Friday, March 13, 2009

Norwegian Heritage - Mom's side

Mom's father's lines goes back to Norway. I easily get confused when it comes to Norwegian research, but have found some great help from people, including recently a cousin from Mom's Wettestad (adopted) side, who helped with Mom's Aaro line (birth father) Thanks go out to Arild Jensen of Drammen, Norway, this past week, and an Aaro cousin, Marilyn Leonard who helped me years ago. (I've since lost contact with Marilyn)

Left: Amund Trondsen Aarøli and his wife Ingeborg Marie Larsdatter.
My Great Great Grandfather, Amund Trondsen Aarøli was born in 1833, on the farm Aarølien in Bolsø, Molde, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. He died there in 1908, and was buried at the cemetery at Røbekk Kirke, in Molde. On December 30, 1860, he married Ingeborg Marie Larsdatter. Ingeborg was born in August of 1838, in Molde and died February 13, 1919, on the farm Aarølia. She is also buried at the Røbekk church cemetery. Eight children were born to this union. (The Røbekk Kirke in Molde, photos taken by Halvard from Norway.)
On the 1865 census, Aarølien was in the school district of Aarohagen. The farm had 4 sheep, oats and potatoes. Living on the farm were Aumund, Ingeborg, Cisilie, Johanna and Ingeborg's sister Magnild Larsdatter and her daughter Karoline Nildatter. On the 1900 census, Amund's occupation was listed as altmuligmann, (handyman) and 4 people (Amund, Ingeborg, Anton & Sicilie) lived on the farm Aarølien, which had grain, potatoes, cattle, a vegetable garden and an orchard.
Aarø is a farm name. The various spelling derivatives; Aaro, Aarønes, Aarøli, Aarølien refer to features of a particular area. Lien, for instance, is a grassy knoll.
Left: Three unidentified men at the Aarøli homestead.
The farm was situated on the mainland part of Bolsøy parish. In the old days, Bolsøy was its own municipality, consisting of the island and mainland to the North, but today Bolsøy is a part of Molde municipality. (The farm is not located on the island Bolsøya as I previously posted.) Bolsøya is a low, forest-clad island about 10 km. from the center of the city Molde in Møre og Romsdal county along the Atlantic coast. Molde is a popular tourist destination during the summer. The surrounding areas of Molde offer popular rock climbing, ice climbing, bouldering, glacier and base jumping opportunities.
Right: The Aarø homestead, Aarølien.

Amund and Ingeborg's youngest child was Peter Amundson Aaro, my great grandfather. Peter was born July 7, 1882, and died March 16, 1956, at St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen, Brown Co., SD, from a heart attack, stroke and diabetes. On September 1, 1904, in Tacoma, Pierce Co., WA, he married Anna Louise Kramer. Anna was born in Stordalen, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway and died April 4, 1965, at St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen, SD, from Renal Failure, Uremia, and diabetes. Both of them are buried at Riverside Cemetery in Aberdeen. Peter was a carpenter. Anna came to the United States in 1903, settling at Tacoma, WA. Shortly after their marriage, they came to Aberdeen to live and raise their family.
Right: Anna Aaro and her daughter Louise.
Anna's home parish, Stordal parish is an annex to Stranda main parish, Møre og Romsdal. Stranda is one of Norways most well known scenic areas for tourism. Møre og Romsdal got its name after Møre (the costal district) and Rolsdal (the mountainous, inland district). Stordal is across the Romsdalsfjord from Molde.
Peter Aarø's sister Cecilie was very enterprising and had her own "Hotel Aarø" in Molde. Of course it has a different name now, and has been remodeled, but I wonder where it's location was or what the new name is. I've been told Cecilie was "hell on wheels". She went over the bedsprings with a white glove, and if there was any dust, the staff surely heard about it. Her business acumen must have been pretty remarkable, though.

Left: The location of the county Møre og Romsdal within Norway.
I would love to hear from anyone who connects to this family or has more knowledge of this area in Norway. All this information makes me want to travel to Norway!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey!
You probley rather have me to send you an e-mail, but i didnt get the e-mail thing you got here.
My name is Marit Aarø, and i live in Kristiansand in Norway.
I reasently returened from summer-holiday, and when i was at holiday,i was pasing in Molde, and in Kristiansund. (Btw. please ekskuse my enlish, im only 15years old)
In Kristiansund i met my grandfathers brother, Kjell Bjørn Aarø, and he told me and my family about what you are writing about here. I think you shoud contact him if you want to know more about this family. But can you tell me somthing about Peter Amundsen Aarøs children? Is Theodor Aarø one of them? Theodor is my grandfathers father. If not, did Amund and Ingeborg have any other children then Cesilie, Anton (The shomaker that lived in "The little red house" (The house you have a pic. on the blog, Aarø homestead)and Peter? We know that Theodor is the child of one of those, and i think it is Peter, but i did not know his name, so i isnt shore. All i know is that he was in America in 1901, but moved back to Norway. I dont know if for a periode, or for the rest of his life. Coud it been Peter? Or is it another brother?
Plz help, it woud be got to know.
Send me an e-mail:)

Marit Aarø
(maritaaro@hotmail.com)

PS. Kristiansund and Kristiansand is two different places, not a miss, if you didnt know;)

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