A Young Peder Christian Nilson (1827-1888)

Ed's Day Wednesday

Dear FOLKS,

While last week, I introduced you to Peder Christian Nilson with the information I had, sharing his life's timeline, vital statistics and such. This week, I want to look at documents and information I found about Peder and the area of Norway where he was born and grew up. Peter was one of my late cousin, Ed Ostrom's maternal great-grandfathers; Ed's mother's mother's father. Last week's article is located here.

I had the information from Ed's family tree that Peder was born on 23 March 1827 in Reinforsheia, Nordland, Norway on the family's Elvebakken farm. I learned that Reinforsheia is a very small community near the Arctic Circle, in northern Norway.

This prompted me to learn a bit more about the Arctic Circle area of Norway. What I learned was as expected there are huge tidal flows in this area of the world too, with the differences between low and high tides being many feet, this in part causes the swift currents in Norway's legendary fjords where they meet the ocean. This area, like the rest of the globe, also has short winter days and long summers days.

What I didn't realize that the old world Arctic is different than the Arctic Circle in the New World. That part of the Arctic Circle that includes, Greenland, Alaska and Canada are known for being less developed with smaller populations. For being so far north, the Arctic region of Norway is fairly developed, with some major World War II battles between Russia and the Nazis being fought there.[1] 

Life in Norway's region of the Arctic is largely determined by the Gulf Stream. This warmer current helps to keep Norway warmer than the temperatures in Alaska and Canada.[1]

IMAGE: Map of Norway with Mo i Rana
highlighted. Provided by Wikipedia.org.[2]

Reinsforsheia is so small there is no church there. I looked further afield and found that the local parish church for this area is the Mo church that is in a community known today as Mo i Rana, Nordland, Norway. It was here that I began to find records for Peder Nilsen.

IMAGE: #11 Peder Christian Nielsen's birth/baptism
entry in Nordland Parish register (official) no. 827A02,
1826-1841, p. 5, 1827. from Norway's National Archives.[3]

Snippet of left-side of Peder Christian's Nielsen birth record

-------- translation of birth record --------

Baptisms 1827

Entry Number: No. 11

Stated Date of Birth: 23 March [1827 implied from title]

Date of Baptism: 8 April [1827 implied from title]

The Child's full Name: Peder Christian

Legitimate or illegitimate birth: legitimate birth

Parents' full names, occupation, and residence: Farmer Niels Johansen from Elvebakken and his wife Pernille Johansdatter

Godparents' names: ?? ;difficult to read

If Baptised at home, who performed the baptism: ?? baptism

For illegitimate children, who reported this status: either the child's mother, or which known and trustworthy member of the Parish: [blank]

-------- translation ended --------

IMAGE: Photo with view of Mo i Rana from the
fjord. From Wikimedia Commons, taken by
Hesse1309, in late July 2003.

IMAGE: #11 Peder Christian Nielsen's confirmation
entry in Nordland Parish register (official) no. 827A03,
1842-1852, p. 101, 1843. from Norway's National Archives.[4]

Snippet of left-hand page of Peder Christian
 Nilsen's Confirmation Entry

Snippet of left-hand page of Peder Christian
 Nilsen's Confirmation Entry

--------- translation begins of confirmation record --------

Confirmations 1842 & 1843

Entry Number: 3 [for 1843 at bottom of page]

Date of Confirmation: 2 July 1843

Full name of person confirmed: Peder Kristian Nilsen

Age: 23 March 1827 [16]

Place of birth: Elvebakken

Names of Parents: N. Johannessen and Pernille Johannesdtr

Religious knowledge, diligence, etc.: very good/excellent

When did the person have smallpox or get vaccinated: ??

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

IMAGE: The Mo Church in Mo i Rana, Norway, built
in 1724. The minister of this church completed the
register with entries Peder Christian Nilsen. Photo provided
by Wikimedia Commons, Mahlum, taken in November 2006.

It is here, that Peder would continue to grow and mature. His father, Niels Johannsen would die in 1834, when Peder was only 7 years old. I am sure this had bearing on the strong, steadfast and adventuresome person Peder became. Next week, we'll learn of Peder marrying and immigrating to America. It is in America where his last name changes from Nilsen to Nilson.

Sources:

1.) "What is it like to live above the Arctic Circle, and how much does it vary from country to country?," Quora.com (http://www.quora.com : accessed 18 July 2017), in particular the answer written by Eugene Maya.

2.) "Mo i Rana," Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org : accessed 18 July 2017).

3.) "Parish Register, Birth and Baptism Records," National Archives of Norway (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 18 July 2017), SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerbøker og fødselsregistre - Nordland, 827/L0390: Parish register (official) no. 827A02, 1826-1841, p. 5, Born and Baptized 1827, line No. 11, Peder Christian Nielsen. Quick link to record: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20050427030334.

4.) "Parish Register,Confirmation Records," National Archives of Norway (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 18 July 2017), SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerbøker og fødselsregistre - Nordland, 827/L0390: Parish register (official) no. 827A03, 1842-1852, p. 101, Confirmation-1843, line No. 3, Peder Christian Nielsen. Quick link to record: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20050427030694.

Thank you for stopping by today as I appreciate your company. Hope your week is going well.

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Copyright (c) 2017, Darlene M. Steffens