Martin's Relatives
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His father was Hans Nilsen (b. April 1, 1831). Hans grew up
on the Rejten Farm. Farm names were sometimes used
to help identify or name a person. Therfore, if
a person moved, part of their name identifier would change. When Hans was
on the Rejten Farm (the first 42 years of his life)
He would have been known as Hans Nilsen or Hans Nilsen Rejten. When he bought
and moved to the Vollahågån Farm,
he would have been known as Hans Nilsen or Hans Nilsen Vollahågån.
When Hans and Sigri married (March 23, 1874), he would have been almost
43 years old. After the Vollahågån
farm was sold in 1905, he moved to another farm in the area and was again
known as Hans Nilsen Reiten
Vollahågån farm ownership:
1873 -1902 Hans Nilssen from Reiten, b. 1831, d. 1908
1903 -1905 Nils Hansen, b. 1875, went to America
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Sigri Olsdatter (b. August 9, 1851) Sigri grew up in nearby Opdal, probably
on a farm called Myhren and was 22 years old when she married.
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Nils was Martin's oldest sibling. He was born on the Voldhagen Farm,
Melhus, Norway in 1875. Sometime before 1903, he married Anna Swentsdatter.
Nils came to the US in 1903, probably for religious freedom as he wanted
to be a Baptist preacher and the state church of Norway was Luthern. To
pay for his way, he sold lumber from the family farm. At the time of his
departure from Norway, he was married and was a father. He was the first
to leave, followed by his wife and children.
Nils and Anna had five children Signy, Harald, Sverre (later known as
Stanley), Johanne, and Thora. Anna followed Nils to the United States
in 1906 accompanied by her five children ages 0-9 years old.
When he was in Chicago, Nils Hansen Woldhagen attended the University
of Chicago, Dano-Norwegian Seminary. His diploma is dated 13 May 1908
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Other images
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See other images of Martin's relatives.
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Martin's Story:
Woldhagen Family Site
This page was last updated by Carolynne White
February 2, 2002
Trondheim or Trondhejm
Trondheim is a both a city and a county which is centrally located in Norway
on the northwest coast. Trondheim, or Nidaros as it was named in 1016, (originally,
Kaupangr ), was the first capital of Norway. its name was briefly changed back
to Nidaros in 1930, but the populace protested and the name change was reversed.
The area was home to Haakon, a tyrannical ruler who was killed in 995 AD. Olav
Tryggvason (Olav I), whose realm followed, founded the city by the mouth of
the River Nidelva. Before he died in 1000 AD, King Olaf I built a church and
a royal residence, Kongsgård, there. After a period of disunity, Olav
II united Norway and again forced the people to accept Christianity. After some
time, the Danish king routed him. When Olav tried to return to Norway and regain
the rule, he met an army of Trondheim farmers. The "martyred" King Olav was
killed there in 1030. Olav was acknowledged as a saint in Constantinople and
Trondheim is the location of his shrine. After a period of prosperity, Trondheim's
importance waned when the Hanseatic League made Bergen their chief port.
Today, it is Norway's third largest and oldest city, steeped in a thousand
years of history. Trondheim has a special place in Norwegian history and culture
but now is a modern, hi-tech city. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
is located here and ranks highly as a center of technology.
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The Skietne (also known as Skjetne) Farm
In the 1801 Norwegian census , there
are 47 people living on the Skietne (also known as Skjetne) Farm in Tronhiem
County, Meelhuus (also known as Melhus) Parish. This includes two farming families
and Ingebrigt Ingebrigtsen and Tomas Nielsen are the heads of these families.
Additionally, each farmer has two servants, one lodger with a family, and other
families listed as "cottar with land". Tomas Nielsen (b. ~1750) and his wife
Ingebor Hendrichsdatter (Vold b. ~1755, m. 27 Oct. 1784) have six children:
Niels, a "grown child" at 16, Berit at 13, Hendrich at 11,Tomas at 6, Marit
at 3, and Brynild at 1.
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The Rejten (also known as Reiten) Farm
Nearby, there was farm called Rejten (also known as Reiten) where Jon Rasmusen
(b. ~1750) lived with his wife Mali Jonsdatter (b. ~1755) and their 4 children:
Rasmus, a "grown child" at 27, Guru a "grown child" at 18, Mali at 13, and Marit
at 10. Note: the age gap between Rasmus and Guru probably indicates that other
children moved away or died.
In Norway, at this time, land was usually passed from father to eldest son
who had a responsibility to "care for" the property and the rest of the family
as necessary. This system is known as primogeniture. For some reason, in this
instance, the system did not work that way. Niels appears to be the eldest son
according to the 1801 census and should have inherited his father's part of
the Skietne farm and Rasmus should have inherited the Rejten farm. (Perhaps,
Rasmus did inherit but remained a bachelor and finally passed the farm to Niels.)
Regardless, Niels Tomassen (b. 1785, d. 1845) married Marit Jonsdatter (b. 1791,
d. 1878) on 25 August 1814, and Neils ended owning the Rejten farm. (Note: Niels
Tomassen was the grandfather of Martin Woldhagen.) They had 8 children: Jon
(b. 1815), Ingebor (b. 20 July 1817), Tomas (b. 9 August 1819), Jon ("Little
Jon" b. 12 November 1821, purchased the Oyaas Farm), Mali (b. 1 December 1823),
Merit (b. 21 June 1826), Nils (b. 11 November 1828), Hans (b. 1 April 1831,
purchased the Vollåhågen Farm).
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The Vollahågån Farm
Neils' son (Martin's father), Hans Nilsen "Reiten" (b 1831), originally of
the Reitan farm in Melhus, bought the Vollahågån farm (also known
as Voldhagen) from Ola Tofte in 1873 just before he married. In 1902, Hans turned
the farm over to his eldest son, Nils Hansen, who kept it through 1905. Nils
received the farm through primogeniture but again it did not work in the traditional
manner. Nils had married Anna Swensdatter and taken over his father's farm in
1902 or 3. After a couple of years, they mortgaged the farm for 1000 Krone and
went to America. It was sold in 1905.
The bygdebooks in Melhus listed the Vollahågån farm from
1856 through1941. These are the translated ownership entries on Hans and his
son, Nils:
1873 -1902 Hans Nilssen from Reiten, b. 1831, d. 1908
1903 -1905 Nils Hansen, b. 1875, went to America
Hans' children are also listed. The children's births and deaths are from this
source. Martin's :
Martin, b.1888, went to America, lives in Florida
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Family
Like his father, Nils Thomassen, Hans farmed and was a carpenter. He married
Siri (Sigri or Siri Olsdatter Myhren (perhaps the farm's name) from Oppdal,
Norway) in 1874. Their children were Nils (b.1875), Sigrid (b.1876), Marit (b.
1878, d.1887, age ~9), Ola (b.1880, d.1881, age ~1), Ola (1881, d.1889, age~8),
Johanna (b.1884, d. 1899, age~15), Oline (b.1886, d. 1912, age 26), Martin (b.
1888), Olga (b.1890), Signe (b. 1893). Additionally, Siri's mother, Siri Toresdatter,
lived with them until her death in 1901. (The causes of the children's deaths
were not listed but it assumed that the grandmother died of old age.) Hans died
in 1908 at the age of 77. The date of Siri's death is not known at this time.
Nor is known where the family moved after the sale of the farm. Note: According
to writing on the back of a photograph, Olga married Hjalmer Mykles. Interestingly,
both she and her husband are wearing glasses in their photograph.
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Norwegian Surnames
At Ellis Island, he used his name, Martin Hansen (Hansen because he was Hans'
son) with the farm name, Voldhagen (Woldhagen) as his last name.
In 1929, Norway passed a law that said that said that everyone should have
an inheritable family name. This may seem unusual to Americans who always had
had an inheritable last name system. Prior to 1929, the Norwegian naming convention
was patronymic (from the father with a location or address name added when needed
to eliminate confusion. Therefore Hans Nilssen Reiten meant Hans, son of Nils
(sen means son and datter means daughter) who currently lives on the Reiten
farm. Each farm in a district had a unique name but other farms in other districts
could have the same name) When he moved to the Vollåhågen farm,
he world be referred to as Hans, son of Nils who currently lives on the Vollåhågen
farm or Hans Nilsen Vollåhågen. The first two of these names were
always used with the location added when desired. This is why so many Norwegian
last names are Erikson, Hansen, Olsen, etc. Note: therefore, a common last name
does not imply blood relationships. If Martin had used this Norwegian naming
convention, his name would have been Martin Hansen Sunnyhill when he first lived
in Minnesota.
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Opportunities
In Norway, at this time, land was usually passed from father to eldest son
who had a responsibility to "care for" the property and the rest of the family
as necessary. This system is known as primogeniture. As a result, Martin's older
brother Nils inherited the farm. In the late 1800's Norway's population rapidly
increased and opportunities were very limited. Even though problems with the
economy and with Sweden were slowly improving, many Norwegians emigrated to
America just before and at the turn of the century. Most of the Norwegian emigration
to America took place before 1905. Although Norway's economy was improving,
there was not enough work for the expanding population. Additionally, some Norwegians
yearned for the freedoms in America such as freedom of religion. Stories of
good farming land, economic opportunities, and religious freedom were widely
reported in letters from America.
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