Photo of the week: Nordvik farm, Samnanger
This weeks photos are from the Nordvik farm in samnanger Hordaland
The pictures are shared by my friend Chuck Schwartz.
I’ll let Chuck tell:
The people in the photo are (right to left):
My great grandfather, Knut Tomassen Hisdal (1858-1939). He had for a number of years been a ship’s carpenter (skipetstømmermann) on the steam and sail ship “Aurora”, sailing out of Bergen for ports in Europe, the UK, the Mediterranean and at least once to New York.
Tomas Knutssen Nordvik (1887-1967). Knut’s son and my grandma’s brother. He later became a manager for Norsk Hydro. He and my grandma were very close through the years.
Knut’s second wife, Oline Johannessdtr. His first wife, my great-grandmother Durdei Mikkelsdtr. died of complications from childbirth (barselsfeber)in 1898. Oline filled in as “housekeeper” (and, of course, managed the farm) while Knut was away at sea and they eventually married.
Berta Andersdtr Reistad, (1889-1969) was Tomas’ wife. They married in 1911. My guess is that the photo was taken between that year and about 1915.
The farm in the photos is “Nordvik” in the municipality of Samnanger in Hordaland vounty(Søndre Bergenhus). It is still in the family, owned now by a cousin who has done an amazing job of maintaining and restoring it. It’s like walking into a museum, but I think my Grandma Kristine would recognize it immediately and feel “home”.
My grandmother, Kristine (1884-1972, not in this photo), came to the US in 1901 at the age of 17. She was accompanied on the voyage by a male first cousin. She was “sponsored” by an uncle who had come to Minnesota several years before.
Another brother, Johannes (1890-1966), is not in the photo. He also went to sea, like his father. His is a very interesting story, and I will tell it to you some day if you have time and interest. Simply said, it was the search for him that was the reason my Norwegian family and I connected again, totally by accident (fate?), after many years without contact. I owe him a lot, and hope one day to personally thank him.
This photo was probably taken on the same day in about 1915 of the same four people as above.
This is a photo portrait taken in about 1891; in it are my great grandma Durdei Mikkelsdtr, my grandma (standing, about 7 years old), Tomas (also standing and about 4 years old), and Johannes (on his mother’s lap, about 1 year old).
Big thanks to Chuck Schwartz for sharing pictures and telling about his ancestors! Nordvika is a beautiful area overlooking the lake Nordvikavatnet in Samanger localparish in the municipality of Årland, Hordaland.
I find these kind of stories very interesting. If you have photos and/or a story you would like to share, I’d be thrilled to present it here on the blog. Photos tell more than a thousand words, so you don’t necessarily need to write that much. Go to the contact page and send me a word. (You will not be able to send me photos through this page, but you will get my email address when I respond)
