Toserof

     Bjorn Anderson Kvelve and Abel Catherine von Krogh met in Norway, Bjorn being a farmer and Abel Catherine being of noble family, her parents did not approve of their relationship and made efforts to separate them.  In 1831, the two wed anyway, fearing the contempt of her family, friends, and relatives. According to some, her father, Bernhardus Arnoldus von Krogh, broke his sword, symbolizing the disgrace she had brought upon their family.

     Bjorn, in addition to his career as a farmer, owned a small sailboat and transported goods along the coast.  Through these travels he became associated with Quakers, and identified himself with them and their ideas. Bjorn was known for his public criticisms of “Norwegian laws and the office-holding class,” according to his son, Rasmus Anderson.

     So, due to political persecution and the growing dissent with Abel Catherine’s family, they traveled on the Norden from Stavanger to New York in 1836.