Magdalena Andrea Kraft
Magdalena Andrea Kraft was born in 1752, the eldest daughter of the army officer Jens Evensen Kraft. Her mother was very probably Anne Maria Moss, a daughter of the Kongsberg merchant Anders Moss, whom her father had married at Kongsberg in January 1751. Her two given names were the names of Anne Maria's parents, Malene and Anders. Where she was born is not known. Her father commanded a company of the Telemark infantry, and two of her sisters were later confirmed at Kongsberg. Her baptism has not been found.
On 18 November 1773 she married Niels Simonsen, a merchant of Risør, at Kragerø. The Kragerø church book records it: "Copul. efter Kongl. Bevill. i Huset: Sr. Nils Simonsen Kiøbmand i Øster Riisøer med Jfr. Magdalena Andrea Krafft." They were married at home, by royal licence. A licence from the Crown let a couple marry without banns read in church, and it cost money. Jfr., Jomfru, was the title of an unmarried woman of standing.
Her sister Lovise Christence Kraft, born in 1754, married at Kragerø a year later. Her husband was the Kragerø merchant Niels Boesen Møller, and their wedding of 13 December 1774 stands on the same page of the Kragerø book. After Møller died, Lovise married Georg Christian Heuch in 1788. He built the country house Lovisenberg outside Kragerø and named it for her.
After the wedding Magdalena Andrea and Niels moved into a new house in Strandgata at Risør. By the yearbook's account it was three storeys of timber, painted with costly white paint. The town's fire valuation of 1777 put it at 1,800 riksdaler. Niels traded and owned ships. Their children were Anne Marie, born in 1781, Jens Kraft, baptized on 11 August 1784, and Elisabeth Maria, born in 1786. Jens carried her father's given name and her own surname.
Her father died at Eg in Bamble in October 1778. The probate court that registered his estate that November named her among his heirs as "Mad. Malena Andrea, udi Ægteskab med Sr. Nils Simonsen boende i Riisøer", Madame Malena Andrea, in marriage with Mr. Niels Simonsen living at Risør. Her husband was one of the men acting for the heirs. Her mother was then a widow at Eg, and her sister Christine was living at Kongsberg.
She died in the spring of 1788, at thirty-six by the yearbook's account. The Risør church book enters the burial on 2 May: "2 Maj begravet Madme Simonsen", buried Madame Simonsen. Her husband's wife was the only Madame Simonsen in the town. Her son Jens was three.
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Cite: Heirology, "Magdalena Andrea Kraft (1752-1788)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/magdalena-andrea-kraft-1752-1788-8d7bdb.