For my Olsen line, one such record appears in the 1875 household register for Dypvåg, Norway. On that page, my 2x great-grandfather Laurits Olsen (1840–1934) is listed not simply as a carpenter, but as a Skibstømmermand — a ship’s carpenter.
It’s a single word, but it adds remarkable color to everything that follows.
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| 1875 household register for Dypvåg, Norway, listing Laurits Olsen as a Skibstømmermand (ship’s carpenter). |
The household register, dated 31 December 1875, places Laurits Olsen at the head of his household in coastal Dypvåg. Alongside his name is his occupation: Skibstømmermand. It wasn't just manual labor; it was a specialized trade. They built and fixed sailing ships right there on the coast where the timber was sourced.
This was not inland farming or occasional labor. It was a trade tied directly to Norway’s maritime economy, one that required precision, experience, and an intimate knowledge of ships.
Seeing Laurits Olsen described as a ship’s carpenter reframes the later Olsen story. He spent his working life shaping wood into vessels designed to move people and goods along the coast and across open water. His children grew up in a household where ships were not abstractions, but everyday realities — built plank by plank by their father’s hands.
Laurits himself never emigrated. But the sea that shaped his livelihood would also shape his family’s future.
Laurits Olsen and his wife raised seven children in Dypvåg. All but their oldest daughter eventually immigrated to the United States, settling primarily in New York and establishing the American branches of the Olsen family.
The oldest daughter remained in Norway, meaning it is very likely that descendants of Laurits Olsen still live there today, while the descendants of her siblings carried the family name and story across the Atlantic.
One man’s trade — practiced along the southern Norwegian coast — became the quiet foundation for a family story that now spans two continents.
Without this record, Laurits Olsen might remain just a name and a set of dates on a pedigree chart. With it, he becomes a man at work — a skilled shipbuilder living by the sea, unknowingly helping prepare his children for journeys far beyond his own horizon.
Sometimes, all it takes is one word in a record to add color to an entire family story.
Key References:
- Ancestry.com. 1875 Norway Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2020. Original data: 1875 Norge Folketelling, Arkivverket, Norge.