Johan Augustinussen, also written Augustiniussen, (born 10 May 1808 at Langset in Nesna Municipality, died 22 November 1888 in Nesna) was a Norwegian curate/choirmaster, teacher and politician.
Despite a lack of formal education, straight after his confirmation he was appointed as the communal school teacher in his native village of Nesna, and at the young age of 22, he was employed as the village's teacher and choirmaster, a position he held for almost 50 years. He also wrote poems and folk songs, and was very interested in music.
Johan Augustinussen became the first mayor of Nesna in 1838. He was mayor for a total of 14 years. He also held a number of other positions in the local community, and represented the county of Nordland in parliament for eight terms from 1848 to 1870. Only Sivert Nielsen sat more terms in the Storting for Nordland county during the 19th century. He was politically aligned with the farmer's alliance, led by Ole Gabriel Ueland. Initially, like Ueland, he supported Søren Jaabæk and Johan Sverdrup, but Augustinussen sympathized more with central parties after a while, as Jaabæk and Sverdrup moved in a more radical direction.
Childhood and adolescence Johan Augustinussen was born at "Oppigården" in Langset, a farm in Sjona some distance east of the village of Nesna. His parents were Augustinius Larssøn (1762–1815) and Kirstine Olsdatter (1770–1843). His paternal grandfather Lars Johnsen (1720–1767) was a farmer at Sandnes in Nesna, and his maternal grandfather Peder Tønder (1697–1735) had been a lensmann. Augustinius Larssøn was an enterprising fisherman; he owned, among others, both a færing and a six-oared row boat, many fishing nets and longlines, and also rorbu in Kabelvåg. His estate testified to his wealth, especially by the standards at the time, since in addition to the aforementioned boats, he also owned nine cows, a horse and a windmill. Local historian Øyvind Jenssen describes him as a man of "great reputation in the village", for example, he was one of the chosen parishioners who signed the authorization of the electors from Nesna for the Norwegian Constituent Assembly (Riksforsamlingen) in 1814.Jæger (1918) ss.38–39
Johan was the youngest of seven siblings, but only he and Ole, the brother four years older than him, reached adulthood. Johan's father died in 1815, and his mother remarried in 1816 with Møller Andersen Zahl from Handnes who was 20 years her younger.Ifølge Nesna bygdebok hadde Zahl egentlig tenkt seg til Neppelberg (ved Ranfjorden i dagens Leirfjord kommune) for å fri til en enke der, men sterk vind første ham i land på Nesna. Johan's mother died in 1843, and Zahl remarried in 1845 with Anne Pedersdatter from Handnesøya. Jenssen describes her as a warm and good person who Johan had a good relationship with.
Johan Augustinussen showed little interest in farm work, showing instead a great interest in books. In one of the neighbor's living rooms at Langset, many books were to be found, and he often buried himself among them in order to read. It was said that he was a "lazybones" when it came to farm work, and he could not be counted on either during the harvest when he was in charge of cooking the porridge inside. He would sit on a wooden box and lose himself in his reading, not realizing that the porridge was burning.Jenssen (1998), s.109 According to Jenssen however, the people surrounding hims were aware of his literary abilities at an early age, and the parish priest Jens Andreas Krogh "became interested in the bright boy and began to lend him books".Jenssen (1998) s. 109 Krogh kom til Nesna som sokneprest i 1821, så dette kan tidligst ha skjedd i 12 - 13-årsalderen like før Augustinussen ble konfirmert.
Local offices
Teacher and choirmaster
The condition of education in Nesna at the beginning o the 19th century was described as "lamentable".Jenssen (1998), s.72–73 The education Augustinussen himself had received had mainly been from home and through the priest who lent him books. When he was asked in parliament where he studied, he answered: "Actually I ought to tell you that I was taught at home next to the stove by my mother". It was the curate who was responsible for teaching, and Nesna had been saddled with several awful curates. The curate Müller, in 1811, had to resign his post "due to adultery", and his successor Peter Eggen, who was curate during Augustinussen's childhood and early years, had little more success. He was a cobbler without any pedagogical qualifications and liked to drink and "chase women". Jenssen writes that "he had nothing to teach + for the simple reason that he knew nothing". The pastor at the time Christian Qvale testified that "He combined lewdness with the greatest incompetence" ., whilst the later priest Dometius wrote of Eggen that «Han cultivated both Bacchus and Venus and was a general annoyance".Jenssen (1998), s.77
This was the reason that despite a lack of schooling, straight after his confirmation, Augustinussen was employed as the communal school teacher by pastor Krogh. The communal school was meant to be preparation for regular school, where children would learn "how to read" and "the understanding of words".Jenssen (1998) s. 92 From 1826 he was also a home tutor for pastor Krogh's children. Here he was given access to Krogh's relatively rich library. The regular school in Nesna was built in 1823, 37 years before the common school law of 1860 demanded that schools of more than 30 pupils needed their own school building.Helgeland Museum: Klokkergården It was tradition that the curate was the teacher there. Peter Eggen was finally suspended from his position as curate in 1829 and died the same year. When the curate position became available, Augustinussen was appointed in 1830, at the young age of 22.Jenssen (1998) s. 109, Lindstøl (1914) Biografier A-K s.51. The curate was also called "choirmaster", and this title was used for Augustinussen among others in connection with parliament.Lindstøl (1914) Biografier A-K s.51 He had this position until he became a pensioner in 1878, thus serving for almost 50 years.Jenssen (1998) s.109 og s.211, ifølge Lindstøl (1914) Biografier A-K s.51 satt han i stillingen til sin død i 1888. He was a member of the school commission for the same time period, and also led confirmation education when the priest was too busy. Anton Christian Bang said about this that "his gifted and lively teaching was characterized by seriousness without any expressed warmth".Bang (1909), s. 78
As choirmaster, Augustinussen was entitled to a municipal curate's farm at Sandenes at the end of Ranfjorden. However, he chose to live in a cramped apartment in the school building.Jenssen (1998), s.111 The school building was in 1856 (after renovations in 1853) 20.5 by 9 ells.Lovund (1996) On the ground floor were the teaching room, kitchen and parlor for the curate, while the rooms on the first floor were used for housing. Originally there was a dormitory in the attic for pupils who lived far away. It was used as a school building up until 1886, and then became housing for the curate. After becoming a pensioner in 1878, Augustinussen built himself a private residential block on the west wall of the teaching room where he lived for the rest of his life.Jenssen (1998), s.211 This house has since been moved a little away. Both the schoolhouse and Augustinussen's house still stand at Nesna. The schoolhouse is considered to be "the region's oldest building for permanent, organized teaching for the common people".
When Augustinussen was curate, Jens Andreas Krogh was pastor in Nesna. In 1841 he was succeeded by Georg Greve, who was priest up until 1850 when Rasmus Dometius overtook the position and in 1866 Dometius was succeeded byHenning Stub.Jenssen (1998), Liste over sogneprester i Nesna Stub and Augustinussen both resigned in 1878, but according to Jenssen "paradoxically, most the attention surrounded the curate".Jenssen (1998) s.210
Johan Augustinussen left deep traces within the school system in Nesna, managing to extend both the school hours and curriculum. Jenssen refers to Augustinussen's teaching career as "a teaching act that both in quality and quantity made a major and positive impact on the development of Nesna".
Mayor The Formannskap laws were passed in 1837 and effective from 1 January 1838. Each prestegjeld would constitute a formannskap (formannskapsdistrikt). The prestegjeld in Nesna consisted at that time of Nesna and Dønnes sockens, and Johan Augustinussen was one of the three members in the first formannskap in Nesna. The other two were Johan Abrahamsen from Nesna and Johan Friderich Buch from Dønnes.Jenssen (1998), s.108 The minutes from the first formannskap meeting are brief:
Augustinussen had since 1830 been a teacher and choirmaster, and in that capacity also a member of the school commission. In 1835 The Medicinal Journal for Helgeland reported that he had also been engaged as an assistant to the district doctor Johan Friederich Winther in the vaccinating against smallpox.Ministerialbok for Nesna (1829-1839) Kirkeboken hadde egen kolonne for vaksine mot kopper. He was 30 years old when he was elected as mayor, and was mayor of Nesna for terms, from 1838 to 1848 and from 1850 to 1854.Jenssen (1998) s.110 Ifølge Lindstøl (1914) Biografier A-K s.51 var han «herredsordfører fra 1838 i 18 aar» Only two subsequent mayors of Nesna, Elias Olsen and Arne Langset, have served for an equivalent period. During his first term, the mayoral office was considered an office of trust; the herred often made decisions on the wording, but "it is left to the mayor to make them necessary".Jenssen (1998) s.117 Jenssen bemerker videre at «et slikt vedtak er utenkelig i et kommunestyre av i dag. This is also shown as the herred was summoned for the first time on 20 October 1839, fifteen months after the mayoral election. The mayor did not seem important enough to take a person out of work unnecessarily.Jenssen (1998) s. 112
Municipal treasuries The confidence in Augustinussen was strongly expressed during his first term as mayor, since he also "worked as the municipality's administrator".Jenssen (1998), s.117 It was an old practice that the village's pastor would manage the poor relief fund and the municipal treasury, but when Krogh left Nesna in 1841, the formannskap agreed to a different arrangement. Johan Augustinussen was employed as treasurer with responsibilities for the poor relief fund, with a wage of two Spd. per year. He was also responsible for the school treasury in Nesna (but not Dønnes) with a wage of one Spd. per year.Jenssen (1998) s.217 Lindstøl (1914) Biografier A-K s.51 oppgir at han var «kommunekasserer fra 1840» This agreement was made by the formannskap where Augustinussen was himself one of the three members, but according to Jenssen no one saw "anything suspicious about this". Jenssen further notes that Augustinussen's accounts were always in "exemplary order" in contrast to the accounts of the school treasury in Dønnes, for which he was not responsible. The wage increased over the years, and in 1876 he received 30 Spd. per year for the supervision of the poor relief fund.Jenssen (1998) s.131 Augustinussen was the municipal treasurer until he became a pensioner in 1878; when previous mayor Jacob Fredrik Zahl overtook the position. Zahl was succeeded by Ivar Anton Ivarsen Mehus in 1883, who was also a successor of Augustinussen in a different capacity in 1884, when he became Nesna's second parliamentary representative.
Librarian and other duties