| Ancestor 36 (1,001,00): 3GGF Anders Hermansen (1813 – 3/26/1856) | Ancestor 37 (1,001,01): 3GGM Ane Margrethe Hansdatter (c. 1817 – 2/18/1883) | |
| His parents | Their ancestral child | Her parents |
Click here to review the Scandinavian naming system.
Anders and Ane lived on Sandver Farm, a very small island in the Lurøy archipelago. Ane’s family had been here since at least the 18th century. Anders was from nearby Nesna Parish. They settled here, and their nine children were born on Sandver between 1840 and 1854. Our ancestor Anders Andersen was their sixth child, born in 1847.
Here is some information about that area from Norwegian relative Helge Hansen:
“Sandvaer is a group consisting of 2-3 small islands which are connected at ebb tides. They are very flat. The sea bottom is very very sandy (coral sand), and it is easy to understand why the islands were called just that. 1. They are easy to discover and understand that it is Sandvaer, even if you did not know beforehand the exact place. Nobody lives there now. The last people moved from the island in 1947 (probably). People lived there in 1612 (earliest recordings). In 1701, five men and boys lived there (women were not counted). There were 13 persons in 1801.
“I cannot imagine how it was to live there back in the late 1800’s, but it was probably hard life. They lived off fishing and had a very small farm too (probably 1 – 2 cows, a few sheep and hens). As far as I know there were only two living houses on the island (two farms), so I will not call it a village! 2
“In the middle of December we have only 3 – 4 hours of light, and it is not much light either. Normally it rains all summer.” 1
On March 26, 1856, Anders met his fate in a boating accident. He was lost together with his 14-year-old son Hendrik. The death record reads,
“These two: father and son, drowned at sea by the Nufsfjorden in Lofoten.”
Lofoten is an archipelago 200 km north of Lurøy. Nusfjord is a historic fishing village there. Zoom out to find it on the map above. Perhaps Anders and Hendrik were taking their catch to market that day. At the time of the accident, Anders Andersen was only nine years old. Here is an account of what happened to the family afterward:
“Anders and his son Henrik perished at sea by Nusfjord in Lofoten. Henrik is only 14 years old and ‘swathes Young’. Ane is left with an unprovided young flock in straitened circumstances. Replaced by Anders shows that debt is greater than assets. The family is in other words ‘bankrupt’ or as it was called ‘Chip and scanty.’ It is also certain that Ane must go from Earth on Sandver, for in 1858, the leasehold out to Johan Andreas Johansen and Edel Martina Jakobsdtr. Ovid. How family manage after this is uncertain, but Ane lives with her son Anton on Lyngholmen, when she dies at the age of 66 years.” 2
Here is Sandver in 2016, visited by descendants of Anders and Ane as well as the family who bought the farm from Ane.
The family’s new home, Lyngholmen, was even a smaller island than Sandver. (See map above, southeast of main Lurøy Island). It is within Lurøy Parish, so Ane must have been buried at Lurøy Kirke. She was not buried until two months after death. This was common in the winter, when the ground was too frozen for burial. Bodies were stored in sheds until the ground was ready! 3