Andreas Johnsen of Svelvik (1830-1888)

BIRTH MARRIAGE DEATH

08 March 1830, Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway     17 December 1855, Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway     01 July 1888, Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway

Andreas Johnsen was born on 08 Mar 1830 in northern Svleivk, Vestfold, Norway^{A, B} to carpenter (and former sailor), John Nilssen and his wife, Ingaborg Karine Oudensdatter. At the time, the family was living at the northern end of Svelvik, in Slædevigen, an area now known as Sleavika. Andreas was baptized on 05 Sep 1830 at Strømm Church in Svelvik.^{1, C}

On the 4 Sep 1841, when Andreas was just 11 years old, his father passed away from unknown causes. Over the next few years, mother Ingeborg would raise her children as a widow (likely with the help of her family). She would remarry in 1848 to Ole Halvorsen.

Andreas was confirmed on 05 Oct 1845 at Strømm church in Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway. Soon after he would take to the sea and join many of his fellow men of Svelvik in the shipping industry.²

On 17 Dec 1855, Andreas Johnsen married Anne Marie Olsdatter Ruud in the Strømm Church in Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway (documented in the Hurum, Buskerud parish register).³

On the 4 Aug 1862, Andreas bought farm house 11a in Svelvik from Ole Halvorsen for $108.⁴ Here Andreas and Anne would raise their six children. This is supported by their appearance on the 1865 census where they are listed as living in house 11a in Svelvik with 5 children (son Andreas would not be born for another 2 years).⁵

Anne died in Svelvik, Norway on 11 Aug 1867, just three days after the birth of son Andreas. Her death and burial record states that she died due to complications from childbirth. Anne was only 39 years old.⁶ While tragic in its own right, remember that Andreas was a sailor. In the middle of August he would have been out at sea and likely knew nothing of the fate of his wife until he'd returned home some 3 months later. His now 6 children would be motherless, likely under the care of family and neighbors helping during Andreas' absence.

After Anne's death Andreas left his life on the sea behind to become a carpenter at the shipyard. This kept him employed, but allowed him to be around on a daily basis for his children instead of the long stretches at sea that was the life of a sailor. Over the next 6 years it became the responsibility of eldest daughter's Birthe Marie & twin sister Julie (age 8) to take care of the family until life changed again in 1873.

By 1871 Andreas had met a lady he called Laura, he had become enamored with her. They began seeing each other and soon found out in early 1872 that Laura was pregnant with their first child.⁷

They would wait until after the birth of their son Oscar, but on 12 Jan 1873 in Svelvik Church, Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway, Andreas married Olava Annette "Laura" Andersen.^{8, D}

It was not to last however, as Laura would pass away only 1 and 1/2 years later on 6 Sep 1874, again at the age of 39, oddly enough, from what was listed as heart disease.⁹

At the age of 55, Andreas worked as a carpenter and lived with his 6 children, 1 daughter-in-law, 5 grandchildren, and 2 currently unknown Johnsens (Johan A. & Gustava) in 1885.¹⁰

Andreas died on 01 Jul 1888 in Svelvik, Vestfold, Norway, at the age of 58, and was buried four days later on 05 Jul 1888. ¹¹

FATHER:

John Nilssen Jordbrekke, 25 Jun 1797 - 04 Sep 1841

MOTHER:

Ingeborg Karine Oudensdatter Helgerud, bef 1795 - 20 Sep 1865

SPOUSE 1:

Anne Marie Olsdatter Ruud, 07 Oct 1827 - 11 Aug 1867

CHILDREN:

1. John Andreasen, 02 May 1856 – 07 Jan 1932
2. Birthe Marie Andreasdatter, 01 Nov 1858 – 17 Sep 1933
3. Julie Andreasdatter, 01 Nov 1858 – 19 Nov 1933
4. Annette Andreasdatter, 30 Dec 1861 – 14 Jan 1937
5. Ole Andreasen, 02 Sep 1864 – 28 Mar 1895
6. Andreas Marinius Andreasen, 08 Aug 1867 – 31 Jan 1925

SPOUSE 2:

Olava Annette "Laura" Andersen, 1835 - 01 Sep 1874

CHILDREN:

1. Oscar Albert Andreasen, 03 Nov 1872 – ?

^A For most of Andreas' life, the Norway Parish Registers for the towns of Svelvik & Strømm were not located under their current county of Vestfold. At the time, Svelvik's Strømm church was a part of the Hurum parish in Buskerud County and this didn't change until Strømm became its own parish in 1861 following the opening of their new church.

^B In the 1800's, Svelvik was separated into two ajoining towns along the Drammen Fjord. They were Svelvik and Strømmen (also refered to as Strømm). The town was frequently referred to as Svelvikstrommen. Strømmen was incorporated into Svelvik in the 1950s.

^C Strømm Church was demolished in 1857 because its size no longer suited the now bustling shipping town. Svelvik Church was erected in its place in 1859.

^D In Norway, it wasn't uncommon for a woman to get pregnant before the couple was married. Villages often accepted couples as married and in a way provided their blessing to them and allowed them to live together, before a ceremony was ever carried out in church. However, in Andreas and Olava's case, it was much less common for a couple to hold out on the wedding until after their child was born.

¹ Norway Parish Registers, Baptism Records about Andreas Johnsen; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=8433&idx_id=8433&uid=ny&idx_side=-46); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Buskerud county, Hurum, Parish register (official) nr. 10 (1827-1846), Birth and baptism records 1830, page 46, entry no.: 60.

² Norway Parish Registers, Confirmation Records about Andreas Johnsen; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=8433&idx_id=8433&uid=ny&idx_side=-322); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Buskerud county, Hurum, Parish register (official) nr. 10 (1827-1846), Confirmation records 1845, page 325; Entry: 12, bottom half.

³ Norway Parish Registers, Marriage Records about Andreas Johnsen and Anne Marie Olsdatter Ruud; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=1095&idx_id=1095&uid=ny&idx_side=-267); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Buskerud county, Hurum, Parish register (official) nr. 11 (1847-1860), Marriage records 1855, page 280, entry no.: 29.

⁴ Norway Real Estate Registers about House 11a; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:tl_read?idx_id=15016&uid=ny&idx_side=-103); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Svelvik. Aut. 11.04.1858. S. 3: innholdsfortegnelse. S.5: redgjørelse. S. 7: reg. til register for Svelviks grunde. S.9: alfabetisk register over eiere. S. 47: reister over husene i Svelvik etter matr.nr, pg.: 173-174; cite note on.: Andreas Johnsen, p 173.

⁵ 1865 Norway Census about Andreas Johnsen Family; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives (Digitalarkivet); Oslo, Norway; (http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebCens.exe?slag=visbase&sidenr=29&filnamn=f60701&gardpostnr=15&personpostnr=84&merk=84#ovre); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Svelvik, Census of Svelvik, Entry No.: 84-90; Family No.: 15.

⁶ Norway Parish Registers, Death & Burial Records about Anne Marie Ruud; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=1273&idx_id=1273&uid=ny&idx_side=-193); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Strømm, Parish register (official) nr. 1 (1861-1869), Death and burial records 1867, page 219, entry no.: 51.

⁷ Norway Parish Registers, Baptism Records about Andreas Marinius Andreasen; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=1273&idx_id=1273&uid=ny&idx_side=-73); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Strømm, Parish register (official) nr. 1 (1861-1869), Birth and baptism records 1867, page 68, entry no.: 48.

⁸ Norway Parish Registers, Marriage Records about Andreas Johnsen and Olava Andersen; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=5938&idx_id=5938&uid=ny&idx_side=-10); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Strømm, Parish register (official) nr. 3 (1870-1877), Marriage records 1873, page 9, entry no.: 4.

⁹ Norway Parish Registers, Death & Burial Records about Olava Andersdatter; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=5611&idx_id=5611&uid=ny&idx_side=-154); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Strømm, Parish register (official) nr. 2 (1870-1877), Death and burial records 1874, page 218, entry no.: 41.

¹⁰ 1885 Norway Census about the Andreas Johnsen Family; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives (Digitalarkivet); Oslo, Norway; (http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&sidenr=11&filnamn=f80701&gardpostnr=20&personpostnr=116&merk=116#ovre); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Svelvik, Census of Svelvik, Entry No.: 116-130; Family No.: 20.

¹¹ Norway Parish Registers, Death & Burial Records about Andreas Johnsen; The National Archives of Norway: The Digital Archives; Oslo, Norway; (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=3542&idx_id=3542&uid=ny&idx_side=-196); Visited:13 Jan 2014 ; Vestfold county, Svelvik in Strømm, Parish register (official) nr. II 1 (1878-1899), Death and burial records 1888, page 240; entry no.: 8.