Finnestad family, around 1870

Today I received some photos from a distant cousin, Trish Hodgens who descended from Iverdine Finnestad.

Here is a photo of the family, taken in Norway sometime around 1870.

Back row: Bert, Rachel, Rasmus, Ole Jr, Iverdine, Bertha (Iverdine's twin sister)

Sitting: Mary, Parents Ole Sr and Mari, Serina (Sarah)

I am 100% sure of Bert, Rasmus, Ole Jr since I compared to photos I had.

I’m guessing on Rachel, Bertha, Mary and Serina, but based on their birth dates:

Serina – 7/5/1846

Bertha and Iverdine – 12/2/1850

Rachel – 12/2/1853

Mary – 1/19/1859

I just had to figure out who I thought looked 4 years older, the same age as, 3 years younger and six years younger than Iverdine based upon the photo.

Since Trish knew which were Iverdine, Ole Sr and Mari, I just needed to fill in the blanks.

This is the first time I've seen a photo of my great great great grandparents, Ole and Mari and any of their daughters.

Elizabeth had already married Ole Andreas Knutson and had started a family when this photo was taken, and is not included. I am not sure whether I'll be able to find someone with a photo of her.

Thanks to Trish for providing the photo; I don't think anyone else in the family has ever seen what these Finnestad family members looked like.

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Finnestad Farm - Stavanger, Norway

It was customary in Norway to take the farm name as the family name. Prior to arriving in America, Ole Finnestad was known as Ole Olson. According to the Regional State Archives of Stavanger, in 1862, Ole Olsen bought a farm from Bjørn Larsen. The following link provides some farm information along with the family members in 1865: http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&sidenr=59&filnamn=f61126&gardpostnr=582&sokefelt=vis “Merknad 387b” now means property nr. 16 of the farm Finnestad. (Please keep in mind that accuracy of records is less than perfect - so ages and other information are not always correct) For more information on Stavanger and a map of the area, please go to the following wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavanger

Rasmus Finnestad - death certificate

I had previously written two posts regarding the death of Rasmus Finnestad. Those can be found here and here . Here is his Washington state death certificate: The death certificate incorrectly lists his father as "Oluf". His father was Ole (Olson) Finnestad. His mother was Mari Skaar, misspelled as "Skaare" on the death certificate.

Mary Olsdatter (Finnestad) Bell: Witness for the Prosecution

Mary Olsdatter Skåreflådå (Finnestad) Bell appeared as a witness in a murder trial that took place in Dixon, Lee county, Illinois from April 26, 1898 through May 5, 1898. The December 27, 1898 issue of the Dixon Evening Telegraph reported the initial details of the December 24th murder of Fred Tolsted on their front page. From page 2 of the Wood County Reporter (Grand Rapids, Wisconsin) in their December 30, 1897 issue, the 'suspect' alleged the victim connected him 'unpleasantly' with the housekeeper (Mary Finnestad Bell). The local newspaper in the adjoining county, published a brief article on the murder on January 12, 1898 on the front page of The True Republican in Sycamore, DeKalb county, Illinois. The Sterling Standard published the names of the law firm, prosecuting attorney and judge in the upcoming murder trial on page 12 of their January 13, 1898 issue. The trial began on April 26, 1898 as reported in the April 27, 1898 issue of the Dixon ...

Finnestad Ancestry

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