Hans Andersen Barlien

Hans Andersen Barlien (29 February 1772 – 31 October 1842) was a Norwegian farmer and politician. He has been credited with the establishment of a Norwegian-American immigrant settlement in Sugar Creek, Iowa.

Barlien was born in Overhalla, Nord-Trøndelag 29 February 1772 to Anders Sørensen and Ane Hansdatter. On 24 November 1793 he married Kjerstine Einarsdatter Skistad (b. 1768) in Overhalla, daughter of Einar Skistad and Marie Sophie Christensdatter (1808–1897) in Sugar Creek, Iowa. Barlien was grandfather to Norwegian engineer Albert Fenger-Krog (1835–1904) and Norwegian politician Hans Konrad Foosnæs (1846–1917).

At the same time as his 1793 marriage, Barlien took over one of the Barli farms of Trondheim Cathedral. The parish priest Hans Blytt (1758–1805), together with Barlien, was the very first to provide vaccinations against smallpox in Norway. Blytt had imported lymph from Copenhagen and vaccinated first his own children, then members of the Barlien family.

In May 1804 Hans Barlien moved with his wife and four children to Trondheim, where he bought a pottery located on Prinsens gate. He was later licensed as a watchmaker. Barlien was eager to improve the city's water supply, and initiated a new pump station and glass works on the farm Surviken, working together with Haugeans Otto Carlsen and Paul Anziøn. Barlien received the Dannebrogmændenes Hæderstegn on 28 June 1809 for his technological competence and skill. In 1812 Barlien bought the farm Ågård in Namdalseid for 7000 Norwegian rigsdaler.

...
Wikipedia