Most small farms in Norway, before the twentieth century, were actually owned by the state run church and cotters rented out the property for a yearly fee and a portion of the yearly proceeds and/or a few days of labor for the church. The contract was generally for the life of the cotter and first-born sons had the right to rent that farm when their father died or retired due to poor health (retirement as we know it now was unknown to the working peoples of Europe at that time).
The farm Stuskin was known to exist by similar names since 1520. Through the years it was divided and the portion named Stuskin østre was owned outright by Paul's family. Anders Olsen 1722-1799 (Paul Sevaldsen’s third great grandfather) had bought the farm September 1756. All things point to the farm being fairly successful. Anders passed the farm to his eldest son Jacob Andersen 1753-1813. Jacob passed the farm to his eldest son Anders Jakobsen 1787-1875. Anders passed the farm to his second eldest son Sevald Andersen 1818-1900. Pauls father Anders Sevaldsen 1863-aft 1915, being the oldest son, would have owned the property on the death of his father Sevald. Anders denied his baptism in the State church of Norway and became a Seventh Day Adventist missionary along with his wife Anne Marie. He left the family farm and his birthright never to return.
Sad
to note: Searching for my grandfather Paul in the 1910 Norwegian census I
finally found him on this same farm, Stuskin. He is now 16 years old and he is not
even listed as a Sevaldsen but his name Paul Skoglund (first &
middle) is alone mentioned. After his mothers death (at the birth of
her seventh child) his father Anders married quickly. That is not
very unusual in Norway at the time but what saddens me is that he
(Anders) immediately dumped the responsibility of his three oldest
children. My grandmother told me that the baby Live was treated
poorly by her stepmother. How difficult was it for my grandfather? He
was 14 at Annes death and although at this time and place he would be
out of school and working, how degrading to be a farmhand on the farm
that by rights and Norwegian law should have some day belonged to him
as the oldest son of the oldest son? His grandfather Sevald had died
in 1900 and I wonder….if he had lived to see this would he would have
made some provision for his grandson? The grandson who lost his
inheritance because of the religious fervor of his father?
I never knew great grandfather Anders. My great aunt Stina, a child of his second marriage, spoke proudly of him as a religious reformer. My grandmother Dagmar however spoke of his cruelty to his children. She told me that he had physically beat the children and she felt the beatings Paul got about the head contributed to his Parkinsons in later life. The bits I have heard does not endear me to this religious zealot. How blessed was I to have such a kind, loving and generous man as Paul for my grandfather? Grandma Dagmar had a saying for the Anders type of religious person. “So heavenly minded they’re no earthly good”. Yet he did right by me. If Paul had inherited the farm he most assuredly would not have met my grandmother Dagmar, nor left for America, nor become my Grandpa.
The story of the family farm Stuskin can be found in the bygdebok:
Verdalsboka: en bygdebok om Verdal 3-54: Gårds og slektshistorie Chapter: Stuskin pgs. 576-597 by Einar Musum
**clicking on photos or documents will enlarge them for easier viewing**
** to view each generation before Paul see the page "Paul's Ancestry"*
**clicking on photos or documents will enlarge them for easier viewing**
** to view each generation before Paul see the page "Paul's Ancestry"*
