Finnestad Ancestry

 Here is the 1940 US Census for Gladys May (Travland) Hunt living with her husband, Eugene Walton Hunt and their sons Larry Wade and Eugene Walton Hunt.   Their entries can be found on lines 1 - 4. The Hunt family was living in Alice City, Jim Wells County, Texas.    The 1940 US Census includes residency information for 1935; Gladys and Eugene were living in Tuleta, Bee County, Texas. Gladys May (Travland) Hunt was the daughter of Stella (Berkeland) and Thomas Tobias Travland, the granddaughter of Iverdine (Finnestad) and Lewis Travland and great granddaughter of Taletta Larsdatter and Peder Pederson Travland.

Divorce records are difficult to obtain.   Few states have digitized that information, even if you know what state AND county someone filed for divorce.    Newspaper reports of a divorce are a source, but they aren't always published and even rarer they are digitized or microfilmed.     Here is the divorce record for Orville Ilin Olson and Margaret (Chapman) Olson.     This document is helpful as it does confirm the Olson's had 2 children as a result of their marriage.   At this point the only information family have provided is that Margaret and Orville had two girls, one named Margaret and the name of her sister is unknown. As is common with genealogical research, this document does have an error.     Orville's birthdate is correct, but his birthplace was Steward, Lee county, Illinois, not Minnesota.   The date of the divorce is February 18, 1972 and was processed in Seattle, King county, Washington....

The records from the Methodist Episcopal Church recorded Perry Orlando Vallem, his sister Lena Verdel Vallem and their cousin Lillian Rosabelle were baptized in Ogle county, Illinois on June 4, 1904.   Their entries are located near the bottom of the page.      The baptism record indicates Perry's birthdate was February 19, 1904, Lena's birthdate was July 20, 1907 and Lillian's birthdate was February 2, 1911.    I do not know whether Lena's middle name was spelled 'Verdelle' or as in the baptism record, 'Verdel'. The record indicates the baptisms took place in Ogle county, Illinois; I do not know where in Ogle county.  Perhaps the reverend made house calls for baptisms.   The Methodist Episcopal Church still stands today and is located at 507 Main Street, Steward, Lee county, Illinois.    It is currently named the Steward United Methodist Church.   A little bit of history about the church can be found here .  Scr...

Orville Olin Olson was baptized on June 2, 1889 in Steward, Lee county, Illinois at the Methodist Episcopal Church.     His sister Alma Elizabeth Olson was baptized on June 21, 1891. Orville's baptism record can be found on line 8.   This is the earliest entry that included the use of his middle name and the only document I've encountered with the spelling of 'Ilin' as 'Iling'.   His birth is confirmed as March 24, 1889.    Alma's record is located further down the page on line 30 and her birth is confirmed as March 19, 1891.  Alma Elizabeth Olson passed away sometime before the family moved to Independence township, Palo Alto County, Iowa.    Her death can be narrowed down as sometime between June 21, 1891 and June 14, 1900 based upon the census data.   I do not know the date the family moved so Alma died either in Illinois or Iowa. Orville and Alma were the first two children born to Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olso...

I had previously posted 12 years ago regarding the untimely death of Otto Bert Knutson.   Those posts can be found here and here .    I found another article about the incident that led to his death on page 1 of the August 3, 1895 edition of the Ogle County Press. This is the first time I'd encountered anything that included the name of the person that caused Otto's death.   A traveling man named 'Crall'.    Unfortunately the article did not include the first name or residence of Mr. Crall. While the July 31, 1895 edition of the Rochelle Herald reported that internment would take place at the Norwegian Cemetery near Lee, I later discovered his funeral took place at the First Lutheran Church in Lee county, Illinois.    Based upon the other listings in the church records, the burial appears to have taken place at Lawnridge Cemetery, Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois.     Below is a copy of the parish funeral record. Otto's en...

Here is the death certificate for Orville Ilin Olson who passed away December 2, 1973 in Seattle, King County, Washington. Margaret J (Chapman) Carlson Olson, Orville's ex-wife provided information to the medical examiner.   Orville was buried at the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.    His plot does not have a marker.     The photo above is a view looking north.    The blue flag designates the plot in section 1 PA. The photo below is a view looking west. The photo below is a view looking northeast. The photo below is a view looking south. Here is a map of the cemetery with the plot marked with a star indicating the burial location in the event you wish to visit Orville's gravesite. Orville was born March 24, 1889 in Steward, Lee county, Illinois.    He married Ida Julia Govig in Cylinder, Iowa on January 10, 1911.   Several years following Ida's death in 1923, Orville married Ruth Rosemary (Horner) Wilson in C...