Elias Jonasson was living in a house under Sund Gård in 1701. He was 30 years old and “made a poor living out of his work”. This is what the smallholding Ytternesset, later known as Strømnes becomes.

There were farmers with and without fields. Those without fields were the lowest class in society. This was the class Elias belonged to.

In 1721 we find the first signs of houses with fields under Sund Gård. Kristian and Elias Jonasson lives there, but probably only for a certain period of time.

Not many years later, Hans and Jonetta have taken over. It is looked upon as a large smallholdning, but at the same time a bad farm because of all the rocks and the difficulty of cleaning. A great amount of work was put into making the land workable. According to the contract, the farm only had permission to have one cow. This made it hard for them to become particularly wealthy. Yet, it seemed like it was going to go well with the farm and the people of Ytternesset, but be careful what you wish for…

Hans dies from disease and it became a difficult time for Jonetta and the children. There was at lot of work with the house, fields and barn in addition to the working obligation they had to the farmer at Sund Gaard.

Jonetta is marrying Toerris Sund a few years later.

In 1755 Kristian Hansson and Berete Jørgensdatter are the ones taking care of Ytternesset. They have a son named Hans Kristensson. There is also another girl named Berete, an old lady, who lives with them.

Then came the time for smallholdings. Ytternesset and Sundsneset 2 were the first two smallholdings under Sund. In 1801 there is for the first time registered a smallholding under Sund in public papers.

Elias had a rough time in 1701, and the last half of the 18th century was equally as bad. Many had unhealthy homes and the hygiene wasn’t taken very serious. Mopping a floor wasn’t easy either, considering it would sometimes be rotten or have big holes in it filled with dirt. The houses were made of lumber blocked with moss and old rags. The roof was covered with flagstones and turf. A family of 12 could easily live on 20 square meters.

A “husmann” is a smallholder, man renting a little farm from a bigger farm. Every year there was tax to pay, and it was either paid through work or by giving corn and potatoes. So the smallholder and/or his wife had to work hard on the big farm, so the children or eventually the grandparents had to take care of their own farm.

These agreements could be for life, for a specific number of years or one could dismiss the agreement when needed to.

We know that the last smallholder on Ytternesset had a lifetime-agreement, while the previous ones most likely had a specific number of years.

With bad hygiene come other problems, such as fleas and louses. The louses were considered harmless, unlike the fleas that had a bad reputation. The fleas were a real problem, even in higher social classes.

Clothes were also a rarity. There were smallholdings where the children had to stay inside during the winter because they didn’t have the clothes or shoes to be outside. The beds were filled with hay, worn out woolen blankets and old clothes. To save your own clothes, sleeping naked was completely normal.

The poorest homes ate boiled potatoes dipped in a solution of salt and water, probably because they wanted that salty taste and didn’t boil the potatoes in saltwater. In the wealthier homes, a meal usually consisted of bread or flatbread, milk and milk products and a lot of pourrage. This was pourrage boiled on barleycorn. For dinner there was herring and potatoes with flatbread. During hunting season, a good catch was a breath of fresh air in the daily fare.

Both farmers and smallholders sufficed a high rate of infant mortality. Around 20% of the mothers died during giving birth. The mothers gave their children breast milk until the next child was born. In addition to breast milk, they could have pourrage or normal food, if an adult had chewed it for them first.

Both boys and girls wore skirts until they were 4-5 years old. Under the skirt they didn’t have anything. It was normal to take a leak on the living room floor. The sanitary conditions were bad. Until the outdoor toilet came, people just used the field or the dung pit or anywhere that seemed suitable. Before the invention of toilet-paper, people used grass, moss or snow. The wife started her day around 4-5 AM with spinning and cooking and working in the barn.

Alot of time and energy was put into making clothes and fixing them. Laundry was done in March, around Midsummer and during the fall. The wife also had to work on the farm they rented from. Up until 1865, there were established 6 smallholdings under Sund:
1. Ytternesset, later Sundsnesset-1, later Strømnes
2. Sundsnesset-2, later Rognerud, later Blåveisveien
3. Sundsbakken, later Johannes Hall, later Solem
4. Sundslia, later Sundsnesset-4, later house of Arne Sund
5. Sundsøya
6. Sundsmarka, later Sunds Folkehøyskole

The year 1834, Ola Rasmussen and Inger Andersdotter are the ones living on Ytternesset. They have the children Kristian, Mikal and Gunhild. Ola dies in 1834. Ytternesset had become a wealthy smallholding and a change of wealth was set when Ola dies. The time after became hard, because Inger now had to run both Ytternesset and and work for her boss on Sund. So when Inger died 3 years after that, there is a deficit in the accountings.

Around 1850, Tørris and Jonetta had arrived at Ytternesset. They had 3 kids and shared the responsibility with Beret Martha and Lorns. Tørris and Beret Martha are brother and sister.

Tørris dies in 1863, 41 years old. Jonetta takes control over Ytternesset. Widows were in this time appointed a guardian when their husbands died. Jonettas guardian, Jørgen Kverkild, makes a contract. In the contract Jonetta is promised several rights for her retirement. Jonetta died in 1910.

Lorns and Beret Martha didn’t have any children. None of Jonetta- or Tørris’ children take the responsibility of the farm.