|
Some stuff about my family, since I too don't want this thread to die. This unremarkable little street in Stavanger, Norway (Kaisegata) is interesting because it was named after a shipbuilder named Knud Johannes Kaisen (1809-1902), whom also happens to be my great-great-great-great-grandfather (my great-great-grandfather's maternal grandfather and the father-in-law of the guy below). He managed to acquire satisfactory wealth but his trusting, naive personality caused him to be taken advantage of and he died poor but managed to live long enough to know he had a street named after him.   This is Sivert Jacobsen (1830-1908). He is my great-great-great-grandfather. When he was fifteen he went to sea as a cabin boy and sailed mostly between the US and the Mediterranean. The ships carried marble blocks for buildings to New York and wine from Spain and Portugal. After sailing with the same ship for several years and advancing to the position of Third Officer, he deserted the ship in NY and went into hiding until the ship departed port. He then shipped out with an American vessel for several years, mostly from NY along the coast to the southern states. When he decided he was away from Norway for long enough that it would be safe to return without being arrested for desertion, he found that he had lost his citizenship and had to take out citizenship papers in the town in which he was born (Stavanger), since he had literally became "a man without a country". After studying navigation, he became a sea captain for 15-20 years and commanded two ships, the "Sir Robert Peel" and the "Aquarius". The ships traveled all over the world - to South America to load coffee, mahogany logs, etc., and he sailed to Constantinople about the time of the Crimean War. His last trip was to Pensacola, FL after pitch pine mast timbers to be unloaded at Stavanger. After arriving in Norway in May 1874, he decided to retire after sailing the high seas for 30 years. During that time his only mishap had been the loss of a young seaman in the North Sea during a storm. Sivert, his wife Karen Kaisen, and children moved from Stavanger to the US (arriving in NYC aboard the "Kong Sverre" on August 13, 1874) and settled near Gilman, Iowa. The family stayed in Chicago for about a week, then came to LeGand and bought a farm with a house. His son, my great-great-grandfather, Knudt, was 13. His wife, Karen, was from Copenhagen and her father the ship builder is the one the street is named after. Sivert came to Iowa because he had heard that other Norwegians had settled there. Karen was also born in 1830 and the two died within a month of each other. They are both buried in the same cemetery as my father and the rest of my paternal family. My mother and I moved to Marshalltown, Iowa not ten to fifteen minutes from my paternal ancestral roots where they have been since 1874. I grew up in Vegas and Kansas City and I find it fascinating that, in a way, I am back "home". It certainly makes doing research a lot easier. bean_shadow fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Dec 13, 2016 |
#
¿
Dec 10, 2016 16:44
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 06:18 |
|
|
Bilirubin posted:That is not too far from the truth! What county in Norway do your ancestors come from? My relatives came from Stavanger, Rogaland.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2016 02:21
|
|
|
I have a relative who swears (and other relatives also swear) that he has traced us back to Leif Erickson / Erick the Red. When I was told that I was related to Leif Erickson I said, "I'm sure half of Norway is too" but they swear there is proof. I will have to check out the records and get back. But you go back that far and most Northern Europeans are probably related.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2017 13:42
|
|
|
Powaqoatse posted:I don't remember if he had kids or you'll be like a 2nd cousin 20th removed, though. Two sons: Thorgils and Thorkell.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 2, 2017 13:12
|
|