The Fulkerson Family Pages
Bergen, Norway
The Land and Life Our Patriarch Left Behind
According to a website of the Gulicks of New Jersey, Dirck Noorman Holgerson was born in Norway in 1595. Some genealogies, including the Gulicks', associate him with the family headed by Volkert Maertense Seylemaecker and his wife, Anna Dirks; however, this could not be possible, as their son Dirck is recorded as having died in 1630, which would have been about the time our Grandfather Dirck was courting and marrying his wife Christine Vigne. Many family trees state Dirck's birthplace was Bergen, Norway.
Bergen, Norway
The Land and Life Our Patriarch Left Behind
Several other immigrants in New Amsterdam were also called "De Noorman." Although it would not have been out of the question for a Noorman to have been someone from any one of the three Scandanavian kingdoms (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), united in their speaking of North Germanic languages, family researchers have stated these early colonists called "Noorman" were people having emigrated specifically from Norway.
At least 57 Norwegians settled in the colony of New Netherland between 1630 and 1674 [The Norwegian Americans, by James M. Cornelius, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, NY, 1989, p. 31-32].
Several branches of the family have specified Dirck Holgerson had started his life as a citizen of the Norwegian city of Bergen.
Our Grandfather Dirck was likely born shortly after the beginning of the reign of King Christian IV, King of Denmark, 1588 to 1648.
How was it that the king of Denmark should be king also of Norway?
The Kalmar Union or Union of Kalmaris (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Kalmarunionen; Latin: Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union that from 1397 to 1523 had been a personal union of states falling under the rule of a single monarch. Even prior to the Kalmar Union, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian governance was often intertwined. At times the union would fall apart as different men vied for control and kingship within the separate regions. CONTINUE
King Christian IV led an interesting and somewhat wild life. For details, visit this link or click this image.
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