1885 SICHAR
 



 

Som illustrasjon

 

1885 Fullrigger SICHAR (210188501)

Type:

Seilskip, skrog av tre/sailship, wooden hull

Off.no:

 

Flagg (flag):

NOR

Havn (port):

Larvik

Byggeår (year built):

1864/7

Bnr (Sno).:

 

Bygger (yard):

Dinning and Baldwin Shipyard, Quebec, Canada

Eier (owner):

Andersen & Steen, Laurvig

Klasse (Class).:

 

 

 

Tonnasje (Tonnage):

1.342 tons

Dimensjoner (size):

L: 202' – B: 38' – D: 23'

 

 

Fremdrift (propulsion):

Sail

 

 

Bemanning (crew):

22 pers,

 

 

Historikk:

1864 Bygget som seilskip HER MAJESTY av Dinning, Quebec, Canada for Farnsworth & O, Liverpool, UK. (ref.American Lloyds register of American and Foreign Shipping (1865)). Hr..Bain var skipper.
1865 Ishud lagt på skroget i januar.
1868 Bytte av skipper, Hr Downie kommer om bord for å ta over kommandoen.
1871 Selskapets navn forandres til Farnsworth & Jardine, Liverpool. Hr.Downie er fremdeles ombord som skipper.
1877 Bytte av kommando, Hr.J. Leahy kommer som skipper. Selskapet er det samme. Skipet blir utstyrt med kallesignal: WKHJ
1883 Forsvinner fra Lloyds register som HER MAJESTY
1885 Solgt og ny eier blir Andersen & Steen, registreres i Laurvig (Larvik). Som skipper om bord er Hr. N.Steen. Omdøpt SICHAR. Forliser etter møte med is i Nord-Atlanteren og forsvinner.

 

 

 

John Olsens siste reis: Et familie mysterie

 

 

 

Håper: Å få svar på følgende spørsmål:

 

1. Hva skjedde med SICHAR og hennes besetning?
2. Var det sant at John Olsen’s kone Elise hadde rett på erstatning grunnet dårlig sjømannskap av andre som resulterte i at overlevende ikke ble plukket opp av passerende skip?

 

 

 

            Familiens historie, fortalt av Martha og Olga Olsen, døtre av John Olsen. Historien er blitt fortalt som bruddstykker av en helhet, siden begge jentene var veldig unge, 5 og 2 år, da dere far døde.
            John Olsen fra Stathelle var stuert ombord på seilskipet som sank I Nord-Atlanteren (Olsen’s offisielle opptegnelserImyndighetenes register indikerer at han aldri vendte tilbake fra turen i mars 1885 om bord på fartøyet SICHAR ut fra Larvik). Skipet traff på is og sank. Mannskapet gikk I livbåtene. Livbåtene ble sett av passerende skip, men ingen hjelp eller assistanse ble gitt. Senere ble en livbåt funnet, innholdende døde og maltrakterte kropper(fingre and tær) fra besetningen. Det var initialer av fire personer risset inn i skroget på livbåten.
            John’s hustru reiste til London, England, noen år senere, etter at skipet var rapportert savnet, for å overvære en formell høring. En rapport som viste til dårlig sjømannskap ble fremlagt, og forelagt rederiet som eide det passerende skipet, og som ble pålagt å utbetale en kompensasjon til Johns enke. Det er sagt at skipet tilhørte rederiet British White Star Line.
            Ugjerningen kom for en dag da en sjømann, ansatt på det passerende skipet, rapporterte hendelsen til myndighetene noen år etter 1885. Antagelig ville han lette samvittigheten før han døde. Han erkjente at han hadde vært under innflytelse av en av hans overordnede, som ba ham om å holde dette for seg selv, at de ikke hadde gitt hjelp til de overlevende i livbåten..     .

 

 

 

Fakta og verifiserte opplysninger fra offisielle kilder på den tide.:

 

            Hjemme havn for det norsk registrerte skipet SICHAR var Larvik. Skipet var eiet i kompaniskap av kaptein N(Nils?).Steen, og “andre”. Skipet var en fullrigger og bygget i Quebec Canada i 1864 og var først registrert som det britiske skipet HER MAJESTY. Skipet ble bygget av Dinning and Baldwin shipyard i Quebec og var på 1.341 tonn (DnV Ship Registry og norske maritime arkiver))
            SICHAR forlot Hull, England 10/4-1885 med kurs for Quebec i dødfrakt og et mannskap på 22 (Ref.Statistisk Sentralbyrå)). Skipet var siste kjølhalt den 17/4 før hun forlot den Engelske kanal (Ref. Lloyds). En hvit, klinkbygget livbåt påmalt SICHAR-Larvik ble oppdaget i begynnelsen av juni i posisjon 47.50N og 24.00V. Den innholdende liket av tre men. Livbåten var delvis fylt med vann og bar preg av lang tid i sjøen. Denne rapporten ble laget 26/7 i Paris av en fransk skipsfører (Lloyds list).
            Året 1885 var et år med eksepsjonelt mye is og mange skip fikk problemer da de nådde is området (Kanadiske myndigheters sjøis ekspert, Newfoundland) ). Tapet av SICHAR ble notert i Larvik i august 1885 (Larvik Seaman’s History). SICHAR blir listet som savnet i 1887 og som kaptein notert N.J. Steen; eiere var R.og N.J. Steen ( Norsk Sjøfartsmuseums nedtegnelse). Elise Olsen ble formelt erklært som enke i desember 1885 (Norsk manntall). Hun emigrerte til Amerika i 1907 (U.S. manntall)

 

 

 

Hypotese:

 

            SICHAR traff antaglig på isen nær 45 grader Vest, rundt begynnelsen av mai. Dette er hvor den offisielle rapporten viser hvor den første isen viser seg. Skipet treffer isen og forliser. Livbåten drifter østover i strømmen i en distanse på omtrent 790 nautiske mil under en periode på ca 30 dager, før den blir oppdaget av et skip under fransk flagg. (Disse estimater kommer fra kanadiske myndigheters is eksperter på Newfoundland). Det er antatt at det passerende skipet var en fraktskute, ellers ville det vært umulig å holde stillheten om de overlevende i SICHARs livbåt. Hvorfor de overlevende ikke ble sett av andre passerende skip hvor det i alle fall passerte et skip om dagen ifølge kanadiske rapporter. En mulig forklaring er at SICHAR gjorde en omvei mot syd for å komme rundt pakkisen, som mange skip gjorde, og derfor var kommet vekk fra den normale leden da den forliste.

 

 

 

Mysteriet om erstatningen:

 

            Verken Elise Olsen eller hennes døtre ville ha noe å hente ved å fortelle usannheter om hendelsen, spesielt til hennes senere barn og familiemedlemmer. Kvinnen var veldig ærlig og praktisk i sin adferd og ikke så mye tilbøyelig til sentimentalitet og overdrivelse. Også, detaljene av familiens redegjørelse av funnet av livbåten stemmer med de konsise notater i Lloyds lister. Det ser ut som om Elise Olsen var den eneste personen som var informert om SICHAR's forlis. Siden skipet kom fra Larvik er det stor sannsynlighet for at andre i området var informert. Spesielt om det var en historie om urett og brudd på god skikk til sjøs det dreide seg om. I det minste så hadde antagelig familien til kaptein og eier, Nils Steen, blitt informert.
            Antagelig tok ikke den offisielle granskningskommisjonen i London til før flere år senere, etter at skipet ble rapportert sunket. Med dette måtte antagelig høringsnotatene i Marine Department Board of Trade i British National Archives eksamineres igjen. Muligens i tidsrommet 1885 til 1906.(hva med høringsnotatene som finnes i Norge?). Dette synes å være en veldig vanskelig oppgave, siden høringene vil være i regi av det skip som har forbrutt seg, og navn og årstall er ukjent. En ville tro at en undersøkelse av denne art, ville vært nedtegnet i andre fora også. Endelig, skipet og dets last må ha vært assurert? Disse nedtegnelser ville i så tilfelle bringe lys over forliset og ettertiden.

 

 

 

Viktig person informasjon:

 

John Olsen, født 26/2-1852, Bamble, Telemark, Norway.
Død: 1885 på sjøen.
Elise Olsen, født 12/5-1855, Skien, Telemark, Norway.
Død: 1929, USA.
John og Elise var innbyggere av Stathelle, Norway. De eide et hus der.
Historien er fortalt av Robert Olsen, 32810 Sisters Loop, Eugene Oregon, 97405. Tel. 541-6859255, email olsenbfin@msn.com. Date 5/06.

 

 

History in English:

1864 Built as sailship HER MAJESTY by Dinning, Quebec, Canada for Farnsworth & O, Liverpool, UK. (acc.American Lloyds register of American and Foreign Shipping (1865)). Mr.Bain as the Master.
1865 The hull was metalled in january 1865
1868 A new master, Mr Downie arrives.
1871 Company name changed to Farnsworth & Jardine, Liverpool. Mr.Downie is still the Master.
1877 New Master, Mr.J. Leahy, same company. The ship have a call sign: WKHJ
1883 Disappear from Lloyds register as HER MAJESTY
1885 Sold and new owners Andersen & Steen, registered in Laurvig (Larvik). As master Mr. N.Steen. Renamed SICHAR. Same year she disappeard on the North-Atlantic, probably after meeting with ice.

 

 

 

The Last Voyage of John Olsen: A Family Mystery

 

Objective: To answer the following questions.

 

1. What happened to the SICHAR and her crew ?
2. Was it true that John Olsen’s wife Elise was granted monetary compensation due to maritime misbehavior resulting in survivors being left adrift?

 

            Family story: As told by Martha and Olga Olsen, daughters of John Olsen. The story would have been heard second hand since both girls were very young, 5 and 2 years, when their father died.
            John Olsen from Stathelle Norway was a crewman( Steward) on a sailing ship that sank in the North Atlantic (Olsen’s official Norwegian seaman’s record indicates that he never returned from a voyage in 1885. The voyage began in March 1885 on the ship SICHAR out of Larvik Norway). The ship hit ice and sank. Crew members went into lifeboats. The lifeboats were spotted by a passing ship but no aid was rendered. Later a lifeboat was found containing the dead and mutilated bodies( fingers and toes) of the crewmen. There were the initials of four men carved into the lifeboat.
            John’s wife traveled to London, England, some years after the reported sinking, to attend a formal “hearing”. A formal finding of misconduct was made and the shipping line that owned the passing ship was ordered to pay compensation to John’s widow. Some say that the ship was owned by the British White Star Line.
            The misdeed came to light when a sailor, formerly on the passing ship, reported the incident to authorities, some years after 1885. Supposedly he had a fit of conscience just before he died. He admitted being “influenced” by his superior officer into keeping quiet about not rendering aid to the alive men in the lifeboat.     .

 

 

 

Facts as known and as verified by official records at this time:

 

            The home port of the Norwegian registered SICHAR was Larvik (at that time Laurvig), Norway. The ship was jointly owned by the Captain N (Nils?).Steen, and “others”. The ship was a full rigged ship and had been built in Quebec Canada in 1864 and was first registered as the British ship “HER MAJESTY”. The ship was built in the Dinning and Baldwin shipyards of Quebec and weighed 1.341 tons.(Norwegian Veritas Ship Registry and Norwegian Marine Archives))
            The SICHAR left Hull England on April 10th, 1885 bound for Quebec carrying “dead freight” and a crew of 22 (National Archives of Norway, Statistisk Sentralbyra). The ship was last hailed on the 17th of April as it left the English Channel (Lloyds). A white clinker lifeboat with the name SICHAR-Larvik was spotted in early June at Lat.47.50N and Long. 24W. It contained the decomposing bodies of 3 men. The lifeboat was partially filled with water and appeared to have been in the sea for an extended period of time. This report was made on July 26th in Paris by a French merchant ship captain (Lloyds list).
            The year 1885 was a exceptionally bad ice year and many ships foundered as they approached the Grand Banks (Canadian government sea ice experts, Newfoundland) ). The loss of the SICHAR was noted in Larvik in August 1885 (Larvik Seaman’s History). Sichar shown as listed as “lost” in 1887 and captain as N.J(?) Steen; owners R.and N.J. Steen (Norsk Sjofartsmuseum records). Elise Olsen was formally identified as a widow in December of 1885 (Norwegian Census). She emigrated to America in 1907 (U.S. Census)

 

 

 

Hypothesis:

 

            The SICHAR probably encountered ice near Long. 45 degrees West, about the beginning of May( this is where official records show that most ice encounters first occurred). The ship hit ice and sank. A lifeboat drifted on the eastward prevailing current for a distance of about 790 nautical miles for a period of about 30 days, before being encountered by the French ship. (These estimates come from the Canadian government sea ice experts in Newfoundland). It is most likely that the passing ship was a freighter as otherwise it would have been virtually impossible to keep silent about SICHAR survivors in lifeboats. Why the survivors were not seen by other ships is difficult to explain since other ships would have passed this way at a rate of at least one per day, according to Canadian records. One possible explanation is that the SICHAR detoured south around the pack ice, as some other ships did, and was well out of the normal sea lanes when it foundered.

 

 

 

Mystery of the Money Payment:

 

            Neither Elise Olsen nor her daughters would have had anything to gain by telling a story of misdeed on the high seas, especially to later children and family members. The women were quite truthful and practical in behavior and not much inclined toward sentimentality and exaggeration. Also, the details of the family account of the discovery of the lifeboat are consistent with the terse Lloyds listing. It seems likely that Elise Olsen would not have been the only person informed about the SICHAR’s sinking. Since the ship came from Larvik it is highly likely that the news would have been well spread over the community, especially if there was a story of wrongdoing involved. At the very least the family of the captain and owner, Nils Steen, would have been notified.
            Supposedly the official Board of Inquiry hearing in London did not take place for a few years after the reported sinking. Thus Marine Department Board of Trade hearings records in the British National Archives need to be examined, probably from the period 1885 to 1906.( what about hearings records in Norway?)This might prove to be a very difficult task since the hearing would be under the name of the offending ship and the name and year are not known. One would think that an investigation of this type would be reported in other legal proceedings also. Finally, the ship and its cargo must have been insured. These records may also shed light on the sinking and its aftermath.

 

 

 

Important personal information:

 

John Olsen, born 26, Feb. 1852, Bamble, Telemark Norway.Died  1885 at sea.
Elise Olsen, born 12 May, 1855, Skien, Telemark, Norway. Died 1929, USA.
John and Elise were residents of Stathelle, Norway. They owned a house there.
Compiled by Robert Olsen, 32810 Sisters Loop, Eugene Oregon, 97405. Tel. 541-6859255, email olsenbfin@msn.com. Date 5/06.

 

 

Compiled by Robert Olsen, 32810 Sisters Loop, Eugene Oregon, 97405. Tel. 541-6859255, email olsenbfin@msn.com.
Date 5/06
Sist oppdatert: 17/06-2007 (RI/OL)
 

To Europe by Clipper Ship:
A Twenty First Century Odyssey
By Bob and Maureen Olsen

 



The STAD AMSTERDAM

 

            Yes we did it! The May 2006 crossing took twenty one days from Baltimore Maryland to Portsmouth England aboard the Dutch “tall ship” the “Stad Amsterdam”. The ship is a steel hull replica of an 1850’s “extreme clipper” (narrow and sleek), carrying 22 sails on three square rigged 120 foot masts. She is about 200 feet long and 38 feet wide, weighs 1200 tons and is built for speed, 1800s style. However, before saying more about the ship and the voyage, lets answer the questions that are usually asked first. What possessed you to do such a thing and how did you find the ship?
            The second question is the easiest to answer. We found the ship thru the Internet. As it turns out there are about a dozen similar sailing ships plying the oceans of the world. The wind jammer Europa even travels to Antarctica. Why we took the trip requires a little more explanation.
            Neither of us are sailors although we are familiar with the operation of small boats. Nevertheless, we wished to take an ocean voyage but not by cruise ship as we prefer more active recreation. Everything seemed to fall into place however when genealogical research led me to the life story of my great grandfather John Olsen, who lived and died as a Norwegian “deep water” sailor. His ship, the Sichar, hit ice in 1885 on a voyage from Hull England to Quebec. All the crew perished. After reading about his life I asked, “is it currently possible take a voyage on a similar ship and experience some of what his sailing life must have been like?  Hence, the trip on the “Stad Amsterdam”!
            Beneath its beautiful teak, mahogany and polished brass 1800s exterior, the Stad Amsterdam is a

modern and sturdy ocean going vessel. It carries the latest navigation gear, has its own salt water desalinization plant, water tight compartments and a 1000 horsepower diesel engine that can drive the ship at 8 knots when the wind isn’t cooperating. The twenty or so passengers sleep in tidy wood paneled staterooms, complete with bathroom, and eat buffet style with the crew in the all purpose room, called the “long room”. The ship is primarily designed to sail and as such it has almost 300 movable lines (ropes). The standing or fixed rigging which braces the steel masts is steel cable. While there are some motor powered winches, muscle power is the primary motive force used when sailing the ship. The ride on the ship is remarkably smooth with little rolling or pitching, except during a storm. The wind pressure against the sails keeps the ship leaning to one side (heeled over) at about a 3 degree angle as it moves along at about 12 knots in a moderate breeze before a force of about 5,000 “wind horsepower”. Most of the 25 person (8 women) crew are Dutch or Scandinavian and between the ages of 22 and 32. They are all multilingual and professional sailors as the ship trains some seamen for merchant marine service.
            While the ship is used for luxury non participative passenger cruising in the Caribbean during the winter and Europe in the summer, we signed on as “adjunct crewmen” on one of the two yearly transatlantic crossings. On crossings, the passengers assume sailing duties while some of the regular crew is reassigned to routine maintenance involving sanding, painting, etc. As crewmen, the passengers are assigned to one of the three  “watches” (work shifts) and serve four hours on, eight hours off, around the clock. Each “watch” consists of about seven passengers, three able bodied seamen and a Quartermaster, who is in charge of the “watch”. Routine watch tasks include positioning the sails, steering the ship, caring for the movable lines, helping in the galley and providing the officially required visual “lookout” on the bow. A couple of Dutch passengers also refurbished the ship’s brass cannon that was then fired in a deafening salute as we passed the Royal yacht club in Portsmouth. For the first week at sea the passengers are very carefully taught and supervised by the crew because teamwork is required in sailing and serious injury can easily result from inadequate training. Passengers are not required to climb into the rigging but all are encouraged to do so. When aloft all personnel must wear safety harnesses to prevent fatal falls. Working the “dog watch” from 12 to 4 AM presents an additional challenge as you must learn to work in the dark. The deck must stay unlit so that better seaward visibility can be maintained. Some lines to different parts of a sail have different diameters and are arranged in repeating patterns along the ship rails. This makes them easier to identify when given an order by the Quartermaster. No gloves are allowed!
            Depending upon the weather, days may vary between tranquil to downright frightening. After about a week you stop looking out at the sea except when the dolphins visit to play around the ship or a spouting whale is spotted (we only saw three ships during the voyage). North Atlantic sunsets are not usually spectacular due to cloud cover. What is fascinating are the sea birds, such as shearwaters, who live their non nesting life on the wing at sea. They fly only a few feet above the water searching the watery mountains and valleys for prey. They often get a free ride by “drafting” on the wind currents created by the sails. Each evening the Captain updated the passengers and crew about the day’s activities and presented the weather charts and plans for the following day. There were lectures on sailing and navigation and candid photos of folks doing what they should and should not do aboard ship! Informal “tea breaks” were held at 10 AM and 3 PM each day on the rear deck. The crew and some passengers even produced a one act play based on the story Moby Dick. A blond crewman played the whale!
            While steering the ship (working the helm) might seem like an easy task, it took some practice. Because the ship weighs 1200 tons, it has great inertia in the water and does not immediately respond to the wheel. There is a significant time lag between the turn of the “ Wheel” and the response of the ship. If you are not careful, the ship will wander back and forth across your intended line of travel and the distance across the ocean will become much longer!
            Most of the positioning of the sails can be accomplished from the deck. It is only necessary to go aloft when something goes wrong or if the sails are to be tightly bound to the spars like a “Dutch Cigarette”, when trying to look “well dressed” in port. We “blew out”(tore) three sails. It was then necessary to go aloft and balance on the “horse” (rope beneath the spar) and untie the sail from the iron “jackstay” and lower it to the deck for repair. On the deck a large sewing machine was wheeled out and a patch sewn over the tear. When you are balancing on the “horse” at 100 feet above the deck and water, I can assure you that you barely notice the movement of the ship or feel the wind. You are so focused on hanging on and getting the sail untied that you are not conscious of anything else! When going aloft all pockets must be empty to prevent objects from falling and injuring those below. In addition, line hauling goes very quickly and in a measured group cadence since injury is most likely when there is slack or movement in a line.
            Calm weather gets boring. Soon you find yourself hoping for a storm. In the largest storm we experienced (57 knot wind), the waves were about 30 feet high and the sea an ominous green/ black. The wind ripped the top layer of foamy white water from the waves and rolled it along like dust across barren land. The wind moaned and shrieked in the rigging and water cascaded across the decks. We had to shorten sail by furling the sails high up on the masts, leaving spread the lower sails in order to control the ship. Work on the deck was now very hazardous and you had to remain clipped to a safety line so that you did not get washed overboard. We were told that at current sea temperatures, death from hypothermia was a certainty if you went into the water, because timely rescue was out of the question. For almost two days the high winds kept the shipped heeled over at about a 25 degree angle and walking became a chore. You had to walk like you had one short and one long leg and stay upright by holding on to something firm. At night you had to use the bed “high board” to keep from rolling onto the floor. Meals were especially challenging. Dishes and eating utensils flew and clattered around the long room. Maureen slid out of her chair, under the table and across the long room floor while fiercely gripping a precious bowl of ice cream. During the storm one passenger was tossed across the room and suffered a multiple ankle fracture while another experienced a heart arrhythmia. The ship Surgeon decided that it was necessary to get these folks additional medical assistance and so we altered course for the Azores. The awesome display of wind, water and power in such a storm at sea is sure to give you a feeling of vulnerability and some much needed humility.
            We arrived at the small westernmost island in the Azores chain just after dark. Almost all of the islands few hundred Portuguese residents appeared to be on the quay, dressed in fancy, but out of date clothes. It was Saturday evening and apparently a dance had been in progress when news arrived that a large sailing ship was about to dock. In “olden times” sailing ships used to frequent this island to obtain fresh water. As the headlamps on the residents’ somewhat antique black cars provided dim illumination, the combination of the dated clothes, foreign tongues and a sailor responding that “this ship comes from America” made it seem as if we had slipped back into time. We were again in the 1800s and traveling by sailing ship to a distant land.
            Would we take another trip like this? You bet! Except for the land seeming to move under our feet for a few days after reaching Portsmouth, we felt relaxed and refreshed. Besides the merciful lack of commercial entertainment, the special source of enjoyment was being able to personally connect with the crew and live life as they experience it. In particular, being invited to help with their work and to come to know them as individuals and not to be told to “stay back because you might get hurt” was empowering and gratifying. Life had become richer and populated with new interesting people and occupations!  When we disembarked, we had had one of those rare treats that is more delicious in its experience than in its anticipation. I can now appreciate great grandfather John’s life as a sailor just a little bit better! In fact, I must admit to feeling a sense of his presence on the day that the mate took me aside and noted that we were at the approximate compass coordinates where the lifeboat containing John’s body had been found, almost on the very same date in May of 1885. 

DISCOVERING GREAT GRANDFATHER JOHN:
AN AMERICAN FINDS HIS NORWEGIAN ROOTS.         
By  Robert A. Olsen

 

            Being a young boy in a close knit family of twenty four Aunts and Uncles and scores of cousins it never occurred to me that I might have blood relatives outside of my immediate New England region, or for that matter, outside of the United States. As far as I knew, my paternal grandparents had emigrated in the 1890s from Norway and my maternal ancestors had come to America from England and Germany somewhat earlier. Of course, we occasionally heard stories about “ the old country” but like most first generation American families the focus was on the future; not the past. While my Norwegian Grandparents were particularly proud of their heritage and spoke Norwegian with friends and siblings, customs of the countries of family origin were not in conspicuous abundance. We were, after all, Americans!
            When I was in my fifties I began to feel that my knowledge of my familial past was incomplete and unsatisfying and that genealogical study offered promise for filling in historical details and providing some insight into my personality, values, and attitudes. I found my thoughts drifting back to the story of how my Norwegian grandmother, then seventeen years old, was dispatched by her widowed mother to live with a storekeeper and his wife on the plains of Kansas and how her father, John, was lost at sea on a sailing ship when it hit ice in the North Atlantic in 1885. I tried to visualize my paternal great grandfather Karl’s bakery shop in Brevik Norway and what life must have been like for my grandfather Anton, when at seventeen, left his tranquil seaside Norwegian village and his younger siblings Abraham, Isak and Agnes for the bustling Babylon of New York City in 1893. Maybe it was the passing of my parents and Aunts and Uncles and the awareness that my known family was disappearing at the hands of the Grim Reaper that triggered a subconscious desire for an ancestral family to replace the more recently deceased family pillars. Or maybe it was my wife’s observation that I behaved in the somewhat detached and stubborn fashion that is supposedly a hallmark of Norwegians, or that I had many Nordic physical attributes. No matter! I now was off and running, looking for my roots.
            Because I had lived most of my childhood near my paternal Norwegian grandparents, Norway became my focus. I knew that my grandfather’s brother Abraham had married and had had children in Norway. There were no descendents from his other siblings in Norway. Abraham and his family were now deceased. There were probably grandchildren, but who and where? Suddenly I was at a dead end. Norwegian records of more immediate family members were officially “classified” and American relatives who might have known their names had passed on. However, quite by accident, I came across a two year old request by “Hanne” a Norwegian woman on a Norwegian genealogy website seeking details about her grandfather Abraham’s brother Anton, who had emigrated to America in the 1890s. The contact with my Norwegian family was now reestablished and my wife and I soon left for Norway to meet my “new” cousins and visit the family homesteads, places of marriage and burial.
            Great grandfather Karl’s small bakery shop, under a different family name, still stood on the corner of that same cobblestone street in Brevik. The visit to grandmother Martha’s childhood house in the nearby seaside town of Stathelle brought an unexpected and somewhat spooky surprise. The very small and neat 200 year old house overlooking a cove had been recently purchased by a young couple who graciously showed us around. Over coffee in the tiny kitchen, they produced a picture and a sign that they said had been passed along as the house changed ownership. To date no one had been able to identify the people in the picture or the origin of the sign. What a shock! It was a picture of my great grandmother Elise, and Hans, an adopted boy she took with her to America in 1904 when she joined her daughters (my grandmother Martha and sister Olga). The sign was the “Room and Board” sign that used to hang on her house. After her husband, great grandfather John, died at sea, she supported herself and her two daughters by taking in boarders and operating a small catering business. In fact it was thru this catering business that my grandparents met. Anton used to row baked goods from his father’s bakery across the fjord to Elise’s boarding house. There he met my grandmother Martha. They subsequently married in 1902 in New York when Martha joined him from Kansas.
            It turned out that Martha’s mother had sent her to Kansas in 1897 to assist an older Norwegian woman named Marie who had adopted a baby. The adoptive mother and her immigrant husband lived in a “soddy” and operated a struggling general store on the windy desolate northwestern Kansas plains. My grandmother often remarked as to how Kansas was more primitive than the Norway that she had left! My father and his siblings never knew that this somewhat mysterious Marie was a “shirt tail” Norwegian relative and that my grandmother eventually lost track of her. I found that she had died in Portland Oregon in 1924, not far from where I now live.
            With the magnanimous assistance of  Kersti, a local genealogist, I was able to obtain great grandfather John’s seafaring record and to meet some of his siblings’ descendents, who lived in the Stathelle/Brevik area. John went to sea at age 15 as the unpaid “cooks boy”. He returned five years later. By trade he was a “deep water” merchant sailor who traveled the world and eventually became a Mate on the ship Sichar, upon which he died in 1885. To this day it is a mystery to me why my great grandmother married a sailor. Sailors were poorly paid and never home. My wife responds: “understanding passion never has been your strong suit”! At any rate John’s life story so captivated me that I signed on as an “adjunct crew member” on a square rigged “tall ship”, similar to those that John manned, and sailed the North Atlantic, passing the very spot where his lifeboat was found in 1885. In addition I joined the Historical Society in my grandparents hometowns of Brevik/Stathelle and became a member of my local Sons of Norway Lodge. I pray that my Norwegian teacher will someday be rewarded for his patience with my stumbling attempt to learn my ancestors’ native tongue.    
            I realize that my genealogical journey will never be complete. But that is OK, for someday I hope to enjoy the company of my departed ancestors and personally hear their life stories. In the meantime genealogical study will be a window to the world, my family and myself.

 

Robert A. Olsen, 32810 Sister Loop, Eugene, Oregon, 97405. olsenbfin@msn.com