At home in Tana
Isak Wilhelm Harjo was born in Tana on 22 September 1899. His name also appears as Vilhelm. The 1920 census places him at Larsnes with his mother, Anna, her husband Petter Barski, and Anna Mathilde Barski. Isak was unmarried and worked at home.
A newspaper notice in August 1922 names an Isak Vilhelm Harjo among applicants seeking land in Masjokdalen. The name and place make this a probable connection. It suggests plans for land there, but does not tell us whether the application succeeded.
A letter near the end of his life
In a letter dated 2 September 1930, Isak described a long and difficult illness and expressed a wish to reconcile with his brother. His words give us something a list of dates cannot: a glimpse of what mattered to him.
Isak died on 14 October 1930, aged 31. The official death return gives his exact birth date and identifies him as unmarried and living at Masjok in Tana.
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Records behind this story
- Birth and baptism
- Larsnes household, 1920
- Probable land application: Østfinmarkens Folkeblad, 3 August 1922, p. 3
- Official death return, 1930
Family archive: Isak’s letter dated 2 September 1930 (Letter 1); summarized from the family’s existing reading notes. The scan and full transcription are not yet published here.