This is my great-grandfather, Andreas Anderson, his wife Maren Nilsdatter, and their sons Carl Andreason and Nicolai Andreason; their youngest son Arthur was not yet born. Nicolai was my paternal grandfather. The picture was taken circa 1888.
Andreas and Maren were both born in Borre, Vestfold, Norway, in the southern part of the country. It is the smallest of Norway’s counties, and the most densely populated. The couple married in 1878, and started their family. At the time, Norway was the poorest country in Europe, and farmers eked out a living on small farms. Their first son, Nicolai August, was born the year after their marriage, but died at age four, shortly after the birth of their second son, Carl Ludvig. Their third son, Nicolai August, was named after his deceased older brother, which was a common practice. In fact, Andreas had an older (deceased) brother named Nicolai August, for whom his sons were named. The youngest son, Arthur Monrad, and a stillborn twin sister were born in 1890.
Sadly, Maren died at age 42, leaving behind her three young sons and grieving husband. The cause of death is lost to history; one family story held that she died in childbirth, whereas another is that she died of cancer. Andreas’s “spinster” sister, Anne Marie, stepped in to help Andreas raise the boys. The three surviving sons (Carl, Nicolai, and Arthur) all immigrated to the United States as young men.
Norway had a patronymic naming system until 1923, where a child took the father’s last name, adding “son” or “sen” for males and “dottir” for females. So, a family consisting of husband, wife, and their children would have multiple “last” or surnames. Often an individual would take a third name, which would distinguish that person from someone with a similar name. The third name could be a characteristic, such as hair color or occupation, or geographic, related to the “gard” or farm on which the person lived. The family of Andreas, Maren, and their sons eventually took the last name “Tangsrud” as their permanent surname, after their farm Tangsrød.
I have had this photo framed in my house for the last 20 years. I cherished it, as it was the only photograph I had of my grandfather with his parents and siblings. Turns out I had only half the story….
Andreas and Maren were both born in Borre, Vestfold, Norway, in the southern part of the country. It is the smallest of Norway’s counties, and the most densely populated. The couple married in 1878, and started their family. At the time, Norway was the poorest country in Europe, and farmers eked out a living on small farms. Their first son, Nicolai August, was born the year after their marriage, but died at age four, shortly after the birth of their second son, Carl Ludvig. Their third son, Nicolai August, was named after his deceased older brother, which was a common practice. In fact, Andreas had an older (deceased) brother named Nicolai August, for whom his sons were named. The youngest son, Arthur Monrad, and a stillborn twin sister were born in 1890.
Sadly, Maren died at age 42, leaving behind her three young sons and grieving husband. The cause of death is lost to history; one family story held that she died in childbirth, whereas another is that she died of cancer. Andreas’s “spinster” sister, Anne Marie, stepped in to help Andreas raise the boys. The three surviving sons (Carl, Nicolai, and Arthur) all immigrated to the United States as young men.
Norway had a patronymic naming system until 1923, where a child took the father’s last name, adding “son” or “sen” for males and “dottir” for females. So, a family consisting of husband, wife, and their children would have multiple “last” or surnames. Often an individual would take a third name, which would distinguish that person from someone with a similar name. The third name could be a characteristic, such as hair color or occupation, or geographic, related to the “gard” or farm on which the person lived. The family of Andreas, Maren, and their sons eventually took the last name “Tangsrud” as their permanent surname, after their farm Tangsrød.
I have had this photo framed in my house for the last 20 years. I cherished it, as it was the only photograph I had of my grandfather with his parents and siblings. Turns out I had only half the story….
This is the full story. A distant cousin discovered this picture among her grandmother’s possessions, with the Tangsrud family to the left. She shared it with another family member, who shared it with me. And then we began to connect the dots. The family to the right is Andreas Anderson’s elder brother, Daniel Anderson, his wife Martine Andersdottir (who was the aunt of Maren, my great-grandmother, seated next to her); intermarriage among families was quite common), and their sons Nikolai August (and we Norwegians like to repeat names a lot), Oskar Ludvig, and Conrad Adolph. That family took the last name Danielson as their permanent surname, after their father. Nikolai stayed in Norway, Oskar died at sea as a young man, and Conrad immigrated to Minnesota.
Someone in my family probably cut out the Tangsrud family, possibly to fit inside a frame, or because they were unaware of the relationship between the two families. The smaller photo – my “half” of the story – was reproduced and passed down on my side of the family, without the awareness of the full story.
