Marcus Nissen Myhlenphort

Marcus Nissen Myhlenphort (born February 26, 1759 in Kristiansund , † December 7, 1821 in Nuuk , Greenland ) was a Norwegian and later Danish merchant , fisherman and inspector of Greenland.

Life

After school, Myhlenphort was employed in several administrative offices, most recently in Molde . In 1785 he finished his law studies at the University of Copenhagen . Relatives of his had emigrated to Greenland and asked him to be employed by Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel . But first he spent another winter in Norway before returning to Copenhagen in spring 1786 and traveling to Greenland in May. But he didn't arrive there until September after a four-month journey. He quickly became interested in catching seals and fish, and through this came in contact with Lars Lynge, Albrecht Lynge's father, and then became fascinated by whaling, so that in 1787 he became senior assistant and whaling manager in Kronprinsens Ejlande ( Imerissoq ). There he intensified his contact with Albrecht Lynge. In 1788 he was called to Jakobshavn ( Ilulissat ) as a merchant and insisted that Lynge follow him. He built the first fishing cooperative in Rodebay ( Oqaatsut ). Myhlenphort could not feel at home in Jakobshavn, which is why he moved to Egedesminde ( Aasiaat ) in 1791 , which Lynge did the same. In Dog Ejlande ( Kitsissuarsuit ) both fishing and trade flourished. Myhlenphort even invented a spear thrower attached to a sled for shooting seals lying on ice, which was later built into kayaks as a kind of harpoon . He wrote a report on the colony which, except in its brevity, did not differ from that of his friend Peter Hanning Motzfeldt . In 1800 an epidemic of smallpox broke out in Greenland , killing almost half of Egedesminde's residents, including Lynge, which saddened Myhlenphort to death. He was then called to Holsteinsborg ( Sisimiut ), where the smallpox epidemic had raged even more and where it was hoped that Myhlenphort's economic skills would help to rebuild the city. Between 1801 and 1803 Myhlenphort and Motzfeldt were appointed inspectors: Motzfeldt in northern Greenland and Myhlenphort in the southern colony . He then moved in together in Holsteinsborg with Lynge's widow Ane Marie Jacobsdatter Lynge, who ran the house for him while he paid for her children's education. He taught orphans how to kayak and trained them, still strongly advocating net fishing , which became more and more important over ice fishing . Together with Motzfeldt, he wanted to promote the formation of the Greenlanders, but their plan was prevented by the Anglo-Danish gunboat war from 1807 to 1814, which also cut off Greenland's supplies. Therefore he had a ketch with a crew of 13 drive to Denmark so that they should bring goods, which succeeded. In 1814 he changed citizenship and became a Dane. He stayed in Greenland for the rest of his life. Myhlenphort was considered capable, strong-willed and tenacious. He also built a library with 700 books, which was a real rarity in Greenland. His fortune was estimated at 13,000 Rigsdaler, which he bequeathed to his housekeeper and daughter.

family

Marcus Nissen Myhlephort was the son of the businessman Johan Kristopher Myhlenphort (1729–1777) and Anna Elisabeth Mechlenborg (1735–1772). He came from a German noble family of Hungarian origin who had an influence on the Danish royal family. He was engaged, but his fiancée had died. However, he had used his housekeeper Ane Marie Jacobsdatter Møller. Lynge (1768–1833) a daughter born in 1797. Her name was Elisabeth Augustine, who married the Faroese Poul Hansen Laih (1803–1855), had the sons Johan Marcus and Jacob Myhlenphort Hansen Laih in Godthåb ( Nuuk ) in 1830 and 1832 and in 1835 the daughter Ane Markusine Nielsine Laih and moved to Holsteinsborg in 1839, where she died in 1846. Her widower and her two children then moved back to Godthåb in 1847. Her widower left Greenland for Denmark in 1848, her son left Godthåb in 1853 and her daughter in 1855. However, the daughter reappears as the wife of Daniel Valentin Thomas Tilken Petersen (1838–1871) in Frederikshåb ( Paamiut ), where her son, who was born in 1862, appears again John Jacob Kristian Pavia Ole died again in 1865, before Ane Markusine Nielsine also died in 1873, which probably marks the end of the Myhlenphort progeny in Greenland.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography in Dansk biografisk leksikon
2. ↑ Family history at kildal.de
3. ^ Church records Nuuk 1827-1886 (Born boys p. 6)
4. ^ Church records Nuuk 1827-1886 (Born boys p. 11)
5. ↑ Church records Sisimiut 1823-1857 (newcomers p. 348)
6. ↑ Church records Sisimiut 1823-1857 (Dead women, p. 462)
7. ↑ Church registers Nuuk 1827–1886 (newcomers p. 239)
8. ↑ Albrecht Larsen Lynge and Ane Marie Jakobsdatter ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at amaliaberthels.dk 
9. ↑ Church registers Nuuk 1827–1886 (withdrawn p. 368)
10. ↑ Church records Nuuk 1827-1886 (pulled away p 374)
11. ↑ Parish registers Paamiut 1864–1885 (deceased)