The Norwegian Balchens
I have collected some articles from various sources about the Balchen family. I am indebted to Bess Balchen for her gratefully translating the information from Norwegian to English. Bess has also recently released a book about The Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Colonel Bernt Balchen Odyssey titled "Poles Apart". Click on the link below for more information or check your favorite bookstore.
http://midcoast.com/~kikut/
SAMUEL OTTO & CO.
At an auction in 1823 the firm of Samuel Otto & Co. bought Georg Just Moe's properties on the West Side of Kristiansand. It was already at that time a well established firm in Kristiansand. The first person by the name Otto found in this town was the merchant Samuel Otto who came to Kristiansand from Glarus in Switzerland. In 1750 he bought the house on the corner of Holberg Street and TolIbod Street (Custom's Office Street) where the Birkrems bakery was in the years 1870-90. Here he ran a country store, apparently with dry goods as a specialty.
At the end of the 1760's Melchior Otto also came from Switzerland and joined the firm. They must have made a good start: Christen Pram relates in 1805 that the Swiss Otto & Go had a considerable trade in dry goods and owned 10,000 "riksdaler."
In the beginning of the 1800's the firm moved to the corner of Markens Street and Østre Strandgate (East Beach Street), where it also bought up beach properties.
At the end of 1799 still a third member of the Otto family joined the firm, that is, Hans Jacob Otto from Glarus in Switzerland. In 1799 he married Elisabet Blumer. Both of them as well as their six year old child died in the fall of 1808, just a few months apart.
Elisabet Blumer's brother Samuel Blumer had at this time joined the firm and was one of its bosses.
Samuel Blumer was for a while a civil captain in Kristiansand. At the end of the 1820' he stepped out of the firm but kept for a while the property at Østre Standgate. He sold his part of the firm to Caspar Wild and then left for his homeland Switzerland with his four daughters. One of these, Barbra Marie, married "ratsherr" Johannes Speich. One of their sons was Samuel Speich, who in 1856 came to Kristiansand together with Max Wild Jr. For a while he worked in the firm, but later on the sea called him and he became a captain. The present Speich family in Kristiansand are his descendants.
Many people have confused Samuel Blumer with the later merchant in Kristiansand Melchior Blumer (father of the agent Alfred Blumer). But there was no family connection between the two. The mix-up probably stems from the fact that Melchior Blumer for a while worked in the office of Samuel Otto & Co.
Before mentioning the firm's later owner, the Wild family, one must mention one Swiss who for some years was associated with it. That was Rudolph Luchsinger, who around the year 1800 as a young man came to Kristiansand and was a helping hand in the firm Hans Jacob Otto. Later on he became one of its the leaders. In 1821 Luchsinger was elected parliamentary representative to Kritiansand, but because of illness he could not attend the meetings.
CASPAR WILD
As we have heard, Caspar Wild bought at the end of the 1820's Samuel Blumer's part of the firm and in 1839, when Luchsinger retired, be became the sole owner. He was born in Switzerland in 1790 and came to Kristiansand in 1810.
He managed the firm well. His business prospered and at this point it not only dealt in dry goods but also in groceries, maybe for the main part grain and flour. As far as can be established the firm was run as a regular store even in the 1830's. The trade in grain continued till 1855, but the most important part of the firm developed into lumber trade, shipping and ship building. In 1833 the firm bought Vigelands Brug, where a large sawmill was built in 1840.
Mrs. Othilie Speich's memoirs contain some interesting comments about Caspar Wild and his household and business. Her father, Sven Olaus Stray, started as a volunteer in the firm when he was a youngster, around 1827. For several years he received no salary. Wild's used clothes were made over to fit him, but now and then he would also receive some new pieces of clothing. He ate with the other office personnel at Wild's table. The youngest of the help had to be at work at 6:30 each morning, carry in wood and put it in the large stoves. But Sven Olaus liked to get up even earlier and he got the guard on the mill to pull a rope that was hanging from his window at four o"clock every morning. The other end of the rope was tied to his wrist.
In a way, Caspar Wild was a brusque person. But this was only a front - behind it was a good and warm person. When he visited his relatives in Switzerland he always brought many beautiful and useful things, and never wanted a thank-you.
When Sven Olaus Stray had been engaged to be married for two years, Wild told him one day: "I don't like long engagements. It's time you got married. You can order furniture, but it has to be a good quality." He also gave Stray a raise.
In 1852 Caspar Wild left the firms and left these to his half brother consul Johan Heinrich Wild and his nephew Marcus Wild. These two younger men had for a long time worked in the oflice.
Caspar Wild kept the Vigeland property for himself; he thrived there and built a new house there. He had also built a beautiful house in his home town of Mittlødi in Switzerland. It was his intent to spend the summers at Vigeland and the winters in Mittlødi.
Before he left Kristiansand he founded a legacy for the needy, this was associated with the pension fund "Friends of the old and lonely." He also gave all of his employees and servants large sums of money.
When he arrived in Switzerland and was away from his usual surroundings in Kristiansand he soon grew dull and lived only until 1855.
JOHAN HEINRICH WILD
Johan Heinrich Wild was born in Switzerland in 1820. He came to Kristiansand and started as a managing clerk in the firm SamI. Otto & Co, whose chief was his half brother Caspar Wild. And, as mentioned, in 1852 he took over the firm together with Marcus Wild.
The business continued as usual, but it looks as if the merchant trade was ended and all interest was around the sawmill activity, the shipping company and the ship yards. There was a time with quite lively activity in the ship building, but that part of the story will wait until I talk about the "Øvreverftet."
In 1855 the firm bought back the property Vigeland from Caspar Wild's estate.
In 1846 J.H. Wild married a lady from Kristiansand, Miss Mathilde Benneche, born in 1822. She was the daughter of the merchant Steen Andreas Benneche. They lived, as long as Caspar Wild was in Norway, in the old, grey house above the office where Veritas-Tønnesen lived later on. They moved later on to the corner building where Miss SønderaaIs School was in the 1880-90's.
They were very happy, although they had no children and Mrs. Mathilde was very sickly. About 15 years after they married she had to go to Modum Spa and from there she was sent to Rikshospitalet, where she died. Only for a couple of years did she enjoy the beautiful Myren, which Wild mostly for her sake had bought and where he had build a handsome house with a beautiful park. Consul J. H. Wild married a second time, Miss Anna Otto from Farsund. She was a descendant of the original founders of the firm SamI. Otto & Co.
Anna and Otto Wild had a daughter, but only five years later (in 1873) he died.
The widow stayed on in kristiansand but after a while she married a Swede, Mr. Friedlander, and moved to Sweden.
Johan Heinrich Wild was a warm and noble person. He was the leader of the firm even though he didn't spend a lot of time in the office. He was the one who represented the firm outwardly. He followed the example of his half brother in that he too made a legacy to the fund associated with "Friends of the Old and Lonely."
MARCUS (MAX) WILD SENIOR
The firm's second principal in the years 1850-70, Marcus Wild, was born in Switzerland in 1825. As we have heard, he had worked for some years in the oflice when, in 1852, he took over the various firms together with J. H. Wild. In 1873 be became sole owner. At the same time he became Dutch consul.
Marcus Wild was married to his cousin Sibille Wild, born in Switzerland in 1832. They had no children, to their great chagrin. They both loved children and let several parentless orphans into their home. They also supported some university students. All in all, they were very kind both to their families and to those who needed help, Mrs. Spech reported.
Together with some other ladies Mrs. Wild started an Arts and Crafts school. Before that there was scant opportunity for the children in Kristiansand to learn crafts. In 1872 Wild and his wife let the school use the house in Vestre Strandgate 26, and in 1877 they donated the property to the school.
In 1877 Mrs. Wild was also involved in starting the Children's Home, which in 1882 was given the house in Skippergaten as a gift from consul Wild.
She was also the a moving spirit in the founding of the Industrial Association for Needy Women. From her homeland she was used to working and to appreciate self help and thus it was her aim to try to teach others to be independent.
In addition to this she was also an accomplished gardener and was very much interested in the large garden, the year around she had the most beautiful flowers in her windows.
The Wilds were fond of parties. They gave nice and fun parties both for adults and br children and often arranged trips to Vigeland.
In 1882 Marcus Wild Sr. signed the firm over to his brother-in-law and cousin Marcus Wild Jr. since his health was no longer good. He was suffering from bronchitis and dizziness. He kept the house in the city and Vigeland, but the young one took over all other properties.
Mrs. Sibille thrived in Norway, but because of her husband she agreed to move to Switzerland. She also felt that her only brother was entitled to become the leader of the firm.
Before they left consul M. Wild Sr. presented all the people in his office and the yards, and also his domestics, with large sums of money. He settled down in Mittlødi in Glarus in the new house that Caspar Wild had built.
He did come back to Kristiansand once more, in 1898, when Marcus Wild Jr. had died. He remained the summer to take care of the settlement of the firm. He died in Mittlødi in 1903.
MARCUS (MAX) WILD JUNIOR
Max Wild Jr. was born in Switzerland in 1839. He arrived in Kristiansand in 1856 and worked in the office of SamI. Otto & Co. where his cousin, Marcus Wild Sr., and also his brother-in-law were the principals.
He was married to a Swiss lady, the beautiful and gracious Mrs. Margrethe, born Warth.
After some years in Kristiansand Marcus Wild Jr. bought the estate Teien near Tønsberg, where he settled. It was a large, luxurious house that had belonged to the Walløe family.
Wild's son died while they lived at Teien. This affected them so strongly that they could not bear to live there any more. They sold the estate and left for Wild's parents in MittIødi in Switzerland. However, they returned to Kristiansand when consul J. H. Wild died in 1873.
In 1882 Marcus Wild Jr. took over the SmI. Otto & Co. firm, when the old Marcus Wild retired. It was a difficult time to take over these large properties and the business. Prices for lumber were low. Shipping was in a slump, and the firm had too many employees and office personnel in relation to the business. The lumber business continued no matter at both the mills, and also the sawmills at Vigeland and Fiska.
The Wild's had three children with them to Norway and later on had a daughter, the beautiful little Margretha, whom we who are older very well remember. The young Wilds led a very quiet life. Mrs. Wild was not a strong person, and Wild seemed not to enjoy party going, either.
Times in the trades remained difficult. It is said that Wild had plans to liquidate all of it and instead start a banking business, and that it was a disappointment to him when Søndenfjeldske Privatbank was started, leaving no room for him and the business he had planned.
When one son became incurably ill it was a blow to Marcus. Little by little he sold his vast, valuable properties, also Vigeland in 1897, and left was only the small sawmill at Fiska and the yards in town. His economical situation was good enough, though. But he broke down, got jaundice and died on May 20th, 1898.
He was a greatly revered person who had a lot of honorary posts. He was especially involved in the development of communications in the district.
He was a good and kind man and a good friend who had difficulty saying "no" when someone asked him for something.
The old consul arrived from Switzerland for his funeral and started immediately afterward to liquidate the firm. All documents and ledgers that had heaped up during many years were rowed out to Fiska Island. He was himself there when everything was burned - it took several days. Only in 1901 was the estate finally settled.
Mrs. Margrethe Wild stayed in kristiansand during the winter of 1898-99. In the spring of 1899 the sick son passed away, and she moved to Switzerland.
This was the end of the old SamI. Otto & Co. For a long time it had been of great influence in the economic life of the city, headed by clever men who employed a lot of people. The firm was unique because it did not go from father to son, but to half brothers, cousins and brothers-in-law, who arrived from their far away homeland and one after another became leaders. But they quickly adjusted to their new environment and were all clever and good people who were regarded with great respect in the city.
I have been wondering how the firm could do so well at all times with two chiefs. One would imagine that now and then there would be a conflict of interest. But Caspar Wild and R. Luchsinger looked out for this early on. In 1837 they signed a contract which said that if the two owners disagreed on something, the person who had been a member of the firm for the longest time should make the decision. Furthermore, the contract had a clause regarding which matters required unanimity and also, the importance of matters one of the interested parties could decide when the other was absent. This company agreement of 1837 was followed by the later superiors and seemed to have worked well.
The first proprietors of the firm, the Ottos and Blumers and the first Wild, are not known to people in today's Kristiansand. But all elderly people in town remember the later generation of the Wild family. The thoughts often wander back to times gone by, when "the Swiss" reigned on the West Side.
Several employees of the firm worked there for years. We have heard about Sven Olaus Stray. I can also mention his relative, the solicitor's managing clerk Jacob Ditlef Stray, father of the wife of harbor master Tønnessen. J. D. Stray spent 60 years behind his desk in the office. The old Jacob Iversen in Radhusgaten was also a part of the firm for many years. I will tell about the firm's confidential clerk, the ship owner Balchen, in the next paragraph.
A lot of the people at the yards were tied to the Swiss for many years. It was considered special to be employed in such a large, secure firm. The people employed there were considered lucky.
I have already mentioned the legacies and Institutions started by the Wild Family: the Crafts School, the Children's Home and the Industrial Society, which owe this family so much. I may add that the Wilds also in other ways stepped in to help first one, so the other cause. For instance, the firm at one point gave kr.100,000 in support of the Setesdal railroad.
BERNT BALCHEN
Bernt Balchen was born at Vennesla in 1832, the son of caretaker at Vigelands Brug, Hans Balchen. He started to work at Sam. Otto & Co as early as 1850 and served there all the time until the liquidation of the firm. For many years he was a confidential clerk and during the last Max Wild's time apparently also the real leader of the firm.
In 1882 Max Wild transferred to Balchen 1/4 of the firm's assets (and debts), but without any part of its holdings. It may be considered that Balchen was one quarter of an associate in the firm's management.
Besides his position at SamI. Otto & Co. Balchen also had his own shipping business. Together with some other parties he first was interested in the schooner "Grane." Later on he owned the ships "Pronto," "Harald," Listo," Vamos" and "Takma."
These names will bring back memories to many of the oldtime "sailors" and for that reason I will tell a little about each of them. They were all built at Odderøya, with the exception of "Takma."
"Pronto" was a barque, her captain was O.A. Hagen from Lund. As far as is known "Pronto" was lost at sea around 1894 outside Holyhead on a trip from the East Indies to Liverpool with a cargo of sugar.
"Harald" was called for the ship builder Harald Larsen at Odderøya and sailed with Larsen's brother, Tomas Larsen, as captain. She sailed on Rio Grande and was rigged as a schooner.
"Listo" also sailed on Rio Grande; her captain was the well known and revered Chr. Rasmussen Fereid.
"Vamos," a schooner, also sailed on Rio Grande. Her captain was MøIIer. "Vamos" was without a doubt the most beautiful of the schooners built by Larsen, she was acclaimed far and wide.
"Takma" was bought by Balchen when she was old. She was built at Fanø in Denmark for the Rio Grande trade and rigged as a brig. Alfred Christiansen from H~llen was her captain until "Takma" was sold around 1917. She was lost at sea shortly thereafter. "Takma" was the last brig registered in kristansand.
Collected Newspaper articles by Jørgen Aas
There's nobody in Vennesla today with the name Balchen. The last one was Knut Balchen, who died in the 1940's at Vennesla Home for the Elderly. He had no children. Others with the Balchen name in Vennesla in the last century were all girls who changed their names when they married, the male descendant moved away. However, the Balchen name is still to be found both in Kristiansand and other places in the country.
Apart from a family at Stord everybody with the name Balchen in the Southern part of the country are descendants of Hans Berent Balchen, who came from Gloppen in Sogn og Fjordane to Vennesla about 1790 and died there in 1839.
One of the last persons by the name of Balchen in Vennesla was my grandmother, Marie Balchen, who married alderman secretary Jørgen Aas in 1895. She died in 1943. It was especially because of her I got interested in getting further information about the family. I started with Hans Berent and have tried to follow the family, both its background and its new members.
Sources
I have gathered information from many sources, among others from Stein Tveite's family from Vennesla and from many persons within the Balchen family in Vennesla and Kristiansand. Special thanks goes to Andor Renstrøm, Arnt Balchen and Jens Glad Balchen. Renstrøm is a retired Air Force captain and lives in Kristiansand. Arnt Balchen is a navy officer and lives in Horten, but is serving with Army Headquarters in Oslo Jens Glad Balchen is a professor in country planning at Norges Tekniske Hegskole in Tronheim. I have also had a lot of help from "Information about the Balchen Family's Old Generations" by A. Wiesener. He is related to the Balchens by marriage and in 1945 had a 35-page article in "Bergen Historiske Forenings" pamphlet.
Well Known Names and Families
There are many well known names within the family. Probably the best known in modern times is the aviator Bernt Balchen. He was the son of Lauritz Balchen, a doctor in the Tveit and Birkenes region, and cousin to my grandmother.
Bernt was born in Tveit in 1899. He attended the first class at the Forestry school at Mosby when it opened in 1917. In his youth he was, among other things, a chauffeur for the Aseral bus, but then became a pilot in the Norwegian Navy. In 1926 he was a member of Roald Amundsen's team at Spitsbergen. There, he met Byrd and went with him to USA. He flew with Byrd across the Atlantic in 1927 and went with Byrd to the Antarctic. He was the first to pilot a plane to the South Pole. But he won special fame during World War II as a colonel in the US Air Force. He was also a water color artist.
Known from earlier times is also Sir John Balchen who went to England and there became an admiral. He was commander in chief of the British/Dutch fleet in the beginning of the 1700th century and is buried in Westminster Abbey in London, where there's a memorial plaque about him. He was born in 1699 and was lost in a storm on October 7,1744. Sir John had a son and a daughter.
The Balchen family is related, through marriage, to several other well known families, among them the titled family Galtung and the well known military family Glad. My great grandfather's name was Adolf Galtung Glad Balchen.
Origin of the Name
Where does the name Balchen come from originally, and what does it mean? There's some uncertainty about it. Svein Tveite once told me that in all probability it was German. A.M. Wiese has the same idea, probably because of the way it is spelled.
Jens G. Balchen, however, thinks that the name comes from the farm Bulken in Voss. It has been established that that's where the Balchen family at Stord has its name. I tend to accept this theory, among other reasons because none of the Christian names are typically German. The most usual names are Bernt and Jens. Names such as Adolf, Hans, Salve and Galtung appear later on, by intermarriage.
Bulken is a railroad stop in the Voss county. The name derives originally from "bulk" which means a low hill or elevation. In the old days it was usual to write the letter "k" as "ch," and in those days, with its flourishing writing style, it follows that the letter "u" became "a"
From Bergen to Gloppen
One thing is certain, that the family resided on the West Coast more than 400 years ago. The first Balchen we can see ever so dimly has probably lived in Bergen the last half of 1500's. We do not know his first name - I don't think it is improbable that his name was Berent. He was married and had two sons: Jon and Christopher.
Jon Balchen must have resided in Bergen the last part of the 1500's. Of his children one is known, the son Berent.
Berent Jonsøn Balchen was born in Bergen about 1600 and died at Korsvik, Vereide in Gloppen, Nordfjord, probably around 1670. He was a resident of Bergen before 1630 and an innkeeper at Korsvik in Vereide before 1644. During the 1650's Berent also used a part of the farm Ytre Hauge in Gloppen.
He was married to Malene in Gloppen about 1640. Malene was the widow of Oluf Nielssøn Vereide. She had a son from her first marriage. From her marriage to Berent Balchen came seven children: Jens, Torstein, Absalon, Moritz, Abel, Jørgen and Magdalene.
From Father to Son
Jens Berentssøn Balchen was born in Gloppen around 1637 and died there in 1721. He was an innkeeper at Korsvik, Vereide, from 1689 and lived at Veriede, but be also owned a farm at Slagestad and landed property at Gloppestad. Jens gave up the inn in 1714 due to old age.
Jens was married twice. From his first marriage there are no known children. He was remarried about 1680 to Elisabeth Pedersdatter Fittie, born in Gloppen around 1660, died 1699. They had five children: Berent, Agnete, Moritz, Chirstense and Absalon.
Berent Jenssøn Balchen was born in Gloppen in 1684 and died there in 1754. He used the farm at Korsvik in 1722 and paid 10 "rikdsdaler" a year. The same year he received documents as the owner of the inn from the officer in charge of the diocese. A year earlier the sheriff Kristen NiIssøn.
Vereide had received documents to the same effect, but he had to renounce the ownership. In 1732 Berent J. Balchen was named sheriff in Gloppen following Kristen, who had died. Berent held this position until his death.
He was married in Gloppen in 1718 to Anne Rasmusdatter Kvila, born at Kvila in Breim. The wedding was held the year they both turned 36. They were both buried in Vereide Church, and the plaque, made of lead, was tound when the church was restored in 1879. It is now kept with others preserved in the rectory.
Berent's estate was probated in korsviken in 1754. He left five children: Jens, Jørgen (a corporal with Major Tønders company), Peder (a shoemaker who lived in Davigen), Lisbeth, who then was 32, and Christine who was 26. The estate was worth 599 "riksdaler" of which the heirs received 402.
The Vennesla Branch
Jens Berentssøn Balchen was Berents oldest son, born in Gloppen and baptized October 2, 1718. He died in Gloppen in 1782. He became sheriff in Gloppen in 1754, following his father, and the same year received ownership of the inn. During the probate after his death the inn Korsvik with house and inventory was valued at 300 "riksdaler," without the land.
Jens was married in 1755 to Herborg Gaitung Glad, born in Davik and died in Gloppen 1772. She was the daughter of first lieutenant Hans Polvsøn Glad in Davik. With her the names Galtung and Glad came into the family.
They had six children, but one of them died only seven days old. The others were Berent, Anne, Hans Berent, Rasmus, Povel and Jens.
Jens Balchen's son No.3, Hans Berent, came to Vennesla about 1790 as caretaker of the Vigeland farm, sawmill and ironworks. He was born in Gloppen 1762. He first came to Kristiansand, where on the 29th ol May 1784 there was announced a ceremonious engagement between '~he respected and intelligent bachelor Hans JenssGn Balchen and the virtuous and pious mademoiselle Ingeborg Tøllisdatter Haus. They were married on July 6 the same year, the cost of the wedding was split between the two families,
We do not know what Hans Balchen was doing in Kristiansand, but most likely he was employed by Peder Merch who was at the time one of the most important merchants in the city. He also had large land and forest holdings, and among other things Vigeland Farm with the sawmill at Vigelands Falls. As far as we understand, Hans Balchen was employed by Mørch the rest of his life, even though he moved around a great deal.
Caretaker at Vigeland
About 1790 Hans was engaged as caretaker at the Vigeland Farm, the sawmill and the ironworks which Peder Mørch at that time was building. The caretaker's residence was at the time in Møllebakken. We don't know exactly where, but Monskodet was also called MGllebakken, so most likely it has been between Monskodet and the mill, which was nearer the falls.
In any event, it was a luxurious house. Stein Tveite thinks that it was built when Hans moved to Vigeland. The main house was two stories high, built of timber with outside cladding, painted yellow. The house was about 15x10 meter and had eight rooms, of which two were kitchens. Five of the rooms had plastered walls. The garden was enclosed by a picket fence. A storehouse belonged to the residence, as well as a cowbarn and woodshed. In 1797 it was said that Hans was manager of Vigeland, receiving a salary from Peder Mørch of 300 "daler" as well as having a reasonable rent.
While they lived in Kristiansand Hans and Ingeborg had three children, but two of them died in infancy. The third one was Johan Hartvig, born in 1784.
While living at Vigeland they had two more children, Hans, born in 1794, and Henrichen Leonora, born in 1797. The son Hans moved 10 Kristiansand and married Tarjer Taraldsdatter. They had one son, Theodor, born in 1831. Hans became a captain and in 1825 and 1830 he commanded the ketch "Abraham" for the Reinhardts shipping company. He died in Kristiansand in 1838.
Henrichen Leonora was married to Salve Gundersen Grønvold in 1819. Salve was the son of Gunnar Olsen Frakkekilen. Henrichen died in 1840 from typhoid fever. They had five children.
In 1801 Hans Berent Balchen lived at Nedre Dønnestad in Tvet, where he was superintendent of the log running He brought the children Hans and Henrichen with him.
Hans Divorces Ingeborg
After his stay at Dønnestad, Hans Berent disappears for a while from written sources. When he reappears he is in Arendal, in 1809, and living in Kolbjørnsvik. He had at that time left his wife Ingeborg and sought a divorce. But the application had to go all the way to the King in Copenhagen so it took a long time.
In the meantime he lived together with Ingeborg Andersdatter Lochstøer, who was of Danish origin and born in 1778. They lived together from 1808 to 1813 and had two children during that time: Johan Andreas, born in 1810, and Ludvig, born in 1813. The same year he obtained his divorce and married lngeborg Løchstøer.
Retourning to Vigeland
Around 1816 Hans Berent left Arendal and returned to Vigeland. We don=t know exactly when that happened, but in any event it was before 1818 because that's when his second wife died and was buried in Vennesla.
Hans had four children by his second wife. They were all confirmed in Vennesla:
Johan Andreas, in 1823, as number six of his class: "Of good intellect and well behaved." He went to Kristiansand in 1836 and became a joiner's apprentice in 1839. Later on he left for America.
Ludvig, confirmed in 1828, as number five of the class: "Has a good understanding of Christianity and is of good behavior." He died in Copenhagen in 1892.
Georg Anton, born in 1815 and confirmed in 1828 as the best of ten: "Has good knowledge but needs to practice, well behaved." He went to Kristiansand in 1833 but returned later on to Vennesla, then left for Copenhagen in 1846.
Juliane, born 1817 and confirmed in 1832 as the best of 12: "Very knowledgeable combined with thoughtfulness, and has good and decent behavior." She left for Kristiansand in 1835; married in Copenhagen.
Trade of the Farm
Hans Berent was busy with one thing or another. In 1798 be bought the farm Vatnedal in Ovrebø, but already the following year he sold half of it to Jøren Ramnøs and Jon Heisel for 280 "riksdaler," the rest of it to Harald Kvarstein and Ola Ramnas for 310 "riksdaler."
While Hans lived at Nedre Dønnestad, he was supervisor for log running in Topdals River.
That he was a trusted man is evident since he, after 1824, was a member of the committee which worked to get a new church in Vennesla. Others on the committee were Jøren Jørensen Vennesland, Salve Eivindson Drivenes and Auen Markussen Moseid.
Married for the Third Time
When Hans became a widower in 1818 he was left with four children one to eight years of age. Obviously he had to have a maid. Most likely it was the 13-year old Kari Berntsdatter Slyngstad who helped him. In any event, he married her eight years later.
Hans's two last wives were quite a bit younger than him. lngeborg Løchstøer was 16 years younger, but in any event, the age difference was not as large as in his last marriage. When he married Kari he was 54 years old, while she was 21. They had four children. Hans was 22 when he had his first child and 63 when he had his last. In all, Hans had 13 children, but two died in infancy.
The Children of the Third Marriage
The same year that Hans married Kari the estate of his second wife was probated. The storekeeper Peder Smith in Kristiansand was owed 40 "spesiedaler," the probate cost 4 "spesiedaler," while the estate was worth 89 "spesiedaler."
Kari and Hans had four children:
Adolf Galtung Glad, born 1827, confirmed in 1841 as number 4 Out of 9: "Fair."
Albertine, born 1829 and confirmed in 1844 as number 2 of 18: "Very good." She was married to Jens Knudsen Lunden in 1850.
Bernt, born 1832. In 1875 he was managing clerk with the Samuel Otto & Co. firm which at that time owned Vigeland. Bernt later on became a shipowner and married Nelodine Tjomsas. He is the grandfather of the aviator Bernt Balchen.
Elisabeth, born in 1835, confirmed as number 7 of 10: "Good." She was married in 1860 to Andreas Berntsen Brennevand.
Hans lived to be 77
Hans died in 1839, 77 years old. He was then owed 1/2 "spesiedaler" by Anders Eigebakken, but his debt was 92-1/2 "spesiedaler." The funeral cost 10, auction and probate 21-1/2.
The auction of his belongings brought 160 "spesiedaler" which were left the widow "as a help for her to rear her children."
Kari, with the five children aged four to 12, moved to the cotter's farm at Lia after Hans's death. The oldest son, Adolf, took over Lia around 1850, and his mother lived with him.
Hans Balchen has a room called from him at the newly restored Vigeland main farm.
Adolf Galtung Glad Balchen
It is easy to see that Hans Berent Balchen wished to keep the old family names in the family, for he called his oldest son in his third marriage for Adolf Galtung Glad.
Adolf worked as a forest superintendent and had for a while JQLrg Johannessen Bronebakken as an apprentice. One of the persons who worked in the Vigeland forest at the time was Olav Dalen, born in 1880. I interviewed Olav when he was 75, and he remembered Adolf Baichen well, even though he was quite young when he worked for him. Adolf was very specific with the tree cutting, and it was difficult to do it just they way he wanted it done, Olav said. Adolf was an enthusiastic and good hunter.
In 1855 Adolf was chosen as auditor of the commune. He married Kari Knudsdatter, born in 1829 and daughter of Knud Jensen Lunden. They lived at Lia until 1868, when the took over Eigebakken where they lived for about 20 years. In 1885 Adolf bought Heisellunden, the farm on the hill northwest of Heisel. Adolf's mother lived with them at Eigebakken, but not at Heisellunden. She died at Eigebakken in 1890, 85 years of age.
After some years at Heisellunden Adolf bought the farm Kvarsteinmoen (Bosvold) but he sold it to his sons Hans and Knut in 1901. Hans is said to have built a house near Bostevold, possibly the house Karsten Lunden took over later on.
Adolf's Children
Kari and Adolf had nine children, of whom seven survived.
Karine, born 1854, served in 1875 at the timber merchant Ommund Salvesen in Alefjoer. Was married to Bernt Hansen from Kristiansand. They lived at Kvarstein, but moved later on to Prestvika in Kristiansand.
Karoline, born 1557, was married to Eilef Skjervedal, one of the heirs to the Skjervedal farm. They bought the farm at Stausland. Adolf Balchen and Kari moved to their daughter's in Søgne, where they lived until they died, Adolf in 1912, 85 years old. Kari lived another 13 years, she was 94 when she died in 1925. They are both buried at the cemetery by the old church in Søgne. Andor Renstrøm has tried to find the tombstones, but the graves have disappeared.
Hanna, born 1860, served at Nils Rasmussen Lia in 1875. She married Gunvald Gunvaldsen, they lived at Nyland.
Hans Carl, born 1862.Died without having married.
Aase, born 1866, married Ole Dale. They lived at Dale, just east of Solheim in Skjerkedalen. The farm is in Birkenes commune, and belonged to Klepp school district.
Marie, born 1868, died in 1943. She was married to Jørgen 0. Aas, secretary for the body of aldermen in Vennesla commune. They lived at As, which had been a part of the farm Moseidjord.
Knut, born 1873, was the last with the Balchen name in Vennesla. He died unmarried at Vennesla home for the aged in the 1940's.
(Here follows a list of the children born to Henrichen Leonora Balchen, who was married to Salve Gundersen Gr~nvold).
(A photograph of the Balchen family coat-of-arms is shown in this issue of the Vennesla Tidende with the caption: "The seal is dated 1748, and I (i.e. the author of this article) received the photo from Riksarkivet. The seal belonged to the father and grandfather of Hans Berent Balchen, they were both sheriffs in Gloppen, Nordfjord, during the years 1732 to 1782. As far as can be seen there is a puffin in the lower part of the seal.)
Hans Balchen
Hans was the first child Hans Berent Balchen and his first wife, lngeborg Haus, had after they moved from Kristiansand to Vennesla. He was born in 1794 and married Tarjer Taraldsdatter. In the 1820's they lived in Kronprinsens street No.14 in Kristiansand. Hans was a captain for the Reinhardt's shipping firm.
Hans was only 46 years of age when he died. After his death in 1838 his widow lived in their house until their son Wilhelm took it over. Wilhelm became a captain like his lather, but I do not know what happened to him. However, Tarjer and Hans had three more children:
1. Hans, born 1829. He went to Tasmania and changed his name to Henry. He married Sarah Darcey Howard in 1864. In 1875 he was killed in an accident in Hobart. He had six children.
The youngest of these children, David John Hans Balchen, was born the year his father was killed. In 1913 he married Mabel May Ward. David died in Tasmania in 1954. He left one daughter, Maisie Ward Balchen, born in 1919. She was unmarried and stayed on in Tasmania, but has several times visited Norway.
(I remember that Bernt received several letters from Maisie in the 1950's, asking about their relationship. However, he did not know the connection. Bess)
2. Harriet Andrea, born 1820, married de Lange and had to daughters.
3. Caroline Amalie, born 1830, a seamstress, unmarried.
Bernt Balchen and Nelodine Tjomsaas
Bernt Balchen was the next to last son of Hans Berent and his third wife, Kari Berntsdatter Slyngestad. Bernt was born in Vennesla in 1832 and was the grandfather of the aviator Bernt Balchen.
Bernt married Nelodine Tjomsaas, who was also born in 1832. She was born in Kristiansand, but her family came from Tjomsaas in Hoegeland. Her father was a second mate and the mother Karen M. Towsen. Nelodine and Bernt both died in 1914, 82 years of age.
Bernt and Nelodine lived in Kristiansand, except for a short time in the 1890's when they lived at Kile in Hoegeland. Bernt then owned the property "Festningen," . Otherwise they lived in Setesdalsveien opposite the cemetery in Kristiansand. Their oldest son, Hans, built a house on the same property.
Around 1850 Bernt started in the firm Sami. Otto & Co. in Kristiansand. Caspar Wild was the sole owner of the firm and also owned Vigeland farm and the sawmills there. It was Wild who in 1847 built the present buildings at Vigeland main farm.
Wild's firm traded for the most part in timber, shipbuilding and shipping. The shipyard was situated just about where Kristiansand's Mek. Verksted was situated later on. Bernt Baichen served in the firm as long as it was owned by the Wild family, until 1897. For many years he was a confidential clerk, and under the last Max Wild apparently the true leader of the firm. In 1882 Max Wild transferred one forth of the income of the firm to Balchen.
Karl Rakkestad told me that his brother, Hans Rakkestad, around 1880 went to Bernt Balchen "to learn mathematics." Bernt was their mother's brother. It may have been business arithmetic and bookkeeping Hans studied. In any event, he remained a trader all his life.
Besides the work at Wild's Bernt Balchen also had a shipping company. He owned the barque "Pronto" which was lost on a trip from the East Indies, carrying sugar. Besides the "Pronto" he owned the schooners "Harald," "Listo" and "Vannas," which all were sailing on Rio Grande, plus "Takma," the last brig that was registered in Krisiansand. It was lost around 1917.
The Children of Bernt and Nelodine
Bernt and Nelodine had four children:
1. Kamilla, born 1859, married in 1882 to the merchant Joh. P. (Johan Peter Severin) Johnsen.
2. Hans, born 1860, died 1922, office manager Joh.P. Johnsen's firm, married to Edwarda Henriette Eliassen.
3. Marie, born 1864, married in 1891 to doctor Peter Nissen, born 1865. Marie died in 1927.
4. Lauritz, born 1869, died 1912, doctor in Tveit and Birkenes. In 1891 he married Dagny Dietrichson, adopted daughter of Dr. Scharffenberg (brother of the well known chief surgeon and politician Johan Scharffenberg). Lauritz and Dagny were the parents of the aviator Bernt Balchen.
Johan P. Johnsen, Kamilla=s husband, was born in 1858, the son of Johan Peter Johnsen who in 1840 had come to Kristiansand trom Sanum near Mandal. He was employed in the largest grocery and yardgoods firm, John Gundersen, in Kristiansand.
Johan Peter married Johanne Seveland from Herad in 1850. Together they started a small store on the corner of Festningsgaten and Gyldenløvesgate. The business grew quickly, and within a few years they started to deal in grain and coffee for the wholesale market. The business became after a while a whole sale firm only, dealing in groceries, meats and a little yardgoods. The firm also became involved with industrial enterprises in Kristiansand. In 1880 they took over, together with the grocer John Gundersen, H~ie Spinderier at Mosby, and in 1888 Joh. P. Johnsen was among those who bought Christiansand's Møller (Millingplant).
Johan Peter Severin started in his father's business in 1874 and became a co owner in 1884, two years alter he married Kamilla Balchen. He was among those who started Christiansand's Smørfabnkk (Dairy), and became sole owner of it in 1903. It was sold to S~rlandets Margarin in 1934.
Myren
In 1894 Johan P. Johnsen senior bought Myren Farm and Fiskatangen from Johan Heinrich Wild's heirs. Consul Wild, who was also a co owner of the firm SamI. Otto & Co and Vigeland main farm had bought Myren and Fiskatangen, all in all about 200 (mal) for 600 "spesiedaler." He built the beautiful manor house Myren as a summer residence, probably mostly for his wife. Mrs. Mathilde Wild was not healthy - she died childless in 1561. Johan Heinrich then married Anna Otto, but he died in 1873 and left Myren and Fiskkatangen to his wile and a daughter.
It was Kamilla Balchen's father, Bernt Balchen, who arranged the sale of the property to Job. P. Johnsen. Bernt was co-owner of the firm SamI. Otto & Co and was also very close to Wild, through the business as well as personally. But the senior Johnson enjoyed Myren only for a year belore he died. Kamilla and Joh. P. junior then took over both the business and Myren as a summer residence and also the farm. This was worked by a couple who lived in the old house on the farm.
Kamilla Balchen had a great aptitude for music and played the piano. When she was quite young she studied in Dresden, which was known for its academy of music. But after her marriage she played mostly at home and for friends.
Siren Bulie, now Mjøboe, wrote in 1971 about Myren farm. Kamilla was her great grandmother. Siren tells how Kamilla enjoyed the summers at Myren and was especially busy growing vegetables and fruit. She also sold flowers to the florists in town, among other snowdrops in bunches of 100 fbr ten "øre" per bunch. When the family lived in the city during winter, one of the firm's employees would go to Myren every day to fetch milk for the family and their friends. Joh. P. Johnsen senior died in 1927 and Kamilla in 1932. They had two children, Sigrid, born in 1893, and Johan Peter, born in 1897.
After the death of his father Joh. P. junior took over the firm, he became a well known man within the business community in Kristiansand.
Myren farm and its park is today an entertainment center for Kristiansand commune. The main house and the park are preserved by law.
Bernt Balchen - the Best Pilot in the World
That Bernt Balchen is the best pilot in the world is not my words. In the American magazine "Colliers" he was called 'the best pilot in the world - without comparison." This was after he had piloted Commander Richard E. Byrd's plane to the South Pole, as the first in the world to do so. Bernt also flew over the North Pole in 1949, and with that he became the first person in the world to have flown over both poles. Many other persons have also called Bernt the best pilot in the world in those days.
Bernt Baichen had one of his roots in Vennesla. His great grandfather was Hans Berent Baichen, manager of Vigeland, who also has a number of descendants in Vennesla, kristiansand and other places in the country.
Bernt's father, Lauritz Balchen, was born in Kristiansand in 1869 and was the son of shIpowne( Bernt Baichen. Lauritz studied medicine. After he finished his studies he became an assistant to Dr. H. F. Scharffenberg at Mysen. Here he met Dagny Dietrichson. She was born in 1879 at Stord, where her father was a lawyer. Her father died when she was three years old, and the mother was left with nine children. Dagny was then sent to her uncle, Dr. Scharffenberg, where she was raised as a daughter of the house.
Lauritz soon fell in love with the ten year younger girl. They were married in 1899 in Kristiansand, when she was 20 and he was 30 years old. They moved to Drangsholt in Topdal, where they rented a house from the farmer Ole Ramse and where Lauritz started his own practice.
The large house the lived in is just by the county border on the Vest-Agder side, close to the road, between the road and the river. The house was already more than 200 years old at that time. It consisted of a main house with a big wing. The house is there still, but the wing has been torn down.
Bernt is born
Lauritz Balchen was a big, powerful man, strong as an ox, a man of few words but with a charming personality. He soon became loved by everyone in his district. He was forever on the road making sick calls, sometimes on foot or on skis, and sometimes by a horse drawn carriage or a sled.
Still he thought he didn't get enough exercise. He rigged up a boxing ball in the bedroom, and in his spare time he was shot-putting or weightlifting.
Bernt was born on October 23,1899. Lauritz received him himself and decided right away that his name would be Bernt after his grandfather.
Only about 14 months later, on January 1901, Maria, or Mia, was born. Another sister was born on March 3, 1903, she was named Dagny after her mother.
Dagny leaves the home
Seemingly, there was harmony in the home, but Dagny had spent her life in Oslo where she had a lot of friends; she was not happy in the rural environment. She also spent a lot of time by herself while Lauritz made his sick calls, and she probably did not share her husband's interests in sports and out door life. Later on in 1903, the year Dagny was born, she packed her suitcases and left, just like Ibsen's Nora. Bernt was four at the time, but he probably didn't understand what was happening. Lauritz was hoping that she would return, but she did not.
A 16 year old local girl, Magny Olsen, was employed to care for the three children. Lauritz often took Bernt with him on sick calls, and as soon as he was old enough he started to take him along on hunting and fishing trips, and taught him cross country skiing and jumping.
(In 1959, when Bernt and I lived in Chappaqua, NY, Magny came to visit us, she had moved to Brooklyn some years earlier. Bess)
Bernt was not a strong child, but he grew stronger as time went by. He got his first rifle before he started school, and even as a child he went hunting og fishing. He was forever roaming around in the woods and became a rough youngster.
To Kristiansand
He didn't do very well in school, he was unhappy from day one and was forever cooking up pranks and tricks. When he was ten his father decided to send him to Kristiansand, he thought the teachers there would be able to handle him better. Al the same time Bernt would be closer to his mother, who in the meantime had married captain in the artillery Olaf Harlem.
Though Bernt didn't much want to, he had to move. He stayed with his god- father, the pharmacist Rode-Hansen, but he often visited his mother. As time went by, in spite of the years they had been living a part, they had a good relationship. But school was still a problem.
When he was 13 Bernt was again experiencing tragedy. His father died of pneumonia after a short illness. School became, if possible, even worse after this, and he also got into trouble with the teachers. After a couple of pretty bad pranks he was expelled from school.
Farm Hand at Kongsgard
He went to his grandfather Bernt and told him the whole story and asked if he could sail with one of his ships to New Zealand, he had heard that that was a great place for farming.
But old Bernt said no, period. He called Kongsgard, and the next day captain Harlem took young Bernt out to the farm, where he spent eight months. It was a hard life. He had to get up at four to care for the horses, and the rest of the day he worked on the farm. This became a turning point for Bernt, and the following year he wanted to go back to school. He was accepted on the condition that he behaved.
He now started boxing and other sports, kung - both cross country and jumping. He was also bicycling, hunting and fishing. In the summer he got a job as a lumberjack and log driver. After he finished middle school be started at the forestry school at Mosby the first year this had opened, and graduated as the second best pupil.
To the Foreign Legion
Bernt now decided that he wanted to be a soldier. His mother's uncle, Major General Dietrichson, helped him get into the French Foreign Legion. He arrived in France, but after six weeks he was called home to his military service.
He finished that service in the fall of 1919 and was thinking about what to do next. He had always been interested in engines and things mechanical and had acquired a large Harley Davidson motorcycle which he rode around in his spare time. After he became a famous pilot there was many a girl who bragged about having been riding the motorcycle with Bernt Balchen.
At one time he attended a dance in Vennesla. There he met two brothers who were known to start a light. They attacked Bernt, and since they were two they gave him a bashing. Bernt got on his Harley and drove away, but after a while he returned. He then attached the two, one at a time, and paid back with interest what they had given him.
For a while he was a chauffeur on the Aseral bus route. It wasn't very important that the buses were on time, and it is said that now and then he stopped the bus, went out and got a fish irom the river he was driving along.
Aviation School
It was a cousin, Leif Dietrichson, who got him into the School of Aviation in Horten. Leif was himself a navy flyer. (Leif lost his life with Roald Amundsen while the two of them searched for Mobile, who was lost in the Arctic with his Italia expedition.)
While he waited to be accepted Bernt continued the bus route and kept on training as a boxer.He now weighed 80 kilo, he had reached the heavyweight class and had won three Norwegian championships. He was chosen to compete as a representative of Norway in the Olympic games in 1920, but just at this time he got the news that he had been accepted in the Navy and he started as a midshipman in Kristiansand. In order to be able to practice for the Olympic Games he had to ask for time off - but it was not granted. He had to chose whether to become a professional boxer or a pilot, and he chose the latter.
In the fall of 1920 he started at the Aviation school in Horten, and the next year he soloed. In 1921 he passed the exam as the best in his class, and when he was 24 he was promoted to second lieutenant in the Navy's aviation arm and stationed in Horten.
With Byrd to the USA
In 1926 Roald Amundsen was preparing to fly across the North Pole with the dirigible "Norge." Bernt had met Amundsen once as a boy at the home of his mother and Captain Harlem in Kristiansand. He was happily surprised when Amundsen asked him to come to Svalbard with him as a mechanic, and that Amundsen had arranged leave or him from the Navy.
At Svalbard Bernt made Byrd's acquaintance after the skis on Byrd's plane had broken and Bernt repaired them on orders from Amundsen. (In his diary Byrd wrote: 'Balchen is a peach, he is still working late into the night to repair the skis.") Bernt impressed Byrd both as a mechanic and as a pilot and after his flight north (he did not reach the North Pole) Byrd asked Bernt if he would like to come to America with him. He got a year's leave from the Navy and sailed with Byrd, his only luggage was a rucksack.
In the US Bernt right away was in the midst of aviators. Byrd was among those who was competing to be the first to fly across the Atlantic from the US to Paris; Charles Lindbergh won the price. Shortly afterward Bernt flew with Byrd across the Atlantic, he was in the pilot's seat most of the time and saved the crew when they had to land in the ocean at Ver-sur-Mer.
To the South Pole
In 1929 the famous flight to the South Pole took place. Byrd had three pilots on the expediton, but for a long time Byrd did not say whom of the three pilots he wanted on the flight. In the long run he chose Bernt, who carried out the strenuous and demanding flight to perfection.
Pilot in World War II
Bernt probably won most fame for his work during the war. He was project officer for the building of the American base Bluie West 8 in Greenland, and commander of the base. While in Greenland he executed a number of daring rescue missions.
He was transferred to England and among other things was the leader of Operation Sonny, which brought 5,000 persons from Sweden to England during the war, among them 2,000 Norwegians. They had to fly over the German occupied Norway and preferred to fly in fog and bad weather.
For a while the British undertook flights over Norway to drop agents, weapons and supplies to the Norwegian freedom fighters. They flew at night, and in March 1944 they wanted to stop these flights because the nights weren't dark enough. That's when Bernt stepped in and flew 39 such drops before the end of the war, plus 166 trips to Sweden.
After the war Bernt returned to Norway to help rebuild the Norwegian civil aviation, but in 1948 he was called back to active duty and became head of the 10th Rescue Squadron in Alaska. He was called back to Washington in 1951 and became project officer for the building of Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. He retired in 1956.
Bernt's Private Life
It could be said that aviation was foremost in Bernt's life, but he, too, had a private life. In 1930 he became engaged to Emmy Sørlie from Oslo, whom he had met several years before at the home of Norwegian friends in Brooklyn. They were married that fall, and a year later they had a son whom they named Bernt. Bernt Jr. also became a pilot and flew for different companies for 12 years. The last one he flew for went broke, and he then decided to change career. He studied data processing and is now employed at the University in Oslo. He is also playing the Norwegian AHardanger fiddle@. He is married for the third time.
Emmy and Bernt had agreed to get divorce in 1940. She spent the war years in Glendale, California with Bernt Jr., but when Bernt Sr. filed for divorce in 1945 she refused, even though they had not seen each other for more than five years. Finally, in early 1948 Bernt was granted the divorce in a Norwegian court and he was free to marry Bess Engelbrethsen. Bess and Bernt had one son, named Lauritz for his grandfather. Lauritz married Betsy Furstenberg; they have one son, Erik, and live in Maine where Lauritz has a machine shop and make models of steam fire engines, among other things.
Bernt Sr. was also an artist, he had several one-man shows at Grand Centra! Art Galleries in New York and in Chicago, Northfield, Minnesota and Newport, Rhode Island. He and Bess wrote a cookbook together, "Mat i flyvende fart," published in Norway.
Bernt died in October 1973, 74 years old.
