{"id":5880,"date":"2018-01-28T12:18:54","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T11:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/?p=5880"},"modified":"2018-01-29T22:31:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T21:31:14","slug":"52ancestors-a-dinner-invitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/52ancestors-a-dinner-invitation\/","title":{"rendered":"#52ancestors: A dinner invitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is my contribution for this weeks 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge: A dinner invitation!<\/p>\n

When I first looked at this challenge, I thought it was about which ancestor I would like to be invited to dinner by. I now realise that it is about which ancestor I would like to invite to dinner. In any way, my thoughts went to my Grandmother Ruth.<\/p>\n

My Grandmother Ruth Henriette Nilsen (nee Rognan) was born Oktober 22. 1914 on the island Lang\u00f8ya outside the larger island Hitra on the coast of S\u00f8r-Tr\u00f8ndelag county. Her parents were Ole Edvard Rognan (1869-1922) and wife Eline Kristine Rognan (nee V\u00e5gen) (1872-1961).<\/p>\n

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The house and barn at Lang\u00f8ya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ole Edvard bought one of the two properties on Lang\u00f8ya in 1908 and moved there with his family, There was not a lot of farmland on the property, but they were still able to keep some animals. Their main income though, came from the rich fisheries from the great “larder” that surrounded their island.<\/p>\n

In addition to selling fish, it also meant that fish was staple food on their dinner table. The women in the coastal households were masters in preparing this delicacy that was so abundant right outside their door. Starvation was never a problem, but the home on the small island was, not down right poor, but a very modest household.<\/p>\n

Ole Edvard died from cancer in 1922. This was a devastating blow to the family on Lang\u00f8ya. The oldest son Johannes and daughter Margrethe had already married and moved out. Many of the other children were old enough to take care of them self. The youngest though, among them my Grandmother, were in a dire situation. It was talk about sending them to foster homes. The son, Ingvar, 17 years old in 1922, decided that it was just not going to happen. He put any plans he might have on hold and pledged to take care of the family.<\/p>\n

Uncle Ingvar’s family and my grandparents was for a period neighbours in Molde (M\u00f8re og Romsdal county). When visiting my grandparents I often met and talked with Uncle Ingvar. He was the finest gentleman you could think of. Soft-spoken and modest with a great sense of humour. At that time I did not know about the dire situation my grandmother was in when her father died, and the sacrifice Uncle Ingvar made to keep the family together. I now understand the reason for my grandmother Ruth and her brother Ingvar’s close relationship.\u00a0My grandmother told a lot about her childhood. It was the happy, fun things she talked about.<\/p>\n

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When she got old enough to go to school she had to go in to the island Hitra. She lived with the family of her oldest brother Johannes during the week.<\/p>\n

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My grandmother’s older sister Agnes went to the town Molde in M\u00f8re og Romsdal county and worked as a servant. This was in the early 1920’s.\u00a0 While there she met a man named Sigfred (Siggen) Nilsen.\u00a0 They got married in 1928.<\/p>\n

Sigfred’s brother Nils did not attend the wedding as he was in Canada at that time. My grandmother may have attended the wedding. At some time in this period my grandmother moved to Molde and she met Nils Nilsen (Sigfred’s brother) when he got home from Canada in 1931.<\/p>\n

I don’t know much about their courting, but I know that my Grandfather Nils sailed in his small racing sailboat from Molde to Lang\u00f8ya to surprise my Grandmother. I always thought this to be quite a feat as he had to cross one of the most\u00a0hazardous parts of the Norwegian coast (Hustadvika).<\/p>\n

My Grandmother must have been impressed as they got married Desember 31. 1933 in Molde church.<\/p>\n

They moved in on the top floor in my Grandfather’s home. In the same house lived his parents Nicolay and Ingeborg Marie. The third apartment was occupied by Sigfred and Agnes. Nils and Ruth lived here until they built their own home in 1953.<\/p>\n

I kick myself for not having taken more notice of stories about their lives. It seems to confirm the experience that so many of us starts with genealogy when our richest sources are gone.<\/p>\n

Nils and Ruth had two children; Randi, my mother, born 1935 and Trygve born 1941.<\/p>\n

My Grandfather worked as a truck driver. During the invasion of Norway, Molde was bombed and burnt by the Germans. The entire city center was in ruins. After the war everyone were rebuilding and there must have been a lot of work for a truck driver.<\/p>\n

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Molde in ruins. By kind permission from Romsdalsmuseet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My Grandmother took occasional cleaning jobs as the many new houses were finished. For a while she ran a small grocery store in the house next to their home.<\/p>\n

Having grown up on the coast, my Grandmother was a master with fish. She was fortunate to have married a man who also liked fishmeals. In Molde there were several fishmongers that supplied top quality raw materials. Fish was frequently served in their home. It made me into something very rare; I child that liked fish! I don’t eat Lutefisk though. I can never remember it being served by my Grandmother. Preparing Lutefisk is a long and tedious process. Maybe they dropped this dish due to the easy access to fresh fish.<\/p>\n

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There are many dishes I could choose from if I were to serve my Grandparents a fish meal.<\/p>\n

Pollock, Cod, Halibut and Wolffish<\/strong>\u00a0are fish easily caught on the Norwegian coast. It is also easily prepared.<\/p>\n