Stefanus Einarsen

Stefanus Einarsen was born on December 20, 1864 to carpenter Steffen Einarsen Rognved and Caroline Margrethe Knudsen Sæbøe in Bergen, Norway. At the time of his birth, he had two older brothers; Carl, age 10, and Martin, age 2. The family was in the midst of financial hardship, a problem worsened by his father’s alcoholism. A day before Stefanus’ first birthday, his father was sentenced to three days in prison for pretending to be a master carpenter. In the following five years, his oldest brother moved out, they purchased a home at Skivebakken 7, and two younger brothers were born – Oscar (1867) and Petrus (1870).

At the age of 16, Stefanus finished training in a mechanical workshop and was hired as a steamship engineer. After several years at sea, he found employment in a workshop ashore. However, his brother Petrus wrote that “as a rule, seafarers don’t like to work in any workshop after having sailed for many years. He therefore switched to coastal shipping and eventually joined the Bergen Steamship Company.” As an engineer, Stefanus had been employed by the SS Kinn – a fishing steamer and the SS Urania – a general cargo steamer. He worked on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; in England and Wales; and in 1892, he left for Boma, Congo where he served as a master engineer on the SS Reine des Belges for 8 months.

Although Petrus wrote little about Stefanus in his memoir, he did recall one amusing story. One morning their ships happened to be docked in Bergen at the same time after having not seen each other for about 10 years. Stefanus came over to his brother’s ship around 5:00 a.m and was invited into Petrus’ cabin for drinks. However, while they were drinking a clerk saw them and reported it to the office manager. The manager came down and knocked on the door, but after Petrus soberly explained that he was having a reunion with his brother he let them be. Petrus was furious about this moment of “espionage” and wrote that “[t]his little example can give you an idea of ​​what one may be exposed to by the fruits of the teetotalers plowing work. The Norwegian people have become so permeated with squealing, gossip, evil, slander, hypocrisy, cowardice, lies, etc. as a result of all this teetotaler propaganda supported by thoughtless and ignorant evil people who call themselves divine and religious - that it is sad to think on.”

On June 5, 1887, he married Martha Olsen and started a family. Being the wife of a seaman could not have been easy for her. Stefanus was at sea when Martha gave birth to their first child on Christmas Day in 1888. Tragically, the child died three days later. In the following 14 years, Martha gave birth to six more children – Einar (1889), Margit (1893), Valborg (1894), Øivind (1896), Alf (1900), and Sigrid (1902). Stefanus was rarely home, but he never missed another baptism. Nevertheless, the family continued to be afflicted by death. In 1910, Valborg died of tuberculosis at the age of 15. In 1918, Alf also died from tuberculosis at 17. In 1921, Stefanus was widowed. Two years later Øivind died from pneumonia after leading a shipwreck rescue crew in Canada at 26. On February 14, 1925, Stefanus himself died in Bergen at the age of 60. The death of his four children and wife must have weighed heavily on him. He was survived by Einar, Margit, and Sigrid. However, Sigrid died only three years later.

Comments from Atle Einarsen:

1865 census for 1301 Bergen kjøpstad:

https://digitalarkivet.arkivverket.no/ft/person/pf01038249020243

1910 census for 1301 Bergen kjøpstad:

https://digitalarkivet.arkivverket.no/ft/person/pf01036708094487

https://digitaltmuseum.no/021038372160/einersen-stefanus-1864-1925

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1888 maskinist til sjøs. 1893 dampskibsmaskinist, bosted Trappesmuget 4. 1900 Bosted Henrik Wergelandsgade 3a. Han og Marte Martha har 5 barn. 1904 maskinist.

Bosted Rebslagergaden14

Married Domkirken, Bergen 1887 No. 29: https://media.digitalarkivet.no/view/1959/70