Family and Early Years
Furuseth was born Anders Andreassen Nilsen, the fifth child of Andreas and Marthe Nielsen. The family had recently moved to a cottage in Furuseth, which lies in what is now the municipality of Stange. In accordance with local custom, the boy was named after his residence.
In 1855, the family moved to Damstuen where the elder Nilsen took a low-paying job working at a dam. Five more children were born, causing the family financial distress. At age eight, Furuseth was sent to work for a farmer, Jonas S. Schjotz in nearby Ostby, Romedal. Schjotz, noticing the young Furuseth's keen mind, sent him to a private Lutheran school.
On June 2, 1870 Furuseth moved to Oslo (then Christiania). He worked as a clerk and attempted to enter a military academy. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful in this bid, he did develop skills with the English, German, Dutch and French languages, which not only brought him employment at the time but would become very useful later in his life.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Furuseth
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