A Frog in the Fjord - Weird things Norwegians do

I have often thought (and heard) that those of Norwegian heritage here in the U.S. follow old Norwegian traditions that were brought over by their ancestors. Traditions common to 19th and early 20th century Norway. Are modern day Norwegians very much like those of old at all? Which of those traditions or "Norwegian ways" did I see in my family that perhaps even persist in me all the way to 2018? Do some of those characteristics remain today in Norway? How like a modern Norwegian am I because of my Norwegian heritage?

I follow a wonderful blog. A Frog in the Fjord is written by a woman born in France who now lives in Norway. I just love her straightforward view of the Norwegian of today. A view that perhaps only an outsider could see. She speaks of what she considers good, bad and sometimes just odd characteristics of modern Norwegians but with an obvious love of the country and its people.

click here - check it out - a good read - and fun!

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A Frog in the Fjord - Weird things Norwegians do

I remember distinctly and with love my grandmother verbally agreeing with me. 

Ja Ja Ja, spoken while sucking in her breath! 

Enjoy A Frog in the Fjord , I did.

Great Grandmother Gunhild

1956 Skien, Norway -
A lovely photo of my great grandmother Gunhild with one of her many great grandchildren.

Another lovely photo of my great grandmother Gunhild, in the possession of a second cousin in Norway who remembers it was taken as great grandma was bringing her mother a stick of butter to bake a cake.

my great grandmother

Gunhild Marie Gundersen Øvald

b: 14 December 1875 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d: 09 February 1959 Skien, Telemark, Norway

Photo of my 3X great grandfather Nils Jensen of Eidanger, Norway?

A lovely old photo found in the possession of an aged cousin. Circa mid 1800's judging by the gentleman's clothing. Why had the family saved this photo? Saved through more than a couple of generations. Most likely an ancestor, but who? Another cousin has guessed it to be our third great grandfather Nils Jensen (1812-1897), but he admits honestly that was just a "shot in the dark".  This ancestor? proudly posed and paid for a studio portrait. In remembrance of a special occasion or just for the family to have a remembrance of him? We likely will never now know. It saddens me but I too will keep this photo of someone who likely? perhaps? maybe never? was part of our family. Whoever he is, I feel I owe him at least that much.

Another reminder to mark every photo with name, date and place.
Someone, somewhere. someday, just may want to know.

Which grandparent do I most resemble?

FamilySearch.org implemented something new. A facial recognition tool. You compare  a selfie with a picture of an ancestor and  BOOM! the softwear will tell you how much your looks compare. We don't get to choose the DNA that is passed on to us and to be honest with you, if I could have chosen I surely would have picked my Swedish paternal grandmother. She was born tall, blond and cute. But that wasn't to be. I matched very little with her and even less with my Swedish paternal grandfather.  I always knew that my looks decidedly came mainly from my Norwegian side.

The facial recognition tool agreed. My dear Norwegian grandpa Sevald. Well...of my four grandparents he would be the least likely to win a beauty contest. He was short, a bit on the stubby side, curly hair, ruddy complexion, but yep, he was the one. But I couldn't be more pleased. What a great guy. I only wish I was as good a person as he had been. I think I can be a bit crabby, stubborn and single minded. That must have come from my paternal Swedish grandpa!

Just 20% similarity to my other three grandparents but with Grandpa Paul Sevald?

Don't know how accurate the softwear is but it was a lot of fun. Give it a try?

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DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR RELATIVES? 

FAMILY SEARCH FACIAL RECOGNITION

Paul Sevald - Happy Birthday Grandpa!

My grandfather was born on this date: August 25th

The first child of seven, Paul Skoglund Sevaldsen was born in Kragerø, Telemark, Norway to Anders and Anne Marie Sevaldsen on August 25, 1894. His father was a missionary for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. His mother died giving birth to his youngest sibling. Paul was fifteen. He worked on his uncle's farm in his teens and as a chauffeur in his early twenties. At twenty-eight he married my grandmother Dagmar. One year later he emigrated to Chicago where his wife soon joined him. He worked for many years as a machinest. He had three children, one of them was my mother Grace, and seven grandchildren. He died in Chicago September 5, 1971. He would have eleven great grandchildren and twenty one great great grandchildren (so far to this date). These are "facts" any one of his ancestors can discover.

I knew him well so let me tell you additional "facts" about Paul.
He was kind and generous. He was witty and funny. He loved to fish. He could tap dance. He was truthful and reliable.  He loved his wife, children and grandchildren, He was a Godly man. He loved Chicago AND Norway. He was a snappy dresser, He was friendly. He gave good hugs. He was forgiving. He was loyal. I could go on and on. Let's just say he was the best grandpa a little girl could have and I knew it.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Sevald!

Jacobine "Bina" Nelson and Mathilda Wennberg1923 - Serendipity!

Why did I poo-poo this DNA stuff so much? It seemed so cut and dry and since I already had a well documented family tree going back many generations, why would I need it?

Through DNA I have now been in contact with a third cousin, a great grandson of Mathilde Amalie Gundersen. Mathilde was the older sister of my great grandfather Nils Gundersen. We shared information. I gave him the link to our common family in Telemark, Norway and he gave me this lovely photo.

Such serendipity! I had been recently researching both of these great grand aunts and had only just discovered that they had been earlier family emigrants to of all places...Chicago! In fact they were most likely the reason my grandparents chose Chicago. On his Ellis Island ship manifest my grandfather Paul listed Mathilde as his U.S. contact. Listed under her married name of Wennberg I only made the connection a short while ago.

1923 Manifest of the ship "Bergensfjord" Oslo to New York - steerage line #7 Paul Sevaldsen

If  I am to be honest I have to say that much of the particulars of this DNA stuff .....whew.....really just flies way way over my head and I don't think I am particularly stupid. My brain just doesn't work that way. I will however pay attention to those emails from 23 and me and My Heritage in the future. I will certainly also answer  those folks that contact me, claiming to share a few bits of the DNA that is me.

My Great Grand Aunts

Jacobine "Bina" (Gundersdatter) Nelson

b: 11 February 1869 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d: 18 Jun 1935 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

Mathilda Amalie (Gundersdatter) Wennberg

b: 22 February 1873 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d: 22 January 1931 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

Thank You cousin James!

***click on photo and document to enlarge for easier viewing***

Great Grand Aunt Bina (Gundersen) Nelson 1879-1935

Perhaps half a year ago I was thrilled to find my great grand aunt had left her home in Norway to settle in Chicago.   The post "Great Grand Aunt Jacobine "Bina" Gundersen 1869-1935 - Found!" can be seen HERE.

Now knowing that in the U.S. she was known by her knickname "Bina" , and that her married name was Nelson, in searching again today I made a great find! A picture of Bina. Here she is, the older sister of my great grandfather Nils and the aunt of my grandmother Dagmar.

my great grand aunt

Jacobine "Bina" Gundersdatter Nelson

b. 11 Feb 1879 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d. 18 Jun 1935 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

and her husband

my great grand uncle

Nickolas Nelson

literally pleased to see you Aunt Bina! 

Paul and Dagmar Sevald -Norway1937

My grandparents, Paul and Dagmar Sevald. On a visit to Norway they sit relaxing outside a family members home? This photo is very typical of them.

My grandfather, always dressed in the finest. Unless he was fishing or building/working on something he always wore a suit. Single or double breasted with a vest, tie and long sleeved white shirt. The tie always neatly done, never haphazard. I know he also wore those old timey green elastic shirt armbands. I think I can almost see them in this photo. What I can't see, but I guarantee you are there, are sock suspenders. God forbid his socks should fall down! The only hint in his dress, that shows he is relaxing, is that he took off his jacket and hat!

Grandma, of course, has her knitting with her. She always was busy doing something. Older ladies back in the day always wore a dress. I never saw her in anything but a dress but she was never a fancy gal, generally a flowery cotton dress of the variety she wears in this photo. Every day? Throw an apron on. Going out to shop or to church? Add a hat and of course a pair of white gloves.

They sit right next to each other because Grandma and Grandpa always did. He would reach across and give her a little pat on the leg. She would shake her head, smile and say "Oh Pa", pretending to be irritated by his little public show of affection. But she wasn't.

My Maternal Grandparents

Paul Skoglund Sevald

b. 25 Aug 1894 Kragerø, Telemark, Norway

  d. 5 Sep 1971 Chicago, Cook, Illinois USA   

Dagmar Gundersen Sevald

b. 10 Jun 1900 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d. 12 Jun 1991 Skien, Telemark, Norway

Oddvar Gundersen 1917-1991

Not long ago a second cousin of mine in Norway shared this photo of his grandfather with the family. I first met my grand uncle Oddvar, my grandmother's baby brother, when he was in his mid sixties. He was a very nice older man yet I love seeing him, as a younger man, in this photo. A firm, confident stance, head held high, cap at a jaunty angle. In  this photo I  imagine him young, carefree and looking forward to the future, believing anything is possible.

my grand Uncle 

Oddvar Gundersen

b: 19 November 1917 Skien, Telemark, Norway

d: 9 May 1991 Skien, Telemark, Norway

1801 Norwegian National Census - Peder Rasmussen Family of Garnes, Verdal, Nord Trøndelag

In the Norwegian National Census of 1801 is recorded the residents of the 

farm Garnes in Verdal, Nord Trøndelag, Norway.

Peder's wife, Agnes Olsdatter, had died 4 years earlier. Five years after this census was taken Peder and his children Kiersti, Rasmus and Lars were brutally murdered in their beds. His son Ole survived the murder attempt with  severe injuries. Kiersti's infant daughter Anne, asleep in her crib, was not harmed. She was to be my 3X great grandmother. In an earlier post I told the story of the

                                                → GARNESMORDET (Garnes Murders).

my 5th great grandfather 

Peder Rasmussen Garnes

b: 12 Mar 1752 Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

d: 29 July 1806 Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

my 4th great grandmother

Kiersti Pedersdatter Garnes

b: 1785 Garnes, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

d: 29 July 1806 Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

my 3rd great grandmother

Anne Olsdatter Skavhaug

b: 4 May 1806 Garnes, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

d: 29 May 1895 Stuskin,Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway

***click on document to enlarge for easier viewing***

Anders Jakobsen Stuskin 1787-1875

When I came upon this photo I was so pleased. This is the earliest photo I have of any of my ancestors. This is one of my great great great grandfathers, Anders Jakobsen Stuskin. I found it in a bygdebok or family history book of Verdal, Nord Trøndelag, Norway; Verdalboka; en bygdebok om Verdal Bind IV.  Verdal is the ancestral locality of my grandfather Paul. I know the photo is not the best quality, not the clearest, but keep in mind that Anders was born in the 1700's! What a cool find.

my great great great grandfather

Anders Jakobsen Stuskin

b: 21 February 1787 Stuskin, Verdal, Nord Trøndelag, Norway

d: 18 September 1875 Stuskin, Verdal, Nord Trøndelag, Norway

Anders Jakobsen→Sevald Andersen→Anders Sevaldsen

→Paul Skoglund Sevald→Grace Gunhild Sevald→ME!!

Nils Olaves Fredriksen Klevjer 1890-1943

On the last Veterans Day I posted the story of my Dad, a veteran of  WWII. A cousin in Norway read it and responded by passing  to me the story of another family member who served the United States with honor. An unusual story of a Norwegian American cousin who served in WWI. A cousin to be proud of.

Nils Olaves Fredriksen Klevjer

In the Gjerpen, Telemark official parish register it is recorded that Nils was born 6 Nov and baptised 14 Dec 1890 in Gjerpen, Telemark, Norway. When he was two years old his family moved to Klevjer in Vestfold county and it was that name his family later adopted as their surname. Nils worked briefly as a sailor until his emigration to the United States.

Nils left Kristiania (Oslo) Norway August 27, 1910 on the ship "Tasso" bound for England. Nils had $25 and a third class (steerage) ticket on the S.S. Saxonia which left Liverpool, England August 31, 1910 and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts September 7th, 1910. His contacts in the US were his aunt and uncle, Henry and Karen Larson of Boston, Massachusetts.

In Boston he learned to drive and worked as a chauffeur. Not as easy a job as you would imagine.

In 1910 in even the larger cities such as Boston, streets were generally mud, crowded with bicycles, horses and people, chaotic, disgusting and filthy with animal manure. Even though the average vehicle traversed at what we would see at a relatively low rate of speed there were many casualties, particularly of children since the playground had not yet been invented. Children played in the streets. No one knew how to deal with the rapidly growing number of automobiles. Traffic laws were non existent. In fact the first stop sign didn't come until 1915 in Detroit, Michigan.

Nils must have loved the US and intended to make it his home because barely a year after his arrival  he filed his declaration of intention to become a US citizen in April of 1911. He took the oath of citizenship November 2, 1915.

Gunhild Helliksdatter 1789-1849

  Two hundred and twenty nine years ago my 4X great grandmother was born. All I know of her is the landmarks of her life carefully recorded by the parish priest. Gunhild Helliksdatter was born 29 January 1789 on the farm Skaudalen in Bø, Telemark, Norway.

Digitakarkivet: Kildeinformasjon: Telemark fylke, Bø, Ministerialbok nr. 5 (1785-1850) Kronologisk liste 1789, side 28-29

She was one of three children born to Mari Nilsdatter and Hellik Reiersen. Gunhild was just six when she lost her mother. As the only girl perhaps she took on family chores and responsibilities especially early even for those times.

She married my 4X great grandfather, Ole Haraldsen in 1817 and together they had five children. Their oldest would be my 3X great grandfather Hellek Olsen. She died 5 January 1849 at the age of 61, "old age"! as the cause of death. As ridiculous as that now seems I cannot even imagine the difficult hard scrabble life of Gunhild and all poor peasants living and working the farms of Norway during the early 19th century. Quite likely she was tired and "old" at 61.

Rural Norwegian farmhouse from early 1800's

Was she a good person, a loving wife and mother, a hard and accomplished worker, a cherished member of her community? I will never know but surely a bit of who she was passed on to me. Thank you Gunhild and Happy Birthday.

my 4th great grandmother

Gunhild Helliksdatter Haslekåsa

b: 29 January 1789 Bø, Telemark, Norway

d: 5 January 1849 Bø, Telemark, Norway

Gunhild Helliksdatter→Hellek Olsen→Ole Helleksen→Gunhild Marie Olsen

→Dagmar Gundersen→Grace Gunhild Sevald→ME!

Great Grand Aunt Mathilda Gundersen 1873-1931 - I had the information all the time!

After finding my great grand aunt "Bina" last week I followed up with a search for her sister Mathilde Amalie. I also had no more than a birth record on her. Once again, why not Chicago? If her brother Laurits, sister Jacobine, niece Dagmar and niece Jenny had all left Telemark for Chicago then why not  Mathilde? I had such good luck with the Lutheran church records, I started there.  I figured if she left Norway unmarried she most likely would find a boyfriend within a few years and then would most likely marry in the church. Bingo! How easy was that? Mathilde Amalie married Jon Wennberg, also a Norwegian immigrant, in the Bethania Lutheran church of Chicago December 19, 1896. The name Wennberg  did not ring any bells for me but...in the US census records Mathilda and Jon lived and raised their family at 5028 Sawyer Avenue. Didn't my grandparents live there at some time? I checked and no they did not. Who lived there or why did that address seem familiar?

One of the first family history records I found, before I started a family tree or caught the genealogy "bug" was a manifest of the ship Bergensfjord. On the Ellis Island website I saw for the first time the documentation of my grandfather Paul coming to America. I remember how excited I was as I saw his name among the many poor third class passengers hoping for a better life in the U.S. My grandmother had told me that my grandfather and she, on first arrival in the U.S., had stayed briefly with an aunt in America. "She was not nice, mean and stingy that woman was and we got out as quickly as we could". I assumed it was his aunt? Wrong!

from the manifest of the NAL "Bergensfjord" , leaving from Kristiania, Norway and arriving at the port of New York August 1, 1923, page 35, line #7, steerage passenger Paul Sevaldsen:

colume #19 - whether going to join a relative or friend, and if so, what relative or friend, his complete name and address

That's no "friend" Grandpa, that is your wife's  "mean and stingy" Aunt Mathilde! I had her name and address for over twenty years and never put it all together. Uff Da!

my great grand Aunt

Mathilde  Amalie Gundersen Wennberg

b. 22 Feb 1873 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d. 22 Jan 1931 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

Great Grand Aunt Jacobine "Bina" Gundersen 1869-1935 - Found!

My great grandfather Nils came from a fairly large family. He had an older sister who I could never find. Jacobine Gundersdatter was born 11 Feb 1869 in Eidanger, Norway. I easily found her birth record but that was it. She was not with the family in the 1891 nor the 1900 Norwegian census. Nor could I find any proof of her marriage or death.

At a loss with Norwegian records, I thought I would try the FAN method. Looking up family, acquaintances or friends. I thought since her two nieces (0ne of them being my grandmother) and her brother had all gone to Chicago perhaps she had also emigrated to the US and why not Chicago? I would start there. Jacobine seemed an unusual enough name and I tried searching her with her patronymic Gundersdatter/sen, her fathers patronymic Nielsen and the family farm name Øvald without luck. I  had found my uncle's baptismal record in the archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Norwegian Lutheran Churches were one of the synods that combined to form the modern day ELCA. There she was! Jacobine Gundersen married Nicholai Nelson November 12,1893 in the Bethania Lutheran church of Chicago. Once I knew her husbands name it was easy peasy to find her in the US census' living in Chicago. She must not have cared for the name Jacobine (don't think I blame her) because shortly after arriving in the US she went by the name Bina, which is even on her official Cook County death record.

Jacobine Gundersdatter = Bina Nelson

Lesson learned to not only use the popular FAN method but add Faith also as a way to search for those elusive ancestors.

married November 12, 1893 in Bethania Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois
Nicholai Nelson, 34 and Jacobine Gunderson, 24

my great grand Aunt

Jacobine "Bina" Gundersen Nelson

b. 11 Feb 1869 Eidanger, Telemark, Norway

d. 18 Jun 1935 Chicago, Cook, Illinois,  USA

A New Year and New Cousins! The Gundersen Family Genealogy Group on Facebook

2017 ended on a great note.

I never cared a lot for Facebook. Who cares where a remote acquaintance is at this very moment or what they had for dinner or who they voted for. I finally hopped on board when I found out I could do so incognito and just sign up for groups that were helpful to me in my family history pursuits. They were very helpful and that was reason enough to join Facebook.

One day I was found out! Good thing too. A second cousin in Norway sent a friend request. How could I refuse? Well, this cousin had joined me to a Facebook genealogy page for the descendants of my Norwegian great grandparents. Now I was out there I guess and you know what? Within 48 hours I had oodles of more cousins! Cousins who all were thrilled to share old family photos and memories. This was particularly precious to me.  I was 7 when my great grandmother died and 10 when my great grandfather passed yet I had never met them. Of the seven children of my great grandparents only my grandmother had emigrated to the US. All these cousins had memories and photos of the great grandparents I had never met. Plus much more.

How great was that? Should anyone ask me now what I think about using Facebook for Genealogy? 

Some helpful sites

• Using Facebook to grow your family tree.

• How to use Facebook for family history

• Social Networking for Genealogy >> Facebook

• Using Facebook for Genealogy