Oluf Iversen Teslie 1846 - 1888

Pedigree Chart - Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )

Links for Oluf Tesli

Oluf Teslie History

Oluf Teslie was born 3 March 1846 and was christened 12 April 1846. The birth is recorded at the Hlade-Strinda Parish in Sør-Trøndelag Norway. Today Strinda is a suburb of Trondheim. His father was Iver Jacobsen Teslie. It is unknown exactly where Oluf's parents were living at the time of his birth. The Christening record just states he was born "at Hlade (Lade)", which just refers to the general Strinda area. There is no evidence that Oluf was born at the Tesli farm. It appears that he took on the name Tesli (Teslie) after his father.

Christening record for Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )

Oluf was confirmed at Hlade-Strinda Parish 6 October 1861 at age 15. The confirmation record lists his place of residence as Reitgjerdet, a farm in the Strinda area.

Confirmation record for Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )

In the 1865 census Oluf is 19 years old and living with his father, mother and younger brother Adolf Martin. They were living at Smebakken 2 in Trondheim.

1865 Census - Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )

An item that I have not been able to fully resolve is Oluf's mother's name. In his Christening record his mother is listed as Margrethe Hansdatter. Yet, every bit of evidence other than the christening record points to Oluf's mother as being named Margrethe Knudsdatter. I have not been able to find any alternatives other than to assume the correct name is Knudsdatter not Hansdatter. There is no doubt about the identity of Oluf's father. To summarize the case for Oluf's mother to be Margrethe Knudsdatter:

The Margrethe in the 1865 census (above) is the same person as Margrethe Knudsd in the 1839 marriage record for Iver Jacobsen Teslie (see under Iver for more details)

Census age of 57 corresponds to the marriage age of 32 in 1839 (note the 1865 census was done in Dec 1865)
Margrethe's place of birth of Kvikne is the same on both the census and marriage record
There is no mention that this is a second marriage for Iver on the census.
There is no second marriage record for Iver
There is no death record for a Margrethe Hansdatter in the time period in question.

The 1865 census states that both Oluf and Adolf Martin are sons to Iver and Margrethe i.e they have the same father and mother. The census would have noted it if this was not the case as that was one of the items considered on the census.
Oluf's younger brother Adolf Martin's birth record states that the father is Iver Jacobsen Teslie and that the mother is Margrethe Knudsdatter.
Oluf's older brother Johan Conrad birth record states that the father is Iver Jacobsen Teslie and the mother is Margrethe Knudsdatter.
There is zero evidence for another Iver Jacobsen Teslie of the exact same age who married a Margrethe Hansdatter. All evidence points to a single Iver Jacobsen Teslie that meets all the know information (birth place, parents, age, marriage etc.) and he married Margrethe Knudsdatter.

Oluf was never married. However he did live with Anna Larsen from about 1870 to about 1878. He had three children by Anna. In each of the christening records the children are listed as illegitimate.

03 April 1871 - Martin Ludvig Olufsen Tesli
11 June 1874 - Margrethe Christine Teslie
18 June 1876 - Adolf Ingvald Tesli

There is no record to tell us how Anna and Oluf met. There seems to be two possibilities however. In the first possible scenario they meet in the Åmot; area where Anna was in the 1865 census. Oluf's two older brothers, Halvor and Johan were also in Åmot area at a place called Sørbakken, about 50 miles away from where Anna was at the time of the 1865 census (source). They were both single in the census. Perhaps Oluf moved to Åmot sometime after 1865 to be with his brothers, possibly for work, and that is where he and Anna met. The other possibility is that Anna moved to the Trondheim area for work and they met there.

In the 1875 census Oluf is living with Anna Larsen and his daughter Margrethe. His son Martin is not listed as living with him. It might be noted that both of his older brother's had a firstborn illegitimate child who were not living with them either in the 1865 census so this appears to be a common theme among the brothers of the family. Oluf and Anna were living at 1685 Øvre Møllenberg Street, Trondheim. His occupation is listed as a dock worker (stevedore) taking on jobs when offered and his position is a "lodger" at this location. In other words he is renting from the owner.

1875 Census - Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )

Sometime between the 1877 and 1885 Oluf and Anna separated. Anna joined the LDS church in 1880. Given the requirements for baptism into the LDS church I would suspect that this split occurred sometime after the death of Adolf Ingvald in 1877 and Anna's baptism in 1880. This separation was rather complete. In a letter written to Margrethe (Oluf's daughter), Martin (Oluf's son), apparently in reply to a question from Margrethe in a letter wrote: "I don't have any idea as to when or where our father died" (Source: Letter in possession of Michael Baird).

The 1888 Address book for Trondheim (the oldest one available) lists an O. S., Teslie, house owner, living at Bratør Street 6. This may or may not be Oluf. The case for it being Oluf is he was living in Trondheim up until his death in 1888 and in the 1889 address book this O. Teslie is not listed. The case against it is the "S" initial and that he died early in 1888. I am not certain as to the time of year the address book was compiled. There is a Martin Teslie also listed but that is not his son Martin. The other O. Teslie listed as living on Bersvend Street was named Ole and is listed in the address book long beyond when Oluf died so that is not him for sure.

Oluf Teslie? in the 1888 Trondheim Address book ( source )

In the Allen family LDS Family Record book, Oluf is listed as having brown eyes and black hair. This information was written by his daughter Margrethe.

Oluf died 18 Feb 1888 in Trondheim, Norway. In the burial record the cause of death was listed as "Galloping Tuberculosis" (TB Bronchopneumonia which brings death fast). He was unmarried and occupation was a "laborer". The hospital was listed as his residence. He was buried 27 Feb 1888.

Burial Record for Oluf Iversen Teslie ( source )