Tuesday's Tip: Mapire

Mapire (http://mapire.eu/en/) provides access to historical maps of the Habsburg Empire. It contains maps of the First Military Survey (1763-1787), the Second Military Survey (1806-1869), the Third Military Survey (1869-1887), the Military Survey of Hungary (1941), the Austrian Netherlands (1764-1771), and the Hungarian Kingdom (1869-1887). There are cadastral maps from the nineteenth century, and maps of Europe in the eighteenth century, around 1850, and 1850-1890. The site also includes maps from other countries: Italy (nineteenth century), France (eighteenth century), Belgium (eighteenth century), Lower and Upper Alsace (1731), Scotland (nineteenth century), Ordnance Survey of England and Wales (about 1890), Southwest Germany (1797), Germany (nineteenth century), Finland (1918), and Norway (nineteenth century). There are maps of European cities: Vienna (eighteenth century), Budapest (eighteenth-twentieth century), Budapest (1944), London (eighteenth century), Moscow, Paris (1739), and Rome (1829). The Austrian Historic Town Atlas provides information about the history and urban development of sixty-four Austrian towns. It is possible to view the maps synchronized with each other or with today's maps. The maps can also be viewed in 3D. Copies of the maps (reproductions or digital copies) can be purchased. If you have ancestors from these areas, Mapire may be very helpful to you.

Siege of Fredriksten

Plan of the Siege of Frederiksten, 1718. Holm, Edvard. Danmarks Riges Historie, vol. 5, 1907. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

On 30 November 1718, Charles XII of Sweden's troops attempted a siege on the Norwegian fortress of Fredriksten in the city of Fredrikshald (now Halden, Østfold). This was the last invasion of Norway during the Great Northern War. Charles XII was killed by a projectile while he was inspecting his troops' lines.

I am not sure if any of my ancestors participated in the Great Northern War, but I could have had ancestors on both sides, since I am both Swedish and Norwegian.

References
Siege of Fredriksten

Maritime Monday: Andreas Eriksen

My 2nd-great-grandmother's brother Andreas Eriksen was born on 18 May 1835 in Avaldsnes, Rogaland, Norway. He was the son of Erik Svendsen Haavig and Marthe Maria Jakobsdatter.

Rogaland fylke, Avaldsnes sokneprestkontor, H/Ha/Haa/L0005: Parish register (official) no. A 5.1, 1825-1841, p. 121. https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20051108030134

In 1865, he and his wife Marthe Johanne Hansdatter lived in Rennesøy, Rogaland, Norway with Anders Hansen and his family. Andreas was a styrmand (ship's mate).

Rogaland fylke, Rennesøy prestegjeld, Statlig folketelling [Rogaland County, Rennesøy parish, Government census] 178 (RA/S-2231/E), 1865-1865, p. 12.oppb: Riksarkivet. https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/ft20090731650431

In 1875, Andreas and his family lived in Torvastad, Rogaland, Norway.  He worked as a skipper.

In 1885, Andreas and his family lived in Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. By this time, he was a skipperborger (skipper/ship master, social layer above the working class).

Haugesund is located on northern end of the strait of Karmsund.

Physical map of Fjords and Sunds between Bergen and Stavanger. By Ulamm (www.maps-for-free.com) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], 29 January 2008. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Fishing and shipping were important industries in Haugesund. Herring were plentiful in the coastal waters. (The Birth of the Town of Haugesund)

Nordre havn, Haugesund, Stavangers amt. 1900-1910. Riksarkivet [National Archives], Havnedirektoratet [Harbor Directorate]. Public domain. Arkivverkets fotoarkiv.

Olsok

St. Olav. By Erik Christensen (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

July 29 is Olsok, the feast day of St. Olav. It commemorates the death of King Olav Haraldsson of Norway at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030.

Olsok was a major feast day in the Nordic countries until the Protestant Reformation. It is recognized as a feast day by the Roman Catholic Church in Norway. The Lutheran Church of Norway recognizes Olsok in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Every year around Olsok, the St. Olav Festival is held in Trondheim. A service is held in Nidaros Cathedral at the beginning of the night, and there are prayers every hour. Entertainment and activities are provided at the Historical Market, and handicrafts are sold at stalls.

In the Faroe Islands, July 29 is Ólavsøka, a cultural and sports festival in honor of St. Olav's Day. The festival includes parades, music, Faroese chain dancing, rowing games, communal sports activities, sports competitions, and speeches.

References
Historical Market - Olavsfestdagene
Olavsfestdagene
Olsok
Olsok: a Nordic celebration across beliefs and borders
Ólavsøka
St. Olav's Day

Census Sunday: One Year Before Emigration

In 1865, my 3rd-great-grandparents Jorgen Pedersen Boe and Ingeborg Torsdatter Vatner lived on the Nistaas farm in Bø, Telemark, Norway. They had previously lived on the Bø farm, but Jorgen sold it to his brother Gregar. Jorgen's occupation was Husmand med Jord (tenant farmer with farm).

Telemark fylke, Bø prestegjeld, Statlig folketelling [Telemark County, Bø parish, Government census] 178 (RA/S-2231/E), 1865-1865, oppb: Riksarkivet. https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/ft20090728610426

Side 1 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

Side 2 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

The following year, the family left Norway and went to the United States.

Syttende Mai

17 May 1814. Postcard, 1914. National Library of Norway, image number blds_05707. Public domain. Available from Flickr.

The Constitution of Norway was signed on 17 May 1814. Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day) is observed on May 17.

Tuesday's Tip: National Archives of Norway Historic Photo Archive

Earlier this year, the National Archives of Norway launched its archive of historic photographs. The images come from state, family, business, photographic, and press archives, and date from the 1880s to 1980.

The National Archives of Norway's press release provides more information about the photo archive. The direct link to the photo archive can be found at https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/. There is a section for historic photos and a section for photos of Esso service stations.

The photos are arranged by county (fylke), but it is also possible to search by keyword. I found some photos of places in which my ancestors lived.

The photo below shows the northern harbor in Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. Before she emigrated, my 2nd-great-grandmother Marthe Elisabeth Eriksdatter (later Erickson)  spent some time living in Haugesund.

Nordre havn, Haugesund, Stavangers amt. 1900-1910. Riksarkivet [National Archives], Havnedirektoratet [Harbor Directorate]. Public domain. Arkivverkets fotoarkiv.

Some of my ancestors lived in Seljord, Telemark, Norway. The photo below shows Dyrskuplassen, the site of the annual agricultural show Dyrsku'n, which is held in Seljord.

Aerial photograph of Dyrskuplassen, Seljord, 1964. Statsarkivet i Kongsberg [State Archives in Kongsberg], Seljord Dyrsku. CC BY-SA. Arkivverkets fotoarkiv.

If you have Norwegian ancestors, try looking through this collection to see if you can find photos of ancestral places.

Mappy Monday: Norwegian Regions

Norwegian regions. By Antonio Ciccolella (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the administrative divisions of Norway. Counties (fylker) are color-coded.

Those Places Thursday: Bø Old Church

Bø Old Church. Photo: Roar Johansen. [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

The Old Church in  Bø, Telemark, Norway was built about 1180 in the Romanesque style. It is made of stone and has 200 seats. The church was dedicated to St. Olaf and was originally a Catholic church, but it became Lutheran after the Protestant Reformation. An iron chandelier, a carved wooden altar, and a cross in the chancel date back to the Middle Ages. After the Reformation, windows were widened to let in more light, and a door was partially walled up to create a window. Paintings in the chancel date back to the 1650s. The altar table was painted in 1685-1687; the images depict Christ on the cross, the Eye of Providence, and the tetragrammaton YHWH ("Yahweh"). Bible verses are inscribed on the pulpit and the portal.

Many of my Norwegian ancestors on the Boe side of the family attended the Bø Old Church. Family baptisms, marriages, and burials took place there.

References
Bø Old Church
The Divine Name in Norway: Bø (district of Telemark)
Norske kirkebygg: Bø gamle og nye kirke

Follow Friday: Norwegian Genealogy and then some

Martin Roe Eidhammer, a Norwegian, has a genealogy blog called Norwegian Genealogy and then some (http://martinroe.com/blog/).

Some blog posts focus on Norwegian records. A recent post is about the Norwegian 1664-1666 census. It explains the layout of this census, shows an example, and includes a link to the census itself. This post has encouraged me to explore this census, and will help me to understand the information that it contains. Other posts focus on Norwegian names, reading Gothic handwriting, and places in Norway.

The site also includes a Norwegian genealogy dictionary, a list and definitions of causes of death, and downloads, including forms and "cheat sheets" for the Norwegian church books, pre- and post-1812 revision.

If you have Norwegian ancestors, this blog should be very helpful to you!

Those Places Thursday: Bø in Tørdal

Bø in Tørdal. Photo by GunnarAa (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Bø is the village center of Tørdal, which is part of Drangedal, Telemark, Norway. There are three farms at Bø. My 8th-great-grandfather Jorgen Jorgensen Bø and his children, my 7th-great-grandfather Klas Jorgensen Bø and my 7th-great-grandmother Asberg Jorgensdatter Bø lived on one of the farms at Bø in Tørdal. Klas' daughter married Asberg's son.

References 
Bø (Drangedal)

Mappy Monday: Drangedal and Tørdal, Telemark, Norway

Map of the municipality Drangedal in the county of Telemark, Norway. Hallvard Straume [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

I recently discovered that some of my Norwegian ancestors were from Tørdal. Tørdal is part of the municipality of Drangedal, which is located in Telemark. This map shows the location of Tørdal within Drangedal.

Surname Saturday: Boe

My mother's maiden name, Boe, comes from the name of the farm that my ancestors lived on in Bø, Telemark, Norway.

One very frustrating thing about searching for the surname Boe is that when I search the Internet, I get many results that are about the Board of Education!

My ancestors who used Boe as a surname are:

My mother

Grandfather: John Boe
born 28 April 1908, St. Louis, Missouri
married Margaret Ann Schneider 25 September 1939, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana
died 24 November 1977, New York, New York

Great-grandfather: John Boe
born 15 March 1876, Swift Co. Missouri
married Signe Olson 21 March 1897, Swift Co., Minnesota
married Kathleen Graham (my great-grandmother)
married Anna Mae Gamble 22 August 1934, St. Joseph Co., Indiana
died 27 June 1940, Norwalk, Los Angeles Co., California

2nd-great-grandfather: Jorgen Jorgensen Boe
born 18 November 1850, Bø, Telemark, Norway
married Aaste Halvorsdatter Otterholt 17 December 1873, Rock Dell, Olmstead Co., Minnesota
died 17 December 1900, West Bank, Swift Co., Minnesota

3rd-great-grandfather: Jorgen Pedersen Boe
born 13 February 1820, Bø, Telemark, Norway
married Ingeborg Torsdatter Vatner 13 June 1848, Bø, Telemark, Norway
died 30 July 1902, Swenoda, Swift Co., Minnesota

Earlier ancestors used Bø as a farm name, but it was not a true surname. Names stayed with the farms, not the families. If a family moved to another farm, they would be known by that farm name.

Wednesday's Child: Claus Halvorsen Sønstebø

My 5th-great-grandparents Halvor Eriksen Sønstebø and Kari Jorgensdatter Grave became the parents of a son, Claus, on 6 May 1792 in Bø, Telemark, Norway.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1792, page 59. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060249.jpg

Claus died in March 1798 (I think the record says that he died on the 7th) in Bø, two months before his sixth birthday.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1798, page 112. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060276.jpg

Wednesday's Child: Marken and Asber Halvorsdatter Sønstebø

On 27 July 1807 in Bø, Telemark, Norway, my 5th-great-grandparents Halvor Eriksen Sønstebø and Kari Jorgensdatter Grave became the parents of twin daughters, Marken and Asber.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1807, page 207. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060323.jpg 

Asber died on 24 April 1809.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1809, page 223. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060331.jpg

Marken died on 27 August 1809.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1809, page 226. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060332.jpg

Census Sunday: Living with Cousin's Family in Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway

After her father died in 1865, my 2nd-great-grandmother Marthe Elisabeth Eriksdatter (Erickson after immigrating to the United States) and her siblings went to live in different households. Their mother had died in 1856. When the 1865 Norway Census was enumerated, Marthe was living with her first cousin Svend Knudsen Torvestad, his wife Emma Tomine Knudsen (née Jacobsen), and their son Knud Johannes Knudsen in Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. Marthe's occupation was Tjenestepige (servant girl). Sven's occupation was Søfarende (sailor). 

Rogaland fylke, Torvastad prestegjeld, Haugesund ladested, Statlig folketelling [Rogaland County, Torvastad parish, Haugesund seaport, Government census ] 275 (RA/S-2231/E), 1865-1865, oppb: Riksarkivet. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20090803640064.jpg

Wednesday's Child: Ingebor Halvorsdatter Sønstebø

Ingebor Halvorsdatter Sønstebø was born on 29 July 1794 in Bø, Telemark, Norway. She was the daughter of my 5th-great-grandparents Halvor Eriksen Sønstebø and Kari Jorgensdatter Grave.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1794, page 79. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060259.jpg 

Ingebor died less than two years later, on 28 May 1796.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 5 (1785-1815), Chronological list 1796, page 95. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061208060267.jpg

Census Sunday: Kari and Her Younger Husband

My 4th-great-grandmother Kari Halvorsdatter Sønstebø's second husband was a much younger man. Ougund (or Ougun) Halvorsen was sixteen years her junior.

In 1865, eighteen years after their marriage, the couple lived on the Eiken østre farm in Bø, Telemark, Norway. Ougund was a farmer, and he owned his farm. Kari's grandson Peder Jorgensen lived with them; his occupation was Tjenestekarl (male servant). Two female servants, Mari Markusdatter and Aslaug Hansdatter, also lived with them.

Telemark fylke, Bø prestegjeld, Statlig folketelling [Telemark County, Bø parish, Government census] 178 (RA/S-2231/E), 1865-1865, oppb: Riksarkivet. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20090728610455.jpg

Side 1 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

Side 2 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

Census Sunday: Servant on Uncle's Farm in Bø, Telemark, Norway

In 1865, my 2nd-great-grandfather Jorgen Jorgensen Boe was living with the family of his father's brother Gregar Pedersen Bø on the Bø farm in Bø, Telemark, Norway. His occupation was Tjenestedreng (servant). His uncle Gregar was a farmer and owned the Bø farm.

Telemark fylke, Bø prestegjeld, Statlig folketelling [Telemark County, Bø parish, Government census] 178 (RA/S-2231/E), 1865-1865, oppb: Riksarkivet. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20090728610423.jpg

Side 1 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

Side 2 of the household's census enumeration, up close:

Norwegian Valentine Postcard

Fodsproget ("Foot Language"). Norwegian Valentine postcard from the 1920s. National Library of Norway, image number blds_03788. Public domain. Available from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.