Our Remmen Ancestors

Our ancestors lived on a typical small Norwegian farm named Bødal. It is located on a large lake named Lovatnet (or Loenvatnet, which is Loen Lake) in western Norway in the fylke of Sogn og Fjordane, in the kommune of Stryn (see maps, below). See this site for information and 360 degree panorama pictures of Stryn. The parish name is Innvik. For more information on Sogn og Fjordane, go to the Rootsweb site.

NORWAY
See: Norway Maps

SOGN OG FJORDANE
See: Norway Maps

Lovatnet, lying southeast of the town Loen, is located at the very end of Nordfjord, which leads from the Norwegian Sea to Loen (see map, below). Bødal is located at the other end of Lovatnet from Loen, across the lake from Nesdal farm (we have ancestors from that farm also).

See Bødal farm to the right and Nesdal to the left on the map. Also, note the headland just below Bødal that juts out into the lake. Directly across the lake from this headland you will see the mountain Ramnefjellet on the Nesdal side.

NORDFJORD
See: Stryn & Nordfjord

LOVATNET AND BØDAL

Views of Lovatnet
(Click on pictures to see full size)

See more at: Loen Info

See more from: Eero Vainikko

My 8th great-grandfather, Elling Simonsen, was born in about 1624, and lived on Bødal farm. He married Synnøve Lauritsdatter from Dårflot farm, which is between Oppstryn and Erdal, on Strynsvatnet (Stryn Lake), just north of Lovatnet. Their son Elling Ellingsen born in about 1650 married Kari Jacobsdatter of Indre Nesdal, which is located just across the lake from Bødal.

Elling Ellingsen had a son named Samuel Ellingsen. The next several generations went on with another son named Elling, then Samuel, then Elling Samuelson who was born in May of 1802, and married Dorthe Monsdatter of Nesdal farm.

Elling Simonsen BØDAL 1624 - 1665
Synnøve Lauritsdatter DÅRFLOT
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Elling Ellingsen BØDAL 1650 - ?
Kari Jacobsdatter NESDAL 1662 - ?
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Samuel Ellingsen BØDAL 1718 - 1782
Johanne Absalonsdatter SUNDE 1725 - 1769
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Elling Samuelsen BØDAL 1749 - 1817
Sesilie Ingebrigtsdatter BENÆS 1746 - 1825
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Samuel Ellingsen BØDAL 1777 - 1828
Christi Petersdatter HILDE 1766 - 1812
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Elling Samuelsen BØDAL 1802 - 1883
Dorthe Monsdatter NESDAL 1805 - 1840
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Samuel Ellingsen BØDAL 1830 - 1898
Eli Jensdatter 1832 - 1833
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Elling Samuelsen BØDAL 1866 - 1905
Elisabet Petrine Ottesdatter GRODÅS 1872 - 1905
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Oskar Ellingsen BØDAL 1900 - 1936
Brite Andersdatter Hogrenning

Elling and Dorthe had six children. The oldest son, Samuel, inherited the farm from his father as was the custom. The second oldest son, Mons, was my great-great-grandfather. Mons was born March 24, 1833, and was baptized in the Loen Church. Mons lived on the farm until at least 1866, when the census shows that he was 33 years old, and still unmarried.

Loen Church
(Click on picture to see full size)

See more at: Welcome to Loen

In 1866 the Bødal farm had six families living in separate households, each of which owned their section of the farm. There was also a separate household associated with Elling's that included his widowed step-mother Johanne Jonsdatter who was living with her unmarried daughter, Kari Samuelsdatter (Elling's half-sister). At the time Kari was 40 years old, and spent her days working on the farm and caring for her 78-year-old mother. Her mother had previously given up the farm in exchange for food, housing, and care (for the rest of her life).

The family had four horses, twenty-five large cattle, forty sheep, twenty-five goats, and three pigs. Their crops planted that year included 4 tønner of barley, 6-1/2 tønner of oats, and 5 tønner of potatoes. One tønne is the equivalent of 4 bushels or 32 gallons.

Mons left the farm sometime between 1866 and 1873, when he was married. Mons' brother Samuel stayed to run the farm with his wife Eli Jensdatter and their family. Samuel and Eli's oldest son, Elling Samuelsen, eventually took over the farm from Samuel. Elling Samuelsen, his wife Elisabet Petrine Ottesdatter, and many others were all killed as the result of a landslide in 1905.

Read about the Ramnefjellet landslides that killed most of the people who lived in Bødal and Nesdal.

MORE OG ROMSDAL
See: Norway Maps

When Mons Ellingsen was 40 years old he married Kristianna Amundsdatter from Møre og Romsdal fylke, which is just north of Sogn og Fjordane (see map, above). Kristianna was from the farm Rypdal located in Vestnes kommune. At 23 years of age, she was the oldest daughter of Amund Larson and Synneve Olsdatter. Rypdal farm is just south of Tresfjord (see map, below). After they were married, they moved to Remmem Indre farm in Vestnes.

TESFJORD

Mons and Kristianna had four sons, Elling (my great-grandfather), Anton, Sivert, and David. Elling, Anton, and Sivert all emigrated to the United States.

David was born in 1881 according to the 1900 census, so may have been a twin of Sivert. The census also states that David is away from the farm, in England. It could be that he was visiting or emigrating to England, or that he was there on his way to America. It is also possible that he was visiting one of the Norwegian farms named England.

Sivert was born in 1881 in Vestnes, Norway. He is listed in the emigration records as Sivert M. Remme, departing from Ålesund, Norway on April 3, 1901. It also states that he was a male, age 20, unmarried, from Vestnæs. His occupation given is farmer. He traveled on the popular Hvide Stjerne Line with the destination of Dakotta on a prepaid ticket.

Sivert Monsen Remmen married Mabel Elizabeth Lightfoot December 3, 1905 in Union County, Oregon, came to the Tacoma area in 1907 and moved to Shelton in 1926. He was a retired Longshoreman, and was a charter member of the Longshoremen's Union, Local 23, in Tacoma, Washington. He was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. Sivert died at age 87 on April 10, 1968 in Shelton, WA.