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.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Clara (Knutson) Nelson, daughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas "Andrew" Knutson was born in Stavanger, Norway on February 27, 1870.   She died on December 19, 1900 in Chicago, Cook county, Illinois and was buried at the Mount Olive Cemetery. After checking for a monument or headstone it appears the family did not have one placed for the Nelson family. Here is a photo of the entrance to the Mount Olive Cemetery. Clara, husband Edward and daughter Esther Bernice Nelson were buried in Section G, Lot 318.  Here is a map of the cemetery. Here is a photo of the Nelson family plot.