Marriage of Hellek Olsen and Helga Hansdatter

Marriage #11 Bachelor Hellek Olsen of the farm Indlæggen, age 18 1/4 years, and unmarried young woman Helge Hansdatter of the farm Juvkaasa, aged 26 years, were married on May 22, 1835 in the beautiful Heddal stave church pictured below. Lars Larsen and Hans Christensen stood up for the couple.

Digitalarkivet Heddal kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0005: 

Parish register (official)  no. I 5, 1814-1837, p. 461-462

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS RECORD ON THE DIGITALARKIVET

date @1890 photographer unknown, public domain
 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/HeddalStaveChurchNorway.jpg

My 3x great Grandparents

Hellek Olsen 11 May 1817 - 30 May 1898

Helga Hansdatter 12 Sep 1809 - 16 Mar 1847

Hellek & Helga ►  Ole Helleksen ►  Gunhild Marie Olsdatter ►  Dagmar Gundersen  ► Grace Sevald  ► ME!

Eidanger Kirke

Early 20th century - Eidanger kirke

The Eidanger church was an integral part of my grandmother Dagmars family for generations.
Built in the 1100's of stone with 1.5 meter thick cavity walls with carved stone corners, it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary (this was a few hundred years before Norway converted to Lutheranism). A wood addition was built in 1778. The church has a beautiful interior, an old christening font, very old and no doubt valuable silverware and a medieval painting 'The Ascension'.

Dagmars family can be traced in Eidanger to a German immigrant by the name of Maria Lukretia von Boeselager who married a Norwegian and settled in the area in the mid 1600's. Maria was Dagmar's seventh great grandmother. Maria's daughter married the high priest of Eidanger, Jon Lauritssøn-Teiste, and she was buried just outside the church entrance upon her death in 1685.*

It was at the Eidanger church that the next seven generations of our family were baptised, confirmed, married and buried. Dagmar was the last of our family line to be christened in this beautiful old church. Born 10 June 1900, she was christened 15 July 1900 at the Eidanger church. Her sponsors were Josefine Olsen (her aunt), Gunda Gundersen (her aunt), Jens Gundersen (her uncle) and Peder Hansen (a family friend).

Click to view Dagmars Eidanger birth/baptismal record

These last two photos are of the Eidanger church today. The small village/town of Eidanger no longer exists but was incorporated into the larger town of Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway.



*from the bygdebok "Gjerpen-Porsgrunn" by Finn C. Knudsen
  Click to direct link of this bygdebok - Porsgrund online library

Little Norway Building goes home to Norway

Little Norway is gone forever.
Just a short ride from Chicago, approximately 5 miles northwest north of Mt Horeb Wisconsin on county highway JG a quaint little attraction called Little Norway stood. 

"Operated by the same family since 1937, the quaint attraction had, over the years, drawn thousands of visitors, who came to walk in the gardens, peek into the small museum of Norwegian artifacts or take a tour led by guides in traditional Norwegian dress.

The half-dozen original log cabin buildings on the property had been erected in the mid-1800s by a Norwegian immigrant farmer, who built them, according to Norwegian tradition, on a south-facing slope to catch the warmth of the sun. Each building had been meticulously restored and furnished with Norwegian antiques and artwork.

Lars Soelberg, left, and Ansgar Selst help dismantle a dragon from the roof of the Norway Building in Blue Mounds, Wis., on Sept. 9, 2015. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) (Picasa)

The most striking feature of the property was no doubt the Norway Building, which stood on the hillside overlooking the valley. With its gabled roof topped by dragons, and ornate shingles crafted to look like reptilian scales, the building gave the secluded property a sense of enchantment, and made a visit feel like stepping into the pages of a fairy tale.

Commissioned by Norwegian officials for the World's Fair, it had been built as a symbol of cultural pride and patterned after the stave churches that, in the Middle Ages, dotted the rugged Norwegian landscape."***

               Wikipedia photo

               Wikipedia photo

I have been to Little Norway. It was a lovely place with Norwegian buildings and artifacts and guides dressed in Norwegian costumes. It is a loss to those of us of Norwegian Heritage in the Midwest who may never have the chance to see the beautiful and impressive stave churches and architecture of Norway. But it is for the best as now this lovely building, falling into disrepair, will be saved in Norway.

*** CLICK TO SEE THE NORWAY BUILDING HEADS HOME  

a continuation of the above article by Colleen Mastony  at the Chicago Tribune

- Ranae