Ancestors of Carl Nordahl Hystad and Descendants of Isak Samsonsen Hystad by Carlyle E. Hystad First Edition March 2010 Contents Page # Topic 1 Introduction 5 Chapter One: Southwestern Norway - Geography & Pre-History 12 Chapter Two: A Brief History of Norway From the Viking Age to 1905 18 Chapter Three: Stord and Bergen and Vicinity 32 Chapter Four: Nils’ Ancestors at Stord 41 Chapter Five: Descendants of Norwegian Royalty 48 Chapter Six: Caroline’s Family in Norway 51 Chapter Seven: Hystad Diaspora 54 Chapter Eight: Nils and Caroline 63 Chapter Nine: On to North Dakota and Hard Times 76 Chapter Ten: Carl’s Uncles and Aunts in America 80 Chapter Eleven: Meanwhile, Back in Norway 85 Chapter Twelve: Life in Modern Norway 91 Chapter Thirteen: Hystads in America Today Appendix A - Genealogical Listing of Carl Hystad’s Ancestors Appendix B - Recollections of Hystad Immigrants Appendix C - Hystad Descendants in Norway Today Appendix D - Hystad Descendants in America Today Ancestors of Carl Nordahl Hystad and Descendants of Isak Samsonsen Hystad Introduction Our Norwegian Heritage This document is my effort to describe the information I have collected over many decades regarding my father’s ancestors and his relatives in America and Norway. My efforts to learn about my father’s relatives began in earnest in 1965 when I was living and working in London, England, and decided to take a trip to Norway to see if I could find where my grandparents came from. I was successful beyond my greatest expectations, and spent several days visiting the island of Stord where my father’s father lived for part of his youth and where many of his ancestors lived for many generations. I also was able to visit Bergen, where my father’s mother grew up and several generations of her ancestors had lived. I returned to Norway in 2001 for a Hystad family reunion at Stord. My daughter Cheryl, and her daughters Julia and Caroline also joined me at the reunion. Carl’s father was Nils (or Niels or Nels) Isaksen Hystad. That was the name he usually used in America. He was christened Niels Isaksen of Vagelid in Norway, and as a boy was usually known as Niels Isaksen, or Nils Isaksen, or sometimes as Niels Isaksen Hysingstad, or Nils Isaksen Hystad. He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church as Nils Isaksen. At his marriage his name was recorded as Nils Isaksen Hystad, but naturalization records in the United States show his name as Niels I. Hystad when he recorded his intent to become a citizen, in 1890. Carl’s mother was christened Caroline Henrikke Berentine Carlsen, and it appears that she kept that name until she was married to Nils Isaksen Hystad, but sometimes the letter “K” was substituted for the letter “C”. At her marriage her name was recorded as Karoline Henrikke Berentine Karlsen. Nils and Caroline were married on July 3, 1888 at the Lutheran Church in Stord Parish in Norway. They came to America the following year, where they raised their large family. So all of Carl’s ancestors for many generations back were Norwegian. And during Carl’s lifetime he had several first cousins still living in Norway. The first cousins have all passed away now, but we continue to have hundreds of second and third and fourth cousins, and second cousins once or twice removed, etc. living in Norway. The chart on page 4 shows Carl’s immediate ancestors. This document will attempt to provide a summary of what is known about Carl’s ancestors in Norway, as well as some information about what has happened to the descendants of the Hystads who came to America and those who stayed in Norway. Hopefully this document will encourage more of you who are Carl’s descendants in America to take a trip to Norway to see for yourself where the Hystads came from and where they still live. 1 The information contained in this document comes from a large number of sources, including information I gathered on two visits to Norway, in 1965 and 2001; official Norwegian documents including census records, land records, and tax records; Norwegian Lutheran Church records of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths; documents and recollections provided by Hystad family members in Norway and the United States while attending family reunions at Stord in Norway and at Velva, North Dakota; United States official documents including census records, immigration and naturalization records, and records of homestead claims; genealogy reports prepared by several researchers from inside the extended Hystad family, and by several from outside the immediate Hystad family who share ancestors in Norway; and several books and internet documents on Norwegian history, geography and economy. Research of Norwegian government and church documents has become much easier in the last few years as many records have been digitized and placed on the web, available for anyone to search. It is likely that additional records will be placed on the web in the coming years, which may provide new information relevant to understanding our ancestors in Norway. Norwegian Name Confusion Genealogy research in Norway is complicated by the varied naming practices common in Norway prior to about 1885. The traditional practice, known as “patronymics” was for a newborn son to be given a “last” name consisting of his father’s first name with “sen” affixed to the end. So a son of Isak would have a last name of Isaksen, or a son of Jon would be named Jonsen. And a daughter of Isak would be given a last name of Isaksdatter. In many of the official records of births, confirmations, marriages and deaths prior to 1885, the only name entered for a person would be the given first name followed by the father’s first name with a “sen” or “datter” attached. But the above naming practice was not universally practiced. In larger towns and cities it became common to take a “last” or family name and pass that name on to subsequent generations. This permanent last name might be a grandfather’s last name such as Ivarsen, or it might be the name of the farm or village where the family lived, or it might be the name of a place where the family previously lived, or something else entirely. It also was not uncommon in rural areas for families, or individual family members, to take the name of the “farm” where they lived as their last name. So Nils Isaksen might take the last name of Hystad because that was the name of the farm where he lived. But his neighbor, who was not related to Nils in any way, might also use the last name of Hystad. These confusing naming practices are exemplified by the names taken by grandfather Nils Isaksen Hystad and his brothers. Nils took the last name of Hystad, because that was the most recent name of the farm where he spent most of his childhood. One of his brothers who came to America, Isak, used the name Isak Isaksen, following the older tradition of using his father’s name as his last name. And another brother who came to America, Lars, used the last name of Vageli, because he was born at a farm named Vageli and lived there with his parents for several years before they moved to the farm named Hystad. 2 Although the Norwegian Lutheran Church maintained excellent records of births, confirmations, marriages and deaths, the confusing naming practices make it quite difficult to track families from one generation to the next, even if they continued to live in the same parish. And if they moved to another parish it can be almost impossible to track from one generation to the next. In 1925, the Norwegian parliament made the use of a permanent family name mandatory. A Note About Norwegian Farms It was the practice in Norway of giving official names to plots of land that were called “farms”, or “gaards” in Norwegian. But these farms were not necessarily like farms in the United States. Initially the designated farm might have been owned by a single owner, or by the Church, or the government, or by a group of owners. Some “farms” were very large in size, with many individuals owning or leasing plots of land living on the same farm. Some of the owners might have had a substantial amount of farm land, while others may have had only a small lot for a house. Some “farms” became so populated that they were similar to what are called “subdivisions” in the United States, but they were still called “farms”. So when someone says they were from a particular farm in Norway, it does not necessarily mean that they were farmers, or that they owned much land. They may have had a small lot in a “subdivision” and worked in a different occupation such as a sailor or fisherman or blacksmith or teacher. The farm now called “Hystad” on the island of Stord is an example of such a “subdivision”. As far back as the census in 1801, there were seven separate households living on the farm, with a total of 42 residents. By the 1950 census there were 148 separate households living on the “farm” of Hystad, and there are many more on the farm today. The name of the farm changed over the centuries. At the time of the 1801 census it was named “Hysingstad,” but by about the middle of the 1800s the name was shortened to “Hystad”. 3 Ancestors of Carl Nordahl Hystad Samson Nielsen Hysingstad b: 1793 in Hysingstad, Stord, Norway d: October 25, 1837 in Hysingstad, Stord, Norway Isak Samsonsen Hysingstad b: April 20, 1830 in Hysingstad, Stord, Norway m: 1852 d: Abt.