Gunnar Mikalsen Hornnes

Gunnar Mikalsen Hornnes, born 1865

Gunnar Mikalsen Hornnes, born 16 January 1865, was the second child born to Mikal Alfsen Hornnes and Anne Gundersdatter Uleberg. He was no doubt named for his maternal grandfather, Gunder or Gunnar Johnson Aas-Uleberg. Like many young men of this time he would have worked some on a farm. We know from the 1900 census that he worked on the railway lines and from the 1910 census that he was living in Aasland and working in the mines. Aasland is near Evje og Hornnes. All sorts of minerals were mined in this area including feldspar, biotite, epidote, magnetite, uraninite, nickel, pig iron and others. I did find a photograph of the granite and feldspar quarry at Aasland and include here for general interest. For more information about the mines please see http://www.mindat.org.

Aasland feldspar quarry
[photo: www.mindat.org]

Gunnar had a total of 14 children, five with his first wife and nine more with his second wife. Generally farming would not have been sufficient to support a family of this size, making it an easier choice for a man to work in the mines or on the railway. Many men had additional means of income such as fishing, hunting, logging, running a water ferry, working in the mines or for the railway. It would have been desirable to work at anything that would bring in a little extra. The fact that he did work on the railway may explain why after he married Elisabeth Larsdatter from Bjelland, their children were born in various communities along the southern part of Norway. Elisabeth was born 27 September 1863 the daughter of Lars Olsen Tversland and Tone Kristensdatter.

The photos shown here were on a video and the transfer made for very poor quality but they do help put faces with the names so I am including them. All the pictures in today's post are courtesy of Alf Georg Kjetså unless otherwise noted.

Elisabeth and Gunnar were married in 29 October 1893 in Farsund, Vest Agder, Norway.

Their children:

Lars

1. Lars Gunnarsen, named for his maternal grandfather, was born 15 May 1894 in Farsund, Vest Agder.

Anne Marit

2. Anne Marit Gunnarsdatter, named for her paternal grandmother, was born 1 February 1896 in Lyngdal, Vest Agder

Ragna Theodora

3. Ragna Theodora Gunnarsdatter, born 25 October 1897, in Flekkefjord, Vest Agder

Thone or Tone

4. Thone or Tone Gunnarsdatter, named after her maternal grandmother, born 23 January 1900 in Flekkefjord, Vest Agder

Margit

5. Margit Gunnarsdatter, born 3 September 1901 in Flekkefjord, Vest Agder

Elisabeth Larsdatter Tversland

Elisabeth Larsdatter died some time between 1901 and 1904.

Gunnar Mikalsen and Ingeborg Simonsdatter, ca 1904

Gunnar married a second time about 1904 to Ingeborg Simonsdatter Stulien who was born 1 June 1882 in Eiken, Vest Agder. Ingeborg and Gunnar had these children*:

Simon

1. Simon Gunnarsen, born in Barbu, Aust Agder

Mikal

2. Mikal Gunnarsen, born in Øyestad, Aust Agder

Anstein or Arnstein

3. Anstein (or Arnstein) Gunnarsen, born in Mandal, Vest Agder

Georg

4. Georg Gunnarsen, born in Evje, Aust Agder

Karl

5. Karl Gunnarsen

Gudrun

6. Gudrun Gunnarsdatter (Gunnarsen)

Gunnar

7. Gunnar Gunnarsen

Ingemann

8. Ingemann Gunnarsen

Agnes

9. Agnes Gunnarsdatter (Gunnarsen)

This photograph fits very well here since in 1900 Gunnar was working on the railway and living at Lillekleven farm in Nes, Flekkefjord, Vest Agder. In 1910 he was living at Aasland, Evje, Aust Ager and listed as working in the mine [Aasland Feldspar Quarry most likely].

Evje railway station, ca 1901

The train at Evje with flatbeds loaded with ore from the mines and logs waiting to be loaded or perhaps just unloaded, ca 1901. The train carried cargo as well as passengers.

Gunnar Mikalsen died about 1943. Ingeborg died January 1970

[logo: www.e-h.kommune.no]

Each community has its own logo or coat of arms. This one for Evje og Hornnes, Norway shows railway or tram cars used for transporting the ore and indicates how important mining is to the area. For more information about Evje og Hornnes please see the website at http://www.e-h.kommune.no/ **

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Notes:

* After consideration I decided not to put the birth years for the children of the second marriage since they were born beginning 1905 and later there is a possibility some of them may still be living and I do not have the death dates.

** While the Evje og Hornnes website is in Norwegian it does have an option for English and other languages.