Finnestad Ancestry

Edward Nelson, husband of Clara (Knutson) Nelson wrote about the death of his wife and daughter, Ester.    The letter was written in Norwegian and later translated by Eva Sorensen into English. Below is a copy of that letter. Edward Nelson's letter Clara was the daughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas "Andrew" Knutson and granddaughter of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole Finnestad. Thank you to Clara's great granddaughter, Laurel Armstrong for providing the letter as well as her help in connecting the Nelson family to the Finnestad family tree.

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.

Here is the 1900 US Census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Clara (Knutson) Nelson. Clara was living in Chicago with husband Edward and their two daughters, Ragna Leonia, and Esther (or Ester) Bernice Nelson.