F a m i l y   h i s t o r y

Great-grandparents

The family name Dalen comes from my great-grandfather Martin Petersen Åtloaunet (1859-1949) from Frosta who, after working a few years in Michigan - USA, had saved enough money to buy a farm in his native country. Early in 1894 he came back to Frosta, and as the farm Dalen (or ”Dala” in everyday talk) in the neighbouring parish of Ekne at the same time was for sale, he bought it. He then married great-grandmother and tailor daughter Oleanna Johannesdtr. Størset (1865-1947) - also from Frosta - and the day after the wedding they moved to the recently acquired farm. As was the custom, they now started to use the name of the farm as family name. They had 6 children. One of them later added the letter ”h” to the name, so Dalen and Dahlen in the district is the same family.

Great-grandfather Peder Ingvald Petersen Falstad (1873-1949) was child no. 4 of 13 siblings at he farm Falstad Øvre (Upper Falstad) in Ekne. The oldest child was a half-sister of his, and had no allodial privileges. And as his two elder brothers emigrated to America, it was Peder Ingvald who inherited the farm from their parents. He was married to Agnes Kristiansdtr. Jørstad (1890-1972) from Ytterøya, daughter of Kristian Albert Jørstad, sloop skipper and smallholding farmer at Saltbodøren. They had 4 children.

Great-grandparents Elen Marta Evensdtr. Buenget (1860-1935) and Enok Evensen Vandbak (1857-1920) came from two smallholding farms under the main farm Ørsjødal Østre in Verran. They took over the farm Vandbak from the parental generation about 1883. The name Vandbak (original: Wandbakken) originates from how the farm is located in the terrain; it’s situated in a hillside above a lake (”vand”, old for vann = lake, and ”bak”, old/short for bakke = hillside). In time it became an independant farm, and is in everyday talk called Vassbakken. It was owned by the same family from 1836 to 2007, but was sold and got new owners in 2008. The family name Vandbakk is quite unusual; everybody with that name in one’s family in Norway and Sweden are related. Enok and Elen Marta had 8 children, of whom 6 grew up.

Great-grandfather Thomas Martinius Svendsen (1881-1951) was born in Oslo, and worked at a spinning mill in Nydalen (Oslo), then at Christiania Spigerverk (= iron works) in the same area, but finally ended up as a carpenter. Thomas was, as carpenter, involved in the construction of Oslo City Hall. As a second job during that engagement, he was acting as a model for the sculptor who made the fisherman statue outside the city hall, which was shown on the old paper 10-krone from the 80’s. He must have been a far-seeing man: Before he married he decided to have 4 children. So he built a four-family house, ”Elverhøy”, at Korsvoll in Oslo; one flat per child. Then he married great-grandmother Laura Otilde Antonsen (1882-1956), who worked at a grocer’s shop in Nydalen. And Thomas and Laura had 4 children.

Grandfather Harald Dalen (1905-1998) had as the youngest among the siblings at ”Dala” little to gain at the farm. He was educated as gardener at ”Oppland småbruks- og hagebruksskole” (Oppland small farm- and gardening school), and in 1928 he moved to Rykkinn in Bærum, where he leased a couple of small farms, and had a garden center for 15 years. During that time he married grandmother Solveig Falstad (1913-2008) from Øver-Falstad in Ekne. She was educated as a nurse in Oslo. They moved back to Trøndelag in 1943. First to Frosta, then to Øver-Falstad. And finally - in 1948 – to the small farm Innlegget in Ekne, where they settled as pig breeders and strawberry farmers, while they raised 5 children. Harald also was sacristan and churchwarden in Ekne till long past normal pension age.

Grandfather Ole Martin Vandbakk (1902-1967) too was the youngest among his siblings. He was educated at ”Mære Landbruksskole” (Mære agricultural school), wereupon he moved to Akershus and leased a farm, ”Koksa”, near Fornebu in Bærum. He married grandmother Kari Charlotte Svendsen (1913-1982) in 1942. The year after, they got their only child; a daughter. At the time they worked Lillosætra, a small farm in Lillomarka outside of Oslo. Later they moved to Ås in Akershus, and finally to ”Elverhøy” at Korsvoll in Oslo, where they settled. Kari worked in a grocer’s store, while Ole Martin worked as a taxi driver, forest supervisor etc.

Dad is the oldest of the siblings from Innlegget. He was educated as a vet in Oslo, and - in 1963 - married Mum, who worked at the laboratory at the Veterinary college. Dad graduated in 1965, and in 1967 they (we) moved north to Trøndelag. In addition to yours truly, they had to girls, whom both are settled in Innherred.

R D