A Young Raymond Emerson (1819-1904)

Ed's Day Wednesday

Dear FOLKS,

Today we'll continue to learn of the life stories that Raymond Emerson brings to us. Raymond was born with the name Reinert Ommundsen in the area of the Flekkefjord municipality, Vest-Agder county, Norway. Not long after his arrival in America (1855) he changed his name to Raymond. This Norwegian was my late cousin Ed Ostrom's great-grandfather; his mother's father's father. For last week's introduction to Raymond, that includes the records and documents about him, click here.

Looking for Norwegian church records for the name Reinert Ommundsen, From Ed's previous work, I knew to look for birth and baptism entries in November 1819, but I wasn't sure in which register I would find him. I knew to start on the Norwegian digital records "go to" website, the National Archives of Norway, the Digitalarkivet that, with a little practice, is easy to use. Lucky for me this website also has an English user interface. I found him in the Nes parish, in the Flekkefjord clerical district. This parish is in the Norwegian county Vest-Agdar, that makes up the southern most tip of Norway.

IMAGE: From Wikipedia, an overview
map of Vest-Agdar, Norway with Nes
herred highlighted. The church register of
Nes herred/parish is where those for
Reinert Ommundsen were found.

IMAGE: map of the Flekkefjord area;
 the Lindeland farm is highlighted.
This map is from Ed's collection. 

IMAGE: A close-up of Lindeland. highlighting
the winding road that ends at the farm where
Reinert Ommundsen was born in 1819. This
map is from Ed's collection.

IMAGE: On a trip to Norway this photo was
taken of the winding road that leads to
Lindeland farm, taken by Ed.

IMAGE: Another area of this same winding road.
This photo was taken by Ed's sister DA, who
also made a visit to Norway.

Reinert was born on the family farm (Lindeland) on 3 November 1819. This is a very rural location as the maps tell. As often is the case when a birth occurs at a location so far from a parish church, the baptism is held at home. And this ceremony occurred on 7 November 1819. The next time they were in town, they would report his birth and baptism to the local church minister. Reinert was truly a "country boy." Here are the church records I found for him.

IMAGE: Page 35, left panel, for 1819, 
Birth and Baptism records for Nes
parish, Flekkefjord, register No. B3. [1]

IMAGE: a snippet of page 35, highlighting No. 37,
Reinert Ommundsen's birth & baptism entry.

-------- translation --------

Born Males  [page 35]

1819

Entry Number:  37

Date of Birth:  3 November

Child's full Name:  Reinert

Date of Baptism either in the church or at home:  at Lindeland 7 November

Parents' Names, Class, Occupation and Address: farmer Ommund Ommundsen Lindeland, Ane Malene Sigbjornsdatter j. ibid. [???]

Godparents' Name, Class, and Residence: Farmer Atlag Sigbjornsen Lindeland, Niels Knudsen Skailand, Tolloya Sigbjornd. Lots Eshina, Gurie Stasdattr ?ohna, Raikel Jachobsdatr Sihagland [difficult to read]

Where entered in the General Registry: 349

Remarks: 

-------- translation ends --------

Then in 1834 we find that he was confirmed. Confirmation happened at the newly built Flekkefjord parish church. It was built in 1833. Considering the distance from home and the length of time to the studies required, it is likely that Reinert boarded somewhere near the church as it was too far to travel from and to home everyday. In Norway it was required for each individual between 14 and 18 to become confirmed. No one was allowed to marry without proof that they had been confirmed. This was usually all the incentive needed to encourage the reluctant to attend.

IMAGE: A recent photo of the Flekkefjord church.
By Jarvin - Jarle Vines - Own work, CC BY 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7340432

IMAGE: The 1834 Confirmation record for Reinert
Ommundsen highlighted. From Parish register (copy)
no. B 4, 1827-1846, p. 203. Highlighting line 20containing Reinert Ommundsen. [2]

IMAGE: Snippet of left-hand page of line #20.

IMAGE: Snippet of right-hand page of line #20.

-------- translation begins --------

1834

Confirmations

Entry Number: 20

Date of Confirmation: 26 October

Full name of person confirmed: Reinert

Age: 7 11 19 [7 November 1819, by reviewing Reinert and others on this page, I discovered that the minister wrote the baptism date here, instead of their date of birth.]

Place of birth: Lindeland

Names of Parents: farmer Ommund Ommundsen, his wife Ane Malene Sigbjornsdatter

Religious knowledge, diligence, etc.: good [rest not translated, represented with ditto marks]

When did the person have smallpox or get vaccinated: 27 July 1825 [??]

-------- translation ends --------

IMAGE: This photograph taken about 1900, shows
back of the Flekkefjord church, showing the nearby
mountains in the background. By Creator:Eneret Fredrik Horjen
 - Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?

Some of the Ostrom family, including my cousin Ed traveled to Norway to learn more of their ancestors. The Lindeland farm where Reinert was born and grew up was a stop made by each of  them. Here are some photos that Ed has in his collection for us to enjoy, some he took, some from his sister's trip.

IMAGE: This is the front of the Lindeland farm
house. It is still in use today.

IMAGE: This building is used as the
barn at the Lindeland farm.

IMAGE: Stone fences in use at the Lindeland farm.

IMAGE: The always curious cows, here they
greet visitors to the Lindeland farm.

A wonderfully serene place for a young boy to grow into an adult. I can easily place Reinert roaming, exploring, doing his chores at the lovely place. I am glad that there were these photographs to share from Ed's collection.

Sources:

1.) "Parish Register, Birth and Baptism Records, National Archives of Norway (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 29 April 2017), Flekkefjord Parish register (copy) Parish register (copy) no. B 3, 1815-1826, p. 35, Born and Baptized 1819, line No. 37, Reinert Ommundsen. Direct link to record:  https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20070525370456.

2.)  "Parish Register,Confirmation Records, National Archives of Norway (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 29 April 2017), Flekkefjord Parish register (copy) Parish register (copy) no. B 4, 1827-1846, p. 203. Confirmation 1834, line No. 20, Reinert Ommundsen. Direct link to record: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20070529310069.

The occasional visits to Norway we make here on Ed's Day Wednesdays are so fun to prepare. There is a wonderful amount of information on-line for us to see and learn from. You too might want to try to find out more about Nes, Vest-Agder, Norway. Thank you so much for joining me here today. Hope your week is going well and I look forward to next time.

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Copyright (c) 2017, Darlene M. Steffens