Thursday, January 20
Ole's farm
Apparently the area around Jelsnes, Norway, a few kilos north of Sarpsborg, was converted into farmland by the Vikings. The first available written information dates back to a register from 1577 which quotes that "the farm which lies at Jelsnes belonged to the Fredrikstad parish since 'Aridtz time.'" It seems the farm had been split into two in the "Old Norwegian" times and that both became obsolete after "svartedauden," the plague, rolled through in the 13th century.
In a register from 1668 the area around the farm was already called Jelsnes-Ødegården which is still in use today. The farm remained in its original size until the early 18th century, when Lensebråten was the first to be separated in 1815 but still belonged to the Fredrikstad parish. Subsequently also 10 other smaller farms were established between 1839 to 1865, including Lensebråten, my ancestral family farm in southern Norway.
Lensebråten lies south of Jelsnes school and borders the river Glomma - Norway's longest river. During the second half of the 17th century a croft was established here under the ownership of Jelsnes-Ødegården. The name Lensebråten obviously comes from the expression "lense," which means a place where driftwood is collected from the river Glomma and which stretched acrosss to the other side of the river.
Lensebråten had some forrest "up to Hoveden and Suteren." The border stretched to the river where "an oak tree used to stand." It continued to the northwest behind the creek between Hovden and Suteren to the northern bank of the Glomma.
The farm Lensebråten was leased by Sjøllert Larsen, son of Lars Sjøllersen. Sjøllert was born in 1798 and died in 1880. In 1861 Sjøllert agreed with his sons Jens and Anders that they should operate the farm - at first for one year - because of his age he could no longer run it himself and that the sons should provide him and his wife with reasonable room and care.
In 1863 Jens left the farm, now about 38,000 square meters, or just under 10 acres, and his brother Anders bought it in 1867 for an amount of 570 specidalers thus becoming the first owner of Lensebråten. Anders had a son Ole, born around 1890. Sjøllert was Ole's grandfather. Ole was my grandfather, my dad's dad. He came to America just about 100 years ago. He moved to an edge of nowhere too, settling eventually in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Technically, it was never Ole's farm despite the title of this post; it was just the place he grew up before heading off to America. The farm is still in the family today.
In a register from 1668 the area around the farm was already called Jelsnes-Ødegården which is still in use today. The farm remained in its original size until the early 18th century, when Lensebråten was the first to be separated in 1815 but still belonged to the Fredrikstad parish. Subsequently also 10 other smaller farms were established between 1839 to 1865, including Lensebråten, my ancestral family farm in southern Norway.
Lensebråten lies south of Jelsnes school and borders the river Glomma - Norway's longest river. During the second half of the 17th century a croft was established here under the ownership of Jelsnes-Ødegården. The name Lensebråten obviously comes from the expression "lense," which means a place where driftwood is collected from the river Glomma and which stretched acrosss to the other side of the river.
Lensebråten had some forrest "up to Hoveden and Suteren." The border stretched to the river where "an oak tree used to stand." It continued to the northwest behind the creek between Hovden and Suteren to the northern bank of the Glomma.
The farm Lensebråten was leased by Sjøllert Larsen, son of Lars Sjøllersen. Sjøllert was born in 1798 and died in 1880. In 1861 Sjøllert agreed with his sons Jens and Anders that they should operate the farm - at first for one year - because of his age he could no longer run it himself and that the sons should provide him and his wife with reasonable room and care.
In 1863 Jens left the farm, now about 38,000 square meters, or just under 10 acres, and his brother Anders bought it in 1867 for an amount of 570 specidalers thus becoming the first owner of Lensebråten. Anders had a son Ole, born around 1890. Sjøllert was Ole's grandfather. Ole was my grandfather, my dad's dad. He came to America just about 100 years ago. He moved to an edge of nowhere too, settling eventually in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Technically, it was never Ole's farm despite the title of this post; it was just the place he grew up before heading off to America. The farm is still in the family today.
