Jens Severin Gasmann (1776 – 7 May 1850) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.
Storgata 131 in ''Eidanger–Porsgrund'', by Finn C. Knudsen (1932). Hosted by Porsgrunn public library.
Personal life
He was born in 1776 in Gjerpen as the son of attorney Niels Egidius Gasmann (1747–1811) and his wife Kirstine Schweder (1757–1785) of the wealthy Zachariassen Wesseltoft family.
Jens Gasmann married Bodil Zachariassen Wesseltoft (1779–1848) in 1800. The couple had two daughters and two sons. Their youngest son Niels Egidius Møller became a merchant in Christiania, and married Simonine Møller, sister of parliament member Hans Eleonardus Møller and aunt of Hans Møller.
Career
Jens Gasmann began his career at sea at a young age, and became a shipmaster in 1798, sailing a period for ship-owner
Jørgen Aall
Jørgen Aall (22 February 1771 by Inga Friis. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library. – 7 April 1833) was a
. He took part in the
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, as secretary of admiral Fisker. In 1812 Jens Gasmann acquired burghership and settled on the mainland. He bought various real estate, but had to face a fire in 1824. However, he coped through this, raised a new building and later set up a
distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
there. From 1818 he was also
vice consul
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
for Great Britain, the country he had helped waging war against only eight years earlier. He was later promoted to consul.
As a politician he served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament in 1824, representing the constituency of ''Skien og Porsgrund''.Jens Severin Gasmann born 1776 - Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) In 1837, when local governance was introduced in Norway, Gasmann became the first deputy mayor of Porsgrund municipality. Jørgen Flood was mayor, following a "mutual agreement" between the council members.Kommunalt styre. Administrasjon og finanser in volume two of ''Porsgrunns historie'', by Joh. N. Tønnessen. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library. Gasmann served as deputy mayor again in 1838, before becoming mayor in 1839 and 1840 with Flood as deputy mayor. by Carl Lund. Hosted by Porsgrunn public library. Gasmann left local politics on 31 December 1840.
From the 1820s Gasmann worked as a trade inspector and later harbor master.
After his death, an auction were held on his property. It was bought by later mayor