitude. He wrote home that Bishop Sørensen treated him like a brother, and that he had several times been invited to visit the Crown Prince and other dignitaries, who complimented him for wearing the "national" clothes. They were interested in his accounts of the customs in Telemark, and persuaded him to do the Halling dance. However, the year after, 1816, he wrote home that he had been forced to buy new clothes, because his homespun ones had become worn out and shabby.
Bjørnsen retained his local customs for good reasons. He had a strong sense of what was appropriate for the individual; and he was also bothered by the attitude of some city dwellers towards the rural population. This had been especially bad in Kviteseid, where many honest, hardworking farmers had been badly treated and cheated by townspeople with whom they had traded. He expressed deep gratitude to publisher C. N. Schwach, for his genuine appreciation of the talents of rural writers. Bjørnsen was jealous of his own and his countrymen's honor. His knowledge of their own worth made him proud to keep the rural traditions.
He showed this, too, in the poems he wrote in the Telemark dialect, such as "The Telemark Farmer's Feelings Concerning Sweden's Demands on Norway". Which he suggested should be sung to the tune of one of the ancient "Dream Songs". This is the first known literary mention of the Draumkvedet; (1813). Obviously he was well acquainted with the ancient poems, and knew their worth, but it was many years before better known Norwegian literary figures realized their importance.
Other Telemark farmer-poets also wrote about the political struggle with Sweden, and one of the best-known poems, printed in a newspaper with the poet named as "A Son of Old Norway", has been attributed to Bjørnsen. The author of this biography disagrees, but quotes it as an indication of the growing awareness of the worth of the farmer of Norway, of which Bjørnsen was so strong a supporter.
Zetlitz taught Bjørnsen to use poetry, or rhyming verse, for many different occasions: an invitation, an acceptance or excused refusal of an invitation, a request for payment due, a celebration - all should be expressed in rhyme; but Bjørnsen was too serious to be coaxed into writing comic verse.
To appreciate another kind of poem we can read two verses which Bjørnsen wrote at the death of his friend's sister:
At Gunhild Fjaagesund's Grave
Take Back now, Earth, the dust you gave,
We faintly glimpse between Death and Grave
Hope's smile of gentleness,
that Jesus' voice, with solemn sound
shall echo all the Earth around,
and from the Grave's dark rest
the Dead shall rise new-blessed.Then shall we meet again,
when Family and Friend
their tears shall wipe away;
within God's heavenly light
our lives eternally bright,
in Jesus name we pray
God grant that Holy Day
Gunhild was the sister of Ole Blom and wife of Gullmund Fjaagesund; she was well-known as an especially excellent wife, and her hospitality had been lavished on Bjørnsen and Zetlitz. Both friends were able to express their appreciation on this sad occasion, Zetlitz with a good funeral oration, and Bjørnsen with these verses, which he sang at the grave side.
Although many critics have down-graded his poetry, Bjørnsen's verses always have well-rounded form and musical language. They have a lyric freshness and often paint colorful word-pictures. He loved the beauties of Nature. His collected poems were never published. His son, Aslak Haukom, intended to publish them, but never did. Some were printed in a book of Zetlitz' poems, and others in various papers. On the death of Zetlitz, Bjørnsen sent to Ole Blom, who was Stortingsman at that time, a poem he had written about Zetlitz, and requested Blom to destroy it if no paper would print it. However, it was printed in "Nationalbladet". Various others were printed individually, but most of them were in his own written notebook, which Aslak Haukom Gotuholt eventually must have owned, as he sent copies to many of M. B. Landstad. Now the notebook is apparently lost.
Ole Bjørnsen was less a poet than a practical man. He enjoyed poetry, loved to read, had a large library, and gathered much knowledge. He was an excellent farmer. He cleared all of Haugen (the hillside) and plowed much new land at Haukom. He tried many new methods of farming. In a letter to Peter Mandt, dated February 6, 1844, he wrote; "Although during several years I have incurred great expense in this work, it is obvious now that in the future it will give compensation, and I can therefore judge that on the whole it is much more profitable, and at any rate more secure, to gamble on digging in the earth than in the mountains, although mining should not be given up, if there is a good chance of making it pay." He had previously written about the "mining craze" which was infecting so many. He loved farming, and rejoiced to see the growth after plowing.
His son, Aslak Haukom, wrote: AI remember an autumn, probably 1845, he was visited by two older men. They left the house and went over to the Big Field, which was cut, and the grain was stacked around the poles. They looked at the grain, and he reached into the stack and held out on his hand layers of barley ears, while he talked with the men. He was so interested in agriculture, and by then he had plowed up most of the land at Haukom, so it couldn't be recognized as the place it had been when he took it over.
In agriculture as in everything else he was orderly; everything in its right place and done at the right time; nothing wasted, nothing lavished uselessly. Old Marte Sundt was the cook for all the parties in Sundbygdi, and she said there wasn't a house in the whole district that was so well-kept and well organized, in every way. "You have everything I need in the same place where you usually have it," she said to the Haukom-wife. It was the same always. "I could go and fetch everything, big and small, just as easily as if I had been in the house and cared for it myself a long time," and Marte.
Bjørnsen usually sat in his office the whole day, and had so much writing to do that he sometimes had to ask his son, Aslak, to help him. But then he would need some fresh air, and he'd go out to see his workers. Hallvord Solberg told that he was breaking round in an enclosure at Haukom, and the farmer came out to see how it was going. He stuck his stick deep into the dirt, and he happened to strike a stone. Then Hallvord had to come and dig out the stone, even though the plowing was finished. "That stick of his was worse than anything", said Hallvord.
He was very clever with cattle and horses. Once he had bought a beautiful horse and used it on an errand to Brunkeberg. When he came to Gotuholt on the way home, he offered his son even trade in a badly-behaved horse Aslak had. The new horse was bad, he said; it had shown its bad character up by the Church. Aslak saw that it was a good horse, and told his father to try it a little longer. "No, he's bad, and I won't keep him. If he won't have him, someone else will," said Olav. So they swapped immediately.
He was the boy who had learned what he needed, and he taught his children the same. Once a man from Selgjord was out rowing with Sveinung, Ole's son. "Do you remember the time we went with your father up on the hill? When we came to the east of Sollistoulen in the narrow valley where the path divides, we stopped, and your father pointed upwards and said, that there the path divides, and up on the mountain stands a devil; and so he said to you, 'So that you won't forget where the path divides, I'm going to take you by the nose.' You weren't very big at that time, Sveinong", said the Selgjording.
One needs only read his letters home, from the time he sat in the Storting, to see what care he had for everything; Are the fields and pastures growing well? Is the barn ready at Houkom? Has Christopher Ness got the reaper from Schouvig? Has my timber been driven to the sawmill, and has Saamund Lindestad cut it? He was always asking. Had she had any slaughtering done? Had she bought any pigs? Aamund Tollehommen or Torleiv Vealøy must bring home the wood. Gunnar Utsund must bring home timber for the dairy; and if Hallvord Haukom has not brought home the rest of the barn timber it had better come fast. Kjetil Tormodson must dig a ditch to the site of the house. If the wife needs shoes for Christmas, she must get the skin Aslak Staalane has tanned, and get Jon to make them. He thought of everything, and it all had to go as smoothly as when he was at home; and whether it was his own or the district who owned something, everything had to be well done. Bjørnsen became manager of the district storehouse after Høgje Geirvoll, and when dirty grain was brought in as the required contribution, he cleaned it. "I've been a thresher, so I know how to clean the grain", he said.
Sometimes he could be so worried about small losses that it was both pitiful and laughable. He wrote to Egelev, "I can't refrain from reporting something awful, and I foresee that it will both you much: the best pair of new stockings, which Turi Bekhus knitted, have been stolen. I wore them the day we ate with the Prince, and in the evening I hung them on a string over the door to my room, where there are always clothes hanging, which belong to people in the house - yes - but the next day they were gone. Sometimes I have sworn and sometimes wept over these beautiful and expensive stockings, which I'll never get the like of."
Some people thought he was stingy, and accused him of demanding too much toll. The daughter of the bailiff said that whenever there was an estate settling meeting at his office, he always got something good out of it. Others will think the same about his economy when he was a Stortingsman. He complained that to live well in the city one had to ladle out the money. He therefore brought forward a plan that they should not be limited to the purveyors who were hired to feed the representatives, but that each should be free to eat where he liked. He also wrote home advising his wife not to accept any payments on debts till he came home, as the money had been devalued, so he would have to re-figure the debts in order to receive the full value that was owed to him. Some people would call this greed; but seen practically, it is quite natural for a man who liked everything orderly. There were so many demands on him to settle estates, and he was in his time the most ought-after official in Kviteseid. He was guardian for many; he was manager of the district storehouse; for a time he was mayor; and he held many other offices which carried bit responsibilities; and he was the private advisor for people over the whole of Kviteseid and Nissedal; everyone came to him to have a document written or a demand for payment worded; he was treasurer for auctions and estates; he collected accounts and other dues for pastors who had moved away, etc. Most of the dues he had to collect were official, not personal. Most important is that no-one can say his demands were other than rightful.
Some people criticized him for demanding payment on old debts, but the debts were due. He showed that he could be generous on many occasions. There were hard years and needy times while he was storehouse manager. One spring the people had absolutely no seed grain, and the storehouse was empty; so he promised that all who needed could come to him at home and get either a sack of barley or a basket of potatoes; and there came the whole flock! His bins were soon almost empty, so his wife began to fuss that there wouldn't be enough for the house. Then her husband was angry. "If the bins are empty I know a way to get what is needed", he said.
Kristine Possmyr told that after she became a widow, she still lived for a while at Langelid, with her brothers. Langelid is a farm far into the hills from Haukom. Times were hard for her. She was alone with three children to provide for, so she had to ask for help. She was alone with three children to provide for, so she had to ask for help from the district, and at one time had been issued a half barrel of barley which she had to collect at Spjøtsodd. She came with the half barrel in a sack on her back, and sent word in to Ole Bjørnsen, asking whether she could leave half the load at Haukom. She couldn't carry it all at once up into the hills. When he came to measure out the grain he was angry. "It's a plague!" he said. "How can they be crazy enough to give this stuff for people's food? It isn't fit for animals." He took the sack and emptied it into the waste grain bin. Then he measured her a quarter of the finest grain, and told her to come back again for another quarter of the same kind. Before she left he insisted that she go into the house for a meal. Such was Bjørnsen, a wise and good man who saw what was needed; but strict and harsh when it concerned laziness and slovenliness; and stern in his demands for the right.
Ole Bjørnsen was strict and accurate, with himself and others. He was a good mathematician, but occasionally he made a mistake, and he was honest enough to admit it. A man told that once, after the Service, he approached Ole on his way out of Brunkeberg Church, and asked for the loan of a dollar. Sometime afterwards the clerk met him and asked for repayment of the dollar. "I didn't get a dollar from you", said the man. "But I have it in my notebook", said Ole. "Yes", said the man. "I asked you if I could borrow a dollar, in a Brunkeberg Church, and you took a book out of your pocket and wrote in it. What you wrote, I don't know, but I didn't get a dollar, and so I didn't ask you again". Bjørnsen stared hard at him, crossed out something in his notebook, and said nothing more.
He hated waste, and did not like formal visits with important people, because they wasted time. It was the same with food and drink; nothing must be wasted. Eiliv Staulen had fun with him one day. Ole poured him a glass of beer, and after drinking it, Eiliv left. Then Olav realized that it was not beer he had poured, but brandy. "Oh that rascal", he said. "He drank up the whole glass. Run after him, Aslak and bring him back". But it was too late to retrieve the brandy.
Sometimes in his drive to get things done, he didn't stop to think. Hallvord Bergland was at Haukom working in the smithy, and made a branding iron. (Translator's Note: The word used here is 'brandjarn'. It may be 'fire iron', a rake or poker for the fireplace, instead of branding iron. I can't be sure, and none of my sources of reference are any help.) Knowing that Ole was fussy about the design and size, he took the red-hot iron in the tongs and carried it to Ole for inspection. Ole reached out his hand for it as soon as he saw it, and dropped it immediately on the floor. His hand was badly burned, and Hallvord was thoroughly rebuked for not saying that the iron was hot. "You saw that I was carrying it in the tongs, so you should have known it was hot", said Hallvord, and trudged muttering back to the smithy.
Bjørnsen was not only authoritative, he was progressive, and it wasn't surprising that a man with his capacity for work, knowledge, and ability, eventually held all the offices in the district. As well as schoolmaster and parish clerk, he was for a time treasurer, community auditor, from 1812 second mediator, and from 1820 first mediator. He was deputy bailiff in Nissedal for ten years, but because the bailiff had been suspended, Ole carried the whole burden, which included a murder case. He was postmaster from 1835, at which time a new mail service was being organized through Telemark, so there was a great deal of work involved. He had to make many trips along the postal routes. Postage payment gave him a lot of trouble, as Norway had still not begun to use stamps. Debts on unpaid mail delivery could be huge. "I have had to summon Sveinung Weium for almost two years' postage and newspaper subscription," he wrote in an 1840 letter Peter Mandt, "and he has a pair of neighbors that are no better".
On top of all this he was a member of the Parish Council, and in the same letter he reported, "On the Council I always have the honor of being chosen for whatever needs the most work; because the chairman, whom we re-elected to the position at his own wish, carries on in the same old way and is usually unfit for the job". This refers to Ole Blom, who was chairman then.
Ole Bjørnsen and Ole Blom were the most influential farmers of the district, and both were Stortingsmen, in turn. There is no doubt that they were rivals, over district offices and in politics. They were different in mood, Bjørnsen strict, authoritative, and exact, Blom friendly, mile, and casual. These characteristics made for many difficulties between them; but when Blom beat him in election to an office, Bjørnsen wrote him a congratulatory poem. In spite of their rivalry, they were always good friends, even though their opinion differed. When Blom wanted to invest the grain-storehouse money in a savings bank for Kviteseid, Bjørnsen was against the idea. Bjørnsen was moderate, Blom the opposite. In 1844 Bjørnsen wrote to Peter Mandt, "Here we've had a quiet and peaceful Christmas, no big carousals, and no drunkenness has ruled, which is good. I have only been out one evening to Gadeholt (Gotuholt) and one to my neighbor, Svenung Houchus (Sveinung Haukom), and in both these small parties pure sobriety ruled. Our mutual friend, the King of Ness (Ole Blom) has however been the usual Christmas Pig, which condition began several days before Christmas with the wassail bowl and continued till after New Year. Now he is well again but his wife still hasn't completely recovered.
Ole Blom spread rumors of mis-doings when Bjørnsen beat him in an election in 1832, but on the whole they treated each other honorably and were always good friends. Bjørnsen was often a guest at Nese (Ness), and he was guardian of the affairs of Blom's mother. They were often together at parties, but each had fun in his own way; Blom got a hangover, Bjørnsen stayed sober. They both enjoyed playing cards, and sometimes they sat till the morning hours playing cards at Haukom, Ness, the vicarage, or at the home of Secretary of State Aall, or other dignitaries. They wrote many poems to each other, commemorating shared joys, or congratulating on political victories or birthdays. Bjørnsen was elected Stortingsman in 1815, 1836 and 1839; Blom in 1821 and 1824.
Their companionship was important for both of them; both were among the most enlightened farmers, and their political discussions, written and oral, matured them to a wider view; but Bjørnsen was the better farmer of the two, and certainly the hardest worker.
The long Storting, 1815-1816, had many very important matters to settle. Ole Bjørnsen was one of the foremost workers, was consulted often, and was on eleven committees. He didn't waste time; up at 5:00 am, drank a cup of tea or coffee, smoked his pipe, ate breakfast, took care of whatever was waiting; 8:30 - 3:00 he sat in the Ting; then home for food, coffee and a smoke. Next he wrote an account of the day's business, and made a copy for the Secretary of State - which had to go out with every post. There might be time to read a good book.
He decided it was too expensive at the first house he stayed in during the Ting, so he moved with Teis Lundegaard to stay with Captain Brede in Skipargata. It was cheaper, and Lundegaard and Bjørnsen were two who knew how to work together. They were both democrats when it concerned the welfare of farmers. Bjørnsen introduced several motions, with clear, well-thought oratory, concerning mercantile privileges that worked hardship on farmers, the purchase of farm land by city groups who did not intend to use it, the farmers' right to control watercourses for transport, timber sales, sale of farm produce, and brandy distilling.
He was also strongly in favor of fairer draft laws. The sons of town citizens, officials, craftsmen and commissioners were excused from national defense duty, so most of those called on were sons of farmers and cottagers. The struggle over this was very severe. Ole Bjørnsen read a well-written speech, showing that universal draft was the most just for the individual, and the safest and cheapest for the country; but the farmers were outnumbered and outvoted by the city representatives.
A similar fate awaited the tax question. As it stood, the rural areas were responsible for 4/5, the cities for 1/5. All except one of the rural representatives wanted the city portion to be 1/4, but again they were outvoted. But both times the farmers were troublesome. Claus Pavels wrote in his diary, "The farmers made a big fuss in the Committees, and some of them had to be shown out of the sixth committee. Church-singer Bjørnsen is impertinent and conceited, a true blackguard"; and he accused Bjørnsen of trying to dominate the businessmen.
After his first term as Stortingsman, Bjørnsen remained at home for 20 years, but he followed all political developments closely, vied with Ole Blom in 1821, and later was often deputy. He probably influenced Blom in various questions while Blom was Stortingsman. The two chief questions were lowering of taxes and increase in grain duty. "There should be no increase in the grain toll. It would be damaging to the whole country, except for Hedemark and a few Eastern districts. Fight then Best Friend, against this proposal", he wrote in April, 1821, and continued with many more arguments against it. He spoke from experience.
A series of bad crop-years had reduced people to poverty. Devaluation of money, woods tax, vegetable-field tax were heavy burdens. In the mountains of Telemark it was so bad that a petition was organized, and Bjørnsen was asked to be spokesman. He wrote a plea to the Ting, saying that "a decrease in the taxes must come about, as the people have no way to pay last year's remaining expenses, to say nothing of the coming year's". The petition had many signatures but it was too late.
In the 1836 Ting he sat with another Telemarking, bailiff Peter Mandt. He was a member of the Council, then. His work that session was less dramatic and more practical. The brandy law that he had supported in 1815, he tried this time and in 1842 to repeal. The law had been on the books long enough to show what damage it had done. In 1842 he helped to put through many laws to help the country people, including one concerning assessments which he had worked for since 1833. He was respected by many great people for this, and honored for his stand on the Jewish question. Here he went against the opinion of his party and expressed his own deeply humanitarian feelings, for which the great poet, and organizer of the Jewish question, Henrik Wergeland praised him. Wergeland also wrote glowingly about Bjørnsen in his book, "The Jewish Question". (Note: According to the Constitution, Jews were not allowed admission into Norway. In 1839 Wergeland sent a proposal to the Storting to repeal this but it was defeated in 1842. It was finally passed in 1851, six years after his death (on July 12, 1845). A statue to Wergeland was raised by Norwegian immigrants in Fargo, North Dakota.)
In 1844 Bjørnsen was defeated, and Lavrantz Holtane of Kviteseid was elected. He did so many shady deals and dishonest things that he was sent up for "hard labour". Holtane's wife, Ingeborg, begged Bjørnsen to write an appeal to free her husband, but he refused. So Ingeborg talked to Bjørnsen's wife, Torgjerd, and she persuaded him. They collected many signatures, and Lavrantz was freed before completing his sentence. "You are very kind", he said to Torgjerd; but he was always hateful towards Olav, and could never forget his humiliation. The last time Bjørnsen was a candidate, Lavrantz traveled the district, ostensibly supporting Bjørnsen, but persuading the distant voters to use "absent ballots" which he would deliver; but instead, he burned them, so Bjørnsen was defeated, but by a very narrow margin.
Ole Bjørnsen was broken in health already, before he lost the election. If he had been re-elected, his working days would have been short. In 1835 he had written, "I have not been well this summer, having a stoppage in my liver or something, and my stomach is not in the best condition; but I have been better recently, so I hope with God's help it will improve." He was unsteady and not very well through the next years, but kept up all his work. Then in the winter of 1845 he became sick enough to stay in bed. He had been quite sick in April. Then, on the second day of Christmas, the last time he sang in Brunkeberg Church, people received a warning: while still burning brightly, one of the lights broke in the middle and fell to the floor, but the stub in the candlestick still burned just as well. The people took it as an omen, and their parish clerk never came into the Church again.
His son, Aslak Haukom, wrote, "I remember a little from his sickness. I don't think he was in bed more than two or three months. Doctor Bakke visited him often, and I remember that Doctor Krabbe from Seljord was sent for, too, and we children were ordered to gather ripe juniper berries, for tea; but it was too late."
Ole Blom wrote in his diary, "The 16th (of April) I went to Udsund, where I learned that Church Singer Bjørnsen had died that morning, after long sickness and a short time bedridden. He was 61.5 years old. An important death."
Aslak Haukom told more: "I remember the funeral. Small spruce trees were set up from the house, across the yard, and part way down the road. Snow had fallen in the night, and I thought it was fun to go from tree to tree on the bare spots. Some of the guests ate in the livingroom and some in the parlor, and afterwards gathered in the bedroom - the big room - where the coffin stood. I stood behind Mother and my older sister. Mother was white-faced, but couldn't weep. My sister sobbed. I stared at all of them, wondering, but when the coffin was carried out I understood that now he was leaving us for ever, and I cried as only a child can cry. Two women stood behind me, and one said - I remember it well - 'He's weeping, poor little boy, but he doesn't know what he is weeping about'. I was at that time 7.5 years old. (Note: This Aslak Haukom must be one of the younger children of Ole's third marriage, a child of Torgjerd. Aslak Gotuholt, Ole's second son with Torgjerd's sister, Egelev, his second wife, was already a grown man at the time of his father's funeral, farming at the place Gotuholt, and old enough to have traded horses with his father some years before.
The day of the funeral, April 29, all the most important people of the district were gathered in Haukom. Ole Blom wrote, AThe corpse was brought into the Church, where the Provost gave a find talk, and Pastor Landstad gave a rhymed obituary, in which he didn't show any skill at reading his own production, which was mediocre."
Ole Bjørnsen was missed by everyone, and his posthumous fame was the best. Bailiff Quisling of Fyrisdal wrote, "Two weeks ago a truly notable farmer left us. He was the Church Singer in Hvidesøe, Ole Bjørnsen. From being a poor cottager's son the man has worked his way up to be a well-to-do landowner and has acquired besides, much knowledge. He has been a representative in several Stortings and has distinguished himself there. People will realize that his defeat in the last election has hastened his death; of that I have no doubt. In all his public life the man has distinguished himself with exceptional diligence and order, as well as with desirable efficiency in whatever he undertook and was trusted to carry out, and often enough of this made him a target for the arrows of jealousy."
Tormod Knudsen, who became the Stortingsman when Bjørnsen was defeated, wrote, "With Church-Singer Bjørnsen's death, his widow lost an excellent husband, the children a devoted father and tutor. It seems as if I cannot realize that Bjørnsen is dead. We have stood in many movements and have privately been steady friends, but oftenest public rivals. Peace to his dust and honor to his memory."
________________________
After the Biography, eight poems of Ole Bjørnsen are printed in the book, including the one referred to in this story "Telebondernes Følelser C (The Telemark Farmers' Feelings) ---" and the following:
Vaarsand (Spring Song)
Sommersang (Summer Song)
Høstsang (Autumn Song)
Vintersang (Winter Song)
Vort Kjaere fødeland til aere (To the honor of our dear birth-land)
Ved breden bord med støb i haender (At the spread table with cup in hand)
Til Zetlitz (To Zetlitz)
News Item from "Reform", Eau Claire, Wisconsin - June 22, 1933
90 Year Family Festival at Coon Prairie
On Sunday, June 11, the Oberson-Kjørkjebø Family gathered in the beautiful Ingman Thorsgaard home in Coon Prairie for the 90 year festival, since it is not 90 years since the first of the family, Høie Oberson Kjørkjebø came to Dane County. The day dawned with sparkling weather and one and all seemed to be in festive spirits. The women brought well-filled food baskets and dinner was served under the great shady trees. The gathering was called to order and Pastor Holum led them in prayer. Next "Blest Be the tie that binds" was sung. Then the following historical account was read, which was written by Obert Rundahl of Coon Valley, and also a poem by Mrs. Hilda Berg, which she read herself.
I was asked by several of my relatives whether I would write a few words about the Kjørkjebø Family for this occasion. As I had only a short time to work on it, it will be both brief and deficient.
I must begin with old Ouver Kjørkjebø, who was born in Kviteseid Parish, Upper Telemark, in 1791. He was married to Karen Knutsdotter. She was a sister of Stortingsman Houkom. (Note: All the other papers in this collection indicate that Stortingsman Houkom had only one sister, Gunhild, who married Johannes Guttormson. Her father was Bjørn, not Knut. However, Stortingsman Ole Bjørnson Houkom had three wives, two of whom were Kjørkjebø girls, sisters, so Ouver Kjørkjebø was brother-in-law to Stortingsman through his sisters, not through his wife.) They had the following children: Svennung, Høie, Oslak, Thron, Ouver, Ingeborg, Jon and Saave. In 1851 he emigrated with his family and settled in Coon Prairie the same year, where he got a farm in the town of Jefferson. His grandson still owns it. He was a good woodcarver, furniture maker, and painter, and in Norway he had had various positions of trust in his town. His wife was often helpful in cases of sickness and was interested in gardening and flowers. Ouver Kjørkjebø died 9th May, 1862 and was laid to rest in Coon Prairie Churchyard.
Svennung, his eldest son, very early got himself a good farm on Coon Prairie. As he brought money with him from Norway he was a well-to-do man. He was married twice. The first time to Thone Houkom. They had two children, Ole and Ouver. The second time with Ronnei Guttormsdotter. They had the following children; Karen, Ole, Gustav, Alfred, Tillie, Julius and Theodore. He is also buried in Coon Prairie Churchyard.
Høie, the second son, was the first of the family to emigrate to America. He came to Koshkonong in 1843 when he was not quite 16 years old. He was a member of the first emigrant-party that left Upper Telemark. When he came to Koshkonong he worked for a Yankee farmer, where he soon learned the English language. In the following years he had many exciting experiences, as he passed several winters in the woods of Northern Wisconsin, and had several trips to the South. In the year 1849 he came to La Crosse, which then consisted of just a few houses. He traveled further to Coon Prairie, where he took himself some land. There were not more than 5 or 6 settlers in Coon Prairie and one in Coon Valley. He was married to Ingeborg Quale who was the daughter of one of the first settlers on Liberty Prairie, Dane Co. She was related to the famous flyer, Carl Ben Eielson.) Høie had the following children; Karen Juve, Engeborg Rundahl, Ole, Ouver, Ellen Sebion, Malla Nelson and Emma Thorsgaard. He had the first farm in the town of Coon and was a very wealthy man. He was nearly 94 when he died and was buried in Coon Prairie Churchyard.
Aslak had a good farm in the town of Jefferson and was married the first time with a girl from Skarrerud. They had three children, Olaus, Engeborg and Karen. The second time he was married to Tone Skolos. They had two children, Gustav and Ben. He is also buried in Coon Prairie Churchyard.
Jon bought a fine farm in the town of Coon. He was not married. He died on New Year's Eve 1916 and is buried in Bangs Churchyard.
Engeborg died as a young girl.
Thron and Ouver were twins. Thron was married to Tone Juva. They had the following children; Tom, Ole, Sam, Alfred, Karen, Bentine, Torvald, Arthur, Alma, Alma and Hartvig. He moved in the 60's to the town of Hamburg on the farm which his son Tom still has. He is buried in Lower Coon Valley Churchyard.
Ouver bought the neighboring farm to Thron and his son Oscar still lives on it. He was married to Mathea Hammersberg. They had the following children; Mrs. Carl Gullord, Caroline, Andreas, Ole Isidore, Mathilde, and Oscar. He is also buried in Lower Coon Valley Churchyard.
Saave was married to Torbjørn Thompson. They bought a farm in Lower Coon Valley and were neighbors of Thron and Ouver. Their daughter Mrs. Gunhild Hagen, now owns their old home. They had the following children; Mrs. Gunhild Hagen, Hannah, Clara, Tillie, Ida, Karen, Oscar and Theodore. She is also buried in Lower Coon Valley Churchyard. Yes, now has Ouver Kjørkjebø's Family become a great clan, which has fine homes in towns and on the land from the Mississippi River to Viroqua. Many have also moved away and live in other places.
The Kjørkjebø name is a very old name which goes back with some certainty to the year 1398. They were called in those days Kirkeboen and were probably of German descent. Ouver Kjørkjebø's old farm in Norway is now changed to an important country town. It lies very beautifully along Bandak Lake. (Note: My large-scale map of Telemark shows Kyrkjebø to be on a smaller lake, Sundkilen. Only small villages are marked on the shores of Lake Bandak. It has electric light and paved streets with many shops and beautiful homes. In old Grandfather's time it had a central situation with Church and school and grocery store. The only ones of the clan, whom I know of, still in Norway, are two sons of my Grandfather's siblings. The one is Rector of Skein High School and the other is also a teacher there. A brother's grandson of Ole Rundahl is also a teacher there. The Kjørkjebø family is also related to former Congressman Halvor Stenerson and his brothers.
I must finally say, that the Lord has been good to us in all these 90 years.
90 year Jubilee
It is a great day for the Kjørkjebø Clan
Today we gather from west and east
Some are only distantly related
But all wish to share in the feast
It is long since the first of the Family
Left home and crossed the sea's waves
They wanted to travel towards the west
All now rest, hidden in their graves
Høie was the first to leave his home
Just a youngster not yet sixteen
He was with the first flock of migrants
Who traveled from Telemark that spring
He came with the others to Koshkonong
Where for several years he stayed
But then he wandered to Coon Prairie
Where a better living was made
Later followed his five brothers
And also both his sisters, so dear
Their Father and Mother added their strength
So that all were together here
Høie and Svennung, Aslak and Jon
Made lovely Coon Prairie their home
But the twin brothers, Ouver and Tron
And sister Saave made Chaseburg their home
Engeborg died as a lovely young girl
In her later teenage years
She was sadly missed by the Family
Who shed for her many tears
But courage was strong, and life's force great
Their mood was pure white as snow
Music and song encouraged them
And fun was not lacking, we know
They brought God's word with them and never forgot
When they came to a foreign land
To keep it always hidden deep
In the heart of each woman and man
For many long years, ninety now,
The Family has been living here
God shall be honored, above all else
Who allows us to celebrate this year
So we bid you all heartily welcome
To the lovely Thorsgaard home
May we have good times together
To remember when further we roam
Mrs. Hilda Berg
After this Pastor H. O. Bach of Coon Valley gave a talk, and the gathering sang "Among slopes and hills near the ocean." Next came a talk by Pastor J. A. Houkom, of Blanchardville, Wisconsin, who is one of the Clan. The group sang "Now we will bid each other Farewell." Pastor J. O. Holum said a few more words, and the program ended by repeating The Lord's Prayer in unison.
Henry Randahl was elected chairman of the Arrangement Committee, which was composed of Oscar Gullord, Coon Valley, Albert Skolos and Ernest Thorsgaard of Westby. The Program Committee was Mrs. Philip Bouffler and Paul Overson from Chaseburg and Annie Gilbertson from La Cross. A Portrait of the Gathering was taken by L. H. Davidson of Coon Valley. There were 124 guests. Several from Taylor, Wisconsin and Deerfield, Wisconsin were also there. Then Supper was served.
It was a day which will long be remembered. All speakers spoke well of the Telemarkingers. It was the fourth reunion to be held. The first was held in Pettibone Park, La Crosse. The second at the home of Ole and Ouver Oberson, Westby and the third at the home of Obert Rundahl, Coon Valley.
These letters are in the book TCFK - Part I .......
Letters from friends in America to Svennung Olsen Houkom 1870
Ole Halvorson Klevstul January 15, 1870
G. Gundersen May 21, 1870
Olav Svennungsen Houkom May 21, 1879
John A. Houkom
Letters from Pastor Olaf S. Houkom 1870 to his parents, brother and sister
To Friend Svenung Olesen Houkom from Gunlek Gundersen
To Sister-in-law Aslau Halvorsdotter Lande from Gregor Kittilsen 1871
To Brother from Bergit Olsdotter 1880
To Brother Egelev O. Midtsund 1881
To Uncle and Aunt from Dorthe Bergseth 1891
Hampton, January 15, 1870
Dear Friend Svennung Olsen
I will here with some few words and lines write to you to let you know that we are all healthy and live well, and I wish that these few words and lines will find you with the same good pleasure. So I must tell you that I have been very satisfied ever since I came here. But it is not good to advise anyone either for or against coming, for here are many who do not thrive well at first, but the longer they are here the better they like it; for here it is much more advantageous than in Norway in all respects. I have had a dollar and a quarter a day in summer; during the cutting I had two dollars a day for binding the wheat. We were four to bind after the machine and they cut from ten to fourteen acres every day; and the machine is driven with 2 or 4 horses and they thresh from 3 to 400 bushels a day. And here is good money to breed animals; here a man can cut as much hay as he will without paying, but land is a fairly high price from 5 to 8 dollars per acre and worked land from 10 to 15 per acre. And by next summer the railroad will be finished to Hampton 10 miles from here, and it will go 2 English miles from here as I see. The wheat crop in America is about the same as with the lumber business in Norway. Now the wheat is low priced; it has been a half dollar per bushel here for wheat, therefore here is hard money times. Potatoes are a half dollar per bushel; a quarter kilo butter 15 shillings; a quarter kilo port 8 shillings. A pair of horses from 3 to 400 dollars; a pair of oxen about 100 dollars; a cow from 20 to 30 dollars; a new wagon costs 100 dollars, a plow 30 dollars, a reaper or machine for cutting the wheat costs from 175 to 200 dollars; so a man can cut hay with the same. A threshing machine from 7 to 800 dollars; a horse rake, to rake hay with, from 10 to 65 dollars for different kinds of them.
I will send herewith a receipt to Halvor Thorsen Kipstul on the deed to the farm Mevastul which he has asked me for. As I heard in Thor's letter, so I must ask Halvor Kipstul if he has paid Jens Mevastul the 4 marks and 4 shillings which were due on the declaration which he bought for him; he has asked me here and I did not know other than that he had received it.
So I must tell you that Gunlek Dalen traveled to Minnesota last spring to Gunder and so they want 400 miles further northwest. He has taken land there on a homestead of 160 acres; it cost him 15 dollars, but it is new land. So it is poor earnings and hard to make a living at first; he got himself a house up in the autumn but he hasn't broken anything yet, and he says it has good water and hay harvest and exceptionally rich land and plenty of trees.
So I must tell you that Thov and Gonild have a daughter who is now 7 weeks old. And Jens was married to a girl from Hedemarken in February 1869, and they have also a daughter 10 weeks old. So I must tell you that the Skuggeberg girls came here 6 weeks before Christmas. Anne is with a farmer 9 miles north of here and Kari is at the hotel in Hampton 10 miles south of here. Anne gets one and a half and Kari two dollars per week. And they are quite satisfied. I have no more news this time except that you must be most heartily greeted from us all.
Ole Halvorson Klevstul
So I must ask if you will write to me as soon as you get this letter in hand and let us know if there is anyone coming here to America in the spring. And let us hear news from our old birth-land; it gladdens us greatly.
My address is Ole Halvorson, Hampton, P.O., Franklin Co., Iowa, North America
________________
That I the undersigned herewith engage myself to give Svennung Olsen Houkom power of attorney to write under the deed to the farm Mevastul in my behalf. This is confirmed by me in the presence of two witnesses.
Ole Halvorson
Signed by himself
To Witness
Thov Gulliksen Dalen
Kittil Svennungsen Lisland
Pomme de tere 21 May 1870
Good friend Svennung Oleson and Son-in-law Høje Aslaksen
I must write to you both at one time. Your honored and welcome letter, posted in Videsøe the 2 March, I received the 14 April and read through it with great happiness and joy, when I heard that you are all healthy and live well. Which we must and should thank God for; and the same I can say in return that we are well, both I and my wife, till this date and live well; and now I shall tell you how I have got my land; 26 June 1869 I took a statement for 1 year - a statement doesn't last more than one year - which I gave 3 2 dollars for, and 26 June 1870 I shall take a homestead. So I must pay 15 2 dollars. So I can sit there for 5 years as well as taxes; so I get a deed or conveyance. So I must pay tax and then I am full owner; and I have 1 quarter land and 1 quarter contains 100.60 acres (Note: 100.60 acres - I think he was not sure how to write 160, the usual size of one quarter) and I have put up a cabin; it is 8 alen long and 7 alen broad; (Note: Alen - the Norwegian alen equals 24.7 inches) and so I have bought myself a stove or cook-oven and two windows and so I have roofed it with birchbark and sod just as the Norwegian way; and the timber consists of oak. Big, about 8 or 10 inches top; and so there is here partly basswood or linden in Norwegian and elm and something called ironwood; and 6 or 8 miles north in Otertel (Ottertail) is tamarack; it is like Norwegian spruce. Big and long it can be 30 or 40 alen, and so straight as a light (beam) but my land is nothing but small trees and hazel bushes. I can cut the bushes; we have here a knife about 18 inches long, but we must dig the big tree roots. I don't have prairie, but I think it is better to take woods because a prairie without woods, then one must either buy wood, or so must a man steal them and I have no liking for that; and it was not good for me to travel a long way from Gunder. I have nothing to drive with but Gunder has 4 driving oxen so I get help. How strong they are.
I must explain to you a little more about the building method here; we cut oak timbers 5 or 6 inches thick and so we cover with shakes. The ground timbers we do not take off the bark on the ground, and so the roof, the most, those who can afford to buy chips but here they are called shingles; and so we fill in the wall spaces; in Norway we called them wall lights, but here they call them (kjnkur) chinker. So we have sand and lime and pack full the wall spaces, and so we whitewash with lime. So it is the best house any man could own - so there is not such a warm house in Norway - but here are plenty who build of frame and boards and plaster, but they are not so warm, but better looking. Now I will explain to you about the land's condition. Here the land is on the average flat so we can see 10 or 12 English miles; but so there are small valleys and rolling land, and woods here and there, and sloughs and big lakes - vatn in Norwegian - in between big fishing places, and around here now at this time the fish go up the river - the beck - so a man can take as much as he will have; and completely perfect good soil is here. Last autumn they got 30 bushels of wheat per acre and potatoes and root vegetables grow completely overwhelmingly. You ask me if it will be beneficial for you to come over here to America, and I shall do the best I can. I will not advise you either for or against because nobody who comes likes it the first year; they think everything is contrary at the beginning, but when they have been here 1 year. But I have not talked to any who would rather be in Norway again. If I got a similar farm in the same way, I think that the taxes and expenses are so big, that when a man has paid his taxes and expenses and workers' pay so I believe I would scarcely have the half again. So they sit and complain for themselves and it is great misery, but that is not the case here. Here the taxes and expenses are reduced as the State debt is paid in and it goes quickly. So I believe as far as I understand it that you would do well, just as well as others and especially well for your children. Your son Ole who is so well educated could soon learn the language and get a good position, for now you know how a man can get himself land. So it is not expensive, and if you come, so I will not advise you to buy some old farm, because the soil is worn out long ago; and so you must get yourself in debt, and it is not so easy to pay off for wood is cheap. Wood costs now 60 or 70 and up to 80 cents a bushel; and 100 pounds of flour or sifted wheatmeal costs 2 2 dollars, and here are 100 cents in a dollar. Butter is now 15 cents a pound, pork 10 cents a pound. Coffee is 3 2 pounds for 1 dollar. Tobacco is 1 dollar a pound. Clothes are dear and linen is 18 or 20 or 22 cents a yard and 1 yard is 1 2 alen Norwegian. Clothes for women are not so dear.
As you could have some money left over when you come, so I believe that you would do fairly well, but I will not tell you to come or not, but from what I have written I shall vouch that it is true. We must work here just as we had to in Norway, but then here we have something to work for; and if you think of coming don't delay, for the longer you wait the further west you must go to get land; for here people come in thousands, and here in Otter Tail County is still enough land to get, but people must go further just as they come here. And I hear from your letter much news since I came away, and it was a great joy to hear, and if you think of coming next Spring so write to me. So I shall give you some information about the journey, and so I must beg you if you could help Høie and Thorbiør with some money. So they could come to me. It is so expensive to send money orders, so much goes away; and now I must end my simple writing for this time, with a heartfelt and loving greeting to you altogether.
Live well in God is the wish from the heart.
Gunlek Gundersen Dalen
My address is Mr. G. Gundersen, Pomedetere P.O., Stivens County Minnesota, Nort Amerik
(Written along the edge) If you would like to share in the postage cost so tell me what it costs. Dear friend will you read this letter for Høie Langeli. Greet Miken and Ole from me.
Pomedetere 21 May 1870
Dear Daughter and Son-in-law Høie Aslaksen
Your welcome writing of 27 February I received 14 April, and read it through with great joy and happiness, and I hear must news since I left, and I hear from your letter that your Mother is dead and your Father is not in very good health either, and you ask about your old Father, whether to bring him with you. That I will not allow myself to tell you, either to or not, but this much I can say, that it is very difficult for old people. So you must do as you will; and you ask me whether I can find a way to some money to help you with, that I cannot answer you at present because I have been so busy paying what I owed to Gunder, and getting myself a house; and the pay here is not very big, because here it is too newly settled, people have nothing to hire with; but if I could do so I would be heartily willing to do it; but you must finally try to come over next spring, you shall have land from me at first. So you can plant enough to live on, as much as you want, all that you will have for nothing; unless you will go to Iowa, there where Thor is; there the pay for work is very high, but so there is no land available and no wood. So you would do better to come to me; and now I must finish for this time I have such little time. I must go to the Post Office, but when you get this letter you must write to me again. So I will write back. So you must in God's name be most lovingly greeted from us both. Greet your Father from me and little Aslak and Gunlek and all your children. I would God would allow me to have Aslak and Gunlek here with me; adieu live well all well in God. Greet all my old friends for me.
Gunlek Gundersen Dalen
(Written on the edge) Write soon and tell of one thing and another - by next year I hope you visit me but you must write to me as soon as you can, for it is a great happiness for me when I receive a letter from Norway, we sit here alone C Greet Jolstad from me and Ole and Andrea Nystul, Halvor and Cresti and Ole Gravoli.
Olaf Svennungsen Houkom was born May 31, 1850 at Kviteseid, Telemark, Norway of parents Svennung Olsen Houkom and wife Marie 1864-1866. Emigrated to America 1870. Worked for relatives at Coon Prairie, Vernon County, Trempealeau Valley, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin and Highland Prairie, Fillmore County, Minnesota 1870 - 1874. Attended La Crosse Business College, La Crosse, Wisconsin 1874 - 1876, Augsburg College 1876 - 1880.
Visited Norway and heard lectures at Kristiania University 1880-1881. Studied Theology at Augsburg Seminary 1881 - 1884. Ordained 1884. Mission Pastor west of Devil's Lake, North Dakota, 1884 - 1885. Minister for Ness and Middle Grove Congregation, Mekinock, Grand Forks County, North Dakota 1885 - 1902, Trinity Congregation, Northwood, North Dakota 1885 - 1891; Hoel and St. Petri Congregation, Northwood, North Dakota 1885 - 1887; Ebenezer Congregation, Northwood, North Dakota 1904.
Farmed at Mekinock, North Dakota 1888 - 1912; Fargo, North Dakota 1912 - 1920. Married to Anna Marie Glerum 1888 (died 1891) and Anne J. Dahlum 1893. Died November 5, 1920.
His brothers and sisters who are named in the following letters came to America as follows:
Hans and Tarjer 1879
Anders 1881
and finally his parents, together with brother and sisters Aslak, Anne and Thone in summer 1887.
His parents lived with him at Mekinock, North Dakota 1887 - 1894 when they took land for themselves in Roseau County, Minnesota, where they died, his mother in 1896 and his father in 1910.
Pastor Olaf S. Houkom's Letters from America
(At present) "Rjukan" 5th June 1870
Dear Father,
I will briefly inform you, dear parents and relatives, that we arrived at Quebec the 3rd, and in the morning of the 6th shall be sent further on a steamship to Milwaukee. Because of headwinds the journey has been fairly slow; but God be praised we are all in good health who arrived here. Two died, namely Kristen Verpe and Kari's two children. There have been several attacks of seasickness; I have not been. Skien and Laurdal have still not come. From Tarje Eistaaen I must ask you to greet his parents at home, because he will not write until he is further along; he is fairly well and in good spirits. As I shall write you more fully when I reach Coon Prairie, so must I end this short letter and greet you dear parents and family and relatives, from Egelev, her children and acquaintances here on board. I must now break off with the heartiest farewell and thanks to you all and be assured that I am always your devoted son.
Olaf S. Houkom
Coon Prairie, 24 July 1870
Dear Father:
Since God so mercifully has been present with his fatherly help, and guided us on our long and tedious journey, it is not too much if I take my pen and inform you, dear parents and family, so that you also can partake in my happiness and gratitude to Him, our Life's all-good guide.
As it is already six weeks since we left Rjukan, I hope that the little imperfect letter I wrote there has arrived. I'll now write something more detailed about the journey. As you know we sailed out of Skien harbor 12th April, which day I shall not easily forget, as I parted from you dear Father, and the rest of my friends and acquaintances who stood and watched. That afternoon we were in Langsund, where we stayed becalmed till Good Friday the 15th, the morning when we sailed out of the harbor. We tacked for two or three days, I'm not sure, before we lost sign of the Fatherland. Now already the weakest began to suffer the intolerable seasickness, with its pains under the breast and hastening their sacrifices to the insatiable sea god; but God be praised, with me and my company it was quite scarce for the whole journey.
When we came out on the North Sea a storm arose so we raced with great speed past Scotland, and immediately we were on the great free ocean where we lay and tumbled against a head wind and sometimes storm, so we couldn't reckon on a good wind for more than one or two days a week across the whole Atlantic. But so we finally came to the long-awaited Newfoundland Banks, where fishing boats lay thick around us. Now everyone's thought began to lighten, and some days we saw land on one side or the other. So we came to the great St. Lawrence Bay, where we lost sight of land again. So the Pilot came on board and we entered The River, as they call it, then we had enough to look at, and what a beautiful sight! White-painted houses, as close as in a town on each side down to the beach, and one beautiful Church after another, and the green fields and meadows with the picturesque woods in the background.
We all stood on the decks and almost stared our eyes out. Below decks and on deck there was washing and getting ready for the arrival at quarantine, which no passenger ship could pass. We got there in the evening, and lay over til morning. Then the doctor came on board to examine us, and see if we were healthy and sound; otherwise we would have had to go to the hospital. But thank God Rjukan had its people in good shape, so no one was left behind. Then we were sailworthy again, and in the evening we anchored in Quebec Harbor. It was then the Friday before Pentecost. Now our long sea voyage was done. It was undeniably a bad journey, for those who have many small children to care for when they are sick. However, they seem less vulnerable to seasickness than adults. For my part it was an enjoyable trip, because alternately there was always dancing and all kinds of fun imaginable. I shall refer to the journey again.
The second morning of Pentecost we had to be up early, for everyone had to be on deck, packed and ready for the journey through the land. In the afternoon here came a little steamship which transferred us and our belongings to a big steamship, which went to Montreal. So our luggage was driven, but we had to walk about half an English mile to a smaller steamboat which went through a long canal past many towns and places, until we came to Hamilton, where we left the ship in a hurry and got in a train. From there it went to Detroit, where we were taken across a river, to another train. Here our luggage was taken out of the wagon for Customs inspection, but it was no great matter. He just lifted the lid and looked in the chest. From Detroit we went to Grand Haven, where we again got on a steamship, on which we crossed the Great Lake Michigan to Milwaukee. We met an acquaintance there, namely Thorbjørn Gregerson and his son Hans; they live a few miles from town. Now we went by train again to La Crosse where we arrived Monday afternoon just 8 days since we left Quebec. We stayed overnight in an emigrant lodging home, build of boards, in the town. All morning we walked around, expecting Paul to come for us; but unfortunately, nobody came. So we took the first chance that offered; I met a man from Laurdal named Christoffer Sending and we drove with him about 20 English miles and then had to walk about three miles to John Kirkebøe's, where we hoped to stay overnight, but he wasn't home, so we walked to the nearest neighbor, a man from Gudbrandsdal named Svend Berge, where we were treated as if we were their own relatives. In the morning his wife went part way with us, and showed us the way to Høie Kirkebø, where Paul was working.
We arrived there in the afternoon, and Paul came to meet us when he saw us coming; he was not a little indignant that we had had to walk. He had not hoped to see me and Mikkel, but he was very happy that we could be together again. Obviously he had not received the letter I wrote in Quebec. It came several days after our arrival. He took us in the house; and you can believe it wasn't long before Høie had harnessed the horses, and off we went, I and Paul and he, to the town for our che