Our first stop today was at Valvatna. Currently there is a population of 569 according to the Places in the World Website. My interest in this area was my 5x great grandmother Ragnilde JORGENSDATTER WALVATNE was living there when she was confirmed at the age of 15 in 1772.
As well, my ggg.grandparents Johannes KNUDSEN NES and Eli SVENDSDATTER ELDOEN lived there for a time.
Today there are many houses in the area. A few look like they may have been older farmhouses of some sort. You can see the value that farming would have had in the area and it is still beautiful and green (though it is also fairly rocky).
We visited the new Nysæter church, which was built in 1991. While not the old church, the Nysæter area is again an area of ancestors. My 5x grandparents Ragnilde (above) and her husband Nils HANSEN AALAND are living there in the 1891 census as the third family on the farm.
The church was very nicely situated on the top of a rise.
There was also a memorial to operation Cartoon, which was carried out by British and Norwegian Commandos to destroy the Pyrite mine on the island of Stord.
We then visited the Stord church. The earliest information I have (so far) from the Stord district church is from the marriage of Amund Torressen and Eli Knudsdatter ( 6x great grandparents) on 10 July 1737.
The Stord Church has been mentioned as early as the middle of the 14th century, so I do hope to be able to get further back in the records. The church is beautifully situated on the water and has lovely views.
The day was topped off by a visit to the Digernes Farm and relatives who live there.
The flag was flying for us when we arrived. It was so nice to meet Tørres and Oddrun.
There were so many special moments in the afternoon, I will only put a few here (if you want more, come visit me when I am back home). We agreed that there were so many different ways to spell (and pronounce) Degerness and they all are acceptable.
Jorgen, my great-great grandfather helped to build the road to the farmhouse shortly before he emigrated (perhaps after the road was finished he had no more jobs). His farm was up on one of the hills but has long ago burned down.
The Digernes School house. Children came from the island out in the sound (at the end of the bridge now, though they came by boat then) as well as the Digernes children. So many of them wrote their initials on the walls throughout the years.
Information that could be found in the old bible, which was published in 1790 – I will be able to confirm information I have found elsewhere with the handwritten notes.
Seeing a bunad and blankets in the pattern of the area.
This was such a good day for us, so much family history information!
