My great grandfather was born on Tromøy on the Markevig farm. His mother was most likely a servant and had an affair with a Danish sailor. My great grandfather was illegitimate. I think his grandfather ended up raising him. I've got a couple of reasons for believing that which I won't go into. Someone in Norway told me that there is a Tromøy Bygdebok. I tried to get a copy of it through inter-library loan, but was unable to get a copy in the United States. There is a copy of it on-line, but it's all in Norwegian. However, the person who told me about the Bygdebok said he could find nothing about the Markevig farm. My great-great grandmother probably had her baby (my great grandfather) and then went back to live with her parents. Her parents lived in Austre Møland. He was baptized in the Austre Møland Parish. I did do research on Arendal. My grandfather changed his last name first to Christian Andersen-Leth and finally to Christian Leth. I don't think any of his descendants in the United States knew that he was born as Christian Andersen. He was confirmed in the Arendal church as Christian Andersen. My research in Arendal consisted of looking for the Leth connection. At that point I wasn't sure that Christian Andersen was my great grandfather. I did learn that there were a lot of prominent people in Arendal with the last name of Leth. Maybe my great grandfather lived with one of them, and they gave him permission to take their last name. I don't think I'll ever know. Someone from the Arendal archives sent me copies of information on different Leth families. It was all in Norwegian, I didn't know anyone who could read Norwegian. When I learned for sure that Christian Andersen was really Christian Leth, I discarded all the information on the Leth's. Now I know people that can read Norwegian, and I'm sorry I discarded everytihing. The passports were issued to Christian Andersen Leth. Arlene -----Original Message----- From: NORWAY [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Carol Dallas Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 8:01 AM To: Norway List Subject: [NOR] Tromøy, Arendal, Grimstad, Fjære? Is there anyone on this list who has been researching ancestors from these areas of Norway? My ancestors lived in these areas in the 1800s, and the family farm/home is still there. One of my "cousins" is still living in Arendal. I have tracked one of my lines back to about 1750, but so far have never met anyone else researching these areas. Regards, Carol Dallas Norwaylist Archiveshttp://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=norway RESUBSCRIBE UNSUB http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/NOR/NORWAY.html guidelines http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/guidelines.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message