Article

Lars Knaphus

Lars Knaphus
 The name is unknown to many of our readers, probably only once before has the name been printed in the papers, that was on the December 14, 1886, when he was awarded the Stavanger County Medal for exceptional cultivating of land and farming.   Lars Knaphus is a cotter (a person dependent upon a farm, having sometimes a piece of land), he land-leased the approximate 2.5 acres plot owned by the farm Sjurseika, Øvre Vats, Ryfylke some 30 years ago (when he was 26 years old), a cotters place which became known as Knaphus (meaning "button or knoll house"). And at once began to clear away rocks, stumps and other obstacles; each small part of the fields craved its toll of sweat and heavy lifts. A constant shortage of funds and much illness in the family didn't make it easier.  It takes quite a bit of courage and will power to be victorious in such a situation, one may become discouraged and give up. But that did not happen to Lars.  In spite of adversity he never doubted that his work and toil would save him, and never lost his courage and confidence for the future. He succeeded. He was always sure his honest toil would bring a just reward.  It is now several years since his cotter farm was fully cultivated where he keeps three cows and ten sheep - and feeds them well. Of course it was not possible to support himself and not so small family on a cotter's farm, and therefore had to seek additional income on the outside. During the first years he collected rags (worn out clothing, etc. which were sold to factories for re-cycling) in later years he worked as a painter, and was known as a dependable craftsman. As he said, "To everybody's satisfaction both in the cities and on the farms."

Torleif drew this sketch of Lars Knaphus when he was younger than 17½ years old since it was printed with the following article in a newspaper in their Norwegian community. (When this article was printed, Lars would have been 55 years old and Torleif would have been 17½ - comments like this in italics are added commentaries about the article.)
Norman Knaphus first saw the drawing in Norway at Martin's home (Torleif's brother) when Norman was on his mission in the 1960's. Martin wouldn't let him have the picture. Norman asked Steve, his brother, to see if he could obtain it when Steve visited Norway in 1986. Miraculously, Giri (Martin's widow) gave it to Steve despite the fact that her daughter wanted it. Steve gave the original to Norman.   This article was originally printed in Norwegian from the local newspaper:

“The Farmers Friend”

No. 24, Vol 2

Stavanger, 16 June, 1899