User:Lilduff90/Sjur Kolbeinsson Bjørgen

Sjur Kolbeinsson Bjørgen (baptized July 8, 1790 - died January 3, 1875) was a Norwegian farmer, today usually considered the patriarchal first ancestor of the current Bjørgen lineage of Halsnøy. The first person to own and run whilst also being born there, Sjur owned and ran the farm for an unprecedented sixty-three years, longer than any other farm owner on Halsnøy.

Biography
Sjurs exact date of birth is unknown, but as he was baptized on July 8, it is reckoned by old standards that he was born on or around July 5, 1790. He was baptized as Siuer Colbeensen Bierge, a formal danification of his common name, but only used his first name, Sjur, alongside his patronym, Kolbeinsson. His children, however, took his surname as their family name rather than the common patronym system used in these times.

Sjur worked on the family farm from early age, until his mother died in 1803. His father, Kolbein, had at this point become old and tired, and sold the farm to his eldest daughter. She, however, had little interest, and sold the farm to new owners, leaving her father with a small patch of land in the corner of it, where he built a small farm for himself. By 1806, the farm was back in family hands, albeit with three sections split amongst Kolbein and two of his sons.

In 1807, Kolbein died, and Sjur, despite being the youngest, bought out his siblings shares in the farm and united the three parts to reform the old farmland. He had become a full time farm-owner at 17. Sjur then owned and ran the family for sixty-three years, not stepping down until 1870, when he was eighty years old. He passed the farm down to his daughter, Guro, and her husband, Per, who had helped him on the farm the previous five years. He then moved into a smaller house on the property, helping out on the days where he had the strength for it.

During winter 1874, Sjur became ill with pneumonia due to the cold sea winds that plagued the farm during cold season, and spent most of December bedridden. He recovered, but the illness had taken a toll on his old body, and he died from natural causes brought on by pneumonia on January 3, 1875, aged 84.

Marriage and children
Sjur was married twice. His first marriage was to Anna Amland, eleven years his senior, whom he married in 1813. Together they had five children, three of which died young and without issue. Their eldest son, Kolbein (1817-1905), purchased their neighbouring farm Toftekalven, and had seven children. Their second daughter, Sigrid (1815-1873) had one daughter outside of marriage, but her fate is unknown. Anna became ill with pneumonia during winter 1837, and died after short illness, leaving Sjur a widower.

His second marrige was to Kari Skarvaland, a widow herself, and who was twenty-four years younger than him. Together they had eight children, all but one of which lived long lives and had children of their own. It was their third daughter, Guro (1847-1919), who took over the farm, and whose son took over the farm after her.

Sjur lived to be 84 1/2 years old, more than most of his ancestors, and an impressive age during those times. He had thirteen children, more than fifty grand-children, and over 100 great-grand-children. Today, the descendants of Sjur are a massive family of people, spread across Norway, USA and many other places in the world.