translating departure information/1861 ship
skbristol	I found my relatives (Sjur Knudsen and family) in the Finnås parish church records leaving the parish on 15 April 1861 to go to North America. The record says "de Nord america" and then something that looks like "Tristater" or maybe "Fristater." The same term appears next to another family that is also leaving. Can somebody help me translate this word? Thanks so much, Sara
Jo Anne Sadler	In Einar Haugen's Norwegian English dictionary, fristat is defined as "free state". A prominent early Norwegian Lutheran minister, J.C. Dietrichsen, wrote a well known book in 1846: DIETRICHSON, J. W. C. (Johannes Wilhelm Christian), 1815-1883 Reise blandt de Norske Emigranter i "De Forenede Nordamerikanske Fristater" / af J. W. Dietrichson. Stavanger, L. C. Kielland, 1846.
skbristol	Thanks so much. You know, I'm usually fairly good at reading foreign languages, but in this case it never occured to me that it might just be how it sounds...