The family of Tom Fossmo

The Forsmo farm, where Tom Fossmo (Tormod Andreasen Forsmo) was born, is situated south of the Fustvatnet (the Fusta lake), about 12 kilometres north of Mosjoen. His father, Andreas Petersen, was from the Langmoen farm in the same area, and was a son of farmer Peter Andreas Jørgensen and Petrine Andersdatter. They had an older son called Anders Petersen, who later became the farmer on Langmoen after them. His oldest son, Peter Andersen Langmo, appears to have emigrated to America in 1912. Andreas Petersen married Mathea Pauline Nilsdatter Brækken in 1888. It is written that their oldest son, Magnus, was born on the Langmoen farm in 1889. Their second oldest son, Asgar, was born on the Forsmo farm the following year. Then a daughter, Sara, was born in 1892, Tormod in 1894, another daughter, Gudrun, in 1895, Øistein in 1899 and Erling in 1901.

The mother, Mathea Pauline, was from Brækken, one of the Smedseng farms on the other side of the Fustvatnet. She was known as Forsmo-Mathea among her family. She had two younger brothers who went to America. Mikal Alfred went to America in 1892, but returned to Norway after a few years, and married a teacher from the Trøndelag district named Anna Bleke, whom he had met in Vefsn. Another brother, Andreas Mørk, arrived in Alaska in 1903 and became civil in Chicago in 1913. He also changed his name to Andrew Brakken. It is said that he became a logger in Arlington, Washington (Snohomish county), and married an (unknown) American woman. He only returned to Norway one time to visit his family.