INSTALLMENT
#11
[Day 17, Monday, July 10, 2000]
Peg & Keith Wheeler's
Norway trip report, Summer 2000
See Photo Album #24
The Tour
of the "Yellow Dots" Day - Visiting Tysvær Farms, Sigmar Myhre, Nedstrand Store & Kleiberg House, Coffee at Rita's.
Peg
has often maintained that Keith's genealogy hobby is just an excuse to see
pretty country and meet neat people.
There were plenty occasions this day that would support this
theory.
Keith
considers himself pretty lucky as much genealogy work had already been done on
his ancestors. Because they were "Sloopers"
and figured so prominently in Norwegian-American immigration history, much has
been written about them. In J. Hart
Rosdail's Slooper book, mentioned previously, ancestor or "pedigree"
charts were given for Keith's Norwegian ancestors. Some lines in these charts went back into the 14th
century. Other than names and the few
available dates, little additional information was given about these
ancestors. However from the little bits
and pieces of information provided and from the names themselves (remember the
old Norwegian naming system where the last name indicates where they lived?),
Keith could put together a list of place names where his ancestors had lived
in the Tysvær area. With help from
Einar and Rotraud he was able to find most of these places on his handy-dandy
Tysvær map. These names he then
highlighted with a yellow marking pen.
Our task for this day, with our trusty guide Rotraud at the helm, was to
visit most of the places represented by yellow dots on the map. The goal was to get a feel for the country
and try to take a photo if possible.
Einar had to work as this was the last day before their scheduled
holiday cruise. He had to complete a
job and move his excavator to a neighbor's farm to be used while he was
gone. He had already taken several days
off work to be with us.
But
first there was another mission. We had
to go to Aksdal to the bookstore. Keith
had totally fallen in love with the Norwegian "bygdeboker" or local history books. There were 9 volumes for Tysvær, the Slogviks had given Keith
Vol. 2 which had much information on the Slogvik farm and Jacob's, as well as
Einar's, families. Adding 4 more
volumes would provide valuable information on other ancestors, related lines
and their farm history. Peg agreed to
pack the books if Keith would agree to handle the large suitcase that had been
quickly gaining weight.
Wait! Aksdal is a yellow dot. Jacob's mother's ancestor Gaut Aksdal had
lived here in the latter part of the 1500's.
- WARNING - BORING GENEALOGY STUFF AHEAD -- PROCEED
AT YOUR PERIL OR DELETE AT YOUR PLEASURE.
Driving
east from Aksdal, we soon passed the outskirts of Grinde with its late
iron age stone monuments. More of
Jacob's mother's ancestors lived here in the 1700's. Continuing eastward, we pulled up a country lane to the farm of Aukland. This was a new name to Keith as it was not
found in the Slooper book, but had been found by Einar in his research of
Jacob's ancestors. This farm is just
west of the Stakland farm where the old Quaker Church that we visited
previously is located. (Yes, Stakland
is a yellow dot too.) Soon we were
traveling east again on the main road and past the sluice/lock area described
previously. Driving back into the hills
a bit, we came across the Finnshus farms where Rasmus and Rasmus's
daughter lived in the 1600's and 1700's (again Jacob's mother's ancestors)
Our
next stop was quite spectacular. We
were looking for Ørke as spelled in the Slooper book, or Yrkje
(as currently spelled). This again took
us off the main road and down to the very west tip (end) of Yrkjefjorden. This is a quayside village at the remote end
of a rather 
large fjord (according to
the map). We came upon it from
overland, and it appeared tiny, quaint, and (yes, it's becoming a trite adjective
. . .) picturesque. It was an overcast
and wind blown day -- the remnants of a small storm having passed over during
the night. There was a hillside garden that invited closer appreciation of the
bright flowers and assorted shrubs.
This is a place to which we'd like to return. (And, yes, the photo Rotraud took of us there did turn into the
Wheeler's 2000 Christmas Card.)
<
Keith & Peg at Yrkje
Back
on the main road, we drove quite a distance south and then east, again through
spectacular countryside with views of mountains and lakes on one side and
fjords on the other, dotted with clean little farms with barns and
outbuildings. We arrived enough ahead
of schedule at the beautiful village of Nedstrand that we had time for coffee
and a bite to eat at the local marina.
We had gone to Nedstrand to try to find the Kleiberg Farm.
Rotraud had never been here before and was curious too. There was a central looking general store. The term "general" was taken quite
seriously here. In addition to a
complete grocery store, there were departments for hardware, marine needs,
clothing, toys and a complete sewing and yarn selection. This would be a good place to get the basket
goodies Peg wanted to send with Einar on their holiday cruise the next day. She had great fun finding all sorts of
sweets and treats and fruit to pack for a surprise.
Before
Rotraud could complete her question to the proprietor of the store about the
quest we were on, he took her into the back room and made a phone call for her. She found herself on the phone with
"Cleng Peerson himself."
Actually, his name is Sigmar
Myhre a local historian, author,
and frequent role player of Cleng Peerson at public events. He was "coming right over." Rotraud wanted to surprise Keith so she sat
him down at the best (only) table in the house which was covered with a clean
white tablecloth and looked out the plate glass windows trimmed with lace
curtains. Yes, this is a grocery store. Here Keith was plied with coffee and
attempts at English conversation by the store owner. Keith was a bit bewildered as to why he couldn't shop with Peg
and Rotraud.
Sigmar & Keith at the Nedstrand store
"Cleng"
appeared with a stack of binders and books.
These were draft copies of the soon-to-be-published Nedstrand
Bygdebok. He soon identified Jacob's
grandfather and great grandfather who had lived on the Kleiberg farm. Of course he had additional information to
that of the Slooper book. Keith was
delighted and again overwhelmed with emotion at meeting this noted
historian. He had seen his pictures on
the internet (e.g., http://www.rogalandslag.org/Nord-Rogaland/tysvaer.htm - Sigmar is in full costume in the picture
on the right - the picture on the left was taken from the Stakland Quaker
graveyard). Keith was provided with
copies of relevant pages from Sigmar's data, courtesy of the store owner. It seemed all work had stopped and
precedence was being given to this visiting American descendant of Tysvær.
This
celebrity status continued as "Cleng" chauffeured us in his huge
custom Dodge van. He took us up the
hill through the town of Nedstrand, climbing through a series of sharp switch
backs up a steep mountain side north of town.
Here on a bench of land overlooking the town and the fjord to the south,
was the Kleiberg farm. Next to a modern
farm house was a small building that we were assured was the original
Kleiberg farmhouse.
"Cleng" believes it was probably here that Keith's 4th
and 5th great grandfathers were born. This house had to have been built in the 1600's but had been so
well kept up and painted, it appeared contemporary from a distance. Imagine a 400 year old wooden house in the
US!! We looked inside and took a few
photos. The structural walls were of
notched and pegged planks like those Sjur had brought over the night
before. The roof beams were ancient
looking poles and appeared to be the originals. AMAZING!
The old Kleiberg house with "Cleng" and
Keith in front
The
neighboring fields appeared fertile and green. Berries of some kind appeared to
be a featured crop. Driving just a
short distance back down the hill, "Cleng" took us to a special view
point. This is known as Holekleiv and gives
a breathtaking, panoramic view of Nedstrand below and the fjords to the south.
"Viewpoint Holekleiv" - looking south
over Nedstrand below
On
down the switch backs and into town, we visited briefly the Nedstrand
Bygdemuseum (rural museum) in the restored old school house. It was not open but Cleng had a key. It was a work in progress funded largely by
a successful local emigrant to America.
Keith recalls a special and very old "keep fish alive" boat
not unlike a 5 ft long wooden kayak.
With the spaces between the slats and a covered top with hatch, fish
could be placed inside and kept alive while this little craft was towed behind
the fishing boat. Clever.
This
delightful deviation from the Rotraud's detailed itinerary, put us a bit behind
schedule. We now had to go directly to Rita's
for coffee and cake, which was scheduled for 3 pm. We backtracked west and then went south
along the Hervikfjorden. We were now
directly across the fjord from Hervik, so Slogvik was just a bit further
north. Rita Kvæstad and her husband, Geit, both of whom are German and
good friends of Rotraud, are vets and work from their beautiful farm home. It was a lovely, spacious home and had a
fine view of the fjord. Rita, like so
many others we met on our trip, apologized for her poor English and then
proceeded to carry on a conversation in excellent English. Daughter, Iris, played a nice piano
accompaniment for our visit.
Backtracking
again, we started the drive north along the west side of the lake called Lysevatnet. We were looking for the farm called
Vassenden. It seemed we were going too
far, but we continued until suddenly we ran into the edge of Yrkjefjorden. We had gone too far. While this took us out of our way, it
enabled us to see an "unscheduled" yellow dot farm named Haugen
where the Kleiberg patriarch was born in 1630.
Searching more carefully along the lake we were eventually able to see
the Vassenden farm. This farm
was hidden behind trees and the road down to it was not inviting, so we viewed
it only from above. This is where
Jacob's paternal grandmother was born in 1750.
Driving
then back to the eastern side of the Hervik fjord, we stopped at a view point
where Keith could take a picture of the south end of the large Borgøy island
where Østabøvik is located. This is
the place that Einar believes is the Ystebö farm, home of Jacob's
paternal maternal great grandmother.
(Had enough yet?) It was a
pretty view. Heading north back up the
same road we came on earlier this day, we stopped only briefly so Keith could
take a picture of the Lindanger area from the road. This is where Holger Olavsen Lindanger was
born in 1570. His family had lived
previously some distance away in Skiftun, a farm we would visit in two days.
(this will be reported later -- stay tuned)
We
stopped for gas at Skjoldastraumen, the sluice/lock place. Then it was on to the farm called Vårå. This is where Jacob's mother's ancestors
lived for several generations during the 1600's. As we drove up to the farm house, Rotraud was very apologetic
about the appearance of the farm. The
owner of this farm had a sideline business of dismantling old farm equipment
and selling off the parts. Realizing
that this type of business would require areas of clutter, we were not in the
least bit offended. In the US someone
would not even give a second glance at this, however, here it stood out in
contrast to the very neat and tidy way most Norwegian farms are kept. Norwegian "junky" is still rather
neat compared to US slums. (Here is an
interesting sideline: California Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Chief
Justice Earl Warren's family came from this area. Justice Warren's great grandfather, Halvard Olsen Vårå, was a
cotter or tenant farmer at Vårå in the early 1800's. It was here that Earl Warren's father and grandfather were
probably born. At first Keith thought
that he and Earl Warren are not cousins.
BUT WAIT, after returning home, with some help of another Norway List
member and studying his precious Tysvær bygdebøker, Keith found that he and
Earl Warren were "fifth cousins once removed"…!!!)
We
were now on a peninsula jutting north into the fjords north of Slogvik. We looped around to the west side where we
found the very attractive and neat Fikstveit (or Fekstvedt) farm. This farm even had its own road sign giving
the name of the farm at the beginning of the lane. It was from this farm that Jacob's mother and grandfather and 4
previous generations had hailed. The
farmer here came out to meet us and showed us where he believed the old farm
house once stood. It is now just a
depression in a grassy field near a more modern farm house. Again, the view of the fjord and the
countryside were striking.
The
last two stops on this tour would be the Svinali farms. These two farms, Øvre (upper) Svinali and
Nedre (lower) Svinali, were places where more of Jacob's mother's ancestors had
lived. Keith had known very little
about this line until recently when Einar shared recent research he had
done. At the Øvre Svinali farm lived an
elderly Norwegian bachelor farmer and his two elderly sisters. Rotraud commented that they were quite
wealthy as published in the public tax records (there are no secrets in
Norway). This friendly, NBF pointed out
across a field where he believed the original farmhouse once stood near an
ancient rock wall. We then drove around
to the Nedre Svinali farm, but the people there that day had little knowledge
of the history of this place.
During
this day of driving around this beautiful rural countryside, we were not only
impressed with the natural beauty, but also with the friendliness we met at
every turn. Of course it helped to have
our expert tour guide who could speak Norwegian where we could not. But people just seemed basically friendly
and very willing to help. (Maybe
Rotraud kept us away from the mean folks..?)
It was so obvious at the Nedstrand store, but also when ever we drove up
a lane to a farm, people would stop what they were doing and try to help us in
our quest to learn more about the farms where Keith's ancestors once
lived. Two things were apparent. First, that practically all the folks we met
were very interested and knowledgeable about the history of their area. Secondly, there were no restrictions to
entering these areas. We saw no
"No Trespassing" signs. We
were told that landowners cannot unreasonably restrict access to their
land. This attitude, policy or law is
well illustrated by the published Tysvær kommune's "Visitor's Code"
which reads, "Enjoy the countryside, walk anywhere except on cultivated
fields, please shut all gates and leave no litter. Thank you!"
THIS CONCLUDES YOUR
YELLOW DOT TOUR (15 - COUNT 'EM, 15 … more?) --- YOU CAN BEGIN READING REGULAR
STUFF AGAIN.
Earlier,
Rotraud and Peg had discussed what we might like to have for our farewell
dinner after our yellow dot tour. Peg
had heard about "fiske kake" being a common Norwegian dish,
but not being overly sure of exactly what it was, she inquired about it. Of course, to inquire is to receive, and she
half knew this. Thankfully, it was VERY
easy to prepare. We had picked up some
fish cakes and potato salad at the Nedstrand store so it was merely a matter of
heat and eat.
After
dinner we all sat about the living room and Keith and Peg wrote in the family
guest book. This was a special event
and it was apparent that what we wrote would be important and remembered. Moreover, it had been such a wonderfully
exceptional and personally meaningful week that mere words were insufficient to
express what we felt. Making a feeble
effort at wrapping it up and saying an official good bye to the family, we
retired upstairs to pack and make arrangements for the next and last morning at
this memory filled place.
See Photo Album #24
PREVIOUS REPORT BACK
TO TRAVEL REPORTS INDEX
NEXT REPORT
since 12/1/01