Helland-Qvisling from Stavanger to Minn.
phelland	I am trying to trace my father's side of the family. I have spent long hours searching every database I can. All I had was my father's handwritten note and a probate document. The document has the date of death of my great grandfather John Henry Helland, died Oct 26, 1896 in Marshall Co., Minn.. He had a wife Guri H. and 6 children, fought in Illinois in the civil war; was mustered out in 1865; then homesteaded 1885 in Forn, Marshall County, Minn., also referred to as Crookston. He appears on a Civil War pension list. I don't know where they lived during those 20 years 1865 to 1885. I can't find any of the children on any database. I'd like to know the birthdate and surname of his wife Guri, what ship they came on from Stavanger and what year they came. It had to be before 1865 which is when he mustered out of the civil war. We have almost no data on my grandmother, Anna Quisling, who married Peter Henry Cornelius Helland, one of the sons of John Henry Helland. Her name is spelled Annie Zuisland on my father's birth certificate. I see it spelled Qvislin and Qvisland and many other ways. We know she was about 16 when they met and she may have come over by herself from Norway. Since Cornelius was born in 1880, if you guess that he might have been 20 when they married, that would be 1900. Their oldest child who lived a long life, Esther, was born Nov 14, 1908; died Jan 24, 2000. Cornelius and Anna had two other children who died, Hjalmar and Ruth, about which we know nothing. I see many Helland family trees on the web but no names on them that match John Henry Helland's children: Martha O. Nelson, b. abt. 1870; Julia Nelson, b. abt. 1876; Gustav Helland, b. about 1873; John W. Helland, b. about 1877; Peter H.C. Helland, b. 1880 (source: my father's birth certificate); and George C. Helland, b. about 1883. Two of the daughters obviously married men named Nelson. The approximate dates of birth are from the ages of the children listed on the probate document. If any of these names ring a bell I'd so appreciate hearing from you.
Hopkins	According to the 1900 US census for Marshall County, Minnesota - the widow Guri Helland was living in Fork township with her three sons, William, Cornelius and George (all born MN - the oldest listed as born 1877). Guri lists her birth as July of 1842 in Norway and also lists that she immigrated to the US in 1867. Guri also lists that she is the mother of 7 children born, 6 still surviving in 1900. So that leaves great doubt that she and John Helland emigrated from Stavanger together. The older brother William appears to still be living in Marshall County MN in the 1920 US census and his mother Guri is living with him. She there is listed with an immigration year that looks more like 1869. What year was John Henry Helland born? What unit or division of the US army was he a member of during the American civil war? Have you checked the military records of the US National Archives for any additional information about him?
Hopkins	If you check the 1880 US census for Marshall County Minnesota carefully I think you will find John and Guri listed under the surname Heland - with children named Marthy, July, August and John. The wife's listed age matches that for 'Guri' who appears in later censuses. In the 1880 census John Heland is listed as a 39 year old carpenter.
phelland	Thank you for your two replies. I am very excited to see several new facts to help me search more. I will add them to the notes in my genealogy immediately. Although I got a free one year subscription to ancestry .com databases when I bought Family Tree Maker 2006, they won't let me use it because I don't have a credit card. So often in databases I will reach a locked entry when certain information is for pay only. I don't know the birthdate of John Henry Helland. I do know his civil war details as my dad wrote them and they matched what I found on line, though his last name was misspelled as Holland. (my dad wrote down his facts in the 60s long before we had computers so it was not from the internet but from either memory or some family documents I don't have - probably lost when his sister and her son died). My father had written "Private in Company C, 156th Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. Discharged Feb 22, 1865. Homesteaded Crookston, Minn. 1885." A Rootsweb link led me to a roster of Company C; 156th Illinois Infantry - had a John H Holland, Private, Cook Co., Mustered out Feb 22, 1865, absent sick at M.O. of Regiment. So this is how I knew they were one and the same Your new information about the 1867 date of sailing is puzzling, since John Henry Helland definitely fought in the American civil war. Maybe he went back to Norway from 1865 to 1885? That would explain those 20 years before he homesteaded. I wouldn't think it was the same man - except for my father's note! Or maybe it was just his wife who came over then and he had come much earlier: and maybe with other members of his family. I will have to figure this out. Interesting you found the surname spelled Heland. I had not thought of that variation! All our lives people misspelled it as Holland, Hellend, Hellen etc. I would not be surprised by any variation anymore. I've learned that from searching for the other side of the family where there are about 6 variations of their names including surnames and village names. I am surprised they used nicknames "Marthy" and "July" on the census. And August - that must be another name for Gustav. Unless - it's a mystery person. But this information should take me much further. Thank you again.
phelland	Sorry I realize I made an error in logic - I should have said maybe he went back to Norway from 1865 and returned in 1867 (or 1869) with his wife. The children were clearly born in Minn. I just wonder if it was commonly done, going back to Norway, then coming here again. Maybe he went back specifically to get a wife, or to see his family, after fighting in the civil war. Anyway, something is taking shape here at last.
Hopkins	Check at your local public library, genealogical society and at the nearest LDS Family History Center for availability of older records, censuses, etc for Marshall County Minnesota. Marshall County was not created until about 1879 so you would expect earlier records to under some other county name. Crookston is not in Marshall County but in Polk County. Some libraries have online access to Ancestry.com and/or HeritageQuest online images of many or most US censuses. The LDS Family History Center may also have some online access available for patrons but they will also have the collection of the Salt Lake City Library that can be borrowed (rented) and used in the Center which have been copied to microfilm. Yesterday I had looked at the online database of Norwegians in Minnesota in the 1880 US census that is available through the Digitalarkivet - they read the surname for the family as Heland when they extracted the records to database form. It is interesting that in the online extraction of the 1880 census done by the Latter-Day Saints on their Familysearch website that they read and extracted the family name as Hieland (the microfilm # to see the original census through a Family History Center would be #1264626). http://www.familysearch.org/ http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar Perhaps the Minnesota death certificate for John's wife, Guri (Gura), would provide you with additional information about her. The online index to the Minnesota death records between 1905-1996 indicates that she died in 1922 in Marshall County. The online index will give you the certificate number and provide instructions on how you can obtain a copy of the original document. http://people.mnhs.org/dci/Search.cfm It also appears that the state of Minnesota did STATE censuses in 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905 that may contain additional information about the family for you. Your closest LDS Family History Center should be able to help you order(rent) microfilm copies of those censuses. You should also look for any copies of the 1890 special census of Civil War Union veterans and widows of veterans that might have been taken in that part of Minnesota. The collection of the US National Archives is another resource you should aquaint yourself with - http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/index.html
Hopkins	You will find "Cornelius Helland" (first name looks more like Churnelious on the page), wife Anne and children Hjalmar, Ruth, Esther, Gorden, Clarence and Margaret in the 1920 US census for Pennington County, Minnesota. Anne lists her immigration year as 1900. They are in the 1910 census also for Pennington County, MN.
Jo Anne Sadler	Here is a brief mention of John Helland in the Vesterheim Civil War database stating he was a corporal from Telemarken. Stavanger was a major port of emigration, not necessarily where they were from: http://vesterheim.org/CivilWar/db/h/hel/003551.html While he enlisted from Illinois, I doubt that he "fought" in Illinois. Here is a brief history of the 156th Brigade, they were a support unit: http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw156-dyer.html
phelland	Regarding my grandmother, I found a listing at Ellis Island that is so close, I feel it must be her. I have found nothing else even remotely close. It is one year later than she said she arrived (Mar 31, 1901 rather than 1900), but her age matches, and the name is close enough to what we had, Kvislen or Qvisling: "Anna Qvistad". The thing is, she came with Johan Qvistad, age 10, Knut Qvistad, aage 5, and Agatha Qvistad, age 37. This opens up a whole new area of questioning. Did her father die in Norway, did her mother come with the three children to America? If so, why is there no trace of them in any search engine...did they adopt new names? What would be the next step to find out what happened to them? They all came on the St. Louis, manifest line 0019 from Southampton, meaning they transferred from their Norwegian port. She was from Ringebu which is in Oppland. I searched the Norwegian site for people leaving that county in the years 1899-1901 and found none of those names.
Hopkins	You would be better served to scour again through all American records for information, any and all information, about Anna Qv..../Kv..... You indicated in your initial posting that you had no information about her birth year, only a rough assumption based on her time of marriage. I don't see now how you can think that an entry from the Ellis Island information (the online version is what you mean?) could possibly match so little original information. Be aware that the online information for Ellis Island is not 100% complete. It does not reflect everyone who entered through that port. I have a microfilm copy of a relative's passenger arrival through Ellis Island - image as clear as day and easy to read -- but she cannot be found in the online databases!! Search for information from as many sources as possible about Anna, compare the information from different sources. When was she born? When and where did she marry? When did she emigrate from Norway? Was she married before or after she emigrated? Had she been married previously before she married into the Helland family? Different sources may very well give different information - so be prepared to make judgements about the surety levels for each source and carefully organize your search for Anna Qv.../KV.....
Brining	In the Ellis Island record it says that Anne is going to her Uncle which probably means that Agatha is her Aunt and the boys are her cousins. They are going to Echo Minnesota. Where did you find that she was from Ringebu?? I am pretty sure that this Anne was from Hjørundfjord Here she is on the Emigranter over Ålesund [url="http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=EMIAALE&gardpostnr=4551&merk=4551#ovre"]Click Here[/url] and she must have gone back for a visit in 1911 [url="http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=EMIAALE&gardpostnr=11574&merk=11574#ovre"]Click Here[/url] her destination then is Echo Minnesota so I am pretty sure this is the Anne you found in Ellis Island. She is single so not your Anne [:(] A lot of immigrants came through Canada so she might not be in the Ellis Island database. In the 1910 census your Anne is 26 years old so she was born about 1883/84. They have been married for 7 years so married around 1903. Carla
phelland	Thank you for finding the Norwegian listings. It is certain now that this Anne from Hjorundfjord is not my grandmother. If she went back for a visit to Norway in 1911 and was single, that can't be her. My grandmother Anna had several children born before 1911. Here is what I know for sure: my father's birth certificate lists his mother's year of birth as 1884, in Norway. Her name is spelled many different ways, but I found her in the Minnesota birth database as mother of several children born there, which matched the known names and birthdates of these children of hers. My mother wrote the following note when she was working on the family tree: "Larry tells me that his mother was born in Ringebu (north of Gjovik) and lived in Lillehammer (halfway between Gjovid and Ringebu)." "She did emigrate to America at the age of 16. Also, she met Cornelius in the (at that time) Dakota territory. He was born in Dakota." In the 1920 US census Anna, who was married to Cornelius Helland, said she came to the US in 1900. I know that records may differ by a year or more. Heaven knows her name changes in every single listing I find. But the Anna Qvistad who came in 1901, though I hoped it was her, can't be her since you found she went back in 1911, still single. This is one of my most elusive relatives. Maybe the later information that is known at least partially would be a better route for me to search. These facts are known: She died sometime in the 1940s before I was born (as there is still a picture of her alive around 1942) of pneumonia, in California, probably Oakland. Most of the family had emigrated there in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I can't find any death records or grave records. Her husband Cornelius died rather young too, probably in Oakland where they were living at the time. My aunt Esther told me that Cornelius had helped to build the Oakland Alameda tunnel. Anna was already remarried to a Henry Thompson as early as 1931, as I have a Christmas card from her to my dad with that name and date, with a return address of Napa.