Our Norwegian Roots 
originally written for the Starkey Family Reunion, August 2013

-- Henry Starkey --

Henry Starkey, my grandfather (farfar) and the member of our family who provides our Norwegian roots, was born in Iowa the son of first and second generation Norwegian-Americans.  His father was born Sever Sevatson in Wisconsin three years after his parents had left their home in Gol, Norway for life in America.  Henry’s mother was born Justine Hansdatter in Vik, Norway in 1856. When she was 12 years old, her family also left Norway to settle in Allamakee County Iowa where she would become known as Justine Peterson and where she would meet and marry Sever.

The area of Iowa where Sever and Justine began their married life is in the northeast corner of the state, about 15 miles west of the Mississippi River.  The relatively flat topography of Elon and Dalby, Iowa differs greatly from the high mountain valleys of Hallingdal where Sever’s parents had lived and from the coastal islands and rolling mountains of Nord-Trondelag where Justine began her life.  Although their continuing quest for a better life took them away from Allamakee County and, eventually, away from Iowa to the Dakotas, they continued to live on the American prairie for the rest of their lives.

Decades later, when their son Henry faced the challenging “Dust Bowl’ years in the Dakotas, he followed in the family tradition of leaving  the familiar behind in the quest of a better life.  His journey took him away from the familiar prairies of his natal land to the lush, green mountains and valleys of Washington’s Clark County.  He may have found the geography unfamiliar, but his ancestors would have found the Cascade mountains, rolling hills and valleys, and the Puget Sound archipelagos of his adopted state reminiscent of the land they left behind.

--  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -- --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -- 

-- Hallingdal Kin --

-- Stake -- 

The Hallingdal region of Norway, home to Henry’s father’s family, consists of six communities: Al, Hol, Gol, Hemesdal, Flaa and Nes in the county of Buskerud.  Gol is a village within Hallingdal situated at the confluence of the Hallingdal and Hemsil rivers.  It lies on the Oslo-Bergen railway line, about 200 km northwest of Oslo and 300 km east of Bergen. 

The Stake farm sits above the river valleys, east of the Hemsil and north of the Hallingdal rivers, on the road to Valdres, Oppland County.  Located at an elevation of about 450 meters above sea level, sheltered somewhat on the uphill side of a shallow valley, the farm today consists of a two-story farmhouse, two barns, and several smaller outbuildings. The Starkey name is derived from this farm name, the natal farm of Sevat Knudson, the first of our immigrant ancestors to leave Norway.

-- Knudson - Stake - Starkey --

When Henry Starkey’s grandfather, Sevat, filed his homestead papers in Dakota Territory on June 25, 1883, his name was recorded as Sevart K. Stake.  In 1890, to prove his claim, he presented citizenship papers in the name of Severt Knudson.  As a consequence, an affidavit was added to his homestead documents to explain the discrepancy.  This affidavit documents that in the Norwegian custom he was referred to by his given name, his patronymic (father’s name) and a byname (their farm name):  Sevat Knudson Stake. 

In Norwegian, Stake is pronounced “stahhh – keh” (with keh a cross between “keh” and “kay.”)  In the early 1800’s, when Sevat was born, it was common to see many variations in the spelling of a person’s name and it was common to see Norwegian names gain or lose an “r” in those variations.  Example:  Sevat==Sevart==Severt

Thus Knudson was replaced by Stake and Stake evolved into Starkey.  Though younger generations were aware the family surname had changed at some point, the story of why and the original patronymic were not passed down to them.  Genealogical research lead to discovery of the original family name and the story of how we came to be Starkeys.

-- Berg --

Though Stake was the farm where Sevat was born, and thus the source of our family name, it is not the only Hallingdal farm to which we have ties.  About 400 meters from Stake, along the Valdresvegen highway in the direction of Gol, the Berg farm overlooks the valley and the village below.  This was the home of Kjersti Halvorsdatter (Sevat Knudson’s mother) before she married Knud Endresen in 1811.  Today the farm  consists of a barn, a two-story house and several outbuildings. 

-- Hesla --

About 2 kilometers southwest of Berg farm, on the valley floor is Hesla farm, another location of special relevance to  our family.  Knud Endresen (Sevat’s father) was born on Hesla farm.  After marrying Kjersti Halvorsdatter, they lived on Stake farm , near her natal farm but their son, Sevat, would return to Hesla and make his home there with his wife Karoline Syversdatter.  This remained  their home until their departure for America with their infant daughter, Kjerste, in 1847.

-- Gol Stav Kirke --

The church in Gol where Sevat Knudsen and Kari Syversdatter were married in 1846 was a “stave church” (stavkirke) built circa 1216.   Stave churches, medieval structures once common in northwestern Europe, are now found almost exclusively in Norway.  The name is derived from their timber framing with load bearing posts (or stav in Norwegian).   The study of the construction of stav churches has resulted in a couple of structure classifications:  single nave and raised roof  (with raised roof sub groupings of  Kaupanger and Borgund.)  Our Gol church falls into the Borgund type with cross braces joining upper and lower string beams and posts.

This ancient structure was the center of important family rites and celebrations throughout the generations.  The records of this church hold the story of those generations, including the emigration records of Sevat, Kari and their infant daughter, Kjersti, in May of 1847 as they departed Gol for a new life in America.  

Decades later, about the time of Sevat’s grandson Henry Starkey’s birth in Iowa in 1877, the Gol congregation was making plans to replace the stavkirke with a new, larger church to accommodate their growing numbers. Through foresight and good fortune, the historic structure was preserved.  It was deconstructed in Gol and reconstructed near Oslo, on grounds provided for an open air museum by King Oscar II where it remains today. 

Present-day visitors to the Norsk Folkesmuseum are given the opportunity to explore an example of this unique and rapidly disappearing architecture.   If we were to visit the museum, we would have the added pleasure of knowing this building sheltered our ancestors as they celebrated significant rites in our family history.  If walls could talk… 

-- Knud Endreson & Akershus Slaveri --

-- To America -- 

In the 19th century, Norway’s population grew at unprecedented rates, more than doubling between 1815 and 1865.  Members of Sevat Knudson’s generation (born in the 1820’s) faced severe economic pressures as available land, exploited as much as possible, failed to keep everyone above subsistence level.  These pressures were greatest first in southern Norway, but as growth continued, the pressures spread and farmers with small land holdings and younger sons of independent farmers were forced to leave their communities in search of a sustainable existence. Some relocated to the more northern coastal regions in Norway but emigration from Norway became an increasingly attractive option.  As communications from early emigrant Norwegians reached family and neighbors back home, the promise of opportunity in America drew increasing numbers of the economically disadvantaged.  They made the journey to America, not to pursue adventure, but to find a permanent home where land was still abundant and where they could make a life for themselves and their families. 

Travelers to America at the time of Sevat and Karoline’s departure in 1847, most often sailed from Stavanger to New York before traveling overland via the New York canals toward Wisconsin.  Whether this was the route taken by Sevat and Kari is unknown but, like many of their neighbors leaving at the end of the 1840’s, they made their way to Rock County, Wisconsin where their sons Knudt and Sever were born.  Within a few years they joined family and friends in a migration to Allamakee County, Iowa where their remaining children were born.  

As Norwegian immigrants were settling and re-settling in America, the economic challenges in Norway continued  and residents of the fertile, coastal counties of central Norway began to experience a reduction in available resources just as their southern countrymen had years earlier.  Carving out space for the newest members of their family while maintaining sufficient resources to sustain themselves became increasingly challenging to the residents of Trondelag.  As in the south, population growth spurred a demand for more agricultural, timber and fishing resources than the area could support.  Native “Tronders“, together with Southern Norwegian transplants, began to look to America for their future as the opportunities in their communities decreased.  In time, residents of Nord-Trondelag, just as residents of Hallingdal had done a decade or more before, said goodbye to their familiar surroundings and boarded ships heading for a life inland on unfamiliar prairies.

By the time our Nord Trondelag ancestors (Hans & Caroline Peterson) were bound for America,  most Norwegian emigrants sailed to Quebec rather than New York, making the overland portion of the trip shorter.   Records tell us the Petersons took this route, disembarking in Quebec on their way to the Norwegian settlements in Allamakee County, Iowa. In the two decades since our Halling kin arrived in America, the expansion of Norwegian-American communities had contributed to the push west into Iowa where Justine Peterson and  Sever Knudson (Starkey) became neighbors.

--  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -- --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --

-- Tronder Kin --

Located about 500 km northeast of Hallingdal, in central Norway is the county of Nord-Trondelag.  It is composed of four districts:  Innerhed to the east of Trondheimsfjord;  Stordalen to the south; Namdalen to the north stretching between the Norwegian Sea and the mountains of the Swedish border; and Fosen to the west of Trondheimsfjord.  Geographically the area consists of spruce-covered mountains, fertile agricultural lowlands, lakes, fjords, rivers, and coastal islands. 

Henry Starkey’s maternal ancestors came from this region of Norway.  His grandfather’s (morfar’s) family were from islands bordering the Norwegian sea and Namsenfjord in the central, coastal part of the county.  His grandmother’s (mormor’s) family came from the rolling mountains and salmon-rich river valleys lying to the east of these islands.

-- Broum --

Situated on one of the coastal islands formerly known as Vik is the Broum (Broem) farm.  This is the farm where Justine Hansdatter (Henry Starkey’s mother) was born and lived before immigrating with her family to America in 1868.

-- Engesvik -- 

When Justine’s parents (Hans Peterson and Caroline Jacobsdatter) were married in 1853, Hans’ father lived about 5 kilometers northwest of Broum on the farm where both he and Hans were born.  Engesvik farm lies on the Namsenfjord with a view of neighboring islands to the south and east.  Today, the farm consists of a two-story house, a large barn, silo and a few other outbuildings accessed from an unpaved country road.  The farm, surrounded by pastures rolling to the shore in front and sloping upward to the forest edge behind, is situated on a quiet cove on Namsenfjord, a good candidate for a picturesque postcard of the Nord-Trondelag island scenery.

-- Helbostad --

About 34 kilometers inland from Broum and Engesvik toward Beitstadfjord, Helbostad farm lies amid the rolling hills of spruce and grasses.  Jacob Evensen and his wife, Elen Olesdatter, lived on Helbostad farm when their daughter, Caroline, was born in 1832.  Today the farm consists of a large barn, several outbuildings and a small, single-story house overlooking grain fields spreading in all directions peppered with groves of trees and surrounded, in the distance, by spruce-covered mountains.

-- Halaasen, Holein -- 

The nearby Halaasen farm, lying about 700 meters from Helbostad, was Elen Olesdatter’s home farm.  Her husband, Jacob Evensen, was born about 3 km north on Holein farm, near the town of Namdalseid.  The area is among Norway’s more fertile agricultural areas, yielding sufficient grain to support sheep and cattle farming and export to other parts of the country.

In Viking days, it was also valued as a route for boats.  The Vikings drug boats across this area using the rivers and waterways to get from one fjord to another while avoiding the dangerous Folda fjord to the northwest.  Higher sea levels and numerous waterways (rivers, lakes, and fjords) made this method of passage possible.  Looking at the scene today it’s hard to imagine the sight as Vikings hauled their boats from one waterway to the next.

-- Elon, Alamakee, Iowa -- 

As hard as it is to imagine the sight of Vikings hauling their boats from waterway to waterway in Nord-Trondelag, visualizing the vast, openness of the American prairies would have required creative imaginations for our Tronder kin.  The Peterson family must have been amazed by the sights awaiting them when they arrived in Iowa to start their new life in America.  The Norwegian-American community which welcomed them on their arrival provided the comfort of a familiar language and common culture as they accustomed themselves to the language, culture, geography and other challenges of a new country. 

We are all evidence that the Peterson and ‘Starkey’ families assimilated into their communities and made America their new home.  Members of later generations can be found across the country:  some on the prairies;  some in states where the geography mimics parts of our Norwegian homeland; and still others live in states from east to west and north to south.  

--  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -- --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --

-- Notes --

-- Message from Author --

I hope you’ve found something interesting in the information presented here.  In referring to our Norwegian roots, the focus has been on our ancestors who immigrated from Norway to America – Henry Starkey’s family line.  However, the Viking influence is widespread, so it is possible we have additional Scandinavian roots, though less direct, through our Schulz family connections (Nellie Schulz Starkey).  As we pursue the Schulz, Kniebes, Schimmel, Bettin, and Brachert lines, it is conceivable we will discover additional Viking connections.  In the meantime,  I’ve enjoyed sharing what I’ve learned.  In the language of our ancestors, “tak for i dag.”  

Bonnie


NOTE:  Updated information regarding the route of the Peterson family from Nord-Trondelag to Amerika.  Since original publication, records were discovered proving they sailed from Namsos to Quebec in the spring of 1868 aboard the bark Johann.