Am I correct there is a Vassenden farm in Evje (hornes) parish and a Vassend farm in Aasdal/Bygland parish? What is Setesdalen in Bygland? What sogn would it be in?
This information was very helpful. I had the 1915 Evje parish Bydgebok which includes Vassenden, but could not find much that helped. I understand a new one will be released soon. Not aware of the other books. I use familysearch frequently, but have not learned to use the resources beyond the Bapt/Marriage records, and not familiar with their WIKI entries. There are people added to the tree in family search involving Vassend in Bygland and Setesdalen (which I assume is the same as Setesdal) which I could not document. It could come from one of the books or the 1664-1666 clerical/civil census mentioned in the refs
Vassend and Vassenden should be the same farm. It's located on the southern tip of the freshwater lake Byglandsfjord. Byglandsfjord is part of the river Otra. Vassenden directly translates to "the water end".
There are a number of Vassendens listed in the Evje Hornnes kirkeboker, but it does not seem to appear on any Evje parish lists of farms. Several entries say "Vassend in Aardal", but most just state the farm usually as Vassenden or Wassenden. Is it possible part of the farm could be so far west it is in Evje? Does the variation in spelling Vassend vs Vassenden mean anything?
Aardal church is just 5 mins north of the Vassenden farm I pointed out on the map. Vassenden is under the district of Aardal church. The dotted line just below Vassenden shows the current border between Evje & Hornes municipality and Bygland municipality. The Vassenden on this map is the Vassenden in Aardal parish in Bygland municipality. There is no other in Setesdalen. The term "parish" does not exist today. The borders might have been slightly different from todays municipality borders. Old censuses shows Vassenden in Aardal in Bygland. Evje and Aardal are neighboring districts in this remote countryside of Setedalen. People married across these two districts, and the wedding was often held in the bride's church.
Thanks for the full explanation! I can see why just the farm name would be written when there is only one Vassend farm and the parishes and churches are so close.
Bygland and Evje Farms Vassenden
Posted - 25/02/2021 : 01:00:15
