THE FOURTH GENERATION

AMUND PEDERSON SMED
b. 1738 d. 1824

He was born on the Smedgaarten in ingelen and in 1772 married Kirsti the Elder Knutsdatter, daughter of the new owner of Ryalen.

Upon this marriage he moved from Smedgaarten and took possession of Ryalen and became the patriarch of sons named Amund for many generations to follow.

In 1805, at the age of 67 years, he paid a debt to Jens Finn of Roros that had been held against Ryalen by Rasmus Finn for forty two years. In 1813, eleven years before his death, he gave the deed for what remained of Ryalen Northern to his son Knut for a fee of 100 Riksdaler ( old Norske currency) or about 225 US dollars. As a good businessman he "retained the right to repossess in case the son should sell or die."

Amund and Kirsti reared five children:

(5) Marit, a daughter
(6) Knut, a son
(7) Kari, a daughter
(8) Anne, a daughter
(9) Tyri, a daughter

FOOTNOTE:

Before the marriage of Amund Pederson Smed to Kirsti Knutsdatter united the descendants of Jacob Torsteinson to those of Peder Ostensen and the Ryalen Farm, Nils Pedersen had remained head farmer of Ryalen for 23 years before his death in 1758.

Upon his death, what remained of Ryalen after he relinquished The Bakken to his brother, was willed to wife Berit. She in turn, gave its management to their son Jon. During a period of five years that followed Ryalen went into debt to the same Rasmus Finn, a speculator. During this time of indebtedness Berit conveyed to son Jon, "half of Ovresjodalen which he called Vestgard. Upon foreclosure of Ryalen shoe moved with her son to Vestgard in 1763 and Ryalen Northern was sold away.

From 1763 to 1768the land of Ryalen lay dormant and in 1769 a man named Knut Iverson of Broen Farm in Tolga married Marit Larsdatter of Ryalen Western, and he purchased all of Ryalen Northern from Jens, son of Rasmus Finn. He left a balance of a contract and offered this equity as a dowry to his daughter Kirsti the Elder upon her marriage to Amund pederson Smed.

As Amund Pederson Smed moved across from Vingelen to the eastern slopes of the valley to Hodalen there is no records found of his great grandfather Jacobs farm Fordert, nor has there been found a trace of Smedgaarten in Vingelen, the farm on which he had been born and had remained in his family for three generations.

The names of Peder Ostensen and his wife Berit, their sons Nils and Jon and their grandson Jon are not listed in family lineage. The are not ancestors except for the fact they wrought into prominence the name we call our own.

There is no reliable source for the name Ryalen. It has been connected to the part of a hand piece that guarded the wrist on a scram axe or sword. There is also indication it came from the description of a mountainous field or meadow. It is not a true word in the Norwegian vocabulary.

The history of Norway and its early dependence on the sword justifies the word. The geography of that country, and the terrain on which that place still stands is enough evidence to believe either interpretation.