52 Ancestors in 54 Weeks: Week 7: Rasmus Pedersen Fister (1827-1876)

Rasmus Pedersen Fister, my 2nd great grandfather, was born in Fister, Rogaland, Norway on Jun 19, 1827, to Peder Faltinson (1804-1864) and Randi Pedersdottar Folsvig (1804-1871).  He was baptized seven days later on June 26 in the Lutheran church in Folsvig, Fister, Rogaland, Norway ("Norway, Baptisms, 1634-1927," index, FamilySearch).  He was the oldest of eight children.

In early 1839, when Rasmus was almost 12, one of his younger sisters, Karn Serine Pedersdottar, died at about 2 1/2 months old.

Rasmus married Anna Pedersdottar Sandvig (or Dahl?) (1830-abt 1915) sometime around 1850 when Rasmus was about 23.  They had at least 8 children:

• Rakel Karine Fister (1851-1873), an opera singer who died of consumption.
• Peder Fister (1856-1860)
• Peder "Per"R Fister (1857-1913), a farmer and fisherman who stayed in Norway
• Peder Olaus Fister (1859-1861)
• Peder Olaus Fister (born 1861), a seaman
• Berdines Rasmussen Fister (1864-1934), my great grandfather
• Falentin "Frank' R Fister (1867-1938), who came to Illinois at the same time as Berdines
• Ivar J Fister (1874-1926), who also came to Illinois originally but then settled down as a farmer in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Rasmus, 38, and his family appear in the 1865 Census ("Folketelling") in Sandvik, Hjelmeland Parish, Rogaland, Norway.  He is listed as a "Husmand med Jord":

A "husmand" or "cotter"  provided farm labor without owning the farm or having a lease.  A "husmand med jord" was a renter who also had a small plot of land where he might grow a few crops or maintain some livestock of his own.  The husmand's duties to the land owner always came before any responsibilities related to his own pursuits.  Some renters also learned a trade - lumberman, blacksmith, even tailoring - and used the additional income to purchase a few comforts, or saved in order to purchase a farm or, in later years, establish themselves in America.  http://www.hadelandlag.org/resources/resbasics.htm

Rasmus and his family were in the same place ten years later in the 1875 Folketelling, and he was still a husmand med Jord.

Rasmus died in Sandvik the following year, May 6, 1876, age 48.



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