Finnestad Ancestry

Before phones were commonplace, many communities had some sort of directory. The city of Everett, Washington provided a directory in 1937, which lists the addresses of Rasmus Finnestad and wife Carrie. Their youngest son Oluf and wife Myrtle are listed as well. Because Rasmus' wife passed away in 1937, this directory was probably published sometime in 1936. The directory also does not list Rasmus' sister, Mary Bell. It is possible she was living in the same household, though her name is not listed.

Mary, the youngest daughter of Ole and Mari was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Everett, Washington next to her brother, Rasmus. Mary had moved from Illinois to Washington sometime between the 1930 US Federal census and the time of her death in 1937. Mary was born in 1859 , not 1857; her brother Rasmus' marker also misstated his birth year. According to the "family service advisor" at Evergreen Cemetery, Mary "was placed in the International Order of Odd Fellows cemetery in Marysville WA - she was disinterred in 1945 and placed next to Rasmus on the same day he was placed 09/07/1945. They both are located in Block 49, Lot 144 - Rasmus on the right, Mary on the left."

Mary Olson lived in Fairfield Township, Palo Alto County, Iowa during the 1910 census. Along with husband Stephen, their children were son's Orville, Elmer, Stanley, William, Olaf and daughters Marnie and Bernice. The census indicates Mary had 7 children, all of which were living in 1910. This conflicts with the information provided on the 1900 census. (Mary was the daughter of Elizabeth Knutson, the eldest daughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad)

Rasmus, the 3rd son of Ole and Mari Finnestad has the distinction of having a headstone in Saskatchewan and also in Everett , Washington, though he his buried in Washington. There is an error regarding the year of birth. Rasmus was born November 20, 1863 in Norway. I called the cemetery and an employee was kind enough to take a photo and email me.

On an earlier post I stated that Rasmus had been buried in Everett, Washington, according to his granddaughter, Carmen. Here are a couple of photos of the Evergreen Cemetery where Rasmus and sister Mary are buried. Evergreen Cemetery is located at 4504 Broadway, Everett, Washington.

With some cemetery documents, I was able to confirm another branch of Ole and Mari's eldest daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson had a daughter, Mary who married Stephen Olson. In 1900, Mary and husband Stephen lived in Independence township, Palo Alto County, Iowa. Along with her husband, Mary lived with sons Orville, Elmer, Stanley and daughter Marnie. While errors are common in tracing genealogy, they can be frustrating. Eventually you come to accept them along with the roadblocks. The 1900 US Federal Census indicates that Mary had 5 children, of which 4 were living in 1900. However, a later census (which I'll be posting later) indicates Mary had 7 children, all of which were living at the time of the census. So it's difficult to determine which census record is correct.

Many of the Finnestad descendants resided in Ogle County, Illinois, several of which spent their lives in the small town of Creston, just east of Rochelle. My grandfather, Kenneth Finnestad owned a tavern in Creston Illinois. (Kenneth was the great grandson of Ole and Mari) Here is a story about the history of the building that was at one point my grandfather's tavern, which I came across while visiting the library in Creston. Here is a photo of the building, taken in August of 2008. I vaguely remember going inside the bar once when I was probably about 4 or 5 years old, before my grandfather closed the tavern.