Ole Bjørnson Haukom
Memory of Houseman’s (hired man's) Place
     Written by Harald Oppeboen

Of the hired man’s place which lay under the yard, one finds Lundeberg and Skovik - further Staland, Moslid and Orlid. On the west side of the river lays Homann, Hovet and Bergland. Many of these are now destroyed and lay there just memories.

Along side the farm and olden time thoughts come to a man who in the year 1813 bought a farm from Jorgen Aall. This man is Ole Bjørn Bjørnsen who lived most of his life at Haukom, and has set his mind, not only on the farm but to the building as a whole. He was very interested in agriculture and has put a lot of work into the farm. He moved the house from the foundation and there they stand today. He built the living room in 1815. A shed from 1771 was moved down and likewise the hay shed from 1745 which had stood until 1942 when it was replaced with a new and more fitting hay shed. He cultivated 15 acres of ground - otherwise he was a foreman in farming.

But it isn’t only in farming that he was known. He was also a teacher, song leader at church, sheriff, mediator and parliamentarian. Therefore it may be of interest to look a little closer at this man.

He was born 22 December 1783 on the Hestehagen farm in Oyefjell. His father died when Ole was just 3 years old, and his mother moved then to Kviteseid. He was 17 years old when he was sent by the Reverend to Kristiansand to be educated for a teacher. At 18 he was ready to teach in Kviteseid and in 1808 as (Klokkar) son leader and reader in church. In 1825 he was commissioned as Sheriff in Nissedal and with this filled the position as mediator. After 10 years as Sheriff, he was one of three as representatives from Telemark to the first Parliament in 1815 and was again elected in 1836, 1839 and 1842.

As song leader he was exceptional, with a loud voice which could be heard over everyone. "Deep as a church clock" said Henry Wergeland about him. It was said that one time near Brunkeberg Church that Miss Croger, who was then song instructor at Kasa School, wanted to lead the singing. Bjørnsen stood it for awhile, but then he started with such a voice they had never heard the likes of before and he got the people with him. If there was any event which was taking place they always got Ole Klokkar. When Prince Oscar inspected court official Lovenskjold at Fossum they brought Ole all the way from Kviteseid. He was a clever teacher and had good order in the school.

Friendship with Zetlitz

Ole Bjørnsen had a nice mild manner and happy in his home life - a happy husband and good father. It comes through from many of his letters. He had many good friends, but the best friend he had was poet Zetlitz. Before Zetlitz ever came to Kviteseid - one can, through letters, hear the friendship grow more and more, and Zetlitz meant for the friendship should last to the grave. One should not forget that Ole Bjørnsen was a poet. He wrote several songs. It is natural therefore that preacher Zetlitz wanted a soul brother. In other editions of his songbook he took six of Bjørnsen’s songs. But even if the friendship was ever so good, it happened that they came in disagreement with one another. It was well known that Zetlitz was a slob with little and much, and Bjørnsen was an orderly man.

Bjørnsen’s poems never came out collectively. They mostly came in Zetlitz songbook or else in some papers. In all work, either in serious or practice, Ole Bjørnsen was a hard worker. Other than what has already been mentioned, he was at one time a vaccinator, municipal reeve and from 1835 he was postmaster. There was a new post office for all of West Telemark which came together and Kviteseid was go between for all the west and surrounding towns so the postmaster had much to do. At that time there were no postage stamps so that the mail costs could often be large.

Became Sick

Ole Bjørnsen was, in the last years in poor health. Was plagued with a liver sickness. In the winter of 1845 the sickness took hold and he took to his bed. People took warning the last time he sang at Brunkeberg Church, the second day of Christmas. The candelabra burned on its last - one of the lights broke off in the middle - fell to the floor, but the stub burned just as good. People took it that the song leader was doomed and wouldn’t come to church anymore. He died at 61.5 years old. The funeral service was the largest that anyone had seen in Kviteseid. They tied 40 horses by the church.

It is therefore no wonder that such a man lives in people’s memories and the soul today lays like one of them of Ole Bjørnsen over Haukom farm.

After Ole Bjørnsen’s time the farm came out of ownership (Aslak Brauti owned it from 1909 to 1915) but in 1915 Sveinung Gotuholt, Ole Bjørnsen’s grandson bought it. He took on different kinds of crops of his grandfather and worked the farm prosperously. In 1920 he received the Tor Vas farm award. Sveinung’s oldest son Aslak Gotuholt took over in 1959 and run the farm until he died. He and his wife Birgit had three children, but none of them wanted to run the farm. So in 1994 Aslak’s younger brother Tarjei Gotuholt took over. He and his wife Ragnhild have four children and in 1995 Tarjei’s daughter Liv and her husband Oddvar Hauge took over. Liv and Oddvar Hauge are the owners of Haukom in 2001.

Ole Bjørnson Haukom was my 4xgreat grandfather. Grandpa Tom Levorson had the above write-up in his desk (Note:  A longer version of the above is included in They Came From Kviteseid). The end of the story refers to Gotuholt. (This was spelled Gadeholt until the union between Norway and Denmark ended in 1814.)  Bjørn married Egeleiv Aslaksdotter Kyrkjebo (1788-1823). Their son Aslak had a daughter Dordi who married Gunnar Jonson Brauti and had a son John Brauti who married Gro Omtveit.

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."