Growing up in the same family · following different paths
You may know one of these names well and be meeting another for the first time. This is a place to see them together—as brothers and sisters—and then follow each person’s story.
Johan Bernhard, Andreas, Signe, Isak, Hans and Karl were children of Johan Ludvig Harjo and Anna Kathrine Børresen. Their family story connects Vadsø with Masjok and the Tana area of northern Norway.
After Johan Ludvig’s death, Anna married Petter Barski. Their daughter Anna Mathilde was the younger half-sister of the Harjo siblings. She belongs here alongside them, with her relationship clearly shown.
Some of the siblings made their lives at sea or far from home; others appear in the records of Tana and Harstad. The letters and photographs our family has kept help us begin to understand those different lives. The individual pages link to the records behind each story.
View photographAnna, mother of the Harjo siblings. Identification follows the family’s filename; photograph date not established.
Share a memory or help with names1891–1913
The eldest brother, remembered as Bernhard.
Read Bernhard’s story →1895–1925
Farm work, fishing and a family home in Tana.
Read Andreas’s story →1897–1983
From her childhood in Tana to family life in Harstad.
Read Signe’s story →1899–1930
A life in Tana, and a letter that keeps his voice close.
Read Isak’s story →1902–1990
Follow Kristian’s story from northern Norway and life at sea to a new home in America.
Read Hans’s story →1906–1953
Get to know Karl through his years at sea, family letters and life with Gunvor and their children.
Read Karl’s story →Born 1911 · Hans’s half-sister
The younger half-sister whose family connects with ours today.
Read Anna’s story →Hans’s and Karl’s pages already bring together photographs and records. The other stories are beginning with what we can establish today and will grow as more photographs, letters and memories become available.
We’ll keep family recollections clearly identified and say when a detail is still uncertain. If you recognize someone, remember a visit or have a picture tucked away, please get in touch.
A name, a small memory, or a correction can help us get to know our family better. Send it privately to Isaac, and choose whether it may be shared.
Share a memory or correction