Christian Jensen/Jorgensen born Moss area Norway 1856 or 1860. Which date?

MaureenE123

I am wondering if anyone has any views about the birth date of one of my GGFs, born in Norway in the Moss area in either 1856 or 1860. 1856 was a date obtained by visiting Norway circa 1960. 1860 is apparently a date from an Ancestry database introduced in 2020.

My GGFs was a Norwegian sailor who jumped ship in South Australia circa late 1870s. He changed his name to Henry Smith, moved to Western Australia where he spent most of his working life and died there in 1937. (Although I am in Australia, I am in the other side of the country, on the Eastern side, approximately 4,000 km away)

He is in Family Tree as Christian Jorgensen AKA Henry Smith K42N-7VZ

I have been sent a photo of his gravestone which includes the words

Henry [Harry] Smith. Born 25th August 1860. Died 1st April 1937.

Underneath this marble piece, a second piece of marble has been added which is inscribed

Henry Smith Born Christian Jensen Moss Norway 1856

The family story I have been told is that circa late 1950s or 1960s, one of his daughters (not a direct ancestor) went from Western Australia to Norway especially to find out information about his birth (an expensive journey in those days), with the date of his birth accepted as 1860 as appeared on his gravestone. However “Born Christian Jensen Moss Norway 1856” was the information obtained. If I remember the story correctly, she was able to view records in a local repository.

I have now been sent a link to a webpage from a local family history society in Western Australia, Harvey History Online, titled "Henry Smith – ‘Big Harry’ (1860 to 1937) "https://www.harveyhistoryonline.com/?p=6004

This includes the wording

"Henry Smith, otherwise known as ‘Harry Smith’ or ‘Big Smith’, was well-known in the timber industry as the Manager of Mornington Mills, the position he held from 1898 when it was built, to his death in 1937.

He was actually a Norwegian, born in Rygge, Ostfold, Norway on 25 August 1860 to Jorgen Jensen, a tenant farmer, and Kari Knudsdatter in the locality of Husbye.[1] On his christening record he is named Christian Jensen but in the 1875 Norwegian Census he is recorded as Kristian Jorgensen.[2] It is the same person. [Until the 1860s the Norwegians used the patronymic naming system, but for some reason the family used Jensen for births and christenings, the surname of their father.] Christian Jensen was a common name in Norway so when he came to Australia he changed his name to an equally common one – Henry Smith.

According to family history from relatives in Iowa, USA, Christian was apprenticed to a sea captain by his father, roaming the world in sailing ships and reputed to have been shipwrecked three times. Once was in the Gulf of Mexico on Key West when he saved the captain’s wife by wrapping her in his large overcoat after swimming ashore with her. He was suitably rewarded by the ship’s company and the local townspeople. [There is a relatively short period of time for all this to happen – in the 1875 Census of Norway conducted in December, Christian was still living with his parents and siblings at Rygge and was described as an agricultural worker. Jens, his brother, born 1852, was listed as a seaman. Harry’s obituary in the Harvey Murray Times, 9 April 1937, states that he ‘arrived in South Australia when 18 years of age’. Ed]

Notes [1] Norway Church Records 1812-1938, Birth, Baptism and Christening, per Ancestry.

[2] Norway, Select Census 1875, FHL Film No. 255578, per Ancestry.

My Note: The Ancestry database Norway Church records was published on Ancestry 12/10/2020.

My feeling is that when my family member went to Norway circa 1960, she went thinking her father has been born 25th August 1860, so the evidence she was shown which indicated he had been born in 1856 must have been convincing. Do I just disregard this 1856 date now and accept the 1860 record, and associated information about the parents, as indicated from the 1860 record.? I do not have access to the 1860 record on Ancestry, but I note it is in Norwegian, so I would probably be unable to read it anyway. It is reported to tie in with the date of birth originally shown on his gravestone. The 1860 date has been added to the Family Tree information, probably by someone from the American branch of the family.

Gordon Collett

Several thought here:

Records:

You don't need Ancestry to access Norwegian records. The huge collection "Norway Church Records 1812-1938, Birth, Baptism and Christening" is, I'm pretty sure, just Ancestry's copy of FamilySearch's "Norway, Church Books, 1797-1958" https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/4237104 which was a joint indexing project carried out at the request of the Norwegian archives by Ancestry, My Heritage, and FamilySearch. These indexed records, broken into the set for each parish register, are also available totally free at the Norwegian digital archives at https://www.digitalarkivet.no

Names:

"Until the 1860s the Norwegians used the patronymic naming system, but for some reason the family used Jensen for births and christenings, the surname of their father" is a common myth and massive oversimplification. Prior to the Name Law of 1923 when people were required to pick a permanent, hereditary last name, last names were very fluid in Norway and the name a family used or which some official might record them under could easily change. The four varieties were (with some simplification here for brevity):

1. Patronymic - father's first name with -son or -datter (or a varient of theses) added. Used mainly by lower social classes such as tennant farmers. Would change every generation.
2. Fixed patronymics - an ancestor's first name with -sen added and used for both men and women. Used mainly by city dwellers of various classes. Remained the same in each generation. You can find a lot of examples of these as early as 1815.
3. Farm names - the name of the farm the family owned. Most of the time would be used in conjunction with a patronymic (e.g. Hans Jonsson Melkevik). Used by farm owners and their families. Would change if the family moved unless they did not buy and move to a new farm. If they moved to a city, for example, they would often keep the farm name.
4. Fixed, non-patronymic based, surnames. Remained the same in each generation. Used by upper classes such as nobility, government officials, and clergy.

Christian Jensen would mean that the family was either using a fixed patronymic surname or the official writing down his name in a document thought the family was. Christian Jørgensson (or any variant of that) would be recorded if the official assumed they were using patronymic surnames as would be most common for a tenant farmer.

When people moved away from their hometown, particularly if they emigrated, you can get some interesting and confusing results. For example, if Hans Olsson Dale of Dale farm had three sons, Jon, Anders, and Egil who emigrated to the United States and upon arrival had to declare their names, you could end up with Jon Hansen, Anders Olsen, and Egil Dale.

Birth Dates:

Like names and the spelling, birth dates could be kind of flexible in the 1800s. After all, who really cared when they were born? In particular census records can be very inaccurate. Any birth year in the census records from the 1800 that end in 0 or 5 have to be viewed with suspicion. A lot of rounding off was done.

I'm going to assume that all the history you have was properly done and the Christian identified by others really is your Henry. I do hope you have good documentation in those sources that connects Henry to that particular Christian and that the reason for the birth date conflict is not that you have the wrong Christian.

Starting with the 1875 census record you have: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/census/person/pf01052026001815

His birth date is listed as 1860. Is this a rounding error or was he really born in 1860?

Going back one step, here is the 1865 census: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/census/person/pf01038001002732

Here he is listed as age 5. It's pretty unlikely that anyone is going to mistake a five year old for a nine year old, so this is pretty good support for the 1860 birth year.

In this time period confirmation records are good supporting documents. Generally age 14 was pretty much the earliest anyone would be confirmed and the priest would be working from the birth registers so dates there would be pretty accurate rather than dates and ages coming from a census worker asking the family. Here is Christian: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20060928040593

Recorded on line 16 as Christian Jørgensen Huseby with birth date 25 August 1860. In the 1865 Census the family was living at the Huseby farm. The confirmation took place 4 October 1874. By the time of the 1875 census the family had moved to Lerhuset which was a farm next door to Huseby.

Now stepping back to the birth records here is the preist's copy of his birth record: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20060321010077

showing in entry 54 Christian born 25 Aug 1860 at Huseby with the correct parents. He was christened 9 Sept 1860.

(Note that the christening record does not actually include any last name for him. Some indexes of these records went ahead and incorrectly added the father's patronymic as the child's last name even when there was no indication that might be a correct fixed patronymic the family was using at the time. However I did check the Ancestry record and it is correctly indexed in that Christian is not listed with any last name.)

So you have four solid pieces of evidence that Christian Jørgensson Huseby was born at Huseby farm in Rygge, Østfold, Norway on 25 Aug 1860.

I don't really know what to make of that Moss, 1856, date. It is unfortunate that you don't have a full date or a copy of somewhere of what your relative actually found. There were 23 men born in Moss in 1856 with Christian as part of their name. I have not checked through the parents: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/search/persons/advanced?from=1856&to=1856&lt%5B%5D=dp&m%5B%5D=0104&firstname=christ*%7Ckrist*&lastname=&genders%5B%5D=m&birth_year_from=1856&birth_year_to=1856&birth_date=&birth_place=&domicile=&position=&event_year_from=&event_year_to=&event_date=&related_first_name=&related_last_name=&related_birth_year=&sort=rel

Searching through the Rygg records, https://www.digitalarkivet.no/search/persons/advanced?from=1856&to=1856&lt%5B%5D=dp&m%5B%5D=0136&firstname=jørg*&lastname=jen*&genders%5B%5D=m&birth_year_from=&birth_year_to=&birth_date=&birth_place=&domicile=&position=&event_year_from=&event_year_to=&event_date=&related_first_name=&related_last_name=&related_birth_year=&sort=rel , Jørgen and Kari had twin daughters, Marie and Augusta born in February 1855 and there is no record of them having a child in 1856.

My concern is that either his daughter found an incorrect birth record for him thinking that his birth name was Christian Jensen when it was not or that she found a correct birth record for him and he is not the Christian born at Huseby.

Looking in the 1865 census for all Christian/Kristian Jensen/Jørgensen born in Østfold between 1855 and 1861: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/census/search/1865?fornavn=christ*%7Ckrist*&etternavn=jens*%7Cjørgen*&kjonn%5B%5D=m&familiestilling=&sivilstand=&yrke=&fodselsaar=1855*%7C1856*%7C1857*%7C18581859%7C1860*%7C1861*&fodested=&alder=&ny_husholdning=&trossamfunn=&bygning_for_natteopphold=&etnisitet=&etnisitet_mors=&spraak=&merknader=&bosted=&bydel=&gaardsnummer=&bruksnummer=&gaardseier=&c%5B%5D=01&sort=rel there are only twelve of them with just the one born in Rygge and none born in Moss itself.

I must say that being born in 1856 to different parents and maybe not being in the 1875 census at all would give him more years than just three to be "roaming the world in sailing ships and … shipwrecked three times."

Do you have good documentation that Harry Smith's parents really were Jørgen and Kari?

Gordon Collett

I took a look at his Family Tree profile. It needs a lot more sources. Do you have a copy of the "Name Changed By Deed Poll Henry Or Harry Smith" record mentioned there?

MaureenE123

Many thanks for your comments @Gordon Collett , they are very much appreciated.

The only factual information I have myself is the photo of Harry Smith's headstone, as detailed in the first post. As far as I am aware, it was always accepted in the family until relatively recently that the information obtained in Norway c 1960 which was then added to the headstone was correct, and I have never attempted to research Harry Smith further.

Someone at some point has decided that Harry Smith's parents were Jørgen and Kari, but I don't really know if this was someone in Australia, or the American branch of the family.

I see that the Family Tree record says "Name Changed By Deed Poll Henry Or Harry Smith" but I have no knowledge of this. I am rather surprised that he would have done this, as under British law at the time , which Australia followed, you could call yourself any name you wanted, unless the name was used to defraud another person, so I'm not sure why he would have needed to do this.

All my researches have been done on other family members, including a GF on the other side of the family, whose origins were solved not by me, but by DNA testing undertaken by a male cousin, and it turned out, not only was that GF born a different name but he was born in a different country. I am sure his wife, my GM had no idea at all. I must admit this is perhaps influencing my thoughts about Harry Smith, that his details could well be different to what was thought in his lifetime. From family stories, the daughter of Harry Smith who went to Norway was considered an energetic competent person, and I think financially able to undertake any necessary investigations, so probably, in my view, likely able to have obtained correct information.

Thank you again Gordon.