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.
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| 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***
