Histories

ARNE HOGNESEN RIISNAES was born at Risnes farm. He became a schoolteacher for the northern part of Sandnes (Masfjordnes) Parish in 1813.

    DRUDE CATHRINE MARIE DAAE was born at Froyseth. She was said to have been a forceful young woman with a vivid personality.

    Arne and Drude were married at Froyseth on the same day that Arne's sister Sygne married Drude's brother Hans Engel (see 32 and 33).

    From 1818 onwards Arne was appointed cantor to Sandnes Church. He took over his father's farm in 1820, it then com-prising one-third of Risnes. In 1832 Arne's father-in-law Gerhard Daae divided most of his property among his 4 children and Arne, through Drude, became the owner, rather than just the tenant, of the farm, which was also now slightly enlarged to comprise one-half of Risnes.

    Arne became Elector in Sandnes in 1823, 1826 and 1835. The Elector was a local government post; there were 5 or 6 in all for Lindaas and Masfjord. In the intervening years when he was not an Elector he was a "supplianter".

    It was said of Arne after he died that "he deserved to be loved, and he was loved". He, and later Drude, were buried in Sandnes Churchyard with a cast-iron inscribed plaque marking their grave.

    KAREN ANDREA married (1839) Lars Mikkelsen Spjutoy (b 17 Feb 1818), a farmer at Spjutoy, Lindaas, and had 7 children. In 1870 the whole family except for one son (Arne) emigrated to the USA and settled in Forest City, Iowa, where Lars continued to farm. Lars died 4 Mar 1885. Andrea remained in good health for over 30 more years, and was still a handsome woman in old age, enjoying hard physical work and the beauties of the prairie.

    The children adopted the surname Larsen. One grandson, Laurence Marcellus Larsen, became a distinguished historian, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, and Presi-dent of the Norwegian-American Historical Society. He wrote numerous books and articles, including his autobiography, "The Log Book of a Young Immigrant", which recorded his experiences since arriving in the USA at the age of 2.

    MARTA MARIA married (1850) Nils Kristiansen Kaalaas (b 1824), a farmer at Kaalaas on Lindaas, and had 4 daughters. After Nils died in 1855, she married (1856) Sjur Andersen Fjelde (b 1832) who joined her at the farm, and had 2 more daughters.

    HENRIKKE married (Apr 1849) Erik Johannes Jors (later Joice) (b 1827), a cooper. Just over a month later (9 Jun) the couple left Bergen, and after a long and tiring sea journey arrived at Chicago on 8 August. They lived first in Chicago, then in Wisconsin, and finally settled at Forest City, Iowa. Erik built up a profitable cooperage business. They had become Methodists in Wisconsin, and Erik became a lay preacher in 1861 and a local deacon in 1875. They had 4 children. Erik died of pneumonia in 1881.

    GJERT joined the Army, becoming a Corporal in 1844 and a Sergeant Major in 1846. He married (1850) Bertha Elizabeth Horvik and they had 6 children. In 1855 he left the Army and opened a shop for country folk in a basement in Bergen, which he ran till 1862. Meanwhile in 1859 he rejoined the Army as a Sergeant but resigned again in 1866. He acted as clerk to a number of officials over the years, including the Diocesan Secretary, the Brigade Accountant, a Notary Public and a County Judge. In 1868 he went to the USA but returned in 1872. Several of his children subsequently emigrated to the USA. He died in Bergen. Bertha died in 1884.

    LUDVIG graduated from Stord Teachers College in 1847, and then became house teacher in the home of Lensman Nitter in Dole, Sondfjord, till 1850. That year he married Nitter's daughter Christiane Sophie (b 1827) and they had 4 children. He became a full-time teacher in 1851, and was cantor in Eivindvik from 1856 to 1884. Christiane died in 1857, and the next year he married her younger sister Anne Kristine (b 1833) and had 7 more children. He held several official posts, including Commissioner of the Court of Conciliation from 1864, District Treasurer from 1891, and Chairman of the Commission for the Assessment of Taxes from 1893, all until he died in 1896. Anne had died in 1890. Ludvig was a very gifted man and much valued as an able teacher.

    JOHAN CHRISTOFFER attended the Bergen Brigade Non-Commiss-ioned Officers College, and was made a Corporal in 1851 and a Sergeant Major in 1856. He also qualified at Sondre Bergenhus County Agricultural College in 1853. He married (1855) Anne Sophie Heiberg (b 1810), a widow nearly 20 years older than himself, daughter of Christian and Birgitte Brugger (see 67) and so his mother's cousin. He thus came to own a farm at Hosteland where they subsequently lived. He was a member of Lindaas District Council (1860 to 1864), was Head Guardian to Minors (1863 to 1864), and a Director of Lindaas Savings Bank for several years from its opening in 1865. He was often involved in discussions and decisions on the development and partition of land. He was military commander of the Masfjord area in the 1880's.

    Anne died in 1887, and the following year Johan married Barbara Ones (b 1856) and had one son, Arne. Barbara died in 1894. In 1900 he married Drobak Borsum (b 1858), a teacher. Johan died at Hosteland.