Nils Pederson Teigen (Muri) Myhre, (1829-1893)

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 05 June 1829, in Innvik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Death: 1893 , poss. Crosby, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Brithe P. (Pedersdatter Aasene) Myhre

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None

Nils Pederson Teigen (Muri) Myhre was born on June 5, 1829, in Innvik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, and was baptized on June 14 of that year. He was the second of eight children born to Peder Michelsen (Mikkelsen) Teigen and Sara Andersdatter Scharsteen. Raised in the rural farming community of Innvik, Nils grew up in a tradition deeply rooted in land, family, and faith.

It is believed that Nils first married Johanne Davidsdotter Nelson, though no marriage record has been found. In 1849, their son, Anders Nilson Muir, was born on the Muri farm in Innvik. Little else is known about Johanne, and it remains unclear whether she died or the couple separated.

On May 17, 1854, Nils married Berte Marie Larsdotter in Selje Parish, Nordfjord Prosti, Norway. Their happiness was short-lived. On July 6, 1855, at the Myhre farm in Selje Parish, Berte and their infant daughter both died in childbirth—a devastating loss for the young farmer.

Less than a year later, on June 21, 1856, Nils married his third wife, Brithe Malena Pedersdatter Aasene, in Davik Parish. Brithe had been born on January 8, 1831, in Davik Indre to Peder Jorgensen Aasene and Lizbeth Lasesdatter Skord. She became Nils’s partner in rebuilding family life after tragedy.

Together, Nils and Brithe settled on the Myhre farm in Selje Parish, where they raised seven children: Bertine Serene, Sise Patrine, Peder Martinus (Peter), Johan, Johanne Samuline, Paul Andreas, and Lars Mikal. Like many families of their time, they endured great hardship, losing several children in infancy or childhood. Only Peter, Johanne, and Paul survived to adulthood.

In 1888, at the age of 58, Nils made the bold decision to leave Norway in search of new opportunity. On June 1, he and Brithe departed Bergen, emigrating to America with his son Anders Nelson and family. (Under the traditional Norwegian patronymic naming system, surnames were derived from the father’s given name; thus, “Nelson” means “son of Nils.”) They arrived in America on June 7, 1888.

By 1891, Nils and Brithe were living in Crosby, Washington, with the Qualheim family. Nils received two federal land grants of 160 acres each, located just north of Dyes Inlet in what is now Silverdale. There he established a new homestead, continuing the farming life he had known since childhood in Norway.

Nils P. Myhre died in 1893 at the age of 64. His wife, Brithe, died the following year in 1894. They are buried together at Seabeck Cemetery, their causes of death unknown. Their headstone reads:

“Nils P. Myhre 1829–1893 — Brithe P. Myhre 1830–1894 — At Rest.”

Nils’s legacy endured through his children. All three surviving children eventually settled in Kitsap County. His youngest son, Paul, continued farming and raising chickens on the family land. In 1909, Paul and Peter opened a sawmill along Clear Creek. Today, a major road in Silverdale bears the Myhre name—a lasting reminder of Nils’s determination, perseverance, and the enduring mark he left on the community.

Descendants of the Myhre family clarified that the name is pronounced like “Meyer.”