Knut Hamsuns oldeforeldre: Ole Pedersen Skultbakken (f. 1761, d. 1811), gift med Marit Jonsdatter Klonesbakken (f. 1760, d. 1802). De hadde tre barn, han som skulle bli Knut Hamsuns farfar, var
Peder Olsen Skultbakken (f. 1.3.1789, d. 8.4.1858), som giftet seg med Ymbjørg Knutsdatter Kleppeie (f. 1793 d 6.9.1868, Knut Hamsuns farmor). De fikk til sammen seks barn:
1. Ole Pedersen (f. 1816, d. 1893) (11 barn)
2. Knut Pedersen (f. 1819, d. 1888 (7 barn)
3. Peder Pedersen (f. 1824, d. 1907) (Knut Hamsuns far) (7 barn)
4. Knut Pedersen, d.y. (f. 1826, d. 1868) (6 barn)
5. Mari Pedersdatter (f. 1830, d. 1831)
6. Gurie Pedersdatter (f. 18.6.1836, d. 29.9.1886)
Ole Pedersens datter Anna (Knut Hamsuns kusine) var nr. 8 i rekken av 11 søsken. Hun var født i 1859 – samme året som Knut Hamsun. Hun flyttet til Hønefoss i 1884 og utvandret til USA 1887. (Nedenfor kan du lese beretningen fra Joyce Duncan, USA, etterkommer av Anna.)
Nr. 4 i rekken av søsknene til Peder Pedersen, altså Knut d.y., ble i 1849 gift med Mari Nyrneshaugen. Hun hadde samme navnet som bestemor til Knut Hamsun.
Peder og Tora var ikke de første som giftet seg i de slektene; det var altså to brødre som giftet seg med hvert sitt søskenbarn.
Knut d.y. og Mari flyttet etter hvert til Oppdal og bodde da på en gård som het Kattrem. Knut d.y. arbeidet som ”anleggsslusk” (veiarbeider). I februar 1868 gikk det et stort snøskred i området, som sopte med seg mye av bebyggelsen på gården. 14 mennesker døde, deriblant Knut og Mari og fem av barna. Som ved et under berget den ene av dem livet. Han het Ole, og flyttet hjem til besteforeldrene på Nyrneshaugen. Etter hvert giftet han seg med Beret Gregoskveen i Garmo, og de fikk 11 barn. Deres eldste sønn ble også hetende Knut, etter sin bestefar Knut d.y., samme person som kanskje Knut Hamsun også fikk sitt navn etter.
I Garmo er det en igjen som er oppkalt etter sin bestefar, og han heter Knut Artur Lyngved – det siste skudd på stammen med navnet KNUT.
Torstein K. Garmo, Lom
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Beretning fra Joyce Duncan, USA, etterkommer av Anna (Knut Hamsuns kusine):
“My name is Joyce Duncan from the United States of America. I am a descendant of Anna Olsen Hill Klein who was my great-grandmother and an emigrant of Norway. As an avid genealogist and researcher of family history, I find myself unable to find my Anna's history due to logistics. My only information came from my great aunt, Anna's daughter, who wrote some things in a letter about her Norwegian history according to her mother. The reason I am writing to you is that she said that Anna Olsen and Knut Hamsun were first cousins which means that they share family history. I am hoping that you can give me some clues as to Knut's history which I may be able to connect to hers (and, of course, to mine). If not, could you possibly direct me to someone who can help me via email since making a trip to Norway is impossible for me financially. Here are my facts:
Anna Olsen was born June 17, 1859 in possibly Oslo, Norway. Her parents were from Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, an area north of Lillehammer. Her father, Ole Skultbakken, and uncles each played the violin really well and often played for local dances and other events. Her grandfather was Peder Skultbakken, born in 1799, and his wife's name was Yhbjor. (These names and dates may be misspelled or incorrect since my great aunt was 79 at the time of her writing and was trying to recall her mother's stories from memory – no written documentation.)
Sometime around 1887, Anna and her husband, Pete Hill, a Dane, immigrated to the U. S. A along with a young son Chris. They lived back and forth between Chicago, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana, just a short distance away. My aunt believed that Anna had two brothers who also immigrated and two sisters who stayed in Norway, one dying in an avalanche accident.
Concerning Knut Hamsun, my great aunt said that when Anna and Pete first immigrated to Chicago, Knut visited for awhile and lived with them while he tried to make money. She said he worked as a conductor on the Halsted Street line of horse-cars, but was so preoccupied with his reading that he often forgot to make the necessary stops. This behavior so infuriated his passengers that he lost his job. He also lived with Norwegian relatives in North Dakota before going back to Norway. (By the way, my great aunt and her husband farmed near Fargo, North Dakota and her son still has the farm there.)
Anna's first husband was killed about five years after they were in the U. S. when he fell into Lake Michigan while working on a bridge. A few years later she married George Klein, my great grandfather.
Joyce Duncan på epost til Kirsten Hedvig Rasmussen, 2010
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Informasjonen om Knut Hamsuns familie er samlet av Kirsten Hedvig Rasmussen, redigert av Gro Roksand.
Publisert 6. juli 2010
