Smidje Folk

Our ancestor, Endre Brekke, was born on the Brekke farm at Vik, but his father, Mikkel Endresen SMIDJE, was born at SMIDJE in Feios, which at the time was in Leikanger Fylkeskommune, Sogn.  Mikkel's father was Endre Andersson Hamre, from Indre Hamre, Leikagner.  Endre Andersson Hamre married Brita Olsdatter SMIDJE. Together they inherited the SMIDJE farm from Brita’s parents, Ole and Ragnhild Feidje (Fedje) SMIDJE.  Unfortunately, Brita died at age 24.  Endre later married Kari Mikkelsdatter from the EITRON farm in nearby Balestrand. So Kari is our ancestor, not Brita.  Kari and Endre had 9 children.

CHILDREN OF ENDRE ANDERSON HAMRE SMIDJE AND KARI MIKKELSDTR. EITORN

 

Barn 1: Britha Endresdotter SMIDJE     #293
Født:  Døpt: 18 jan 1769  på Smidje, Feios, Leikanger 
Død:   1838       
Married: Sjur Olson Håum  f. 1757  d. 11 jan 1828   Gift: 11 jun 1787 i Leikanger11 Children, including Markus Sjurson Hove His children were called Ulvestad.                                

Barn 2: Eirik Endreson SMIDJE 1771-1802
Married: Unni Johannesdtr. EGGUM (1772-1844);
Eirik and Unni had 3 Children: Mikkel Eirikson SMIDJE  b. 1797 m. Syneva Arnesdtr. Njøs  1827.  Took over the farm in 1827. Brita and Synneva. Following Eirik’s death, Unni married Ola Arnfinnson Sætre. Unni and Ola had 5 children, including Turid who married Eirik’s  brother, Nils, when she grew up.

Barn 3: Steinvor Endresdatter SMIDJE  1773-1842
Married: Ola Jensson Hamrum Håum or Hove?
Daughter: Kari Olsdotter Hamrum

Barn 4: Synneva Endresdotter SMIDJE
Born 1776 at Smidje, Feios, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway
Died:  1 Aug 1852 in Helland, Feios, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway. Synneva Endresdatter married Ola Nilson Dale and had a child. Synneva Endresdatter married Johannes Andersen Helland and had 4 children. 2 sources disagree on marriage details.
1^stMarriage 1801 in Leikanger: 1 John Andersson Helland b: 1775 in Helland, Leikanger, Sogn
Children: 
1.  Endre Johanneson Helland  b. 1801 Leikanger
2. Marta Johannesdotter Helland b: 1811 in Helland, Leikanger, Sogn

2^nd Marriage Ola Nilson DALE b: 1778 in Dale, Balestrand, Sogn
Son: John Ólason director Helland b: 1821 in Helland, Leikanger
Barn 5: Anders Endreson SMIDJE Birth: 1778 in Smidje, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=obeyfamily&id=I885
Death: 1826 in Smidje, Balestrand, Sogn
1 Ragnhilde Hansdotter Indre Borlaug b: 1787 in Borlaug Home in Feios, Leikanger, Sogn
NOR c: March 13, 1787 in Feios kyrkje in-law, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR                      
CHILDREN:
1 Hans Anderson SMIDJE b: 1813 in Smidje, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR 
2.. Kari Andresdotter SMIDJE b: 1816 in Smidje, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR 
Barn 6: Torborg Endresdotter SMIDJE  Birth: 1782 in Smidje, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR 1
3. Endre Anderson SMIDJE b: 1819 in Smidje, Leikanger, Sogn, NOR  d: 1845 Skottholen, Lavik, Sogn

Barn 7: Mikkel Endreson SMIDJE  1783-1857
Married: Ragnhild Anfinnsdtr. Seim *enkje av Tor Anderson Brekke, of Boadalen, Vik
Children:Endre Mikkelson BREKKE b. 1816, m. Anna Olsdtr. Hopperstad bruk 7; to America 1853
Kari Mikkelsdtr BREKKE b. 1820 m. Lars Sjurson Hønsi (1816-1864).

Barn 8: Ivar Endreson SMIDJE 1786-
Married: Gjorund Kristensdtr. Seim 1823 at OFFERDAL(Gjorund b. 1794)
9 Children.  Kari Ivarsdtr Offerdal 1824 – 1825
Kari Ivarsdtr Offerdal1825 – 1825
Ollegard Ivarsdtr Offerdal 1827 –
Else Sofie Ivarsdtr Offerdal 1829 – 
Endre Ivarsson Offerdal 1832 – 1919
Kristen Ivarsson Offerdal 1835 -
Erik Ivarsson Offerdal 1837 – 1838
Ivarsdtr Offerdal 1839 – 1875
Iver Ivarsson Offerdahl 1841 – 1933
Note:  Kristen Ivarson Offerdal  married Rannveig Jorgensdtr from Ardal, returned to Feios. See Ivar Endreson SMIDJE from Pridlao document  on following page.
Barn 9: Nils Endreson SMIDJE 1791-1862
Married: Turid Nilsdatr. Saetre in 1830 (she was born in 1812; died 1897)
Children:
1. Kari b. 1859, m. Ola Person Vange
2. Uni b. 1833 m. Endre Tuchsen Stadheim
3. Endre (1837-1885) m. 1867 Brita Andersdtr. Stadheim dau. of Anders Tuchsen Stadheim) b. 1840.
4. Ola b. 1840
5. Kristi Bo. 1848 m. Nils Tryti
6. Synneve b. 1851, m. Nils Fosse
NOTES: 
1. Nils bought bruk 1 and 2 at Vange in Vik Kommune.  He divided the farm between two sons, Endre (bruk no. 1) and Ola (bruk nos. 2 & 3).   See Vik Bygdebok pp. 346-353 for more.

TOR ANDERSON BREKKE AND RAGNHILD ANFINNSDATTTR SEIM

Endre Mikkelson Brekke was the son of Mikkel Endreson (Smidje) Brekke and Ragnhild Anfinnsdatter Seim.  Mikkel and Ragnhild also had a daughter, Kari, who married Lars Sjurson Hønsi.  Kari and Lars bought Brekke No. 5 when Endre and Anna emigrated to America.  However, Ragnhild was first married to Tor Anderson Brekke. Tor died in 1814, leaving Ragnhild with 6 children, including a newborn baby, to care for.  Those children were half-siblings to Endre and Kari.  Ragnhild had a farm, but she needed a husband.  Mikkel needed a farm and a wife. He decided to court the widow at Brekke No. 5 and it wasn't long before they were married. 

Tor Andersson Brekke (b. October 03, 1759, d. 1814) (son of Anders Endreson Brekke and Synneva Torsdatter . Sylvarnes) was born October 03, 1759 in Brekke, Vik, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway, and died 1814. He married Ragnhild Anfinnsdatter Seim on June 24, 1797 in Vik, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway, daughter of Anfinn Tollackson Seim and Gyrid Andersdatter Tenål.
CHILDREN OF TOR ANDERSON BREKKE AND RAGNHILD ANFINNSDATTER SEIM

1.  Synneva Torsdatter Brekke was born March 07, 1798 at Brekke, Vik, Sogn, Norway. She married Gutorm Anfinnson Midlang on 1823, son of Anfinn Gutormson Midlang and Marta Olsdatter Orvedal.  Their daughter, Marta, came with the families of her uncles, Anders and Endre, in 1853. She married Gutorm Olson Hønsi, son of Synneva Ivarsdtr. Hønsi and Ola Gutormson Tisdel of Hønsi Bruk no. 2. They lived in Bath Twp., Clarks Grove, Freeborn Co., MN.

  

2. Anders Torson Brekke was born 1803 at Brekke, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway. He died in 1875 near Lake Mills, Iowa.  Anders Torson Brekke was 11 years old in 1814 when his father, Tor Anderson Brekke, died. By tradition, he would have taken over the Brekke farm when the time came.  But the death of his father changed that.  When Mikkel Endreson Smidje bought the Brekke farm, his son, Endre, became first in line to inherit the farm, and Anders Torson Brekke was left without a place.  Anders married Anna Hansdatter Føli Feb.10, 1829, Vik, and they raised a family at Føli.  But, in 1853, both Anders and Endre decided to emigrate to America.  Anders and Anna's son, Tor Anderson Brekke Føli, had emigrated to Boone Co. IL in 1844. Tor fought in the Civil War and was wounded in Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  He died as a result of his wounds on January 1, 1863.  Anders and Endre left Vik with their families in May of 1853. They crossed the ocean on the schooner, Hans Holmboe, and arrived in New York on June 29th.  Within a year or so of arriving in the US, Endre settled on land in Calmar Twp., Winneshiek Co., Iowa, a mile north of the little village of Spilleville. Anders and Anna lived in Chicago for some years.  During that time, Anna and one daughter died in a cholera epidemic and are buried in Lincoln Park Cemetery.  Anders and his sons moved to the Lime Creek area of Winnebago County, Iowa, where he died in 1875.
*FOLI, Thor  
Residence: Freeborn County, Minnesota. Born “Tor Andersen Føli” in Vik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, son of Anders Torsen Brække and Anna Hansdatter Føli. Came from Vik to America in 1844, settling in Freeborn County, Minnesota. Civil War: Private. Killed in the war. Sources: (Ulvestad p282) (Naeseth ’44-1143) http://vesterheim.org/collections/civil-war-database/f/fol/

3. Gyrid Torsdatter Brekke was born August 1806 at Bruk 5 Brekke in Vik, Sogn, Norway, and died at Bruk 1 Holstad in Vik, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway. In 1829 he married Jon Ellendson Holstad b. 1793. The son, Michael Jonson Holstad, emigrated with his family in 1867 and settle near Lake Mills, Iowa.

4. Eli Torsdtr. Brekke was born January 1809, at Bruk 5 Brekke in Vik, Sogn, Norwayand died date unknown.  Eli married Anders Jonson Nummedal. (1807-1856) Store Nummedal, bruk 2.  Her son, Jon Anderson Nummedal, emigrated to the US in 1864. He married Eli Olsdatter Orvedal, the daughter of Ola Johanneson Orvedal.

5.  Anna Torsdatter Brekke was born May 1811, in Bruk 5 Brekke in Vik, Sogn, Norway, and died 1849. She married Gutorm Larson Honsi  1831. Hønsi Bruk 28, Gard 1. Their daughter, Ragnhild, came to the United States with Anders and Endre aboard the Hans Holmboe in 1853.  She married Endre Sandager in Iowa.

6. Tor Torson Brekke was born October 9, 1814, at Bruk 5 Brekke in Vik, Sogn, Norway, and died 1847. He married Ragnhild Olsdatter Hopperstad on January 2, 1842. Tor Torson Brekke drowned in the Sognefjord leaving his widow and 4 children.  Their eldest daughter, Ragnhild, had emigrated in 1851 in company of her uncle, Jon Olson Hopperstad and family.  Ragnhild, Tor's widow, was a sister to Anna Hopperstad Brekke. She and her 3 remaining children, Margrete, Synneva and Tor, were aboard the Hans Holmboe in 1853.