Prest Jens Lauritz Kjerulf

Jens Lauritz Kjerulf, pastor in Gol, 1851-1876

Jens Lauritz Kjerulf, following in the footsteps of his father,

grandfather and great-grandfather, studied for the ministry. He began

his studies in Christiania (Oslo) in 1819, took his degree in

theology in 1828, and was ordained the same year. He was first

"personellkapellan" (see previous explanation) for his father in

Hole, then in 1842 he became pastor in Trysil, where he remained

until 1851. Thereafter he became pastor in Gol and Hemsedal,

remaining there for 25 years until, in 1878, he went to live with his

son-in-law, Haldor Westerbø, in Valdres, where he died in 1891.

In 1833 Jens Lauritz Kjerulf married Henriette Philipine Dunker, who

was born in 1804 and died in Valdres in 1880. She was the daughter of

Adjutant General Henrik Dunker and his wife, Charlotte Lutzow. He was

a close relative of the attorney Dunker, who was well-known

throughout Norway.

It is a bit strange now to think that our great-grandfather was a

fellow student of Henrik Wergeland during the latter part of the

1820s. Wergeland, who was born in 1808, was nine years younger than

Kjerulf, and took his degree in theology in 1829. Great-grandfather

told our grandfather that he had been present at the famous

"Torvslaget" (Battle at the Market Square), the first genuine mass

demonstration we hear about in our history. And, according to

"Morgenbladet" (a newspaper), it was the students who were "the

leaders of the agitation". In the article we read that "a swarm of

people set off down Storgaten to Vaterlands Torv and Vognmandsgaten,

from where they headed over to the docks and then up Rådhusgaten,

past the residence of the "Statholder" and the house of the Student

Association..."

A police officer identified a young man named Stuberg, who at that

time also had a position as a "klokker" (a person who led the singing

at church services), as one of the ringleaders of the demonstration.

According to the newspaper, this officer testified that at

Vognmandsgaten Stuberg had gone to the head of the crowd, shouted

encouragement and swung his hat in the air. Kjerulf was surely a

friend of this Stuberg, for when he became pastor in Trysil, he

employed a student named Andreas Stuberg as tutor for his chidren.

This young man was certainly a son of "klokker" Stuberg, who was the

"ringleader of the mob" in 1829.

Another famous contemporary of great-grandfather whom we must mention

here was Jørgen Moe. He was somewhat younger than Kjerulf, was born

in 1813, began his studies in 1830, and did not take his degree in

theology until 1839. There were a number of reasons he took so long

to complete his studies, one of them being an unhappy love affair.

There were also periods of nervous depression. One Sunday, during the

time Kjerulf was assistant pastor in Hole, Moe was conducting worship

service. Everything went well until he climbed up to the pulpit. He

stood there without uttering a single word. It was a case of the

notorious "white fog", which occasionally afflicts speakers and

leaves them bereft of all thoughts and words. He stood there

motionless for a few minutes, then calmly stepped down from the

pulpit.

We know that Jørgen Moe went on to become both a courageous and

eloquent pastor. He demonstrated this in many instances during the

time he was pastor in Sigdal and Krødsherad, and later bishop in

Kristiansand. I have not, however, seen the anecdote concerning his

first sermon in any of the many biographies written about him in his

capacities as pastor, collector of fairy tales, and poet. Perhaps

this story has only been told within our own family.

We have now reached a point in time so close to our own that we are

able to glean information from stories and local histories. "I can

remember that Kjerulf often sat on that stone and looked out over the

valley", said Wilhelm Eidsgaard, and pointed to a stone up by the old

church. Today there are none who remember him in this manner, but

both Svello and Haavelsmo tell about him in their farm histories and

genealogies. Incidently, there are a number of errors in Svello's

book, both with respect to names and dates.

In the "kaldsbok" (book that records appointments to a pastorate) for

Gol we read: "Pastor Kjerulf is regarded by his parishioners as a

friendly, sociable and extremely amenable person." This is very

likely a correct assessment, and it is possible his congeniality and

peaceable nature were the reason that his three gifted sons remained

at home and did not receive an education. It has been said, and I

have seen this in print, that it was their mother's fear of

abandoning her spirited sons to the dangers of the big city that was

the primary reason, and that their peaceable father acquiesced.

Manual labor was not something for the sons of civil servants in

those days, so they hunted, fished and whiled away their time. It

was certainly poor preparation for a life of farming in a mountain

community.

Jens Lauritz Kjerulf and Henriette Philipine Dunker had these

children

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