Does anyone else out there have ancestors that served jail time in Oslo during the 1850' for being
Convict or Martyr
My second great-grand parents, Ole Nielsen and Anna Cajsa Jansdotter, joined the LDS church in May of 1858 in Oslo, Norway. They had recently moved from Varmland, Sweden to find work in the factories of Oslo. They found each other, married and joined the LDS religion. The LDS church had been in Norway for about five years. There were about 400 members in Norway, 200 of them lived in Christiania (Oslo) where there were four branches (congregation’s) of the church: Vestra Aker, Strommens, Hedemakens and Christiania. Their baptism record, in the Christiania branch, states that at sometime Ole is “Utelukket”, excommunicated. Their are several others that were also “Utelukket” on the record.
There are many reasons why this could’ve occurred. The nature of the oppression and persecution in Norway was so bad that there were men who had to leave the church so that they could get a job to provide for their family. Some who joined the church were beaten with clubs, kicked and dragged in the street by the hair of their head. Some new converts were called witches and many were forced from their jobs.There are many documented cases of men being fined and imprisoned for preaching, administering the sacrament, reading from the Book of Mormon or even singing. It was worse for men, than women because the men in the church held the priesthood, which could be construed as impersonating a priest.
In 1860 Ole Nielson appears in Christiana city court for negligence dealing with five dollars, possibly for non-payment of a fine. Was this associated with being a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints? We don’t know. He is re-baptized in 1862. Which tells me that he was a believer and wanted to align himself with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no matter the consequences. What I’ve found in most of the early Norwegian LDS Saints autobiographies is that at this point they leave and come to America. Is his downfall, that he was to poor to leave? Later that year he is charged with theft and sentenced to 20 days living on water and bread. Is this a cruel twist on the Mormon sacrament? We find him in and out of jail, each time for a longer period of time, ending up in Akershus prison, where the prisoners are rented out as day laborers. These are not hardened criminals, but the conditions were so bad that it was called “death’s waiting room”. I have recently read Christopher Syverson Winger’s autobiography and found that his sentencing and jail time in Norway, is almost identical to Ole’s. He too was put into jail for “theft” of the Lutheran Priest’s sheep (congregation members). That gives me hope that Ole was a saint. During this time his wife, Anna Cajsa Jansdatter is active in the church and working in a factory, to survive. Their two daughters, Josephine and Britta Mina are baptized and confirmed into the LDS faith on July 19 & 23, 1871, on the day the Christiania conference house, the first church-built meetinghouse and office in Europe, was dedicated. We find record of her son Carl also being baptized. She sends her three children to Utah with other members of the congregation. Does she stay to be near Ole? In 1872 we find Ole Nielson sentenced for Grand theft to the Akershus Prison, where he later dies from a fractured skull, the result of a fall or from being pushed from a tower. Why does he have access to a tower? This sounds like an intentional act. Is he so broken that he can’t go on or does he give his life for his faith? His body is retrieved and buried.
Which tells me someone, probably his wife, cares for him.
Anna stays active in the church, endures fifteen years of persecution and finally immigrates to Ephraim, Utah where she reunites with her children and meets and marries Niels Johnson. After he dies in 1904 she has Ole’s temple work done. She dies in 1907. No one tells this story. No one writes about it. Not a word. There are still so many questions. Why was he really in jail and why did he die? Was he a martyr for his faith?
The mystery remains unsolved. Was Ole a sinner or a saint. A good guy or a bad guy. There are no life stories passed down of this happening. Not even a hint. We don’t have a picture of either one of them. Was this all a result of persecution or was he legitimately a troublemaker. It wasn’t until just before Ephraim, Utah’s, Scandinavian Days, this spring, when my sister’s and I where researching Anna and Ole more throughly, for the unveiling of the new headstone we’d bought, for Anna’s grave, did we find out about Ole’s jail time and ultimate demise.
Does anyone else out there have ancestors that served jail time in Oslo during this time for being a member of the LDS church? What did their sentence’s state that they were serving time for? 
Anna has become one of my hero’s. She had 7 children during this time, four of which died. I can’t imagine all that she went through for a religion that she loved. Ultimately, I know that they have the opportunity to be together, if that is what they wish, and no matter what happened to Ole, he is in a better place, free from outside oppression, personal demons or maybe both.
The details in this story are taken from early LDS Norwegian church records, found in the familysearch library, in Salt Lake City, Utah, LDS Scandinavian Mission records, found online, Christopher Syverson Winger’s autobiography and Carl J.E. Field’s story of his life (found in Familysearch, in their memories). Carl was listed as the person that baptized Ole. His story states that he was the Christiania branch President at the time. From pushing the, “How am I related” button, I found out that he was a distant cousin of mine. Their descendants would meet and marry.
My sister and I were searching for a death record for an Ole Nielson In Christiania, Norway that told us “this is the one”. It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. One day one popped up as a hint on Familysearch, that stated that he had died in prison (total shock to us). Thank you indexers! It had his wife’s name on it and stated that he had three children living in America. We’d finally found him. My sister Camille Seeley Bell and I joined a group, in the Norwegian digital Archives, similar to this group and asked for help finding Ole Nielson and the prison records associated with him. We found out that you have to physically be there to access the jail and prison records for that time period. Someone reached back to us almost immediately and told us they would look the next day. They sent us more records of his sentences and jail time. The volunteers at the Familysearch library, Scandinavian section, helped us find other records. I know there are more records to find. I have been told the priests and local authorities kept records regarding these early saints and their activities. I hope to be able to travel to Norway to find them or hire a local researcher to help.
Comments
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The Title was suppose to say. Does anyone out there have ancestors that served time in jail in Oslo, Norway in the 1850's to 1880's for being a member of the LDS Church? What did their sentence state that they were there for?
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@Annette Earl I am researching a similar story in Sweden. As with your ancestor, mine had several convictions for theft. They are different in that my ancestor's convictions were prior to his joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jail sentences of bread and water were the norm in the Scandinavian countries. I know my ancestors were poor cottagers and did not own land or have the ability to lease land. The thefts usually involved food.
Yes, the early missionaries and members in Norway and Sweden in particular were often jailed. It was illegal to join another religion at the time in Sweden. However, I am wondering if your ancestor's jail time was more related to the thefts...likely for food.
Like you, I am trying to get the nitty gritty details. This involves getting the minutes from the actual court cases and having them transcribed by a professional genealogist. You might consider doing something like that. Just an idea.
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