The Lowe Family Tree

Born on the Orhuus farm in 1828 in Sande, Vestfold, Norway to parents Christen Johnsen and Dorthe Olsdatter, Christoffer lost his father by age 5 and spent his childhood on Kvisle farm with his mother and step-father. After confirmation he relocated from Sande to Svelvik and traded a life on the farm for one at sea. Christoffer married Mathea Gulliksdatter Loe and had 3 children. He died at sea of yellow fever aboard the ship Chatham at the age of 50 and was buried at sea on the Atlantic.

Thorvald Haugen was born Torvald Hansen on 16 Dec 1864 in Sandsvær, Buskerud, Norway to parents Hans Jorgen Petersen Haugen and Anne Olsdatter.¹ The family lived at the northern end of Hedenstad, Sandsvær on the Haugen farm in what was the Saggrænden and Medheien school district.² Sandsvær has since been incorporated into the city of Kongsberg and is south of the city center.

Marie and her twin sister Julie were born in 1858 daughters of a sailor in the seafaring town of Svelvik, Norway. Marie was 1 of 6 children and 1 step-brother in the house. She lost her mother at 9, her step-mother at 15 and cared for her siblings and father until he passed away in 1888. Marie married ship's captain Cornelius Christoffersen 3 months later. Together they had 6 children; 1 whom passed in infancy. Marie followed her sister from Norway to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907. Although they made a nice life here, tragedy followed. 1914 saw the death of both her son Oscar and Julie's husband. This was followed by son Rudd in 1926, her husband in 1927, and son Chris in 1929. She outlived all the men in her life but died herself at 74 in 1933. Julie followed 2 months later.

Cornelius was born in Svelvik, Norway in 1860, son of a sailor. He took to the sea like his father by the age of 15. He married the girl he grew up down the street from named Birthe Marie Andreasen. The couple was wed in 1888 and 2 months later Cornelius received his official captain's certification. He captained his own ship for years and even captain a ship to China, but gave it up in 1907 to move his wife and 5 children to America. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio near his wife's twin sister and changed the family last name from Christoffersen to Christopher. Here Cornelius became a sexton for a local church where he worked the rest of his life. He died in 1927 at the age of 67.

Born to a ship's engineer in Haugesund, Norway, Thora was the youngest of seven children. She was raised by her mother while her father was regularly away at sea. At the age of 9 her mother died, prompting her father to remarry and provide another caretaker for her and her siblings. 4 step-siblings would follow in the coming years. At 16, Thora boarded the S.S. Kristianiafjord and joined her sister Anna in Cleveland, Ohio. When she turned 20 she married a Norwegian sailor and they raised 2 children together before his untimely passing 11 years later. Thora would eventually marry again, but lose her 2nd husband as well. She lived to be 94 and passed away in Cleveland.

Born in Svelvik, Norway, Christoffer immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 17 with his parents and siblings. He was a third-generation sailor, son of a ship's captain, who had worked his way up to the rank of first mate (second in command under the captain). Christoffer sailed the Great Lakes aboard steamships moving goods like coal and ore from port to port and train to train aboard ships like William C. Atwater. Christoffer died young from complications due to cancer and left behind a wife and two children.