a letter from Havtor Grytness

to my Grandfather, Sigurd Grytnes
November 15, 1953

Here is a letter to my grandfather from a cousin. In it Cousin Havtor looks at the family tree, confirms that they are relatives, and also tells about the ancestral farm in Norway. I'm posting it first in Norwegian, then the family tree, and under that, the English translation.
Daniel
danielfortyone (at)gmail.com



Hoquiam, Washington
Nov 15th, 1953

Kjære Sigurd Grytness,

Tak for brevet som jeg mottog nogen dager siden; Jeg beyndte straks å undersøke hvem du var, å fandt ut at du er nok en slektning ja. Vi har ei ættitavle skrevet ned, som gaar tilbake omtrent 250 aar. Der ser vi at din grandfader Nils Pedersen Øien var fodt i 1753 å giftet sig med Brit Andersdatter Grytness, å tok over gården Grytness paa den tid.

Du har vel kanske ikke set Øksendalen å gaarden Grytness. Den er upbygd med nye hus no å ser svæi ut, men tongvindt å drive, for det er saa brat.

Min fader solgte gaarden Grytness til sin broder Endre i 1905, å saa flytta vi til Kristiansund hvor han døde i 1913. Alle mine søskender reiste hit til landet, men to av dem reiste tilbake å lever nu i Kristiansund.

Vi kom endlelig tilsammen igjen dette aar, da de to i Norge kom hit paa besøk. Det blev den føste gang vi var isammen i vort liv for min eldste broder reiste hjemmifra før jeg var født.

Du siger du har en bror med navnet Havtor, ja det maa vel være manden som jeg var upnavnt efter, for jeg har aldrig hørt om nogen anden med sligt navn. Lever han? Saa maa du sende meg hans adress!

Er det nogen efterfølgere av din onkel Halvord her i landet?

Jeg kom hit til landet i 1922, reiste hjem igen i 1928 paa besøk. I 1930 blev jeg gift med en jente av Norske forældre i Nord Dakota, å kom herut paa kysten i 1944. Ve har en datter 20 aar gammel som gaar paa universsited i Seattle dette aar.

Min Broder Kristian lever ogsaa her i Hoquiam. En bror å en søster i Tacoma Washington.

Det var rigtig morro å foa høre fra dig, å om du nogen gang tak en tur østover soa maa du kalde paa us, å du maa være sikker paa om jeg tar en tur østover igjen saa skal jeg nok komme ind å say hello og saa. Hvis Post Falls er paa høivien no. 10. so har jeg vel kjørt igjennem den flere gange.

Vær saa snild å skrive igjen å svare paa mine spørsmål. Jeg kunde vel kanske hat mere av interesse å fortælle, men det foar bare være med dette.

kjærlig hilsen

Havtor Grytness
Hoquiam, Washington

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GENEALOGICAL DATA FROM HAVTOR GRYTNESS

Below is the family tree which was enclosed with the letter of Nov. 15th, 1953. Havtor said he got this information from files which went back as far as 1700. So apparently this is only part of the information contained in those files.



Peder Nilsen Grytness, født i 1791 paa Grytness i Øksendalen er min great grandfather å din grandfather.
Hans barn var:

1. Nils. (Din onkel, Min grandfather) født 20 april 1828, konfirmert 2 april 1843 av sogneprest Ole ??hr Berner(?).

2. Brit. Født 2-9(?)-1830, gift med Nils Endresen Brandstad. Hun reiste til America i 1899 å døde 8-26-1904.

3. Anders. (Din far) født 12-20-1832. I mine opskriverser staar det at han: i 1859 bleve han dimiteret from Tromsø Seminarisem med Loved Karakter "Meget Duelig". Senere tok han den akademiske vei å tok 1866 Artium med karakter "Laud" Eksamen philos. med preceteris, Embedseksamen 1872 med "Laud". Han bleve først sogneprest i Flakstad i Norland å 1884 i Aure Nordmøre. å døde 27 july 1904.

4. Dordi. Født 1-1(?)-1836 Gift 6-24-1858 med Endre Endresen Brandstad. De reiste til U.S.A. 5-23-1873.

5. Eli. Født 1-13-1841. Gift med Hoagen Olsen Melkild. Dei bodde paa Sundalsøra.

6. Halvor. Døde 2 år gammel.

7. Halvor. Født 3-23-1844. Han var flere aar paa et apotek i Oslo. Den 21th april 1885 utvandret han til U.S.A.

8. Brit Født 8-8-1847. Gift 11-13-1878 med Martinus Johnsen Erstad. Hun døde 1-26-1919.


Nils Pedersen Grytness (Min grandfather). Gift med Gura Endresdatter Brandstad, hadde 9 barn: Peder (Min far), Brit, Endre, Meldrid, Marit, Brit, Anders, Halvor.

Peder Nilsen Grytness.(Min far) gift med Brit Kristoffersdatter Jordahle. 9 barn: Nils, Helga, Kristoffer, Kristian, Petter, Gudrun, Astrid, Ole, å tilslut migself Havtor.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION
This is an English translation of the letter from Cousin Havtor Grytness.


Hoquiam, Washington
Nov 15th, 1953

Dear Sigurd Grytness,

Thank you for the letter I received some days ago; I began right away to look up who you were, and I found out that you are indeed a relative. We have a family register written up, one that goes back about 250 years. There we see that your [great] grandfather Nils Pedersen Øien was born in 1753 and married Brit Andersdatter Grytness, and took over the Grytness farm.

Perhaps you have not seen Øksendal and the Grytness farm. It is built up with a new house now and looks very fine, but hard to work because it's so steep.

My father sold the Grytness farm to his brother Endre in 1905, and we moved to Kristiansund where he died in 1913. All my siblings emigrated here to America, but two of them returned to Norway and now live in Kristiansund.

We finally came together again that year, when the two in Norway came here for a visit. That became the first time we were all together in our lives, because my eldest brother had left home before I was born.

You say you have a brother with the name of Havtor. Yes, that could well be the man after whom I was named. For I have never heard of any other with such a name. Does he still live? If so, you must send me his address! (see footnote*)

Are there any descendants of your uncle Halvord here in this country? (footnote**)

I came to America in 1922, went home again in 1928 on a visit. In 1930 I married a girl of Norwegian parents in North Dakota, and came out here to the coast in 1944. We have a daughter 20 years old who goes to the university in Seattle this year.

My brother Kristian also lives here in Hoquiam. A brother and a sister in Tacoma Washington.

It was very good to get to hear from you, and if you some time take a trip out this way, then you must call on us, and you may be sure that if I take a trip going eastwards, then I will certainly come in and say hello. If Post Falls is on the highway number 10, then I have certainly driven through it many times.

Please be kind and write again to respond to my questions. I could well have more of interest to tell, but it can be enough with this.

greetings,
Havtor Grytness

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NOTES: We don't have a copy of Grandpa's reply, but the answers to both of cousin Havtor's questions would be "no."

* Grandpa's twin brother Havtor had been dead for over half a century. As a young man just out of medical school, he died tragically from gas leaking from a lamp.
** Uncle Halvord had no children that we know of.
*** My grandfather, Sigurd Grytnes, spelled his name with a single "s".
**** Havtor is also spelled Haftor