Finnestad Ancestry

Iverdena and Axel Thompson's third child, Robert was born April 28, 1916 in Chicago, Illinois. Here is the Cook County birth certificate.

The second child born to Dena (Vallem) and Axel Thompson was LaVern, on July 15, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. Here is a copy of the Cook County birth certificate.  Note the first name is "Baby" Thompson.   Occasionally I've run into  a birth record where the parents had not yet named their child so the county has usually left it blank.  This is the first name I've encountered "baby", which is pretty obvious. Page 1 of the birth register (entry #21633).    Page 2 of the birth register (33rd line).

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Axel DeLos Thompson was born in Chicago on June 7, 1912 to Iverdena (Vallem) and Axel Thompson. Axel was the first born child to Iverdena (or Dena) and Axel.    Here is his birth certificate from Cook County, Illinois. The birth register (page 1) below lists Axel as entry #17708. Here is page 2 of the Cook County birth register.    Axel's parents, are on the 8th line. Axel was the grandson of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is the grave marker for Ole and Mari Finnestad's grandson, Peter Vallem and his first wife, Lena Josephine Travland. Peter was the eldest son of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem. Here is an additional marker for Lena. Lena was born March 24, 1878 and died March 1, 1911. Here is a secondary marker for Peter Vallem.    Peter was born September 17, 1873 and died October 27, 1931. Peter and Lena were laid to rest at the Union Cemetery in Lee County, Illinois.

The granddaughter-in-law of Ole and Mari Finnestad, Lena (Travland) Vallem died on March 1, 1911 due to complications following an appendectomy. Lena was the first wife of Peter John Vallem, the eldest son of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem. Lena was also the niece of Iverdine (Finnestad) and Lewis Travland. (Iverdine was one of Rachel's older sisters.)

On the August 23 and 24, 2010 entries, I provided documentation that the Finnestad family had used the name Oleson (Olson/Olsen) after arriving in America and had not yet adopted the last name Finnestad, based upon the farm Ole had owned in Norway. Below is another example.    Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughter, Rachel had used the last name "Olsen" when she was married in 1872 to Lewis Vallem in Ogle County, Illinois. After moving to the United States from Norway, it was some time during the 1880's  that the family had started to use the name "Finnestad".

Continuing the 3rd entry of uncertainty, here is the ship's register of passengers for the S S Main that left Bremen, Germany and arrived in New York City on July 30, 1880. The 1900 US Census indicated that Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughter Elizabeth arrived in the United States in 1880.   The 1910 US Census indicated the year was 1879.   The 1930 US Census indicated the year of immigration was 1881.     The immigration documents completed by Elizabeth's husband did not indicate the year. Basically, you work with the cards you are dealt.     Though I believe I'm on the right track. I believe entries #943 - #947 (below) is the family of Andreas and Elizabeth Knutson who left from Norway, via Bremen to New York City. Ole Andreas Knutson was born July 23, 1839.   He would have been 41 on the date of arrival, though he would have been 40 at the date the ship left Bremen, which matches the age listed on the register. Elizabeth (F...

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is the 1880 US Census taken June 21st.  I believe this census pertains to Ole Jr and sister Mary Finnestad (line 7 & 8), living in the village of Malta, DeKalb County, Illinois. The 1880 Census documents the age at last birthday prior to June 1, 1880.    Ole was born June 4, 1856 and Mary was born January 19, 1859.    Ole's age would be 23 and Mary's age would be 21.    Since Ole would be 24 a few days after the 'requirement' and it looks like they indicated Mary was 21, I'm probably on the right track that this is the correct Oleson siblings who have not yet adopted Finnestad as their last name. The name that is unclear is that of their nephew.   It looks like the first name and middle initial is "Ole J".    The last name is difficult to read, but starts with a "T".  After looking through the list of potential relatives, Ole and Mary's sister Ive...

Rasmus Finnestad, brother Ole and sisters Sarah and Mary all arrived in the United States in 1875.  I had attempted to locate the 1880 census records for them under the name "Finnestad" but was unable to find anything.     Then I decided to use "Oleson" and found Rasmus. Below is the 1880 US Census for Dement Township in Ogle County, Illinois. On line 34 is Rasmus Oleson, a hired hand for the Countryman family.   Rasmus Oleson Finnestad was born November 20, 1863 in Norway, so his age at the date of the census on June 11, 1880 would match.  It's not too far-fetched to believe I am on the right track as by the time of the 1900 US Census, Rasmus and family were still living in Ogle County. Growing up, I was told our ancestors used the name Oleson and then changed it to Finnestad after discovering there were so many Oleson (Olson, Olsen) families living in the area. This also fits with the history of Norwegian naming patterns . ...

Here is the obituary for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Dorothy (Olson) Driscoll. Dorothy was the daughter of Ella (Vallem) and George Olson, granddaughter of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

By the time of the 1930 US Census, Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter Ella (Vallem) Olson had added 3 more children to their household. Ella, husband George and their children George Jr, Harold, Vernon, Stanley, Dorothy, Duane, Genevieve and Eugene were still living on their farm in Milan township, DeKalb County, Illinois.

Here is the 1920 US Census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Ella (Vallem) Olson. Ella was living with husband George and 5 of their 8 children, George Jr, Harold, Vernon, Stanley and Dorothy in DeKalb County, Illinois.    George owned his home and farmed the land.

Here is a photo* of Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter Clara (Knutson), her husband Edward Nelson and their daughter Ragna. Ragna was born February 15, 1893, so I am guessing this photo was taken around 1896 or 1897. *Photo provided by Laurel Armstrong, the great great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

I have completed cleaning up the family tree and added a final tab for Ole and Mari Finnestad's son, Rasmus. Six of Ole and Mari's eleven children produced the most descendants; the last 6 tabs include those six children and the two subsequent generations.  Here is a summary and links to the additional tabs: - Elizabeth Knutson - Iverdine (Dana) Travland - Rachel Vallem - Ole Finnestad (Jr) - Bert Finnestad - Rasmus Finnestad The family tree will always be available on the right hand margin for easy access. In the future, subsequent generations will be listed on a new spreadsheet to reduce any confusion.   The additional spreadsheets will be listed in the right hand margin below the original family tree.

Here is the World War II draft registration for George Adolf Hausske, husband of Ragna Lavina (Nelson). George was working for the Pure Oil Company in Chicago, Illinois at the time this registration was completed on April 27, 1942.

Here is the World War I draft registration for George Adolf Hausske,  husband of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter,  Ragna Lavina Nelson. George was employed as an electrical draftsman for Sargent and Lundy Engineers in Chicago, Illinois at the time he completed his draft registration on June 5, 1917. Ragna was the granddaughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas (Andrew) Knutson, the daughter of Clara (Knutson) and Edward Nelson.

Lambert Johnson's brother, Howard also enlisted in the military during World War II. Howard was married and 21 years old when he enlisted on September 22, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois.

Continuing to clean up my original spreadsheet, I added another tab on the family tree for Berthel (Bert), the 2nd son born to Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is the World War II enlistment for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great grandson, Lambert Q Johnson. Lambert enlisted April 21, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of his enlistment, he was 22 years old and single. Lambert eventually passed away on July 24, 2000 in Rockford, Illinois.

Today, I cleaned up the "Ole Finnestad" tab a bit on the family tree and added a tab for "Ole Finnestad (Jr)". I will be creating two additional tabs for the last of Ole and Mari Finnestad's children that had descendants: Bert and Rasmus. Hopefully there were no mistakes as I cut and pasted from one sheet to another.

Yesterday I posted Truman Johnson's WW I draft registration. Below is his draft registration for World War II, completed on April 26, 1942. Truman was employed at E & W Clothing House in Rockford, Illinois and living in a hotel, also in Rockford. This document did not list Truman's wife or children, but instead listed his sister, Lillie Wright who was living in Iowa. Truman's wife Tilda was buried in 1979 at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois.  I am not sure why she was not mentioned on the draft registration card.

Elmer's older brother Truman (also carried the same middle name, "Levi") completed his World War I draft registration on June 5, 1916. The document indicates he has a wife (Tilda Hansen) and 1 child. Daughter Virginia was born April 12, 1917 so there must have been another child born to the Johnson family that passed away not long after birth.

Occasionally you run across information you do not expect to find. Ole and Mari Finnestad's great-grandson, Elmer Levi Johnson's World War I draft registration was completed on September 12, 1918. Listed as his disqualification was "....unable to leave his room having dropsy". Dropsy is an accumulation of liquid in the cells, tissues or other cavities. Elmer was the grandchild of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson that was listed on the 1900 and 1910 US census after the death of Elmer's mother, Andrea Elizabeth (Knutson) Johnson. Due to the handwriting and incorrect name, it took me a couple of years to figure this out. Elmer passed away on March 20, 1919, a few months after this document was completed.

By the time of the 1930 US census, Lillie's brother Truman had moved from Illinois (via Iowa) to Michigan. Truman, wife Tilda (Hansen), daughter Virginia and sons Lambert, Howard and Verol were living in Berkley Village, Michigan.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Lillie (Johnson) Wright, husband Frank and their daughter Evelyn were living in Cylinder, Iowa during the 1930 US Census. This is as far as I've been able to get with this branch of the family tree. If anyone has information on who Evelyn Wright may have married (sometime after 1930), please let me know.

I don't generally post documents of "eventual" family members, but thought I would post this 1880 US Census for Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson's future son-in-law, Lambert Johnson. Lambert would eventually marry Andrea Elizabeth "Lizzie" Knutson sometime in 1891. The importance of this document is that it verifies the members of Lambert's family, such as his brother Jacob, who would share his home in 1900 with Lambert after the death of Lizzie. This census record also helps put together the pieces of the puzzle, such as where Lambert lived in 1880, which was Milan township in DeKalb, Illinois, just a few miles from the Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee County. Lizzie and Lambert probably met at church; Lizzie was confirmed at Calvary Lutheran as well as Lewis Johnson, Lambert's younger brother a couple of years later.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Elma Mathilda Johnson was born January 17, 1892 in Chicago, Illinois. Cook County had both a birth certificate and a birth register. These are the only documents I've come across that list her name as Elma Mathilda. By the time the family had moved to Iowa, Elma was known as Lillie, which was probably a nickname for Mathilda. Note the misspelling of Johnson as "Johanson" on the birth certificate. Page 1 of the birth register lists the child's name, the sequence the child represents borne to the mother, address, nationality and age of the parents (though the mother's age of 18 was cut off). Elma is listed 12th from the bottom. Page 2, which includes the mother's maiden name, Lizzie Knutson, as well as the father, Lambert Johnson (spelled incorrectly as Lamberth Johanson). The name of the doctor is listed in the column on the right. Misspellings can throw you off, and considering I wasn't aware tha...

Of all the census records I've come across, the 1925 Iowa Census is the most valuable. Below is the census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Lillie (Johnson) Wright, husband Frank and their daughter Evelyn. Page 1 provides the name, personal information, such as age, sex, education, citizenship, etc. Page 2 provides the name of the parents of the individual which is invaluable in confirming you have the correct family member and often provides names you may not have previously known. Having a document confirm Lillie's parents, (Elizabeth Knutson and Lambert Johnson) helped me verify I had the correct family. Page 3 provides military service, occupation and church affiliation. All of these can help lead you into another direction to locate even more information on your ancestors. Unfortunately, there are too few of my ancestors that lived in Iowa during the time of this census.

After moving to the United States from Norway, there would eventually be two different Olson families as part of the Finnestad family tree. One branch via Elizabeth (Finnestad) Knutson and the other via Rachel (Finnestad) Vallem. (I posted the marker of one of Rachel's grandchildren, Stanley, a few days ago.) Below is the grave marker for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Mary (Knutson) Olson. Mary was born May 16, 1867 in Norway as Maria Berthea Knutson, the daughter of Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson. She died February 24, 1943. Mary was laid to rest at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois.

Yesterday I posted the cemetery photo for Stanley Arnold Olson. Stanley's daughter passed away last year at the young age of 67. Sandra was the great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad, great granddaughter of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem, granddaughter of Ella (Vallem) and George Olson and daughter of Stanley and Hazel (Pettenger) Olson. This obituary appeared on www.saukvalley.com

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Stanley Arnold Olson is buried at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois. Stanley was the 4th child born to Elabata (Ella) Bertina (Vallem) and George Olson. Stanley was born December 30, 1913 and died September 17, 2001.