Jacob Einarsen Rognved

Jacob Einarsen Rognved was born on March 5, 1819 to Einar Johannesen Rognved and Åsa Jakobsdatter Lohne on the Rognved farm in Osterøy, Norway. In 1832, his mother died. His father remarried a year later to Gjertrud Andersdatter Sundland, and they ended up having two daughters together. However, In 1837, his father tragically died at sea. Jacob’s oldest brother, Johannes, took over the farm and ran it jointly with their stepmother, Gjertrud.

Three years after his father’s death a 21-year-old Jacob had sexual relations with his 36-year-old stepmother. This resulted in the birth of an illegitimate child, Einar, who lived to be two months old. Jacob and Gjertrud were brought to court for their crime of incest and in October of 1841, they were sentenced to death. However, ten months later this punishment was lifted. Instead, Gjertrud and Jacob were sentenced to six months of penitentiary work and hard labor respectively. Upon their release, Gjertrud was forbidden to leave the community, and Jacob was forbidden to remain for up to ten years.

After serving his sentence, Jacob moved to Bergen and became a master wheelwright. In 1846, he married Anne Marthe Endresdatter Grønhoug, a woman ten years older than himself. They had two children: Johan and Amalie, in addition to Anne’s illegitimate daughter, Fredrikke, who grew up to become the nationally renowned actress, Fredrikke Nielsen. Throughout her career, she played over three hundred roles and was personally directed by Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. However, contrary to her later success, her childhood was shadowed by her alcoholic stepfather. In Fredrikke’s memoir she wrote, “when [Jacob] was drunk, [Anne] was miserable and wept. He was cruel to me and said many evil words to me, and I was always afraid of him.” One of the reasons Fredrikke joined the theater was to escape Jacob’s cruelty. She was hired by Det Norske Teater in 1854 and moved out of her stepfather’s home at the age of 17.

In 1859, after their teenage son died in a shipwreck, Jacob left his family and emigrated to the United States. Two years after his arrival, the American Civil War broke out. Four months later, he enlisted as a private in the newly formed Illinois 82nd Volunteer Infantry, Co. I. Although the regiment was primarily German, his company was entirely Scandinavian. Together, this band of immigrants was engaged in some of the war’s most significant battles including the Union’s bloody defeat at Chancellorsville and the turning point of the war – Gettysburg. After two years with the 82nd, Jacob transferred to the 2nd Battalion Veteran Reserve Corps, Co. 98.

Once the war was over, Jacob found his way to the predominantly Scandinavian community of Story City, Iowa. Here he built himself a home, ran a wagon repair shop, purchased some land for subsistence farming, and married a fellow Norwegian, Julia. When the railroad came, he sold some land and started buying and selling horses with significant success. For a time he was living as a successful, married, and honored veteran. However, in the end, he divorced his wife “on account of desertion;” and according to his nephew Petrus’ memoir, his horse selling business was taken advantage of by scammers. He lost almost everything. On February 11, 1886, Jacob Einarsen Rognved died of pneumonia at the age of sixty-seven. He was the first veteran to be buried in Story City.

Comments from Others:
Viajo a San Francisco en 1844. Tomó armario Borgar en Bergen en 1848. fue a América. Lucho durante 3 años para los estados del Norte en la Guerra Civil (1860-1865). Vivió sus últimos años en la historia de la ciudad, el condado de Historia en Iowa. Petrus y su hermano Oskar lo visitaron ahi.

Jakob Einarson Rongved : Jeg reiser til San Francisco i 1844. Det tok skapet Borgar i Bergen i 1848. Han dro til Amerika . Lucho i 3 år for de nordlige statene i borgerkrigen ( 1860-1865 ) . Han levde sine siste år i historien til byen , Story County , Iowa. Petrus og hans bror Oskar besøkte ham der