The folklore surrounding December 13th has held a special place in Norway since the Viking Age. It was thought to be the longest night of the year and the beginning of the Yule season. It was a dangerous night, since it was ruled by a female spirit, a vette or vaettir, called Lussi (“Light”). She was the mother or leader of the vettir (spirits) and other Huldrefolk (supernatural beings), and kin...
Clarence Anderson (1894-1953)
The story of Clarence Anderson’s life is filled with holes, gaps, and questions. His parents were both dead before my mom and her brothers and sisters were old enough to ask or remember their stories. A vindictive in-law, Anne Finlan, disliked the Andersens intensely (why?) and destroyed boxes of papers and keepsakes when Karl Andersen died in 1930. Those papers–letters, documents, photos...
Carl Anderson (1856-1930)
Reading over documents and written family stories, I have seen an evolution in the spelling of Carl Anderson’s name: Karl Andersen (Norway), Carl Andersen (1901) and Carl Anderson (1930). I don’t know why he changed the spelling of his name. My Uncle, Ernest Andersen, thought it may have been to “Americanize” it. In its wake, some of Karl’s grandchildren go by “Anderson” and others “Andersen...
The Family Farm Hurv to the Andersen Family in Froland, Norway
The Hurv farm was in Froland, a municipality about 10 miles north of Grimstad. It borders Grimstad and Arendal in Aust Agder county. In 1968, family members still lived on the farm. It is spelled Fróðaland (“Froo’s (farm) land”) in Old Norse. Grimstad is a coastal town in southern Norway. According to Odd Ronning Andersen, a cousin I corresponded with in 1968/1969, Norwegians used their farm...
Clarence Anderson
Clarence Anderson was a complex and wounded person. He was capable of great charm, and savage emotional and physical violence. He told my mother, “Always remember we are descended from kings.” Researching his life is like walking on dead end streets and dark alleys. Clarence’s life took a downturn after his father, Carl Anderson, died in Elizabeth General Hospital on September 16, 1930 of a...
Buffalo Bill
I know of very few personal belongings of my great-grandfather, Karl Andersen. He was born in Grimstad, Norway in the 1850s, a second or third son of the family. Karl became a ship’s carpenter and ended up in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the 1870s or 1880s. My mother, Helen Anderson Doherty, told me about his beautifully carved sea chest, his massive canopied oak bed, and his Buffalo Bill photo. ...