Growing up at Damsgård
Severin was born on December 11, 1845, and baptized on December 26 in Eigersund. His parents were carpenter Ansteen Larsen and Sara Olsdatter at Damsgård. His confirmation in 1860 repeats the birthday and parents, supporting the earlier birth date over later conflicting ages.
Ansteen and Sara had married in the Bjerkreim/Helleland parish records in 1834. Their fathers are named as Lars Ellingsen and Ole Sigbjørnsen. Ansteen’s registration for the move toward Egersund appears in 1837–1838. These church entries record administrative dates, not the exact day the entire household moved.
At least six siblings are established by baptism records. In the 1865 household, Ansteen was a ship carpenter and brother Ole a pottery journeyman. Anna appears as a pottery worker in 1870. Ole and his wife Ingeborg Malene Christiansdatter later raised children in Egersund, providing another documented branch of the family.
From seaman to ship rigger
The 1865 census calls Severin a sailor and says he was sailing out of Arendal. His family home was Damsgård; the working port should not be mistaken for a separate permanent residence. He was still recorded with the Damsgård household in 1870 and served as godfather to his nephew Alfred that year.
By his 1874 marriage, Severin was a seaman in Kristiania. The 1885 census calls him a dockworker. Evidence from 1891 and his son Jacob’s 1896 confirmation describes ship-rigging work. These occupations place him in maritime trades at different stages of his life. No particular employer, voyage or named ship has yet been securely established for him.
A modern Egersund maritime history contains an indexed reference to Severin, but its restricted page was not read in the investigation. It remains a research lead rather than evidence for a vessel or voyage.
The household in Grønlandsleiret
Severin married Gurine Sophie Jacobsdatter on June 7, 1874, at Grønland church. Both gave Grønlandsleiret 21 as their address. Anton was born that July, followed by Marie Sofie in 1877, Jacob in 1881 and Cecilie in 1887. By 1885, the family lived at number 12.
The 1891 household included foster child Fransiska Olsen. Her baptism records Severin, Sofie and Anton among the sponsors. The evidence establishes a foster-care connection; it does not establish adoption, biological kinship or the reason for the placement.
Gurine’s later pension history shows that she, too, had paid work before Severin’s death. His maritime employment and her cleaning work are documented parts of the family’s livelihood, although no complete household budget survives.
A death before their twenty-third anniversary
Severin died on June 5, 1897, two days before the couple’s twenty-third wedding anniversary, and was buried on June 11. The parish entry records a stroke. His confirmed birthday makes him fifty-one, despite the inconsistent age in the death notification.
The estate entry names widow Sofie, four children and the final address Grønlandsleiret 12. Sofie reported the death. The register says that no estate assets were reported—a statement about the estate, not an inventory of every possession or every source of family support.
Anton was twenty-two, Marie twenty, Jacob fifteen and Cecilie nine. Severin did not live to meet granddaughter Alfhild. His connection to her survives through Marie’s records, the continuing family household and the names carried into later generations.
