Searching for Robert Mauritz Fors(h)ell
allaur	My great-uncle has been missing since 1935. He was a Norwegian sailor - born 1904 - mother was Petra Petterson. He was last seen when visiting his brother - John Einar Forsell - family in Keystone PA. in 1935. Can someone help me in learning where to start looking - he was a norwegian mariner.
Borge	Forsell is not a typical Norwegian name, I would think this family originated from Sweden. What kind of documentation do you currently have on him?
allaur	Robert Mauritz Fors(h)ell's mother was Norwegian and his father was Swedish. His father's family seem to have been born etc. in Skaraborg and were married in Stockholm. My Forsell family comes from a long line of military officers.- including Carl Gustaf af Forsell born 1783 and Jacob Forsell born 1783. The famous opera singer John Forsell is a direct descendent of Jacob Forsell - who is my 4th generation grandfather. We kind of lost knowledge of the family tree with Carl Bolivar Jacob Washington Forsell. I have had difficulty finding out the name of his son, who would be the father of Robert Mauritz Forsell. Robert;s brother John Einar Forsell was my grandfather - he died in 1931 after becoming a citizen in 1928. Robert was last seen at my grandmothers home in Keystone PA. Even his mother in Norway did not hear from him after 1935. Robert and his brother John Einar lived in Oslo and Porsgund after their mother and father were divorced and she moved back to Norway. John Einar became a ship crew member and I believe Robert was in the Norwegian Merchant Marines.
Jo Anne Sadler	Siri Holm Lawson has an excellent website - http://www.warsailors.com/ - dedicated to her Father who was a Norwegian Merchant Marine in World War II. There is a lot of information, links, guestbook, forum, etc. that may help you.
Borge	If he was a Norwegian sailor there will be information about him in the registers of seamen. You need to know what part of Norway he lived, as the registers are kept with the Statsarkiv for the respective regions. You can read some more in my article about the Maritime Inscription - Registers of Seamen. A problem might be the material containing information about him could still closed.
allaur	Thank you for the great information. I desparately need help trying to locate birth, marriage, and death records for my great grandmother - Petra Oline Marie Pettersen - born March 24 1877 in Hadsel Norway. Her married name was Petra Oline Marie Forshell. I don't know her husband's name - just that he was Swedish. (maybe Skaraborg area). She died in Skien January 21 1946. Her address was Nygaten 6, Skien. I have having difficulty using the archival information. I believe there is information about her in the Skien and Oslo Folkereister. The name then was spelled FORSHELL.Thank you.
Borge	If they lived in Skien you might want to try the [url="http://www.slekt.org/English.html"]Skien Genealogical Page[/url], there are some very nice and helpful people there.
allaur	Borge - thank you - I found my grandmother and her son's graveyard in Skien. But, I am confused why, if she remarried after divorcing a Forsell, is she buried as a Forsell and not with her second husbands name? Is this customary?
allaur	can you help me with finding Petra Petterson born 1877 in hadsel norway in the norway archives. I can't find info about hadsel - what county or municipality it is in. thanks
Jo Anne Sadler	Hadsel is in Nordland County. An easy way to look for this type of information is to search in Google.com.
Brining	Is it possible that Petra moved to Sweden before the 1900 census? I didn't find anyone matching in the census. Carla
allaur	Petra may have moved to Sweden when she married the Swedish Forsell. My grandfather Einar was born in Sweden in 1899. Petra lived in Sweden until 1910 when she moved to Porsgunn after her divorce. Our family thinks her husbands name was Fabian Forsell - but I cannot find him in any Family Search records.We have no real informaton about Fabian Forsell - only that he probably lived in the Skaraborg - Stockholm area. Can you direct me where to request Petra's birth record? Also I suspect that the divorce records are in Porsgunn or Oslo. Thanks
allaur	can you tell me how to request a copy of a birth certificate. I think I found my ggrandmother Petra in Farsund municipality - Vest Agder.Thanks.
Brining	Hi Norway's birth records are recorded in the parish register. The LDS has microfilms of the actual registers. They also have some on line records and I did find one for the Petra you found. [url="http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=100026672349&lds=1®ion=12®ionfriendly=Norway&frompage=99"]Click Here[/url] It doesn't look like she is the one you are looking for. [:(] Carla
allaur	Thanks Carla - she must left Norway for Sweden before the 1900 census. How do I go about getting her birth record from Hadsel, Norway? Do you think she could be Petra Pedersdatter located on LDS site?
allaur	hello - can anyone help me find the ships docked in new york city 1935-36. My ggranduncle was waiting for his ship to be repaired and was staying with the Hansen family in new york city. it was then after that he was missing. thanks
allaur	hello - could you direct me where I would be able to search for a gravesite in Oslo? thanks
allaur	hello - what is the norwegian equivalent to the name Robert? Thanks
allaur	I have found the name of my ggreatgrandfather and ggggrandfather. One was a county sergeant and the other was a police inspector. Can you help me find sites that talk about this kind of job? thanks - ginny