Mikkel Larsen Midtdal

  Research Notes:

Note: see John Midtdal's book, Tufsingdalen .... page 385 at bottom, 386 ......... ................
Family lived on the farm Bakken at/on Femundshytten
... notes on his father's page

Mikkel [Larson] b 1729-died 1783 m. 1758 Berit Nilsdtr [Valdal], b 1730-1805
family resided on farm Bakken on Femundshytten* .. p. 386

.. from researching Bygebok for Os, Røros-boka, vol 3 and the Bygebok for Engerdal vol 2 ... and Norway Parish registers [birth/deaths], we can conclude the following:

1. Mikkel Larsen Midtdal was most likely born on the Østgaard farm in the Os-Dalsbgyda area of Hedmark Co, Norway
2. sometime before 1757, possibly as early as 1755 he moved to the area near the Femundshytta smelting house/hut Røros parish. There are some spelling variations of the place name Femundshytta - Femunds Hytte, Femundshytten. At this time period, Femundshytta would have been under the boundaries of Røros parish.

Note: see my document, "Femundshytta, 1743-1822" that based on a PDF from 2024 about the conserving of the smelting house and other buildings, along with some photos and maps of the area [path - Grue ... Ancestors Lars M Mikkelson... Mikkal Larsen, b 1729
family]

.. The area extends from Femunds western shore, north of Lervika [small bay about 1 kms to the south of Femundshytta], and 6 km westwards along the banks/meadows of Hyttebekken and inwards into the mountain plateaus of Flenskampan and Buhøgda
.. Using openstreetmap, Femundshytta is on the western shore lake Femund, and south about of lake at the northern arms. On the eastern shore of the lake - across from Femundshytta is about half way point between Elgaa in the south and the Røvellen area in the north. And to the west of Femundshytta over the mountain area is the Tufsingdalen area, a distance of only about 10-15 kms
.. Femundshytta was established as a smelting shed under Røros Copper Works in 1743 and was in operation until 1822 when the smelting shed and eventually most of the farmyards were moved to Drevsjø
.. Femundshytta was also known in later years as Gammel-hytta or 'old smelting house']. The smelting of iron ore used a huge amount of charcoal, and of course charcoal requires the burning of hundreds or thousands of trees [*see below]. The above mentioned PDF has a short section on smelting hut processes

.. the above PDF mentions that when the smelting hut closed in 1821/22, those from Bakken moved to Haugen on the eastern side of Femunden .... BUT ... the Bygebok for Engerdal, vol 3, indicates that Nils Mikkelson, son of Mikkel Larsen Midtdal, moved to Drevsjø. And that Nils Mikkelsen's son, Erik Nilsen had built up a farm in the area of Drevsjø known as Bakken vestre.
And that Nils Mikkelsen's son, Mikkel Nielsen married and lived at the farm Sylen where his son Lars Mikkelsen, my 4th great grandfather had lived prior to Lars and family moving to Minnesota.
And another son of Nils Mikkelsen, Mikkel b 1820/1821 had lived at Huskleppen

3. I have not been able to find a confirmation record for Mikkel Larsen, in the Røros or Tolga parish registers.
4. Mikkel Larsen was married on 7 Jul 1758 [see my notes on Legacy marriage record].
5. As indicated, the Norway parish register for Røros parish records the baptisms of Mikkel Larsen's children, but do not record the place that the baptism was held - note that it was not uncommon for a baptism to be a 'home baptism'. Røros parish also the records the deaths/burials of 3 of his children. Note that most of parish records records Mikkel Larsen as Michel Larsen Tufsingdal
6. Mikkel Larsen died 7 Dec 1783 with his burial recorded in the Røros parish registers. It is assumed that he died at Femundshytta. The actual location of the grave is unknown, although the above mentioned PDF suggests that there was a cemetery at Femundshytta.

7. Mikkel Larsen Midtdal is my 5th great-grandfather. Two of his sons are my direct line ancestors:

... Lars Mikkelsen Midtdal, 1762-1850. Following his direct line descendants to my 2nd great grandmother,
Beret Sofie Mikkelsdatter Midtdal, 1832-1899

... Nils Mikkelsen, 1765-1741. Following his direct line descendants to my 2nd great-grandfather,
Lars Mikkelsen, 1830-1832.

Lars Mikkelsen, b 1830 was married on 12 Mar 1854 to Beret Sofie Mikkelsdatter Midtdal, b 1832.
Lars and Beret Sofie left the farm Sylen in Røros parish in 1870 to travel to North America. Eventually, they homesteaded in
Elgin Twp, Clay Co, Minnesota.


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Charcoal was made by slow burning logs under a man-made earthen mound, called a kiln. The kiln, at least in later years, was also made of stone slabs [see Bygebok for Engerdal, vol 3, page 149 or so for a photo of stone kiln].

The cutting of timber and the making of charcoal was done in the surrounding area and as the forests in the area became depleted, logging continued further east and then south on both the western and eastern sides of the Lake Femund. As early as 1715 a type of lock at Langtjønna was built [essentially allowing for timber to be floated from the north eastern part of Lake Femund and the southern part of Feragsjøen - Lake Feragen]. By 1779, a canal had been built at Langtjønna. This allowed the Copper works to float timber and kolwood [charcoal] from and even copper ore to from the areas north and east of Røros [Storwartz mining area]. Note that there is actually a small river at the northeastern arm of lake Femund that joined with lake Langtjønna and it was at the northern end of Lake Langtjønna that the canal had been dug, joining with lake Feragen.

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.. previous source: www.worldconnect.rootsweb.com; Terrill Hayes; Dale Rosten; (29 May 2005) - no longer active 2023

1. Geni.com FT .... https://www.geni.com/people/Mikkel-Midtdal/6000000007328972405; [13 Oct 2022]
- managed by Rolf Inge Holden
...... Note: above sources not clear on place of birth: Terrill Hayes notes Midtdal, Tufsingdalen, Røros; however, his father reported as born in Østgård, Dalsbygda (Os), Norway

- not clear if Berit Nilsdtr's birth place is in Tolga or Sør-Trøndenlag (Terrill Hayes, above, indicates Valdål); "hytte" refers to a cabin
... see her page - born at Femundshytta


2. Source: Bygebok for Os: bygda og folket; vol 3. page 248 second col

- Mikkel Larsen born 1729 and Berit Nilsdatter Valdal. Ved (at or by) Femundshytta ---- however, it is not clear if "ved Femundshytta" refers to where they lived [ but most likely ] versus where she was born
- Mikkel Larsen's son, Lars (born 1762 and died 1850) took over farm - - Midtdalen Søndre, in the Tufsingdalen area of Hedmark parish; in 1791 was listed as Bygsler (leaseholder); earlier on the page, it is noted that Lars, son of Mikkel took over the farm Larsgaarden, bnr.3; Mitdalen søndre

-- note: this page (or section of book) does not give more information about Mikkel Larsen and Berit's other children -- only Lars, born 1762

4. Death, 1783, age 57 - Norway Parish Registers, Røros ..... calculated death is 1726 [Terrill Hayes data gives this yr as birth]

- most family tree data records death as 1783, with the exception of Rolf Inge Holden (geni.com) who says Dec 1803 age 74
BUT there is no Mikkel Larsen death/burial record in 1803 in Røros parish register

Conclusion: I have recorded his death as 1783 - Norway Parish Register is likely the most accurate

3. Birth at Midtdalen Søndre, Tufsingdalen, Tolga ^{298,597,1805,2092}

Mikkel married Beret Nilsdtr Valdal on 7 Jul 1758 in Røros, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway.²⁰⁷⁷ (Beret Nilsdtr Valdal was born on 20 Oct 1728 in Valdål, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway ^2078,2079 and died in Aug 1805 in Norway ^2078,2081.)

  Marriage Notes:

Norway parish register: Engaged on 28 May 1758 with marriage introduced 7 Jul 1758. Ole Feragen and Iver Knudsen are recorded as witnesses.

Note: it is not clear where the marriage took place, other than the marriage is recorded in the Røros parish register. But it doens't seem reasonable that the people from Femunds Hytta all travelled the 75 kms to Røros for all church activites - birth/deaths/marriages. As of 27 Jan 2025, I haven't found any comments about this. But I suspect that it might have been reasonable for a priest or sexton to the district and perform a number of activities in the district. There was a school hut at Femundshytta and it seems reasonable that this was also used for church activities.

Note that Michel Backens son Michel born was born in Mar 1758 and so was born before the marriage. Also note that Mikkel Larsen was likely living in the Femunds hytten or Feragan district as early as Jul 1757