Maria Lukretia von Bøschlager: the "German princess"
On my first visit to Skien, Norway in 1984 my grandmother (Dagmar Gundersen Sevald) told me that we were descended from a “German princess”. She also told me that one of her aunts had traced the family back to this “princess”, who had left her family back in Germany to marry a Norwegian. I can’t say I really believed or disbelieved her story, as I didn’t have much interest in my roots at the time. Besides it would seem almost every family of European origin has some story that they were descended from Kings or medieval warriors and those families who had been long in the US had some story about being related to George Washington or a Native-American princess. But I did for some reason remember this small bit of information.
Fast forward 15 years.......Now interested in my ancestry, particularly my Norwegian heritage, I found this Norwegian farm history book (bygdebok) online through the Porsgrund Norway library.
In this farm history book there was a chapter devoted to my grandmother's ancestral home, Øvald. There she was! Maria Lukretia von Bøschlager, our direct ancestor, was German, but was she a "princess"? The farm/history book referred to her as "Adel" or nobility but it should be noted that in the 1600's nobility and royalty was not near as exclusive as it is today. How or exactly why Maria Lukretia came to Norway we may never know. The Langesundsfjorden was reportedly a beautiful summer vacation spot. Did she meet her husband on a vacation in the south of Norway, or did he meet her traveling outside Norway and bring her home as his wife? We do know that she had been married before, widowed and she brought with her a daughter from that first marriage.
Maria married the customs officer from Bamble, Norway named Peder Jacobsson. . Maria and Peder were fairly wealthy and they bought three properties in Norway that had lain dormant since the Black Death had decimated Europe. It is estimated that in Southern Norway possibly 2/3 of the population had died. One of those properties was Ødewald/Øvald. Maria's daughter married Jon Lauritzen Theiste who was the vicar of the Eidanger church from 1643-1670. Maria gave Øvald as a christening gift to their daughter, her granddaughter, Sophie. Sophie married a tailor named Bendt Larssøn and we are their direct descendants and therefore also descended from the noblewoman Maria Lukretia von Böschlager.
Grandma's story was true! Unlike many family stories it seems we ARE descended from maybe not a "German princess" but from a German noblewoman. Maria never returned to Germany but died in Eidanger. She is buried near the entrance of the Eidanger church. Many families in the south of Norway can trace their roots to her.
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| Eidanger kirke-original portion of the church dating from the 12th century |
Jørn Erik Øvald, my second cousin once removed, has done extensive new research into Maria Lukretia von Boeselager (her true German name) and her life before she came to Norway. Her first husband Sebastian Huessler (and therefore also our ancestor) was a famous fencer, a major in the Danish-Norwegian Army and possibly a mercenary for the King of Denmark. But that is another story for another time. And its a good one.
The German noblewoman:
Maria Lukretia von Boeselager
b. 1609 Honeburg, Germany
d. 1685 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway
my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandmother.
Maria & Sebastian Heussler of Germany→? Petersdatter→Sophie Jansdatter Ødewald→Jorgen Bendtzsøn Ødewald→Malene Jorgensdatter Ødewald→Ole Gundersen Ødevald→Elise Johanne Olsdatter Øvald→Gunder Andreas Nilsen Øvald→Nils Gundersen Øvald→Dagmar Gundersen→Grace Sevald→ME!
