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Every Norwegian Genealogist seems to be facing emigration in
his family. I am a real Genealogy Freshman with no idea of any
relatives from bygone past having left Dear Norway. (But it must be
admitted, though, that my ears had never been open to the stories told
by parents or old aunts that now unfortunately are dead).
Here is an article with a simple outline of Norwegian emigration
story
Norway
Genealogy is
also a useful drop-in-site, especially for people with Norwegian roots. |
During my short time of apprenticeship in the noble art of
genealogy, I have already found incredibly many great friends and
acquaintances, and a lot of “new” relatives too. This
new circle of acquaintances has given me much help and inspiration. All
nights have been busy with research and industrious mailing and
communicating, a pity there is a 24-hour-limit.
My co-operation, for instance, with, Anne,
the daughter of a cousin, has been endlessly entertaining, this young
lady I have only learned to know the last year….but I really feel
related to her, we are two of one kind.
And then ”the-not-to-be-mentioned” J©, winding up, all never
ending loose ends that seemed to pop up from everywhere and nowhere,
from inland and over
seas. He has been the –never-give-in person, operating as our
great reference book. J© fortunately knew a lot about the region
of my paternal branch which coincided with that of his own family
roots.
I have got most of my knowledge as to
genealogy, accuracy, and persistence from this helpful person,
and owe him great thanks. (But sorry to say, I will never grow that
experienced and patient when it comes to the science of genealogy)
Last but not least, my dear niece G-C, she too caught by this genealogy
mania. Information, anecdotes, e-mails and SMSs flash between us. She
had her blissful moment when she unexpectedly came across common
ancestors in her mother-line (mine), and her father-line. We are
anxious to see what we have in store…… . Here we had
time for some side-amusement during July’s Garden Party: a piquant
piece of news about a great- grandmother. (Mail from our “Private
Genealogist” J©" )
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The
Story of Olaf from Canada
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A little story:
"Olaf Kringhaug was born
4 Mar 1928 at Brattali in Hommelvik to parents Tron Kringhaug and
Berntine Svingen. His sister Tordis Marie was born 6 May 1929. Because
of the long-lasting economic crisis, Tron Kringhaug decided to follow
the lead of his brother-in-law Arnfin Mona and emigrated to Canada in
May 1929. He first began
work on a farm in Edmonton, Alberta and was able to send for
Berntine and Olaf. Tordis was considered too young for the trip and did
not come to Canada until 1934.By that time the family had
moved to Trail, BC where Tron obtained work at a large smelter and the
family made it their home."
Short of wriring a
full biography, I guess that tells it!
Olaf |
Olaf
(born in Malvik 1928) has
made his comments to the photos he sent me, in English here, but
his Norwegian is perfect, only one year old when arriving Canada he
learned Norwegian from his mother and has kept it up ever since.
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1.Photo
in the passport, Olaf and his mother,1929.
2.
A picture from 1936, on Mountain Street above Trail, BC. From
left to right, Tordis, Olaf (with his
best pal, Rex), Bert and Edwin (trying to bring an unnamed
dog into the picture) and neighbours, Alfred and Mary Fritzel. It
seems that screening from the sun wasn't a new idea! 3.February
1932. Olaf's father, Tron Kringhaug (left) and brother in law,
Arnfin Mona. Pend d'Oreille River, south east BC,
goldwashing. 4."Verketsgården"
in Mostadmarka ca 1916.The family Kringhaug: Manuel Kringhaug
(1879-1956) and Torina Fossum (1884-1934) with
children (from left) Tron (1905-96), Halvor (1915-85), Mali
(1911-34), Randi (1912-2003) and Marit (1907-17) Ola, Marit
and Per were unborn as yet. 5.My
wife Grethi and me.It was taken on our last Alaska cruise in
1996.Grethi born in Denmark, came to Canada in 1957.
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The Story of Jean from New
Zealand
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Jean is a descendant
of my great grandfather Peter's brother, or perhaps half-brother,
Ole Andreas. He went to New Zealand along
with many other Norwegians. What made it attractive
and possible
for people to go that far was New Zealand's authorities offering
free journey and almost free land. There was a need for workers help
turning
the enormous forests into fertile land. Here is a nice
"children's link" to this Norsewood
society.
You find some background information
here. And here is also one more story about Norwegians
going for New Zealand. Picture to the right:
Ole and his wife Marith, and
youngest daughter Katrina.
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Jean
Bradley tells us the
story of her Norwegian roots:
Norwegian Ancestors.
About 25 years ago I started asking more questions about my Norwegian
Great grandparents. I knew the name of the ship and when
they arrived in 1874 so
asked my elder son to visit the National Archives office in
Wellington in his lunch hour and look at the passenger list for
me.
Back he came with the reply that they were not there. I
told my Mother about this and she said, “Oh they changed their
name from Andreasen to Ranum.” Back to the Archives
and sure enough, there they were on the ‘Miltiades’ passenger
list. Ole Andreas Andreasen, Marith, Anna and
baby Anton who was born on the journey out. He was listed in the
births as Anderson. The family had sailed from Norway on the
‘Albion’ to the UK and then embarked on the ‘Miltiades’ to New
Zealand. Also travelling with them were Marith’s parents, younger
siblings, Ole’s sister Ingeborg Anna and a small group of other
Norwegians. An Auckland newspaper listed the family
as Ramen, on arrival
in New Zealand but the family was always known as Ranum and
still is today.
An Aunt thought they were from Trondheim and Tromso areas.
Born in one and married in
the other but she wasn’t sure which way around. At least it
was a start, but all those years ago there weren’t the
resources available that there are today. By
contacting other branches of the family in New Zealand I was able to
collect snippets of information but nothing much in Norway.
Since the advent of the Internet I have been able to do some research
further afield. I left some information in a Guest
Book and a lady in USA found the marriage entry for Ole Andreas
and Marith Johannessen in Tromso in 1870 which gave his birth place as
Stranda. I hired quite a few parish registers on film from
the LDS but could
not find him. About a year ago I was able to look at the
Vital Records on LDS Family Search web page and finally found
him!! He was born in Strinda ST so I had been looking in
the wrong parishes.
More recently I looked at the 1865 census to see where he was living
and found the family living on Rabben farm BUT what a surprise, there
was another sibling. Peter. I
then found his baptism on
film and his parents' marriage. I pondered on
this for sometime and one day I typed his name into a Google search and
there was one entry. Bingo. It was Anetavle Aasheim/Aune
and there were Ole Andreas, Peter, and Ingeborg Anna. What
a wonderful find. I emailed Anne
and she emailed Randi, so information and photos have been
shared between Norway and New Zealand. I have also found
contacts on the rootswebTrondelag newsgroup which is really
great. It is so much fun and now I have lots more
cousins. - Jean
Additional note:
The ship ran aground in the Auckland harbour and Marith's father broke
his leg. One sailor was also injured but that was all. Two
of Marith's sister's married single men who travelled on the
'Miltiades' too
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The Story of Kristin from
California
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Kristin got her name to show Norwegian heritage,
her parents had Kristin Lavransdatter in mind, immigrants are proud of
their roots. Great grandmother Jonetta's
(no.2 from left) brother, Johan August, was also one of the many
that spread his descendants outside Norway. Here is Kristin's story:
Randi asked me to tell how I became interested in my ancestry.
Well here is my story.
I think without knowing it I was interested in genealogy even as a
young child. Whenever any distant relatives would visit I would
always ask my dad " who are they to me". Usually at the tip of
his tongue he had the answer and I was happy. Many years later my
cousin, Lynn Storch Miller started asking my dad some questions about
the family and that got me interested again. The internet was new
to me and the DA was in its infancy but never the less something to
look at and puzzle about. Learning about the patronymic naming system
was one our first clues that we were in for some interesting
research. We started looking for great grandparents that came
to USA in 1882 from Tune Østfold and then went to look for more
recent immigrants, our grandmother, known in USA as Katherine
Stene Solie. I had always wondered how her maiden name was
Stene but her mother was Haugen until meeting with a 1st cousin
once removed and got the rest of the story. Katherine's parents
were Maria Gunnelie Thoresen who married Johan August Olsen Stene on 21
May 1892 at Lade Kirke. Kathrine was born 5 Mar 1893 in Lade and
baptized Ane Katrine. Her father Johan August Stene (brother to
Jonetta) died in 1899 and left Maria a widow with 2 young children,
Olga was born 29 Jun 1895. Before immigrating Maria and the 2
children went to stay with her sister in Solum Telemark and immigrated
in 1905 from Larvik to live with another married sister in Chicago
Illinois. Sometime around 1910 Maria read an ad in the
newspaper for a housekeeper for a widower with several young children
from 2 previous wives. She moved to Stanley WI where she married
Ole Christian Olsen Haugen and kept house for him, she would not move
into the house unless they were married, as she didn't feel it was
proper.
My grandmother, Kathrine, married Gustav Solie (his parents immigrated
in 1882 from Østfold) in 1915 in Stanley WI.
In May of 2003 I made a trip to the "home land" to find more of my
roots. I spent a good deal of time in Trondheim and loved every
minute. My favorite place was in Old Town on the wharf. I
wandered many of the streets, went to see Lade Kirke, and also by train
to Røros for a day and many of the places one can get by train
and bus. I spent my birthday, 27th May,
in Hell with some other genealogy friends. Now all my friends at
home tell people that they know someone that has really been to Hell
and back!
My only regret about my trip is that I had not found Randi's home page
before the trip. We could have celebrated our birthdays together,
but I will be back!!! I want to
meet the relatives of my ancestors and see more of the country,
maybe gas/petrol will not be so expensive and I can rent a car and see
some of the places not accessible by bus or train or walking.
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