The Journey: Scandinavian Adventure 2014

On July 30, 2014, we left Haugesund and went to Tysvær kommune to do some genealogical research.

We were treated so graciously by the library staff and found a few books that we were seeking. While there another family came in that were just beginning to do their research. We introduced them to the farm books and online records that have helped us so much. We were blessed to pay it forward as so many people have been so generous in helping us.

Tysvær kommune

The library also housed an excellent immigration museum. After explaining the reasons for emigration through the years, they told the stories of several siblings that emigrated who met varying fates. A good number returned to Norway. We were shocked to learn that many young men and women that came alone disappeared, their fates unknown. After reading their stories, we were even more impressed with the accomplishments of Tom's ancestors in America.

Årek farm

Torbjørn Trondson, known in America as Thomas A Thompson, owned Årek farm before he emigrated. It was a beautiful farm overlooking a fjord that is now subdivided into many farms. How much of this farm did he clear? Did he build the building that is the base of this storage building?

Why did Torbjørn leave this prosperous farm and lovely view in 1837? Surely he missed these lush rolling hills and fjord views when he settled in the plains of the Midwest.

View from Årek farm

We enjoyed a lovely drive from Årek to Stavanger.

Our lodging in Stavanger, the Myhregaarden Hotel, was charming and conveniently located not far from the city center.

The view from our room

The bath was less spacious than most, but larger than the one in the hostel in Flåm. Tom is standing with one foot in the shower while using the sink.

We did some window shopping on our walk to town.
Isn't this a charming setting?

City center was lovely.

We dined at the dockside seafood restaurant Fisketorget.
The food was delicious and we enjoyed the view.

We enjoyed strolling the docks.

Our Stavanger photos

We ended our evening strolling the streets of Gamle or Old Town Stavanger on the west side of Vågen. With 173 wooden buildings from the turn of the 18th century, mostly small, white cottages, it is likely that Stavanger looked much like this when some of Tom's ancestors boarded ships for their trip to America. It was touching to imagine them strolling these streets on their last night in their native land.

Our Gamle Stavanger photos

On our last day in Norway, August 3, 2014, we returned to Stavanger to turn in our rental car and fly to Oslo, then Helsinki. We toured the Maritime Museum and Canning Museum before departing.

The Maritime Museum traced shipping from the early years to the present including the offshore oil rigs.

We were most interested in the ships that would have transported Tom's ancestors.

Gudmund Olson, Tom's ancestor through Torbjørn Trondson (known in America as Thomas A Thompson), had lived in Skudesneshavn as citizen of the city of Stavanger. In Skudesneshavn he ran fisheries, was captain and owned a sailing ship at 4 1/2 tons. It would have likely looked like one of these models. Cousin Magnar shared that fishing for herring in the North Sea was grueling, often deadly work.

Tom's earliest ancestors Torbjørn Trondson and

Kare Jonesdattter Melland salied to America on sloops.

His five other ancestors sailed on
steamships between 1880 and 1904.

We had to do a little piloting ourselves.

Our Maritime Museum photos

Kare Jonesdatter Melland, Tom's 3x great grandmother, worked in a canning factory on Karmoy Island to make money to come to America. We visited the canning museum to learn more about her life. It has exhibits that take you through the whole 12-stage process of sardine canning from salting through to threading, smoking, decapitating and packing. There was also a small house that showed what the living quarters would have looked like.