Rare old picture from Fjotland around 1850
If our information about this picture is correct, it is a rare opportunity for us to present such an old photograph. The little girl’s name is Asgerd, born 1851. She is sitting on her mother, Torborg Eielsdatter Engedal’s lap. Torborg Engedal born 1822 – died 1874. The father, Tor Oddson Eiesland, born 1811 – died 1877.
Last row: Karen Tonette 1836 – 1916 and Nils Olaus 1842 – 1918
Both children from Tor’s first marriage.
Nils Olaus signed up with the 25th Wisconsin Regiment and fought in the Civil War, a war we are watching every week on TV right now. He was taken prisoner and sat in Libby Prison, Andersonville, GA where 12,286 of the North’s soldiers died during a 14 month period because of hunger and awful treatment.
Asgerd left home at age 18 in 1869 to go to her brother.
The picture was found in a crack in a wall when the house on Eiesland was torn down. It is supposed to have been taken by a man from Fjotland who had brought photo equipment from the US. Photography was seldom used in Norway before 1880. The first photographers came to Flekkefjord around 1860. It is a rarity to have a photograph from as early as 1850. There are a few more early pictures from this Norw/American.
There are relatives after Torborg and Tor on Eiesland, Haaland, Gunstenslf, and Veggeland.
Translated from AGDER No. 99 August 1987
