A Young Gurina Maria Thomasdatter (1832-1904)

Ed's Day Wednesday

Dear FOLKS,

I have been sharing with reader's to this blog that information, documents and records that was collected by my late cousin Ed Ostrom. Recently, I introduced you to Ed's great-grandmother Gurina Maria Thomasdatter. She was Ed's mother's mother's mother, also #15 on Ed's Names List, in  the great-grandparent generation. To learn about her timeline, you can read last week's article by clicking here.

This week we will continue the life story of Gurina Maria Thomasdatter, beginning with her birth and young life while she lived in northern Norway. Gurina was born on 05 January 1832, near the small town of Rana, known today as Mo i rana, in Nordland county (fylke), Norway. This location is very near the Arctic Circle, at the eastern end of the Ronfjorden fjord. Mo i rana is on the south shore of the fjord. Gurina was born at home on the family farm called Altermark that is uphill a bit from the northern shore of the fjord.

IMAGE: Satellite view of the Nordland area,
showing the Altermark farm where Gurina Maria
Thomasdatter was was born. Map from
Mapcarta.com.(1)

The following is a map of the larger area. You may recognize this map an earlier article. Gurina was born in a location near her husband's birthplace, so this second map was shown in his earlier article. If you would like to read more about this area review Gurina's husband's article by clicking here. We will cover this in a future article with Gurina in mind.

IMAGE: Map of Norway with the small
town of Mo i Rana highlighted. Map
from Wikipedia.com.(2)

As a small infant Gurina was baptized at the Råna parish church in Mo i Rana (66°31"N). I can't imagine traveling any distance in the area of the Arctic Circle (66°33'N) in January with a small infant, but I read that the European Arctic Circle has milder winter weather than the same latitude in the Alaska-Canada area because of the more temperate trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean. Here is a copy Gurina's entry in the register.

IMAGE: Parish register (official) no. 827A02, 1826-1841,
 page 34, Born and baptised (1832), highlighting line #2, for
Gurina Maria Thomasdatter, from digitalarkivet.no [3]

SNIPPET: Left page showing Line #2

SNIPPET: Right page showing Line #2

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

Baptisms   1831      [page] 34

1832   [about half way down the page]

Entry Number: No. 2

Stated Date of Birth: 05 January [1832 implied from title]

Date of Baptism: 28 January  [1832 implied from title]

The Child's full Name: Gurina Maria

Legitimate or illegitimate birth: legitimate birth

Parents' full names, occupation, and residence: Farmer Thomas Christophersen from Altermark and his wife Marit Mathiasdatter

Godparents' names: Elline Bek Revlan, Hans Elias. Altermark, Ane Jonasdtr.
        ibid., Elias Anders.Ansfiskaan, Dorthea Gulesdtr. Altermark,
        Pernilla Olsdatr. Maugnas

If Baptised at home, who performed the 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 --------

Gurina's mother, Marit Mathisdatter would die in 1845, when Gurina was thirteen. It would have been difficult to be motherless when you have just become a teenager when learning household chores, handicrafts and catechism needed her mother's help in teaching. Gurina's father would remarry in 1850.

When Gurina was 15 she was confirmed. In this entry the spelling of her name has changed to Gurine Marie Thomasdatter. She was confirmed at the Rana church in Mo i Rana. This is the modern name of that community, merging together smaller areas into one larger area.

IMAGE:  Parish register (official) no. 827A03, 1842-1852,
page 121, Confirmation 1847, highlighting line #59
for Gurine Marie Thomasdatter from digitalarkivet.no. [4]

SNIPPET: Left page showing Line #59

SNIPPET: Right page showing Line #59

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

Confirmations 1847    [page]  121

Entry Number: 59

Date of Confirmation: 27 June 

Full name of person confirmed: Gurine Marie Thomasdtr

Age: 5 January 1832 [15]

Place of birth: Altermark

Names of Parents: T. Kristophersen and Marit Mathisdtr

Religious knowledge, diligence, etc.: very good

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

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

The following is a photograph of the church where Gurina was baptized and confirmed. At that time it was called the Rana church. If this photo looks familiar, it was included the story telling of her husband growing up in the same area. But it is lovely historic church, urging me to share it here a second time.

IMAGE: The Mo Church in Mo i Rana, Norway, built
in 1724. The minister of this church completed the
register with an entry for Gurina Maria Thomasdatter.
Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons,
Mahlum, taken in November 2006.

Gurina's father was Thomas Kristophersen and he would marry a second time. In October 1850, after being a widower for five years, Thomas married Beret Dorthea Hansdatter. This would bring a step-mother into the home when Gurina was eighteen. Gurina would marry in 1856, but that is a story for another day.

Sources:

1.) "Mo I Rana," Mapcarta.com (http://www.mapcarta.com : accessed 29 August 2017).

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 22 Aug 2017), SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerbøker og fødselsregistre - Nordland, 827/L0390: Parish register (official) no. 827A02, 1826-1841, p. 34, Born and Baptized 1832, line No. 2, Gurina Maria Thomasdatter. Quick link to record: 
https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20050427030366.

4.) "Parish Register,Confirmation Records," National Archives of Norway (http://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 22 August 2017), SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerbøker og fødselsregistre - Nordland, 827/L0391: Parish register (official) no. 827A03, 1842-1852, p. 121, Confirmation-1847, line No. 59, Gurine Marie Thomasdatter. Quick link to record: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/en/kb20050427030720.

Thank you for stopping by today as I appreciate your company. Hope your week is going well. Next week we'll continue to explore Gurina's life story.

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Copyright (c) 2017, Darlene M. Steffens