Bygdebok for South Fron
Back in June, I did some work on the bygdebok (farm & family book) for Fron parish, the source cited by Ragnhild Kjorstad in her landmark letter of 1989 regarding the pedigree of Lars Paulson. Based on my reading of this prior source, I concluded that Ragnhild made a mistake when she connected Lars’ father, Paul Svensen Flaade, as a son of Sven Paulsen Lillegaard, who owned the latter farm prior to his death in 1756.
It is true that the bygdebok states that Paul Svensen Flaade is “possibly” from Lillegaard. The problem is that another Paul Svensen, son of Sven Paulsen and no way the same person as Paul S. Flaade, owned the Lillegaard farm itself from 1760-1790. That would seem to prove that “our” Paul Svensen Flaade must be (a) not from Lillegaard after all, or (b) at least the son of some other “Sven.”
But there is another possibility I did not consider at the time: (c) What if Sven Paulsen Lillegaard had two sons named Paul! Wildly unlikely, to be sure, but not completely unprecedented. In poring over a large amount of census data from a variety of places and periods, I have seen it once or twice, where two children in the same family had the same given name. Here is a related fact: it was customary in 19th c. Norway, and elsewhere, to reuse a child’s given name if an older child died before another of the same sex was born. One can imagine possible reasons for expanding on this custom; for example if the first son was sickly, with a poor prognosis for survival, or possibly in the case of an illegitimate child (!- and we have bumped into a few of those in our closet, haven’t we ;-)).
In our own time, we have the example of boxer, buffoon, and pitchman George Foreman, who named all five of his sons “George.” I thought that was just a joke just made up for a TV commercial, but I looked it up. It is a bona fide, legal, factual joke.
I’m not “rehabilitating” Sven Paulsen Lillegaard and his 4 generations of ancestors back into my data just yet, but perhaps I was a bit hasty in ruling them out.
Paternity Uncertainty « Ole's Blog
Apr 5, 2010
[…] Lars’ father, Paul Sveinsen Flaade, the line ends right there. Even if I am incorrect, and previous work holds up, the pedigree peters out just a few generations earlier. This situation is due to a fire that […]
Lars Paulson’s Pedigree Rehabilitated « Ole's Blog
Jul 27, 2011
[…] accused of erring in her work on the ancestry of our 2nd great-grandfather, Lars Poulsen. In a later post, though, I allowed for the possibility that Svend Poulsen Lillegard had two sons named Poul […]
Nord-Fron: Lars Paulsen’s Ancestors « Ole's Blog
Sep 22, 2011
[…] processed that situation, or I would have pursued Lillegård more closely. Reviewing the definitive farm book yet again after retuning home, I found that at the time the book was compiled (1950′s?), the […]
Heidi
Sep 17, 2013
I believe that if the maternal grandfather AND the paternal grandfather are both named Paul, then YES – he could have 2 sons both named Paul. Since the traditional Norwegian naming pattern is to name the 1st born son after the paternal grandfather and the 2nd born son after the maternal grandfather.
I am also researching Lillegaard & that’s how I got to this site.
George
Sep 18, 2013
Yes, that turned out to be exactly the case. See my follow-up post on this: https://olelarsonsfolks.net//2011/07/27/lars-paulsons-pedigree-rehabilitated. I photographed the Lillegard farm on my visit to Norway in 2011. https://olelarsonsfolks.net//ancestral-sites-in-norway/. If I had been more on top of it, I would have tried to contact some of the Lillegard family still living in the area. What is your connection with Lillegard?
Heidi
Sep 18, 2013
Hi ~ My connection with Lillegard is through my 3rd Great Grandmother – Jorand Nilsdatter Lillegard. She married Ole Ellingsen. They lived at the Majormoen Farm and later on at the Sonstegard Farm.
I will have to check out your post & photos of the Lillegard Farm. This stuff is so interesting.
thanks!