Stanley Klemesrud wrote this about Liv: “Although Knud did the field work, his wife, Liv, tended the cows. This she had done in Norway, both as a girl and after she was married. It was said that one day when she was a little girl tending the cows on a mountain slope, there was an eclipse of the sun. She didn’t know anything about eclipses, and she became very frightened when it began to get dark. The cows lay down and the chickens went to roost. She thought the world was coming to an end. She never learned the English language but would not return to Norway for a visit as she was afraid that she would stay there. Perhaps that is one of the reasons she enjoyed newly arrived visitors from Norway from whom she could hear of her friends back home.”
Wikipedia’s list of 19th century solar eclipses and NASA’s record of solar eclipse paths shows that the solar eclipse that Liv witnessed occurred about 3:30 in the afternoon on July 28, 1851 when she was 15 years old. This is an actual photo to the right.
Knut Amundsen Gulsvik developed a document called Gulsvik Family History that links Jon Helgesen Gulsvik (1500s) to the first King of Norway and the Norse kings of old. However, there is enough missing and questionable data to discount much of the Gulsvik account. What we can say is that Jon Helgesen Gulsvik (about his Scottish wife) is an ancestor of Jon Levordsen Goplerud (Gulsvik lineage). The connection from the descendants of Knud & Liv to Goplerud and Gulsvik is well documented in The Charcoal Burner’s Legacy: A Goplerud Family History written in 1990 by Sanford K. Fosholt (1915-1998).
As the book details, Jon Levordsen Haukedalen was a charcoal burner at Soknedalen Iron Works. He settled in Hedalen where he acquired the Goplerud farm and its name. It’s a place where the gople flower can be found. Marit Jonsdatter Goplerud, the last of six children, was born there in 1768.
Jon Levordsen Goplerud (1724)
& Ingeborg Andersdatter Finsand (1727)
(6 children)
Christen Haraldsen Stugarden (1772)
& Marit Johnsdatter Goplerud (1768)
(10 children)
At one time Christian Haraldsen Stugarden was a lieutenant in the Norwegian army and served under Prince Christian August of Augustenborg in 1808-1809 in Sweden. Christen & Marit lived at the Søndre (South) Stugarden farm.
Harald Guttormsen Nørdre Grøv (1808)
& Marit Christensdatter Stugarden (1808)
(9 children)
Harald & Marit lived at Nørdre Grøv which was only half of a mile from Marit’s parents at Stugarden.
Knud Hermansen Klemesrud (1834)
& Liv Haraldsdatter Grøv (1835)
(5 surviving children)
Liv’s Siblings | The Descendants of Knud & Liv
The old Goplerud home built in the 1600s
Website: www.goplerud.no
(with photos and info about the museum and other services)
Up on a hill above the Goplerud farm is a place called Vatneberget. It’s a part of the Goplerud property. The name means water mountain. There’s a spring on the plateau and pool of water. Stones have been placed around the plateau that are shaped like chairs and tables. Other larger rocks have engravings. It’s a special place reminiscent of Stonehenge. One of the large stones has the names of our ancestors at the top. Setting up this stone required 18 men and 7 horses. MORE INFO
