Bøen

Our family history at the Bøen farm goes back to Ole Tordson Bøen born in about 1612. He had a son named Engebret Olsson Bøen born about 1638. His daughter, Kari Embreksdotter Bøen (born in 1677), married a man named Hermann in 1704. It was said that he came “from north of the mountains” and was referred to as “Sogne-Hermann” because he came from the fjord called Sognefjord. He purchased part of Kari’s home farm in 1709 (map showing location of farm) and more of it in 1723. Bøen translates to meadow or homestead. Bø is a very old Norse word for farm. Bøen sounds like “burn”. From Google Translate: AUDIO SAMPLE 

See the Søvde page to learn about where “Sogne-Hermann” came from. 

In 1696, before Hermann married Kari, he worked for Ola Ivarson Ølmhus for a year. Hermann and Ola were both born in 1668. Turns out, 93 years later, Ola’s granddaughter would marry Hermann’s grandson. See the Ancestors of Guri for details on our Ølmhus lineage. Hermann worked on the neighboring Øyhus farm for 12 years starting in 1697. These farms are along the Begna River about 8 miles from Reinli.