General Notes

[Sverre Sigurdsson - 1582897.FTW]

A number of years ago, perhaps in or around 1970, a history of the Ottem family was written by Halvor Ottem's daughter, Mabel Ottem. This document contains her account of the Ottem history.
     The Ottem Gaard lies on the north side of the Driva River, about 17 miles east of the village of Sunndalsøra, in Sunndalen, Norway. Just when or how it got the name is impossible to tell. It is first mentioned in 1440 and then it was written Otteieme, in 1530 and 1590 it was written Ottem, but in 1559 it is Otthenn, 1667 Ottimb, 1723 Aattem, and since that time it has been Ottem.
     The river Otta flows down the mountain side above Ottem and so it is apparent that the name is derived from the river. It is a shortening of the name Ottaheimen -- Home of the Otta.
     How long people have lived on Ottem is hard to say. It appears that from 1349 to 1440 nobody lived on this place following the "Black Death" of 1349-1350, when most of the people in Sunndalen perished with the plague.
     Since records have not been found or probably not kept, the names of the people on the land were not recorded; only the land was recorded with the Bishop of Nideros. After the Reformation, closer track of the people was kept, and through that we are able to trace the families from the beginning of the 1600s.
     The Ottem Gaard was divided into two sometime between 1559 and 1603. These two Gaards were named Østre (East) Ottem and Yttre (Outer) Ottem. Yttre Ottem is the one that we are most interested in and from which we will trace the family history. Whether the occupants of these two Gaards were related we have no way of knowing. It would seem logical that it must have been divided among two brothers before names were recorded.
     The Ottem Gaard have often been destroyed by floods, snowslides, landslides, and fires. It is hard to find a place in Sunndalen that has met with so many unlucky events as Ottem. In 1665 one of the greatest floods in the history of Sunndalen occurred. The Driva River cut a new channel which destroyed much of the cultivated and pasture lands. In 1689 all the buildings on both gaards burned.  All the buildings at that time were built close together and once the fire started, it was impossible to save anything. In 1692 five major rock slides
occurred and the Drive River again flooded much of the land. The rocks covered much of the land and it was a grueling task to clear them off the land. However, some of them could not be moved and are still standing in the fields. In 1719, in the cold of winter another fire got out of control and burned all the buildings again on Yttre Ottem. The other Ottem place was spared this time, because after the first fire they were separated. Nothing was saved in this fire. All the food, clothing, and furniture burned. However, the most tragic event of all was the death of Endre Ingebrigtsen, our oldest known relative. He was nearly eighty at the time and was unable to get out. This fire happened at night so the only thing they saved were the night clothes they had on.
     In 1789 a flood took a sixth of the crop land and a quarter of the pasture lands, pretty much on the order of the flood of 1665. On February 13, 1816 buildings were destroyed by snowslides and three persons lost their lives. In March 1819 slides tooks some of the out buildings. On February 10, 1868, eight persons lost their lives and some buildings went with a snow slide. On March 14, 1879 some buildings and one person lost his life by a snowslide. In 1923 several buildings again were destroyed by landslides. At the present
time (circa 1970 :ed) Yttre Ottem and Østre Ottem are vacated on account of the dangers of other major landslides which started in 1965. I mention these things so that you may have an idea what it was like to live amid these high mountains.
     In 1827 a new dwelling house was built on Yttre Ottem by Endre Pederson and his wife Eli Larsdatter Ottem. This is still well preserved and the beautiful painted doors, the round fireplace and beautiful log walls are most intriguing. After he had built this house he placed a beautifully painted plaque over the front door with this inscription: "Denne Stuebygning er bekostet ov Endre Pederson og Eli Larsdatter Ottem, Aar 1827" (This home was financed by Endre Pedersen and Eli Larsdatter Ottem, year 1827)
     This home is now owned by Endre Ottem and is vacated as mentioned above. He now lives in Halvorstuen on Musgjerd, which his father bought in 1923 from an Englishman. Halvor Musgjerd lost this place on account of indebtedness that he was unable to meet.
     I don't know if this short history is of interest to you or not. However, I feel that sometime someone in the family might be interested and wonder about the old question, "Where did I come from?"