I am working on a “page” consolidating several posts about my second great-grandmother, Anne Larsdatter. Unlike my earlier pages, I plan to do some editing and revisions this time. In the meantime, follow the links below for more pieces of the story. Norway experienced a population explosion in the early…
Tusen Takk to cousin Mary and her mother Clarice, who found her copy of “Utvandringa Til Amerika …“ in English translation, and sent me the narrative pages. There is some excellent background and statistics there, relating not only to Ringebu, but all of Gudbrandsdal, and indeed all of Norway. Here…
I just found a wonderful site devoted to old photos and articles about the husmenn (tenant farmers) of the “old country,” i.e. Norway. These were the poorest folk, and were the vast majority of those who emigrated to America. Nearly all of our ancestors came from this peasant class. They…
Please read in sequence. Earlier posts are Part I: Thunder Hawk Part II: Come to Zion Part III: Travels In the 1920’s and 30’s, my grandfather was a preacher of some renown in the Pentecostal movement. His name comes up repeatedly in the book Northern Harvest: Pentecostalism in North Dakota…
Lars Poulsen’s burial record, 1855: The first word preceeding Lars’ name is “Huusmand” (modern spelling, Husmann). Lars’ family belonged to this class, as did his parents and his wife’s parents. Literally, the word means “house-man.” It was arguably the poorest class in rural society, poorer in some ways than household…