LARS DAVIDSON REQUE: PIONEER

Abstract

LARS DAVIDSON REQUE: PIONEER1 By A. Sophie B0e Lars Davidson Reque was born on June 4, 1818, on the gaard Reque in Voss, Norway. This farmstead was beautifully located on the side of a steep mountain rising above a large lake, and on this place five gaardsmcend (farmers) together with several husmœnd (cotters) and their families lived. Each farm had its own name - Opistaavo , Opigaren, Utegaren , Bortegaren , and Nig ar en - according to its location . All five of the farm owners used the name Reque, although few, if any of them, were related. Lars D. Reque's parents were David Ericksen Reqve2 and Kari Larsdatter Schiple (Skipie) . He had one brother, Erich, and three sisters, Guri, Johanna, and Gudve. The family was one of moderate means, but its members represented an intelligent type of peasant. In April, 1839, when Lars Reque was about twenty years old, he and four of his friends decided to emigrate to America to seek their fortune in the new world. Several Vossings had already emigrated, and their letters were read with great interest. A large group had met in the Reque home to hear the reading of Ole Rynning's True Account of America (1838), and this had inspired others, among them Lars Reque, to go. 1 The present article, written by a granddaughter of Lars Davidson Reque, is based both upon family traditions and upon written records. Since the quotations drawn from the latter can in most cases be readily traced to their sources, no attempt has been made by the editor to supply formal annotations. Ed. 2 In the old family Bible, in Lars Reque's certificate of baptism, and on old family chests brought to this country from Norway, the name is spelled Reqve. Reque himself wrote it this way, but in his later years adopted the use of k instead of q. The form Reque , however, as followed in these pages, is sanctioned by general usage. SO LARS DAVIDSON REQUE : PIONEER 31 In Bergen Reque and his companions went on board a little sailboat bound directly for New York - the first emigrant ship, according to Nils A. Lee, to leave that harbor. According to K. A. Rene there were about twenty men from Voss sailing on this boat, eleven of them being married men with their families. A salute was given from the fort as they left, and it was answered by those on board who had firearms. After nine weeks and two days of stormy and perilous sailing, during which time the pumps had been constantly in operation, the leaky little schooner reached New York on July 4. Cannons were booming in the forts of the harbor, and shooting and other noises were heard from the shore. The emigrants were frightened, for they thought their boat was being bombarded from the fort. They had anticipated an attack by Indians and had, before leaving, equipped themselves with such firearms as they could muster, but they had not expected to be attacked so soon. They were relieved, however, to see that none of the shots struck the boat, and happy when they learned the significance of the day and the true reason for the shooting. Reque was much impressed by the steamboats that he saw in the harbor, and still more by all the wonderful things he witnessed after landing. Locomotives and matches overwhelmed him with wonder, although the latter filled him with a superstitious fear. All this magnificence, however, made him feel depressed, for he thought it would be hard for a greenhorn like himself to make any progress in such a wonderful country. In New York the immigrants met a man from Bergen by the name of Trompsei, who made arrangements for them to travel to Buffalo. Each adult person paid this man four dollars for himself and baggage. From New York they went up the Hudson River to Albany on a steamboat that had nine other vessels, prob- 32 STUDIES AND RECORDS ably freight boats, attached to it. Here all their baggage was weighed. From Albany they went to Schenectady by a train which consisted of fifteen cars, including freight cars and engine. This trip capped the climax...