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: Map of Sillejord (Seljord), Norway, 1786

Sillejord Præstegield i Øvre Tellemarken, beliggende imellem den 59 og 60 Grad Nord Brede. Wille, Hans Jacob. Beskrivelse over Sillejords Præstegield i Øvre-Tellemarken i Norge. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1786. Available from http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesbok&bokid=silgjord.

The map Sillejord Præstegield i Øvre Tellemarken, beliggende imellem den 59 og 60 Grad Nord Brede ("Sillejord in Upper Telemark, Situated Between 59 and 60 Degrees North Latitude") was published in 1786 in the book Beskrivelse over Sillejords Præstegield i Øvre-Tellemarken i Norge (Description of Sillejord Parish) by Hans Jacob Wille. Until 1889, the Norwegian municipality Seljord was known as Sillejord or Silgjord. Seljord is located in the fylke (county) of Telemark. Some of my Norwegian ancestors were from Seljord.

Close-ups are provided of the top and bottom halves of the map.

Sillejord Præstegield i Øvre Tellemarken, beliggende imellem den 59 og 60 Grad Nord Brede. Wille, Hans Jacob. Beskrivelse over Sillejords Præstegield i Øvre-Tellemarken i Norge. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1786. Available from http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesbok&bokid=silgjord.

Sillejord Præstegield i Øvre Tellemarken, beliggende imellem den 59 og 60 Grad Nord Brede. Wille, Hans Jacob. Beskrivelse over Sillejords Præstegield i Øvre-Tellemarken i Norge. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1786. Available from http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesbok&bokid=silgjord.

Thorfinn of Hamar

January 8 is the feast day of St. Thorfinn of Hamar. Thorfinn was Bishop of the Ancient Diocese of Hamar, which was formed in 1152 and lasted until 1537. The diocese included parts of the counties of Hedmark (all except Solør, Odalen and northern Østerdalen), Oppland (all except Valdres), Buskerud (Numedal and Ringerike), and Telemark (Hjartdal, Notodden, Seljord, Tinn and Vinje). It was part of the ecclesiastical province of Nidaros.

After King Eric II of Norway repudiated the Tønsberg Concord (which had confirmed the rights of the clergy) in 1282, there was a dispute between church and state, and Thorfinn was exiled. He went to the Ter Doest Abbey in Lissewege, Belgium. He died there on 8 January 1285.

Walter de Muda, a monk at the Ter Doest Abbey, wrote a poem about Thorfinn. He described Thorfinn as kind, patient, gentle, strong, and good. He hung the poem over Thorfinn's tomb.

Thorfinn of Hamar is one of the few Norwegian saints. Some of my ancestors lived in Seljord and Hitterdal (now part of Notodden), which were part of the Ancient Diocese of Hamar.

References
Ancient Diocese of Hamar
Feast of St. Thorfinn of Hamar (January 8)
One of the few Norwegian saints
Saint Thorfinn
Saint Thorfinn - Newman Connection 
Thorfinn of Hamar
Thorfinn of Hamar (d. 1285)

Those Places Thursday: Seljordsvatn

Next to Seljord's lake at a campsite in Norway. 8 August 2008. Photo by Yodaspirine (own work) [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.

Seljordsvatn (or Seljordsvatnet) is a lake in Seljord, Telemark, Norway. It is part of the Skien River. The lake is about 15 km long and 1.8 km wide. The deepest part of the lake is 150 meters. On average, the depth is between 50 and 75 meters.

According to folklore, a sea serpent called Selma lives in the lake. The first report of the creature was made in 1750. While Gunleik Anderson Verpe from Bø was rowing on the lake, a sea serpent supposedly attacked one of  his two boats. Perhaps my ancestors from Seljord and Bø believed in the sea serpent.

There is a road around the lake, and there are many campsites with beaches. In 2008, a lookout tower was built so that tourists could watch for Selma.

References
Bike around Seljord lake
Norway's Seljord Lookout Point Peers Out to the Water Searching for the Selma Sea Monster
Seljordsvatn
Seljordsvatnet
Selma (lake monster)
Welcome to Seljord

52 Ancestors: #52 Jørgen Gunleksen Juve

I have found many name variants for my 7th and 8th-great-grandfather: given name (Jørgen, Jørund), patronymic (Gunlekson, Gunnleikson, Gundlegson), and farm name (Juve, Gjuve, Djuve, and his father's farm name Nordgarden or Nordgaarden). I will refer to him here by the name Jørgen Gunleksen Juve, the version given in his death record. He is both my 7th- and 8th-great-grandfather because I descend from two of his children.

Jørgen was born about 1688 in Kviteseid, Telemark, Norway. He was the son of Gunnleik Sveinungson Nordgarden and Jorunn Tormodsdatter.

On 8 January 1711 in Seljord, Telemark, Norway, Jørgen married Hilleborg Christiansdatter Roch, the daughter of Christian Christophersen Roch, sorenskriver (magistrate) of Øvre Telemark, Norway.

Source information: Telemark county, Seljord, Parish register (official) nr. I 2 (1689-1713), Marriage records 1709-1711, page 392-393. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061212340324.jpg

Jørgen and Hilleborg had six children: Kristian (born about 1712), Kristoffer (born about 1713), my 7th-great-grandmother Maren (born about 1720), my 6th-great-grandfather Per (born about 1723), Gunnleik (born about 1725), and Jorunn (born about 1728).

In 1737, Jørgen became lensmann (sheriff) of Seljord, Telemark, Norway.

Jørgen died in Seljord on 9 June 1754. His wife Hilleborg had died four days earlier, on 5 June 1754. They were buried on 13 June 1754.

Source information: Telemark county, Seljord, Parish register (official) nr. I 6 (1744-1755), Chronological list 1754, page 128. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061213310006.jpg

References
Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.
Digitized parish registers: Seljord, 1689-1713
Digitized parish registers: Seljord, 1744-1755
Flatin, Kjetil A. and Flatin, Tov. Rokkerova. Skien: Norig, 1917.
Jørund Gunnleiksson Nordgarden
KVITESEID BYGDESOGE: Volume I - Ættesoga: HEGGTVEIT
Rockerova

52 Ancestors: #17 Christian Christophersen Roch, Sorenskriver (Magistrate) of Øvre Telemark, Norway

My 8th- and 9th-great-grandfather Christian Christophersen Roch was born about 1631 in Jutland, Denmark. In 1662 he was appointed sorenskriver (magistrate) of Øvre Telemark, Norway.

Rian, Øystein. Da embetsmenn og kjøpmenn gjorde revolusjon i Telemark. Samfunn og mennesker på 1600-tallet. Skrifter Telemark distriktshøgskole nr. 122. Bø: Telemark distriktshøgskole, 1987. Page 20. Available from https://telemarkskilder1.hit.no/handle/123456789/2626.

On 24 February 1664, Christian married. According to a short biographical article on lokalhistoriewiki.no, Christian married Ædel (Adele) Tykesdatter in 1664. The entry for Christian on the Ættesoga - familieband til Kviteseid Web site states that his wife was Adele (or Ædel) Tykjesdotter. However, according to the Seljord, Telemark parish register, Christian's wife was Dorothea Taargiulsdatter.

Telemark county, Seljord, Parish register (official) nr. I 1 (1654-1686), Chronological list 1664, page 43. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061212340044.jpg

I have not found another marriage record for Christian. I found his wife Adele's death/burial record in the Seljord parish registers; she died on 29 May 1707.

I recently ordered the book "Rokkerova" : ei ættesogu fraa Telemarki, by Kjetil A. Flatin and Tov Flatin (Skien: Norig, 1917) from antikvariat.net. This book contains information on Christian Christophersen Roch and his family. Hopefully when the book arrives, there will be more information that will help me to figure out how many times he was married and who the mothers of his children were (especially his youngest daughter Hilleborg, my 7th- and 8th-great-grandmother). The article on lokalhistoriewiki.no states that he had fifteen children and that three of them were illegitimate.

The lokalhistoriewiki.no article also states that Christian had a reputation for being a difficult man who exploited his position and held several farms; he lived in Øverland, but also held Øvre Klomset, Aase, and Bjørge. Øystein Rian writes about a 1683 law that allowed the military to help collect unpaid taxes.

Rian, Øystein. Da embetsmenn og kjøpmenn gjorde revolusjon i Telemark. Samfunn og mennesker på 1600-tallet. Skrifter Telemark distriktshøgskole nr. 122. Bø: Telemark distriktshøgskole, 1987. Page 35. Available from https://telemarkskilder1.hit.no/handle/123456789/2626.

According to lokalhistoriewiki.no, Christian was deposed in 1683, and Ættesoga - familieband til Kviteseid states that he was sorenskriver from 1662 to 1683. Rian states that he was deposed in 1688.

 

Rian, Øystein. Da embetsmenn og kjøpmenn gjorde revolusjon i Telemark. Samfunn og mennesker på 1600-tallet. Skrifter Telemark distriktshøgskole nr. 122. Bø: Telemark distriktshøgskole, 1987. Page 21. Available from https://telemarkskilder1.hit.no/handle/123456789/2626.

Christian died in Seljord, Telemark, Norway on 23 January 1708.

Telemark county, Seljord, Parish register (official) nr. I 2 (1689-1713), Death and burial records 1708, page 326. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20061212340294.jpg