Stadsbygd og staværinger

Church records online

Many church records for Stadsbygd and neighboring parishes are available online as images.  For Stadsbygd, Rissa, Lensvik, Hasselvika, Stjørna, Bjugn, Ørland and other parishes in Sør-Trøndelag, click here.  For Leksvik and other parishes in Nord-Trøndelag, click here.  Older records are in Danish-Norwegian and newer ones are in Norwegian.  There is a wide variation in handwriting quality, and you may wish to Google help with Gothic handwriting for some of the older records.

Here's a guide to the sections:

Fødte og døpte = birth and christening
Konfirmerte = confirmation (generally at age 15)
Ekteviede = marriage
Døde og begravede = death and burial
Inn- og utflyttede = in and out migration from the parish
Vaksinerte = vaccination

For some parishes, records have been entered into computer databases and are searchable online.  For those in Sør-Trøndelag, click here (Stadsbygd parish not currently one of these).  For Nord-Trøndelag, click here (includes Leksvik).

Med vennlig hilsen,
Dennis

GEDCOM file updated again

I've just uploaded a new update of my genealogy database for Stadsbygd and neighboring communities.  This file has 30,274 names plus many more connections and more precise birth records.  Name spellings sometimes change also as I encounter them in church records.  To access the file, click on the GEDCOM link on the upper left and follow your browser's download procedures.  The last update was in April, but the online version at stadsbygd.pgvhosting.com is usually updated a couple of times a week.

Both this version and the online version have the dates supressed for living -- or possibly living -- individuals in order to protect privacy.  If you are connected to someone in the database, however, I can send you your ancestors in my main database with the actual dates in my records.

As always, your corrections and additions are most welcome.

GEDCOM file now downloadable

My genealogy database for people from Stadsbygd and adjoining parishes in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway now includes more than 30,000 29,500 names.  You can access it online at stadsbygd.pgvhosting.com and going through the free registration process.  This online version is fully searchable and includes many types of ways to display the data.

In response to occasional requests for the GEDCOM (the raw database in a standard format readable by most genealogy programs), I'm now making that available as well here on this blog.  You will need your own genealogy software to view it.  To access, click the link in the "Stadsbygd Info" section on the left.  This file was last updated 12 April 2009.

Please note that both the online version and the GEDCOM have been "privatized" to prevent identity theft, a serious problem these days.  This means that the birth date information of people who are living or presumed to be living has been deleted.

As always, I invite additions or corrections to the database. 

Med vennlig hilsen, Dennis Haarsager

New contact information

I've moved to Washington, DC, so my old email address haarsager|at|clearwire|dot|net and my old telephone number, 208|882|9259, are no longer working.  Please use haarsager|at|gmail|dot|com and 509|230|1418 instead.  If you want to send something to me by mail, please email me and I'll provide my address.  Thanks.  --Dennis Haarsager

Trønderlag 100th Anniversary

I received a call recently from one of the officers of Trønderlag of America, an organization for people from the Trondheim region in Norway called Trøndelag.  The caller asked if I was the grandson of Elias Haarsager.  Yes, I am, I said.  Turns out that my grandfather was one of the 120 founders of the organization back in 1908 (he lived from 1855-1926 and emigrated to America in 1880).

So this year, the organization is celebrating its 100th anniversary on August 9th in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.  For details, go to www.tronderlag.org/centennial.htm.  Sounds like a fun event and I'm tentatively planning to attend.  --Dennis Haarsager

Dyrendal webcam

FosenKraft has apparently taken down its webcam in Rissa because I cannot find it online.  However, I was able to find a webcam in operation at Dyrendal farm, a short distance to the west of Rissa center.  You can find it at www.dyrendal.no.  There are vacation cabins for rent at the farm.  --Dennis

Database now exceeds 28,400 names

The Stadsbygd parish/prestegjeld genealogy database now exceeds 28,000 28,400 names.  I've been concentrating on entering data from Rissa in the recent past and also adding more specific birth dates for many of the 18th and 19th century entries.  And of course adding information and corrections that users send me.

Thanks to everyone who helps.  I'm interested in any extensions to the database, both in Norway and in the United States, as well as any corrections you may offer for errors or typos you find.  Bjørn Flor has been particularly helpful in the latter area, so a big TUSEN TAKK to him.

You can access the database at http://stadsbygd.pgvhosting.com.  Please be sure to register for full access to features.  There is of course no charge.

Med vennlig hilsen,
Dennis Haarsager

Garrison Keillor: Isn't it good, Norwegian oil

The American humorist, writer and public radio institution, Garrison Keillor, has written a great essay about Norway.  It begins:

July 18, 2007 | This week I am traveling around the part of Norway you see in the travel brochures -- the fjords with picturesque villages on the shores, forested mountains with thousand-foot waterfalls coursing down the precipices, old wooden fishing boats anchored in the harbor, old churches. An American walks around and wonders, "Where are the auto salvage yards, the strip malls, the golden arches?" This is a country that believes in zoning and government regulation. Government trolls will not allow you to open up a Mr. Donut drive-in unless you disguise it as a shop. ...

Link:  Salon.com.

The Prairie Chicken Capital

When my paternal grandfather immigrated from Stadsbygd, Norway in 1880, he took the train to the end of the line, which at the time was in western Minnesota.  From there, he and a couple of comrades hiked several miles to Rothsay, Minnesota where they found jobs with local farmers.  I'd never visited Rothsay until this afternoon when I spotted an exit for it on the Interstate between Fargo and Fergus Falls (I'd been in southeastern North Dakota at a family reunion replenishing my "Minndakota" accent).

Upon entering Rothsay (population 500), which is located in gently rolling prairie just east of the pool-table-flat Red River Valley, one is greeted by this giant prairie chicken statue.  Oh boy, by giant, I mean I could stand under the beak!

The Rothsaians claim only that it's the "Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota."  One wonders if it's because there are other prairie chicken capitals in, say, the two Dakotas or up in Manitoba or Saskatchewan that may have even grander prairie chicken statues which keep Rothsay from claiming it's the "Prairie Chicken Capital of the World."   Or perhaps it's just typical Minnesota modesty.  And to think this has been a family secret for 127 years!

Sadly, I saw no live prairie chickens in or near Rothsay, but the locally-made Rice Krispies bars sold at Rothsay's Tesoro truck stop are hands down the best in the world.  Man alive!  I didn't unwrap it until I got to Fergus and darn near made a u-turn to go back and get another one.  Somehow, though, I don't think a giant Rice Krispie bar statue would be much of a tourist draw.  --Dennis

When my paternal grandfather immigrated from Stadsbygd, Norway in 1880, he took the train to the end of the line, which at the time was in western Minnesota.  From there, he and a couple of comrades hiked several miles to Rothsay, Minnesota where they found jobs with local farmers.  I'd never visited Rothsay until this afternoon when I spotted an exit for it on the Interstate between Fargo and Fergus Falls (I'd been in southeastern North Dakota at a family reunion replenishing my "Minndakota" accent).

Upon entering Rothsay (population 500), which is located in gently rolling prairie just east of the pool-table-flat Red River Valley, one is greeted by this giant prairie chicken statue.  Oh boy, by giant, I mean I could stand under the beak!

The Rothsaians claim only that it's the "Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota."  One wonders if it's because there are other prairie chicken capitals in, say, the two Dakotas or up in Manitoba or Saskatchewan that may have even grander prairie chicken statues which keep Rothsay from claiming it's the "Prairie Chicken Capital of the World."   Or perhaps it's just typical Minnesota modesty.  And to think this has been a family secret for 127 years!

Sadly, I saw no live prairie chickens in or near Rothsay, but the locally-made Rice Krispies bars sold at Rothsay's Tesoro truck stop are hands down the best in the world.  Man alive!  I didn't unwrap it until I got to Fergus and darn near made a u-turn to go back and get another one.  Somehow, though, I don't think a giant Rice Krispie bar statue would be much of a tourist draw.  --Dennis

Johan Bojer update

I've just updated my essay on Johan Bojer (linked permanently on the left) based on links kindly provided to me by Karen Husdal Brevik of Orkanger of his 1872 christening (Orkdal parish) and 1887 confirmation records (Stadsbygd parish).  The specific page links seem to change over time, so I'm linking to the main group of kirkebok pages in each parish.  Note that you can switch languages among Bokmål, Nynorsk and English.

Bojer was a rissværing (person from Rissa) who wrote many successful novels published in both Norwegian and English.  A good library will have several of them.  His book, The Emigrants (Vor engen stamme in Norwegian), about emigrants from Stadsbygd parish to eastern North Dakota, is still available from AbeBooks, Alibris, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell's.  The first two are used book dealers and have several other titles of his as well.  Be sure to look for The Last of the Vikings (Den siste viking), his most famous work, about rissværing fishermen in the Lofoten islands.

Both church documents mentioned above showed that his father (from Oslo and not married to Bojer's mother) was named as Hans Böier in the christening record and Hans Boier in the confirmation record.  Boier/Bojer is a Danish name which his father did not use in census and other records in which he is found, so I had erroneously thought that Bojer adopted it as a pseudonym after a trip to Denmark that he took his first book (for which he used the name Hansson) was published.

Fosen photos

If you'd like to take a free trip to Stadsbygd or the surrounding region, click on the "Fosen photos" link that I just added on the Stadsbygd Info list to the left.  Fosen is the name of the peninsula which includes Stadsbygd, Rissa, Leksvik, Bjugn and Ørland.  The photo sharing site, Flickr.com, permits users to assign "tags" or descriptive words to their photos to help people find them.  This Fosen photos link points to photos posted to Flickr by various people using the tag, "Fosen."

If you'd like to explore Flickr for other photos, just replace "fosen" in the link with "troendelag" or "trondheim"  which also have many interesting photos.  Since a high percentage of emigrants to the U.S. from Stadsbygd and Rissa were  involved in Lofoten fishing, you can also use the "lofoten" tag.  That one has some particularly beautiful photos.

Dennis

Gift suggestion

If you're like me and just realized that December is half over without getting your gift shopping done, then you might be interested in buying a gift from Stadsbygd (I have no financial interest in this suggestion).   

I recently learned that Tuva Tøv AS, a small Stadsbygd company that makes interesting products from heavy felt, is now taking credit card orders and today I used it to place three orders for jul gifts for delivery in Trøndelag (they can also deliver to the U.S.).  I bought some things from them the last time I was in Stadsbygd and found them of excellent quality (I especially like the Coast seating pad).

The English-language web address is <http://www.tuvatov.no/index.php?language=en> and the Norwegian-language address is <http://www.tuvatov.no/index.php?language=no>.

One important note:  When you order, the MasterCard or Visa you specify must be a debit card, not a regular credit card.

The young woman who models items on the site is Rønnaug Schei, a champion skier from Stadsbygd.

God jul, alle sammen!
Dennis

New database location

It's taken me much longer than I thought to put my database in a new location, but you can now find its 26,000 names at http://stadsbygd.pgvhosting.com/.   The new service permits users to generate custom reports for their ancestors and has a wide variety of reports available.  I will no longer update the other version of the database and will take it down after a transition period of a couple of months.

I'm just getting used to its features, so I'd welcome any comments you may have about it.  And, as always, I also welcome any corrections or additions you may have.  --Dennis Haarsager

Hosting changes

I've contracted with a new company to host the stadsbygd.org web site, so expect some disruption over the next couple of weeks as that comes online.  Hope to have it done by the 1st of Feb., but I'm doing a lot of traveling in that time so time is limited.  In the meantime, if you continue to use http://technology360.typepad.com/stadsbygd/ as your access address, or if you're an RSS subscriber, you'll access it just fine.  The new web site will feature substantially easier access to the genealogy database for Stadsbygd, Rissa, Hasselvika, Lensvik, Ingdalen and neighboring areas.

Mvh,
Dennis

Update 9/9/2006:  With apologies, this transition has been delayed due to some problems in moving the stadsbygd.org URL and lack of time on my part to resolve them.  This is still in the plans, but delayed indefinitely.

200th anniversary of lofot-drifta

If you have ancestors from Stadsbygd parish (Stadsbygd, Rissa, Lensvik, Hasselvika, Ingdalen), the chances are good that they were involved in the fishing expeditions to Lofoten -- perhaps one of the most beautiful locations on earth.  However, they did not see much of it, because these expeditions -- about which rissværing Johan Bojer wrote in what probably is his most famous book, Den siste viking -- departed in open boats (staværingsbåter) after Christmas and returned before Easter, so there was very little daylight north of the Artic Circle during those months.

The origin of these fishing expeditions has been dated to 1806, so this is the 200th anniversary.  To place this in a U.S. context, when these expeditions began, Thomas Jefferson was in the middle of his second term as president and the Lewis & Clark "Corps of Discovery" expedition he commissioned was wintering on what is now the Oregon coast.

On 13 January, the Coastal Heritage Museum in Stadsbygd is having a reception (kl. 14.00) to celebrate this anniversary.  My own grandfather, Elias Jensen Haarsager, who was born 150 years ago last March, was one of these fishermen from perhaps the age of 15 to when he emigrated at age 25.  Coincidentally, his father (my great-grandfather, Jens Jensen Haarsager) was born just as the first expedition returned in April 1806.  And in early February, my father would have celebrated his 100th birthday.  So it is a great year for "jubilees" in my family.  --Dennis

New book lists taxpayers from 1520 in Stadsbygd and Rissa

Congratulations to Audun Dybdahl, leader of the Center for Middle Ages Studies of NTNU in Trondheim, on the publication of his latest book, Tiendpengeskatten som kilde til folk og samfunn ca. 1520, Med alle skatteytere fra Sunnfjord til Namdalen.  It's about tax records from ca. 1520 for Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal counties and, of special interest to genealogists, it contains the names of each individual taxpayer (an amazing feat of deciphering archaic handwriting and obsolete spellings).  It sells for NOK 275 (about $41 USD) and is available at Bokklubben, at Tapir Akademisk Forlag (the publisher), and possibly elsewhere.

If you are in the U.S., I would strongly suggest using a credit card rather than sending a bank draft when buying books from Norway because the bank charges are very substantial.

Update on the next Rissa bygdebok

Terje Bratberg's Volume IV of the Rissa farm and family history books (bygdebøker) will include information for Føll, Gryta, Solem, Garmo, Foss, Melhus, Rokseth, Bakøy, Sæter and Ringseth.  According to the Rissa kommune web site, this volume will not be ready at Christmastime as was the case with volumes II (Langseter, Dørndal and Sund) and III (Strømmen, Årnset and Bustad) in 2003 and 2004, respectively, but rather will be issued some time during the first half of 2006.  Note that Rissa Bygdebok Volume I was written by Astrid Marit Bjørkvik and covered the farms of Hasselvika (Hårberg, Hassel, Staurset, Bu, Nebb, Sørvika, Årlottdalen and Årlotten).

I have the three current volumes of the Rissa bygdebøker, the four volumes of the Stadsbygd bygdebøker, and the Lensvik bygdebok, and would be happy to do lookups for anyone who contacts me.

Database update

My genealogy database for Stadsbygd parish has been updated.  It now contains 24,003 names.  Growth has been somewhat slowed, both for time reasons and because I have been concentrating on entering christening and birth dates from the Vital Records Index, replacing year-only information from various bygdebøker and other sources.

For anyone who can find a relative in the database, I would be happy to send an ancestor or descendant report.

Mvh, Dennis

New Norwegian music service

Tomorrow (6 juni 2005), a new music service, This is Music From Norway™, will launch at www.norway.com.  It will feature downloads of music, news, articles and biographies, an event calendar, and a Norwegian music business directory.

You can also listen to Norwegian folk music as well as many other program channels online on NRK, the Norwgian public broadcasting service.  All are in Norwegian except as noted below.  Thanks to publicradiofan.com for the listings.

NRK AF (folk)
NRK AK (classical)
NRK AN (news/international, multilingual)
NRK  Europa (international)
NRK mPetre (contemporary)
NRK P1 (full service)
NRK P2 (classical/variety)
NRK Petre (rock)
NRK Sami (Sami language)
NRK Stortinget (government)

Congratulations to Norway!

When many of us Norwegian-Americans view the citizenship records of our immigrant grandparents for the first time, we're surprised to see that our relative had to renounce loyalty to the King of Sweden when applying for citizenship.  This month marks the 100th anniversary of the declaration of full Norwegian sovereignty from Sweden, which had governed Norway since the Treaty of Kiel in January 1814.  For nearly 300 years before than, from 1536-1814, it was governed by Denmark.

So congratulations for 100 years of independence to our friends and relatives in Norway!  --Dennis