Fredrik og Kristine Isaksen i Fjære - En utvandrerhistorie

Fredrik og Anna Kristine Isaksen

Foto: Ann Isaksen Greitzer 2018

Fredrik og Kristine Isaksen i Fjære - En utvandrerhistorie vil være fortellingen om ekteparet på Vik som opplevde at de fleste av etterkommerne levde sine liv i Amerika. Vi samler fakta og opplevelser fra begge sider av Atlanterhavet og lar dette være en historie som også kan representere mange andre familier. Dermed vil også noe av teksten være på engelsk, etterkommernes morsmål. Men Fredrik Isaksen var selv innvandrer til Norge. Han hadde reist fra sitt opphav og sine kjære i Sverige. Mye av materialet er gjort tilgjengelig av Fredrik og Kristines oldebarn i USA, Ann Isaksen Greitzer.

Fredrik og Kristine

Slekt

Fredrik Isaksen er født 16. desember 1868 i Sverige. Anne Kristine Isaksen, født Hansen er født i 1867 i Fjære.

Fredrik Isaksen er født i Sverige i 1867. Hans foreldre er Isak Olausson (1839-1896) og Anna Andersdotter (1830-1880). Isak Olausson ble g2m Hedda C. Nilsdotter (1850-1924.

Fredrik Isaksens søsken:

Isak og Anna fikk:

• Carl Oscar Isaksson (1869-1885)
• Amanda Isaksdotter (1867)
• Augusta C. Isaksdotter (1864-1865)
• Martin Andersson 1870-1874 (??)
• Fredrik Isaksson (1867-1944)

Isak og Hedda fikk:

• Karl Oskar Isaksson (1886-1949)
• Augusta M. Isaksdotter (1889-1967)
• Otto E. Andersson (1893-1956)

Anne Christine er født 11 august 1867 i Fjære. Foreldrene er tømmermann Hans Olsen (1833-1882) og hustru Ingeborg Arnesdatter Vig (1839-1872). Se dåpsnotatet her: [[1]].

Anna Christines søsken:

Hans og Ingeborg fikk:

• Anne Kristine Hansdatter 1867-196x.
• Ole Hansen 1867-1867
• Else Kirstine Hansdatter 1863
• Olevine A. Hansdatter f 1865. G1m Ole Andersen (1861-1887) og g2m Andreas Jensen.
• Gunder Emil Hansen f 1872
• Hanna S. Hansdatter f 1875

Det er også notert at Ingeborg Arnesdatter og Andreas Knudsen (f 1830) fikk Anna elise Andreasdatter i 1883.

Arbeid, bosted m.v.

Det kan virke som om Fredrik og Kristine overtar bruket Jakobsplassen etter hennes slekt. Se mer nedenfor.

I 1900 er han "Arbeider ved Jernskibsbyggeri" og i 1910 er han skipstømmermann. Ved Ingarts dåp i 1901 omtales Fredrik som sjømann og ved konfirmasjonen i 1915 som tømmermann. I 1910 står det i folketellingen under "Antatt oppholdssted": "Amerika 1 1/2 aar". Dette kan bety at far Fredrik også har hatt utferdstrang og har oppholdt seg i USA.

I disse årene ble likningstallene publisert i lokalavisene. I Grimstad Adressetidende finner vi likningstall for Fredrik Isaksen:

• 1898: Bor på Vik og tjener 500 kroner
• 1912: Har formue på 900 kroner og tjente 525 kr siste år. Bor på Vik.
• 1913: Har formue kr 1000 og tjente kr 1025. Bor på Vik.
• 1915/16: Har formue 2100 kr og tjente 975 kr.
• 1918: Formue 3800 inntekt 950. Bor på Bringsværd
• 1920/21: Formue 5300 inntekt 1650. Bosatt Bringsverd.
• 1921: Formue 4800 inntekt 3350. Bosatt Bringsverd.
• 1926/27: Formue 400, inntekt 1100. Omtalt som tømmermann. Bosatt Bringsverd.

Isaksens hus blir av flere kalt Verpe. Det omtales også som et sted på Moy??

Minner fra Vik

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  Hus omtalt som "Ingarts home in Norway", men foreløpig ikke sikkert identifisert.

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  I 1909 selger Fredrik Isaksen ei ku (Grimstad adressetidende 23/9 1909)

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  Fredrik Isaksen dør i 1944 (Grimstad adressetidende 11/3 1944)

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  Magne Bringsverd skriver: "Dette er jo Vikkrysset slik det så ut i gamle dager med Vikilen i bakgrunnen. I gården til venstre bodde i sin tid Sigurd Thorstein. Det er revet og Johannes Kristiansen har bygd nytt. ... Man ser også den store bautasteinen som nå er flyttet litt lenger opp i Temseveien.". Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "This the front of the 1939 postcard that has the birthday wishes to my grandfather Ingart written on the back. It is from his parents Fredrik and Kristine Isaksen who remained in Norway. I am hoping it is a photo of their home in Vik. In 1939 they were both 71 years old and probably no longer farming. Later that month, they both sailed to America to visit our family in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York for the last time."

• 

  On 15 June 1950, my great-grandmother Anne Kristine Isaksen died. She was a widow. This photo has an "auction date" written on the back of 09 Sep 1950. This was probably the disposition of household items after Anne Kristine's death. Information from probate records shows that her daughter Anna Isaksen Love was deeded the property for 7,000 Kr. on 22 Dec 1950. I don't think her daughter stayed there the rest of her life; I believe this property was eventually sold to another family.

Familien på Vik

Fredrik og Kristine fikk:

• Fanny Konstanse Isaksen, født 1891 i Fjære, død 1974. Gift med Carl Carlsen (1891-1930).
• Hans Isaksen, født 1895 i Fjære, død 1978. Gift med Stine B. O. Olsen (1895-1985). I 1910 er Hans oppført som fabrikkarbeider, fortsatt bosatt med sine foreldre.
• Anna Isaksen, født 1898 i Fjære. Hun ble gift med Joseph Love/Lowe, født 1896 i Larvik.
• Ingart Isaksen, født 10/5 1901 i Fjære, død 1969. Gift med Gudrun/Gertrude A. Steinersen (1906-1991) Nissedal.
  • Robert Isaksen
    • Ann Isaksen Greitzer
• Ingeborg Isaksen, født 1902 i Fjære.
• Arnold Isaksen, født 1904 i Fjære, død 1945. Gift med Anna Ingebretsen (1908-1982) fra Lyngdal.
  • Arthur Isaksen 1944-2003. Bodde i Brooklyn, New York.

Familien i 1900 [[2]] og i 1910 [[3]].

Familiebilder Isaksen

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  This is a photo of my two great-aunts - sisters - Fanny Konstanse Isaksen (b. 1891 in Fjaere) and Anna Isaksen (b. 1898 in Fjaere). Anna is the only child of Fredrik and Kristine Isaksen for whom I do not know the date and place of death.

• 

  1921: My dad's father, Ingart Isaksen, was born 10 MAY 1901 in Fjaere. He emigrated to Staten Island, New York on 11 Sep 1921, these two photos were taken that same year.

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  1936: According to the notes on the back of this photo, it was taken in the summer of 1936 outside the Framnæs Hotel in Nissedal. My grandmother Gudrun Steinersen Isaksen had this photo in her collection, but I do not know who Halvor, Sigrid, Tellef, Hage or Severin were.

• 

  1936: The Framnæs Hotel in Nissedal must have had special significance for my family in Norway. This is likely from 1936.

Slekta i USA

Ingart Isaksen

Oversettelse ved Geir Johnsen: "Congratulations congratulations with your birthday 10th of May 1939. We wish you all well and a lot of happiness and blessings in the comming years our dear Ingert with love from from mum and dad". Kommentar ved Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "Thank you so much for translating this postcard this is so exciting for our family! We could not read this and never knew it was a birthday message to our grandfather Ingart from his parents Fredrik and Kristine, whom I have been researching for a long time. I knew my grandpa Ingart who was a kind and gentle man who loved his family very much. This is priceless to us as we had no handwriting from our great-grandparents. Tusen takk!!

Foto: Ann Isaksen Greitzer 2018

Ingart Isaksen emigrerte til USA 11. september 1921.

Ingarts sønn forteller:

"My father came to the U.S. from Norway in 1921 and passed through Ellis Island like so many others. His brother was already here so he settled in the same area in NYC.

My first memory of him is him trying to get me to eat green beans. He would tell me "this is a load of Norway Spruce" and the next forkful was "Ponderosa Pine". He was a very gentle man totally devoted to my mother. While not a great reader he loved Sherlock Holmes. He told us stories of the great detective to put us to sleep.

During the war (WWII) he worked very long hours at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, leaving very early and getting home after dark. To get to work he had to ride a trolley, a ferry and a subway. He built his own wooden tool box and all his tools were hand powered. Among other things he helped build the battleship "IOWA".

He pronounced the word "I-OWE-UH".

On trips Dad had a lot of trouble with my brother and me. Clifford was a cut-up and looked for opportunities to torment me. When the fights started dad would stop the car but we bailed out so he had to chase us. We would go every Sunday to the park or the zoo. He was always patient with us and never hit us that I can remember.

Dad was born in Norway and had a Norwegian name "Ingart". At work, though, he was known as "Eddie". He was a union carpenter and made very good money working at the Navy Yard. We had a very nice home with central heat, plumbing etc. Later on when I was in 6th grade we moved to a farm in rural New York which had none of the above."

Ann Isaksen Greitzer forteller: "Like his father (Fredrik) before him, my grandpa Ingart Isaksen was also a carpenter and a shipbuilder. Eventually, Grandpa Ingart later became a farmer and raised dairy cows on 78 acres in rural New York after World War II."

"My father tells me that after my grandfather Ingart immigrated to the US from Fjaere he was a carpenter for many years, building ships in Brooklyn. Certainly Ingart must have learned much of this from his father Fredrik. After World War 2 ended, that work became scarce for Ingart. It was at this time that Ingart moved his family to the rural part of New York where they then ran a dairy farm with many cows. It seems that he went back to his roots as his father also did the same in Norway."

Amerikabilder

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  Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "My father's father, and Fredrik and Kristine's son - Ingart Isaksen. He met my grandmother Gudrun Steinersen and married in 1925, and later had two sons and a daughter. In all the pictures I have of him when he was young, he was a very affectionate father and loved his children so much. He was always holding them when they were very small. My dad tells this story: "My first memory of him is him trying to get me to eat green beans. He would tell me "this is a load of Norway Spruce" and the next forkful was "Ponderosa Pine". He was a very gentle man totally devoted to my mother. While not a great reader he loved Sherlock Holmes. He told us stories of the great detective to put us to sleep."

• 

  1938: Ingart Isaksen med Robert og en eldre sønn. Ann Isaksen Greitzer: " I come to know of the many shipbuilding companies in Norway. The carpentry skills of Fredrik and Ingart were passed down to my father Robert Isaksen (b. 1937) who still makes beautiful wood furniture today. My father writes this of Grandpa Ingart: "One of my dad's lessons did stick with me. I had summer jobs in construction while in college. I wasn't sure what level of speed was expected in the workplace. I was prone to work very fast and not do the most perfect job. He said, "slow and steady is the best". And I found that he was right. Whenever I rushed a job, I would make mistakes. My dad was a very gentle man, and I think I learned a lot from that."

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  1939: This 1939 photo shows the last of 4 trips my great-grandfather Fredrik Isaksen made by ship to NY from Norway, along with my great-grandmother Anne Kristine Isaksen (her only trip). Directly behind them are my grandfather Ingart, his brother Arnold, Arnold's wife Anna Ingebretsen, and his brother Hans

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  1939: Nordisk tidende skriver 8/6 1939 om Oslofjords amerikatur, og gir plass til omtale av Isaksenfamiliens besøk.

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  1939: Nordisk tidende forteller 28/9 1939 om Isaksens hjemreise fra USA.

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  From the 1939 visit: Standing: Gertrude Isaksen (son Ingart's wife - my grandma who handed down all these photos to me), Anne Kristine Isaksen, Stine Isaksen (son Han's wife), Anna Ingebretsen Isaksen (son Arnold's wife), son Arnold Isaksen. Seated: Son Ingart Isaksen and my dad Robert Isaksen age 2, Fredrik Isaksen with my uncle Clifford Isaksen age 4

• 

  1939: Fredrik and Kristine of Vik visiting their children in the New York area (either Brooklyn or Staten Island) in 1939 - from left to right: son Hans, son Arnold, Arnold's wife Anna, son Ingart, Fredrik, Anna Kristine, and Hans's wife Stine.

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  1939: Son Ingart, Daughter Fanny, Fredrik, Kristine, Son Hans and Daughter Anna

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  1950-tallet: Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "My grandpa Ingart Isaksen was my last direct link to Norway, him having been born and raised in Fjaere. Below are two more pictures of him in his later years: ... and the other picture is with my father and his brother in the 1950's on their farm in rural NY. My grandpa Ingart Isaksen on the left (b. 1901 Fjaere) worked very long hours as a union carpenter in the Brooklyn Navy Yard building U.S. warships during World War 2. He left home long before sunrise and to get to work he had to ride a trolley, a ferry and a subway. He didn't return home until well after sundown. My father says he was so tired some nights he would fall asleep standing in the kitchen."

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  1960-tallet: Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "Grandpa Ingart and Grandma Gertrude (born Gudrun Steinersen in 1906) raised my father and his siblings in Staten Island, NY and later rural upstate New York. Grandma's family on her father's side were the Steinersens of Nissedal, Telemark, Norway, and on her mother's side were the Pedersens of Øyestad, Aust-Agder, Norway."

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  1942: Joseph Løve, Anna Isaksens mann, dør i USA i 1942.

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  1945: Arnold Isaksen dør plutselig i 1945, 41 år gammel.

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  Ann Isaksen Greitzer: "This photograph is of my great-aunt Anna Isaksen Love (or "Lowe") who was a daughter of Fredrik and Kristine Isaksen of Vik/Fjaere, and who was born in Fjaere in 1898. She sent the postcards from the Strand Hotel in Fevik to my grandfather Ingart in 1947. She was deeded the home in Vik in 1950 after Kristine's death. I do not know what became of her, it is possible she stayed in Norway - or she may have returned to the United States. She was married to a Joseph Love (or "Lowe") who was born in Larvik, Vestfold, Norway in 1896. Both of them came to the U.S. in the 1920's."

Anna og Joseph Love

I Nordisk tidende 15/5 1919 finner vi et innlegg fra Joseph Love. Han forteller om den norske logen i New Haven, Connecticut. Kan dette være Anna Isaksens mann?

Oldebarnets tanker om røtter og utflytting

Ann Isaksen Greitzer skriver i flere meldinger om sine forfedre og om deres livsvalg:

"And yes, sad to see the auction photo, but since none of their children lived in Norway, I guess it made sense. The children of Fredrik and Kristine did as so many others of their era did leaving their homeland for America. It must have taken a lot of bravery to leave home for a strange place, not knowing what would become of you. Fredrik and Kristine, both born in 1867, have many descendants in America today, my grandchildren being some of the newest ones - their great-great-great grandchildren."

---

"My grandpa Ingart Isaksen was my last direct link to Norway, him having been born and raised in Fjaere. ... From all the pictures I have of him, I can tell he loved his children very much. I was too young to remember talking to him, however my dad tells ... about him."

---

"A funny story...this research into my father's ancestors has found a surprising fact. All his life both me and my father (now 81 years old) thought he and his family were 100% Norwegian, at least in the recent past. In fact, Fredrik was born a Swede and his people were also from Sweden so that makes Dad 25% Swedish and 75% Norwegian, and my Grandpa Ingart half Swedish/half Norwegian. Dad said Grandpa Ingart would be horrified, sort of half joking. In fact the DNA results do confirm both Swedish and Norwegian heritage for us so I was able to prove it to him. Evidently there is some sort of rivalry between Norway and Sweden? Dad did not want to accept this fact at first. He is so proud to be Norwegian...as am I!"

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"Also, one of my sisters and I will travel to Norway in a couple years to visit the beautiful Fjære Kirke where our great-grandparents are buried to pay our respects to them at last. We have seen many photos and videos of this historic place."

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"I am introducing my father and my uncle to the grandparents they can't remember, and also sharing them with my own son and two grandchildren. Fredrik and Kristine sacrificed a lot when their children all came here over 100 years ago seeking a new life, as was common in that era. I cannot imagine how it was for them to live without their children and grandchildren for most of their lives. I have documented 4 trips from Norway to New York over the course of Fredrik's life, but still it must have been hard for them. I cannot imagine it. Truly Norwegians are resilient people I would say."

Jakobspladsen (Gnr 24:20)

Denne skilles kanskje senere ut til egen artikkel!

Eiendommen Jakobspladsen er skilt ut fra gnr 24:12 i 1869. Bruket ble da skyldsatt til 2 øre. I årene 1869-1870 foretas det utskifting på gården.

Peder Madsen

Peder Madsen har hjemmel til Jakobspladsen i 1869. Han selger da bruket.

Peder Gunerius Mathiassen

Peder Gunerius Mathiassen kjøper eiendommen i 1869 for 40 Spd.

Peder G. Mathiasen er to år i 1865 og må være født omkring 1863. Foreldrene er Mathias Pedersen (født omkring 1827 i Tveit) og kona Karen M. Olsdatter (født omkring 1842 i Froland). I 1865 er Mathias "Husmand med Jord. Farer tilsøs som Kahytsdreng", i 1875 er han "Selveier, Tømmermand paa Skibsværft". I 1875 noteres at familien bor på løpenummer 259n på Vik. Her er familien i 1865 [[4]] og 1875 [[5]].

Peder Mathiassen selger eiendommen videre i 1894.

Ved Anne Kristine Hansens dåp i 1867 er tømmermann Mathias Pedersen Vig en av fadderne. Se Fredrik og Kristine Isaksen.

Gunder Emil Hansen

Gunder Emil Hansen kjøper bruket i 1894 for 1200 kroner. Han selger videre i 1898.

Gunder Emil Hansen er født i Fjære i 1872. I 1875 finner vi han og familien på løpenummer 261i på Vik. Foreldrene er Hans Olsen (f 1833 i Fjære) og Ingeborg Arnesdatter (f 1839 i Landvik). I 1875 noteres at Hans Olsen er "Selveier, Arbeidsmand, hovedsagelig Fattigunderstøttelse." Familien i 1875 [[6]].

Fredrik og Kristine Isaksen

Great-grandmother Anne Kristine Hansdatter Isaksen in Norway

Foto: Ann Isaksen Greitzer 2018

Fredrik Isaksen kjøper bruket i 1898 for 900 kroner. For å finansiere kjøpet låner Fredrik 500 kroner av Grimstad Understøttelseskasse. I 1902 økes lånebeløpet til 600 kroner. Dette lånet gjøres opp i 1908. Han låner det året penger i Fjære sogns sparebank. Fredrik Isaksen dør i 1944 og enken Kristine sitter i uskiftet bo.

I 1955-56 foretas det utskifting på gården.

Kristine Isaksen overtar lånet i Fjære sogns sparebank etter mannens død.

Anna Lowe

I 1950 får Anna Lowe, født 16/4 1898, hjemmel til eiendommen etter sine foreldre. Hun betaler 7.000.- kroner for dette.

I årene 1956-1958 leier Sigrun og Olav Uldal hus på Verpe av Anna Lowe.

Vikmoen: I 1958 skilles eiendommen Vikmoen ut fra Jakobspladsen. Arealet på den nye parsellen er 1.061 dekar og skyldsen settes til 2 øre. Eiendommen (Gnr 24/150) kjøpes av Sigrun og Olav Uldal.

Ann Isaksen Greitzer writes: "Anna Isaksen Love, my great aunt, was deeded the home of her parents Fredrik and Anne Kristine Isaksen in 1950 after both had passed away. This photograph was passed down to me by my grandmother (Anna's sister-in-law), and on the back was a note that said: "Dad's home in Norway. Fevik - Post Office was Grimstad".

Jarl Skofterud

Jarl Skofterud kjøper eiendommen fra Anna Lowe for 27.000 kroner i 1961. Skofterud er født i 1940.

Jon Ingar Borge

Jon Ingar Borge overtar eiendommen for 450 000 kroner i 1988. Borge er født i 1951.

Vik: I 1988 skilles det ut en parsell "Vik" med areal 4152,4 m2, fra eiendommen. Samme år gjøres det en grensejustering mellom 24:20 og 24:150.