Meet my cousins the Stene sisters.
(I just love old family photographs)
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| from left to right this is: Dagne, Ella, Helen, Bernice, Clara and Alma Stene |
Well actually they are my third cousins twice removed. Our common ancestor is Ole Larsen Skavhaug of Verdal, Nord-Trondelag, Norway (1777-1845). Ole's great grandson, the Stene sister's father Christopher, immigrated to the U.S. in 1870, final destination Pelican Creek, Minnesota. Ole's great, great grandson, my maternal grandfather Paul, immigrated to the U.S. in 1923, final destination Chicago, Illinois.
Could you follow that? Seems pretty remote doesn't it? But yet I have the DNA to prove it. This family photo was submitted by a fifth cousin of mine, a DNA match.
How cool is that?
Our 19th century ancestors were generally farmers, living in poorer areas of Europe where farmland divided over and over was scarce. The US, with the Homestead Act of 1862 and loads of empty unsettled land, actually advertised in Scandinavia offering free to cheap land to those willing to immigrate, pioneer, settle and farm the Midwest. For Christoper, a farmer in 1870, that meant leaving Norway for rural Minnesota.
Times were different for our 20th century ancestors. The world was changing, becoming more industrialized. The Midwest US farmlands were now claimed and settled. The jobs and opportunities for immigrants were now found in the growing economy of the cities. For Paul, a machinist in 1923, that meant leaving Norway for Chicago, Illinos.
