Olson (Olsen)

Caroline’s Mysterious Past

Caroline never knew who her birth mother was. For reasons unknown to us, her father chose not to reveal that information. His name was Thomas Olson. On 1 Nov 1883 he married Johanna Holm (Holmes) in the parish of Byåsen Strinda, Norway. LINK

Two years later in 1885 they emigrated to America. Why wasn’t Caroline with her mother? What happened to her?

Caroline’s Norwegian baptism record raises a lot of new questions. It lists her date of birth, the names her parents and grandparents, where they are living, the names of witnesses to the baptism and more. Caroline was baptized at Bakke Kirke in Bakklandet. Caroline’s mother Anna Nikoline and grandmother Anna Christine were both baptized at Vår Frue Kirke. Both Caroline and her mother are listed as “illegitimate” on their Baptism records.

Photo: Var Frue Kirke 1875 LINK

Bakke Kirke 1860 (Far right you can see steeple) LINK

Bakke Kirke 1850 LINK

Bakke Kirke Wikipedia page LINK

The Arkivverket has an explanation of parishes in Sør-Trøndelag here: LINK

Caroline’s grandmother Anna Christine was baptized in 1818. It turns out she was “illegitimate” as well. In 1834 new information was uncovered and the records were challenged. It seems the parents originally listed were not the child's real parents. The revision shows her name was changed with "minor differences" to Hanna Kristine Hansdatter Øien. Links to these documents are in the left column.

Anna Nikoline is living alone with her mother in the 1865 census. Her father Rasmus is not with them. He had taken over his father’s farm many years earlier, but the farm had a forced auction. Now he is a prisoner in hard labor in Trondheim. Photo at left is Kongens gate 95, Trondheim. This is where Rasmus was listed at in the 1865 census. LINK

Three years later he marries Hanna. In 1875 they have a foster child living with them

and Anna Nikoline is a servant living with the F. L. Johannsen family. One of the Johannsen’s daughters, Gabriel is in the photo at left.

When Caroline moved to Sioux City, Iowa she worked as a domestic in other households. Her stepmother’s sister Laura was Caroline’s best friend throughout her life. (Photos of them are in the Langdon Photos Link)

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Jan Sneisen’s Website • Anna Christine

Outstanding research by Jan Sneisen. Here’s a link to the website. Original page in Norwegian. LINK

Google Translated page. LINK

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Translation of Jan Sneisen’s Link

The google translation is hard to read. I don’t speak Norwegian, so I apologize to Jan for the translation below. One reason the page is hard to read is because names are literally translated. One example is that “Øyen” becomes “island”. Another problem is that names are treated as a phrase. When Jan reveals Anna Christine’s mother, the original sentence reads:

“Den egentlige mor til Hanna Christine var Christine Cathrine Testmann.”

Google gives us:

“The real mother was Christine Hanna Christine Cathrine Test Man.”

It should read:

“ The real mother of Hanna Christine was Christine Cathrine Testmann.”

Here is my limited attempt to translate.

Sunday, November 22nd, 1818, a girl named Anna Christine is baptized in Our Lady's Church (Vår Frue kirke) in Trondheim. The child was born September 20th the same year. Her parents were said to be the sailor Ole Holte and his wife Ane Martha. Sponsors were the parents and Officer Borten and Bergitha Udbyes.

We do not hear anything more about this girl until 1834. During these years an official of the church has been paying attention, and thinks that all was not as it should be in connection with this baptism. Information was discovered that Ole and Anne Martha Holthe were not the child's real parents.

The first to be interrogated was Bergitha Udbyes, wife of toldrøiert Udbyes. She said that she had made this inaccurate statement to the clerk in 1818, but that this had been done due to a sailor's wife called Bereth. The sailor's wife had at the time lived with Jon Dahl Gjetveiten. Bergitha Udbyes knew nothing about where this woman lived now, or even if she was alive or dead.

This woman who now lived in the Nidaros Cathedral Parish, however, denied that she had made this false statement. She was otherwise known as a righteous woman.

Regarding the improper parents, sailor Ole Holthe and wife Ane Martha Holthe, they had never lived in Var Kirke Parish.

(NOTE: Var Frue is part of the Nidaros Cathedral Parish. Nidaros Cathedral is only a few blocks away)

According to his wife the man had reportedly died 2 years ago. The widow who lived in the Nidaros Cathedral Parish declares that they were not aware of this review until approximately 1 year after the child’s baptism, and they would not do anything about it, when they knew the child had an upbringing.

The midwife Marite Lein died September 21, 1819, two weeks before her husband Erick Lein.

The real mother of Hanna Christine was Christine Cathrine Testmann. She was born September 25, 1793 in Skogn. Her parents were Johan Peter Testmann and his wife was Adriane Holte Juul. Hanna Christine’s Father was a musician named Hans Øyen. Christine and Hans were not married. This was addressed in the 1834 "Vår Frue Kirke's Ministrialbog" by an addition.

(*NOTE: here’s links to the original documents)

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

It was argued that incorrect information had been given in 1818 to the church. The girl's name was changed with "minor differences" from Anna Christine to Hanna Christine.

Christine Cathrine Testmann married August 20, 1820 to Lieutenant Jens Nicolai Schmidt.

Hanna Christine was married March 8, 1868 to Rasmus Olsen Masdal. Rasmus was born in Førde on April 14, 1813. In 1835 he had taken over the farm after his father, but it was later forced into auction. In 1865 we find him as a working prisoner in Trondheim. When he married in 1868 he is described as a bachelor and sailor.

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Who was Musician Hans Øyen?

It seems hard to believe in this modern day and age, but Christine was swept off her feet by a musician and had an illegitimate child. Who was he? One of two Sponsors at Anna Christine’s baptism was Bergitha Udbyes. The baptism record claims Ole and Anne Martha Holthe were the child's parents, and that the first to be interrogated was Bergitha Udbyes, wife of toldrøiert Udbyes.

NOTE:

I mistakenly thought told toldrøiert was a name. It’s a profession. røiert = Ferryman. told = master. They had bridges in Trondheim during this timeframe so he wasn’t ferrying people across the Nid river. He was most likely a Harbor Master and dealt with all the traffic in the very busy harbor.

I searched for Bergitha Udbyes and found her listed as the mother of the man pictured at left. Martin Andreas Udbye. There is a wikipedia page about him here: LINK

Images can be found in the NTNU Universitetsbiblioteket i Trondheim. LINK

Martin was a famous Norwegian composer and organist. In the book “Personalhistorie” there is a lenghty biography of him. LINK

"Both my parents were musical, namely my mother, whose father and brother were familiar in Trondheim. The sheet music I learned approximately 10 years old from my uncle, Hans Øien, who also gave me the first lesson on violin, which was the first instrument I learned."

Here’s Bergitha (Birgitte) Øien (Øyen) in the 1801 Census with her brother Hans Christian Øyen. LINK

On 31 May 1819, we find Røiert (Ferryman) Ole Udbye getting his daughter Hanna Christine vaccinated. She is 3/4 of a year old.

Digital Arkivet LINK

Scan of page. She is number 174. LINK

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Han’s Øyen (Øien) Violin

Speculation:

There is a violin that belonged to a Hans Øien in Ringve. It is Norway’s national museum of music and musical instruments. I don’t know if this is our Hans Øien. Needs more research.

Here's a link to the website for Ringve. LINK

You can use their search feature. It's linked to the Digital Museum. Paste his name in: Hans Øien. There are two photos of the case, and three of the violin.

LINK 1 LINK 2

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Hanna Christine’s Death

She died at the age of 62 as Christine Olsen on 30 May 1881 in Trondheim. Her address was listed as Øvre Møllenberg 78. You can google the address and view it at street level. (d.p. Sygehuset means døde på Sygehuset) She died at the Hospital. Cause of death Apoplexi. The only other person listed at the funeral was workman Rasmus Olsen. His role was a Relative of the deceased. She was buried on 4 June 1881. LINK

Historical meaning of apoplexy

From the late 14th to the late 19th century the word "apoplexy" was

used to describe any sudden death that began with a sudden loss

of consciousness, especially one in which the victim died within a matter of seconds after losing consciousness. The word "apoplexy" may have been used to describe the symptom of sudden loss of consciousness immediately preceding death and not an actual verified disease process. Sudden cardiac deaths, ruptured cerebral aneurysms, certain ruptured aortic aneurysms, and even heart attacks may have been described as apoplexy in the past.

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Hanna Christine 1875 Deaf

Never noticed this before. In the 1875 Census Hanna Christine is listed as Deaf. There's only 4 entries you could make under illness.

b = blind = blind

d = døv/døvstum = deaf/deafmute

s = sinnssyk/sinnssvak = mentally ill

a = åndssvak = mentally retarded

Under Illness, Hanna is marked “d”