Nelson family
llj	I am trying to locate my great grandmother's family. Karen Kristine (Carrie) Nelson was born in Norway 1859/1860. She & her family emigrated to the Ladysmith, Wisconsin area before 1879. The 1880 census for Barron Co. Wi. list her as 20 yrs. old - born in Norway & living with her husband Knute J. Oleson, 1 year old son Joseph & her brother - Adolph age 12, born in Norway. (Knute was born in Wisconsin 1849.) Family members claim she had at least 1 sister - Ann - but have no idea where she was born or what became of her. She may also have had a brother Thomas. Some family members (now deceased) claim she had as many as 10 siblings all born in Norway. I have absolutely nothing on her parents. I do not know where she lived in Norway other than the Valdres area. Any suggestions or help would be most appreciated - Laura L. Jones
jwiborg	Hi Laura, this looks like it could be her in the 1865-census: [url="http://129.177.171.80/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=f61625.wc2&variabel=0&postnr=5225&fulle=true&spraak=e"]click here[/url] Nils Larsen, housefather 32 Krestine Nilsdatter, wife 26 Johan Nilsen, son 9 Karen Krestine Nilsdatter, daughter 6 Marie Regine Nilsdatter, daughter 3 Anna Kierstine Nilsdatter, daughter 2 The family is living in Lensvik, Sør Trøndelag county, just outside the city of Trondheim. Jan
llj	Jan - Thank you so very much! This could indeed be her. My Grandmother had a delayed certificate of birth filed about 1960 & the spelling for her Mother's name is identical to the spelling in this census. I am most grateful - Laura
jwiborg	Hi, I have learned that if you want to calculate year of birth from the 1865 census, you'll have to calculate like it was 1866. And in that case, Karen Krestine is born in 1860, Marie in '63 and Anna in '64. [:)] I could not find them in the list of [url="http://129.177.171.80/cgi-win/wc/webcens.exe?slag=meny&kategori=5&emne=1&spraak=e"]Emigrants from Trondheim 1867-1930[/url] though... [B)] Maybe they left from a different port...? Jan
llj	Jan - I am always kind of leary of ages on census. I have seen the same people age as much as 20 years between the 1870 & 1880 census. Karen Kristine's tombstone says she was born January 1859 & the 1880 Barron Co. census lists her as having been born 1860. I really don't know which port they left from, or where they landed for that matter. My Uncle speculated they might have arrived in Canada & made their way to Wisconsin. From the information I do have, they emigrated some time between 1869 - 1877. Do the ship's passenger lists show the names of the children traveling with their parents? While tracing my Father's family from England I found many manifests only listed the adults & gave a number for the children - such as Joseph Smith, Mary Smith & 5 children. Again - thank you for all your help - Laura
Brining	Hi Laura If Karen emigrated with her family her name in Norway would probably not have been Nelson since Norway went by the patronymic naming system so if her father was Peter Nilsen she would have been known as Karen Petersdatter. When they came to the US the family usually took the father's name. Carla
jwiborg	Carla; when did you find information about her father being named Peter Nilsen? Laura; I did not see that you wrote that they where living in the Valdres area. Valdres is in Oppland county, more south than the family I found in the second posting... [B)] Jan
Brining	Hi Jan, Sorry I should have made it clear that "peter" was just an example so until we find out his name it is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. What parishes are in the Valdres Valley? Carla
jwiborg	Hi Carla, ok! [:)] These parishes/municipalities are in the Valdres area: Etnedal Nord-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal Vang Vestre-Slidre Øystre-Slidre It's a beautiful place! [:)] [url="http://www.valdres.com/uk/index.htm"]Valdres.com[/url] The 1900-census have them spelled like this (Oppland couny): 0541 Etnedalen 0542 Nordre Aurdal 0540 Søndre Aurdals 0545 Vangs Valdres 0543 Vestre Slidre 0544 Østre Slidre Jan
Jo Anne Sadler	Recommend the Valdres Samband, www.valdressamband.org, the oldest Bygdelag in North America, founded 1899. They have an excellent website and genealogist who will do research for members ($10.00 per year).
llj	Hello - I am no longer certain Karen came from the Valdres area. My first post was going by information I no longer believe to be true. I was contacted by a woman who had a Nelson ancestor from the Ladysmith, Wi. area - that is the same area my Nelson family settled in. (Her Nelson family settled in Wisconsin at least 10 years before mine did.) I have not begun to check ship's passenger lists yet. I don't even know if Karen ever became a Naturalized Citizen. (Her husband was born in Wisconsin.) Carla - thanks. I forgot about her father's name being different. How would that work when the family arrived in the US? I understand Karen - being the daughter of Nils becomes Karen Nelson. What about her father - Nils the son of Lars becomes Nils Larsen? And Karen's mother - Krestine the daughter of Nils - does she take the name Nelson or that of her husband? Thanks - Laura
Brining	Hi Laura Generally speaking when the family arrived in America they would all have used the last name of the father. So for the family Jan found, they would be Nils Larson, Kresten Larson, Johan Larson, Karen Kristen Larson etc. This doesn't always hold true, I should have been a Gundbjornson, but my ggrandfather died on arrival in America and the sons use Olson to honor him (Ole Gundbjornson Kostad). They also could have used the farm name Kolstad. To make matters worse there are instance where each son or daughter has taken a different last name or they have changed the one they used several times. Sometimes it is a real fun trying to match them all up. Have you tried to get Carrie's death certificate? There could be information on her parents on it. The marriage record also might have information. In answer to your previous question on the emigration lists on the Digitalarkivet the children are listed. Carla
llj	Hello Carla - There is no death certificate for Carrie - she died in 1894. I wrote to the church she & her husband attended back in August but have not recieved a response. My Grandmother's birth certificate lists her mother - Carrie - as Karen Krestine Nilsdatter. What few documents I do have list my Grandmother's maiden name as Nelson. The biggest problem I have encountered is that Carrie died within a month of giving birth to my Grandmother. My Grandmother was then turned over to relatives - as of yet unknown - to be raised. It is believed some of her older siblings were sent to relatives as well. As a result, my Grandmother knew almost nothing about her mother. I recall my Grandfather saying the family who raised Grandma "treated her like a servent & worked her like a mule". My Mother told me she & her siblings often tried to get Grandma to talk about her childhood but she refused. One of my Aunts speculated Grandma had been abused severly as a child & that would explain her reluctance to discuss her childhood. Well - that was way off the subject. Thanks - Laura
Jo Anne Sadler	Did she die in Wisconsin? The Wisconsin Historical Society Archives have records before 1907. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy/ogrs/index.html Most churches do not keep official records of funerals and are understaffed; you could wait a year for an answer.
Brining	Hi Laura, If the birth certificate lists Karen Krestine Nilsdatter then the family Jan found looks like a good possibility. The trouble is finding them on the emigrants lists. If you have access to an LDS site, your best bet would be getting the parish films Have you tried locating your Grandmother in the 1900 or 1910 census? This might give another connection to the family in Norway if she stayed with someone on her mother's side. It's sad that she was treated so poorly but I have heard other stories like this. Unfortunately children were often thought of as unpaid help back then [xx(] Carla
llj	Hello - Yes - she did die in Wisconsin. I was not aware states kept death records. (For the past 21 years I have been researching my Father's family in the south. None of the states had any birth or death records - let alone birth & death certificates. It wasn't until about the mid 1930's that birth & death certificates were required. Of course I also realize each state had different requirements.) That is something I will look into right away. Thanks for the tip! The only census records I have seen are from 1880. I am unable to afford the enormous costs of ancestry.com & other similar sites to access census records. I haven't contacted Wisconsin Vital Records for census information because I don't have a "head of household" to search for. I would imagine Wisconsin - especially Barron County which has a very large Norwegian population - has many Karen Kristine Olesons. (My Grandmother was named after her Mother.) While working on my Father's family I learned from experience that without a head of household name Vital Records won't help. I do believe that the church in Barron County will contact me eventually because Carrie's husband was one of the founders back in 1878. Also because my Uncle who still attends the church promised to keep on them to see what they could find. Other wise I agree with you that churches are of little help. ( I also offered to pay a fee to cover the time it took to look up the records. ) We shall see. Thanks for all your help - Laura
Jo Anne Sadler	Don't quite agree with you about birth and death records not being available for the South until the 1930's. [;)] I have checked several states on Vitalrec.com and their are earlier records available. Birth and death records are always kept at the County and State level, you have to check both and there, of course, are fees involved. www.vitalrec.com. lists all the states and counties to write for records and the dates the records are available. Generally, state records are the more current records and the county records have older information. You can order all the available Federal census microfilms from a local Family History Center, the current cost is less than $4.00 for a thirty day rental. I don't feel churches are no help, I have had great success from religious institutions, however, their job is ministering, not providing genealogical services. What I was trying to say was that most churches are greatly understaffed and a little patience is required.[:0]
Brining	Hi Laura I know the cost of the genealogy sites is outrageous. [url="http://www2.heritagequest.com/qSearch/byLocality.htm"]Heritage Quest[/url] has the census on CD for sale. The 1900 census for Barron county is about $20.00 which isn't too bad if you know that is where your grandmother lived. I haven't used them yet but hope to once I figure out where my husband's anestors lived in New Jersey. Carla
llj	Hello - I'm sorry - I didn't mean to imply no records are available before 1930. For me personally I found that most records were not always available because they weren't always reported. As a result I assumed it was the same in Wisconsin. Most of my Father's family lived in areas when they were still considered a territory - Missouri - Arkansas - Oklahoma. Also many court houses were burned or damaged durring the Civil War which made my searches more difficult. In my case, the areas I was searching had these situations plus destruction by flood & tornado. In some areas old records were thrown out to make room for newer records. I should have explained my situation better. I appologize. I have tried not to rely on churches too much for the very reason you state - many churches are staffed by volunteers & they simply don't have the time to devote to genealogical research. In my case the Lutheran church in Barron Co. is still attended by family members & they encouraged me to contact them. Is the Local Family History Center you spoke of part of the LDS? If so , there is one not too far from where I live - they set up appointments ahead of time. (Again - they are staffed by volunteers. They have a waiting list for people wanting to make an appointment - I am on that list.) I will also check out Heritage Quest. I had never heard of that before. It would be well worth the $20.00 as I have many other ancestors from Barron County. I appreciate all the help & appologize for not explaining my self better. Thanks - Laura
Brigetta	Hello, i was reading this conversation. :) And I noticed Carla, you mentioned "Kolstad" I heard there has been only two tribes of Kolstads in Norway that of course over the years went different ways. I am looking for a book I have seen once on this Kolstad family. Sorry for budding into the conversation. Thanks, -Brigetta