{Translation notes:
1. Words in {curly brackets}have been added during the translation.
2. Words in [square brackets] were in square brackets in the original text.
3. Words in (parentheses) are references to the sources listed in the
end of the text.
4. {sic} denotes typing errors in the original text that have not been
corrected in the translation.}
Bernhard Aalbu ? from Bruholmen via North Dakota to Congo
The first Norwegian Baptist missionary grew up on Bruholmen farm in
Ørland. Bernhard Aalbu was the sixth of nine siblings. Of the eight
that grew up, six are buried at the same place: Crystal Lake Cementary
{sic}, Minneapolis.
But, let us start with a chronological summary:
1849: Sivert Olsen Aalbu is born in Surnadal. His father is a
shoemaker. His ancestors are from Oppdal. (F/E)
1863: The first Baptist meetings in Trondheim. A Swedish Baptist has
arranged meetings in Levanger as early as 1860.
1866: Siri Paulsdatter (1812-1891) from Eidsaunet in Bjugn is a widow
after Sivert Andersen (1808-1865) at Grande (64-6). The couple
married in 1849, and did not have any children. She sells the farm to
two persons who split it between them. She buys Bruholmen (68-2). (Ø)
1873: Sivert marries (Inger) Henriette Josiasdatter Holm (born in
Trondheim 1855, grew up as a foster daughter with Siri and Sivert at
Grande) the 20th of May. Before the two meet, Sivert is a general
store assistant in Bjugn. He starts a shop at Opphaug. The oldest
child, Oscar Sigfred, is born on August 21st. (E)
1873: Sivert and Henriette buy Bruholmen farm from Siri. At this
time, the couple already has two children. Half a year later Siri
buys the farm back. She later appoints her foster daughter?s son
Oskar as her heir. (Ø)
1880: Oscar II [King of Sweden and Norway] eats sour cream porridge at
Bruholmen (I)
1883: Bernhard Magnus Aalbu is born on March 25th. (Ø/F)
1890: Baptist preacher M. A. Øhrn speaks in Bjugn and Ørland. An
anniversary text describes him as having a ?large audience?. (NB) We
do not know yet if this influenced Aalhus.
1891: Oskar inherits Bruholmen, 18 years old. (Ø) The emigrant
protocols of Trondheim shows that Oscar {sic}leaved Rissa for
Wiscounsin {sic}.
1897: Bernhard is considered an ?adult? and has a job as a ?nothoinn?
{?fishing net dog?, probably someone who assist on a fishing boat} on
a fishing vessel for three years. (E)
1900: Bernhard travels to America. He travels around for nearly ten
years, working as a waiter, innkeeper, cowboy and farmer. (E)
1903: The national Baptist congress is held at Ørlandet (NB)
1904: Oscar {sic} visits Norway with his wife Anna (born 1878) and
Arthur (born 11-12-1902, dead 28-3-71). According to the emigrant
protocols, they return in August.
1905: Bernhard arrives at Ellis Island, and states his home place as
Ørlandet (written as ?Galandet? in the protocols). His brother
Carl/Karl travels through Ellis Island the same year.
1906: Bernhard Aalbu settles in McClusky, Sheridan County, ND. (N)
He becomes a Christian the same year. (E) Got a picture of him in
front of the McClusky cabin.
1910: Bernhard arrives at Ellis Island.
1907: Oskar travels to America. (?) Bernhard buys Bruholmen (Ø), but
never runs the farm himself.
1911: Winter picture of some adults and children ? the siblings? ? on
the stairs of a house in the USA [to be completed]. Bernhard visits
Norway. He is baptised in Trondheim Baptist church in October. In
October, a few days after the start of the term, he starts at the
Baptist?s Mission School in Oslo. He pays his education himself. (E)
The school had opened just six months earlier, and it has six
students at this time. (NB)
1914: Bernhard finishes Mission School. (NB). He visits some
congregations the same autumn. (E)
1915: Bernhard travels to USA in January. He receives further mission
education at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminar in Louisville,
Kentucky. (E) The national Baptist assembly in Halden decides to
maintain its own mission unit. Bernhald {sic} Aalbu receives a call
to be a missionary in Congo, a country that already has some American
missionaries. Because of war, his travel is postponed. (NB) While
waiting for his departure he lives in McClusky, founding the Prophet
Mountain Baptist Church. (E)
1917: Bernhard arrives in Norway in September. He visits the Baptist
congregations and encourages them to support the mission?s work.
(Photo of him on Bergensfjord {probably the name of a ship}, dated
1917)
1918: Photo of Bernhard and two others in Boston. He travels through
Ellis Island, stating his home place as McClusky.
1918: He leaves Norway in October and goes to Congo.
1919: Travelling via France, he arrives in the American Baptist area
in the Lower Congo.
1920: Near the end of the year, Bernhard arrives in the Uele district
in Northern Congo. He travels around in Bili, Monga and Lebo for
nearly two years. He founds two congregations.
1922: The second missionary arrives: Frithjov Iversen. They build a
mission post in Bondo.
1923: Bernhard leaves Congo July 1st. The journey to Norway is via
Sudan, Egypt, Samaria (got pictures of him, riding a camel), the first
Jewish settlement in Israel (got picture) and Rome (pictures from Via
Appia). Arrived in Norway in December. (E)
1924: Bernhard goes to Norway, unknown if this was due to private
matters or because of the mission. We have pictures of him in
Tromsdalen dated 1924. During his stay in Norway, he is followed by a
young man, allegedly a ?Jewish youth?, who is shown is several
pictures (photo). He also visits USA this year, passing through Ellis
Island stating his home place as North Minneapolis. (EI) All his five
siblings in USA lived in Minneapolis at the time of their deaths (F)
1925: Departure for a new stay in Congo. He visits Brussels on his
way there. He arrives in Congo in the autumn. (NB/photo)
1927: Bernhard finishes his service in Congo. He has been a
missionary for 12 years, 5-6 of these ?in the field?. I 1926 the new
Baptist congregation in Northern Congo consisted of circa 1000 people,
and eight Norwegians worked as missionaries there. (NB) After a short
stay in Norway, he travels to USA (E)
1931: Picture of a group of people at Bruholmen, maybe his sisters,
his brother-in-laws and his mother.
1932: The mother (Inger) Henriette dies. (F)
1937: Picture of him in Miami, in December.
1939: A letter to his sister Gudrun indicates that he had sold
Bruholmen to ?the smith Andersen?, with a clause allowing him to buy
it back. He offers Gudrun the opportunity to buy the farm (letter).
Another letter written three days later states that ?there are four
years left?. (E).
1946: Got a picture of him at Bruholmshaugen {Bruholm Hill} ? with the
quay in the background.
1951: Invited to Brussels on the occasion of King Baudouin?s crowning,
as a pioneer member of the Belgian Congo veterans. (N)
1953: His sister Ågot, married Myrholt, acquires Bruholmen. Her
family does not live on the farm. (Ø). Back home, he is interviewed
by Adresseavisen {a Trondheim newspaper}on September 1st (E)
1955: Home in Norway for the last time. (N)
1959: Bernhard dies September 6th, 76 years old, due to complications
after a fracture from falling down the stairs. (N)
1970: The government claims the Bruholmen farm and converts it to a
public ground. (Ø) |
