Introduction

This is the beginning of the story of Asbjørn Hallvardsen Raae (Raa, Roe, Rowe) and his descendants. Asbjørn, his wife Ragnhild Andersdtr Raae and their two children, Anders and Anna left Norway in 1852 and came to America and Wisconsin. By 1860, according to the Federal Census, they were living in Portage Co. where Asbjørn and Ragnhild lived the rest of their lives.

Asbjørn's father, Hallvard Olsson Raa, was greatly influenced by Hans Nielsen Hauge, a traveling preacher who disagreed with the Church of Norway and espoused a simpler, pietistic Christianity. Asbjørn apparently followed in his father's footsteps for he too was a lay preacher both in Norway and in Wisconsin. I have included copies of letters written by Asbjørn to his Anders, after Anders had moved to Minnesota (with a rough translation) which vividly illustrate his beliefs.

This booklet deals mostly with the descendants of Anders Roe, but I correspond with a descendant of Anna (Roe) Berry, so perhaps her descendants can be included later. I also correspond with and have met a descendant of Lars Rowe, a brother of Ragnhild and a cousin of Asbjørn, so the circle ever widens.

Please inform me of errors, additions, better translations, etc., so that this can be given to our descendants as correctly as possible.

Verla Williams
4333 Pine Ridge Trail NE
Iowa City, IA 52240

Halvor Olsen RAAE (1771-1843)

Ole Halvorsen Raae and his wife Jesa followed Norwegian tradition and named their oldest son, Halvor, after his paternal grandfather. Halvor's birth and baptism were recorded in the Lærdal parish records on 15 Aug and 18 Aug 1771 respectively.

 
Detail of SAB, Lærdal sokneprestembete, Ministerialbok nr. A 2, 1752-1782, s. 179. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070514620248.

The Minister's book for Hafslo parish contains the marriage record for Halvor Olsen Raae and Anna Asbiørnsdtr Opheimshaug. In the column under Copúlation, the third entry for Halvor and Anna is for the "same day" as the entry above which is dated 29 Apr 1810.


Detail of SAB, Hafslo sokneprestembete, H/Haa/Haaa/L0003: Ministerialbok nr. A 3, 1807-1821, s. 9. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20050818010661. A search for Halvor Olsen Raae also returns this digital record.

Espe (1990: 362) lists Halvor and Anna's four children as follows: (1) Ole (1811-1887), who took over the farm and married Elsa Nilsdtr Bø; (2) Asbjørn (1813-1890), who married his first cousin Ragnilde Andersdtr Raae; (3) Anders (1816- ), who married Metta Finnsdtr Rikheim; and (4) Halvor (1821- ), who married Ingrid Baardsdtr M. Ljøsno. Laberg (1938: 293) adds a sister, Jesa, but provides little else about her.

I found it strange that the Lærdal parish register recorded the deaths of both Halvor and Anna on the same day, 3 Nov 1843, with burials on the 9th.


Detail of SAB, Lærdal sokneprestembete, Ministerialbok nr. A 9, 1835-1857, s. 30. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070514630532.

This would seem to suggest some sort of accident. However, both Laberg and Espe state that Anna died in 1848. And the Lærdal parish records do show another Anna Asbjørnsdtr Raae's death on 26 Oct 1848 at 73 years of age with burial on 2 Nov.


Detail of SAB, Lærdal sokneprestembete, Ministerialbok nr. A 9, 1835-1857, s. 53. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070514630555.

So this leaves us with the question of who was the Anna that died the same day as Halvor? Time will tell if we can solve this mystery. 

[UPDATE (24 Apr 2021): I suspect the Anna Asbjørnsdtr Raae that died the same day as Halvor may have been a granddaughter, but I do not have proof of that yet.]