Finnestad Ancestry

I have posted a few obituaries for Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) Knutson and found another from The DeKalb Daily Chronicle.    The obituary appeared in the March 19, 1930 edition, page 6 in the 5th column. There are a few omissions in the obituary.   Based upon the 1900 US Census , Elizabeth had 10 children, 5 of which had passed away prior to June 12, 1900.    The 1910 US Census also stated that Elizabeth had 10 children and 4 had survived as of April 15, 1910. The 6 children that proceeded her in death were: - Anna Knutson, the eldest daughter.    I believe she passed away sometime after October 19, 1879, the date of her confirmation and prior to July 1884 when her younger sister, Annie was born.   It seems unusual to have named another daughter Anna. - Clara (Knutson) Nelson, the third daughter born to Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson. - Olava Edvarda Knutson, the fifth daughter. - Otto Bert Knutson, the sixth child...

10 years ago I posted immigration documents for Ole Andreas Knutson, husband of Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) Knutson.    I recently came across a document that states Ole had obtained a homestead in Canada and subsequently became a naturalized citizen of Canada. I have not been able to confirm the allegations in the July 14, 1909 letter.    If anyone can confirm a homestead in Canada for Ole Andreas Knutson or a Canadian citizenship, please contact me.    In the  1910 US Census  Ole and family were living in Rochelle, Flagg township, Ogle county, Illinois with no indication of a Canadian home or citizenship. The above letter references a June 23, 1909 entry into the United States, I had posted the immigration document referring to that port entry. Ole Andreas 'Andrew' Knutson was the son-in-law of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.

I had previously posted a document for Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughter, Elizabeth who had traveled with her husband, Ole Andreas Knutson.    I just located page 2, which indicates their entry back into the United States occurred in June, 1909. The document doesn't contain  much additional information, though it is interesting to note that Ole had $600 with him and it states he had been in the United States since 1881, but I've seen various documents that have indicated 1879 , 1880 or 1881 which makes it difficult to pinpoint when they actually moved from Norway to the United States.

I posted a summary of Ole and Mari Finnestad's gravesite along with their 11 children. The next few posts will be of the information available of their death certificates. First up is their eldest child, Elizabeth (Finnestad) Knutson. Note the misspelling of Ole Finnestad as "Ole Flinnestead" and Mari Skaar as "Mary S...Aar".    Elizabeth's husband, Ole Andreas Knutson was spelled was "O.O. Knutson". Another error is Elizabeth's date of birth , which was April 10, 1844, not the April 17, 1843 listed.  Elizabeth's obituary can be found here .    I have not ordered the death certificate, but if anyone has a copy, please let me know.

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...

I had previously posted cemetery photos of Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, but was unsure whether an obituary was available. Last week I received three of them from different newspapers in Rochelle, Illinois (with many thanks to the Rochelle-Flagg public library). The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle News" on March 20, 1930. While there are discrepancies between the three obituaries, they did help me verify which 4 of Elizabeth's 10th children had survived past the 1930 US Census. The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle Home Journal" on March 18, 1930. Unfortunately, the husband of Elizabeth's daughter Anna, was not listed, but at least I now know she married someone by the name of Larson. My search of records for a Larson family in Maywood, Illinois, however have been unsuccessful. The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle Herald" on March 19, 1930. I was hoping an obituary would ha...

I had posted earlier that Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was never really a Finnestad as she had not lived on the Finnestad farm prior to getting married. I was wrong. I was going through some of my documents and came across a confirmation from the Regional State Archives of Stavanger, that Ole Finnestad had purchased a lot of property (Merknad 387b, which is now property nr. 16) on the Finnestad farm in 1862. Because Elizabeth did not marry Ole Andreas Knutson until 1864, it stand to reason she was most likely living with her parents on the Finnestad farm from 1862 through 1864. I have updated the family tree (right hand column) and added "Finnestad" to Elizabeth's name.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth was laid to rest at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois. Elizabeth was born April 10, 1844 and died March 14, 1930. Here is another photo of Elizabeth's marker. I do not know when Elizabeth's husband Ole Andreas Knutson died, but it was sometime between 1910 and 1920. I also do not know the facts surrounding his death so I do not know why he wasn't buried next to Elizabeth or whether his burial place is even located in a cemetery in Illinois. Here is a photo of the entrance to the Lawnridge Cemetery, Rochelle, Illinois.

I've had a bit of luck recently locating the children of Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth.* I've been able to locate the Norwegian parish records for 4 of Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson's children. Once I've been able to confirm the name of the one child I am missing, I'll be posting the corresponding documents. I have updated two names for Elizabeth's branch to the family tree. Click on the "tree" in the right margin. *Elizabeth had married and started her own family before Ole and Mari had moved to the Finnestad farm, so 'Finnestad' was never part of her maiden name.

This is the parish copy of Elizabeth Olson's marriage to Ole Andreas Knutson (#45) on December 8, 1864 at the Frue Parish, Hetland in Rogaland County, Norway. This is the "official" parish record, though the parish name was listed as the Frue, Randaberg parish in Hetland. (Elizabeth and Ole are listed as #21.) Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad and the first of their children to marry.

Several of the Finnestad family members were laid to rest at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois. Two of Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughters are located there: Rachel Vallem and Elizabeth Knutson. Rachel's daughter Isabel Josephine, husband Ole Hall and Rachel's son, Elmer in Section B #21. There is also a "Hall" though I do not yet know who is buried there. Elizabeth's daughter Edith, husband Charles Ludwig and their son Robert, in Section B #22. I will post photos once I obtain them. Lawnridge is located in Ogle County, on 8th Avenue in Rochelle.

Here is a entry document into the United States. The port of entry is Portal, North Dakota. When I obtained the document, the year indicated was 1909, though I looked through the document and didn't see the actual date. Elizabeth (eldest daughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad) and husband Ole Andreas Knutson had come through Portal on their way back from Outlook, Saskatchewan. If you look closely, on the right side (line 25 and 26), the form indicates they were visiting Ole Knutson's brother-in-law, Berthel Finnestad (Elizabeth's younger brother). While I can't read the final columns due to a smudge, it most likely indicates Rochelle, where they were living at the time. I also am assuming they took the train to Canada and back to Illinois. (You get used to making assumptions when encountering documents that lack detailed information.) As I had stated in a previous post, Bert Finnestad and wife Celia had moved to Saskatchewan in 1904. While the document doesn...

In 1920, two of Ole and Mari's daughters, Sarah Finnestad and Elizabeth Knutson were living next to each other in Flagg township, Rochelle, Illinois. Elizabeth's daughter, Edith was living with her mother, Elizabeth.

I have been trying to track down the children of Elizabeth (eldest daughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad) and came across a 1895 Rochelle Public School record which lists 4 of Elizabeth and Ole Knutson's children: Otto, in 6th room "A" class Alfred in 6th room "B" class Annie in 5th room "B" class Edith in 3rd room "A" class The original document can be viewed here .

Based upon US Census records, Ole and Mari had 11 children. I have only been able to track down 10 of those, leading me to believe one may have died during childbirth. According to the Hjelmeland/Fister parish records, Ole and Mari's first child was Elisabeth, born, April 10, 1844. She was baptized May 5, 1844. It can be assumed she was the first child since Ole and Mari were married 3 months later.

The earliest known record of the Finnestad family belonging to a church was the Calvary Lutheran Church located at 19 Perry Road (at the corner of County Line Road) in Lee County, Illinois. Above is the baptism record for Bert Otto Knutson, son of Elizabeth Knutson and Ole Andreas Knutston. He is the grandson of Ole and Mari Finnestad Sr. This document records Bert's baptism as January 16, 1881, a couple of months after his November 14, 1880 birth. One of the attendees was Ole Finnestad, brother of Elizabeth. Attendee Serina Olson listed below Ole Finnestad may actually be Ole and Elizabeth's sister. I have been unable to confirm whether Serina took on the name "Finnestad" prior to the 1900 Federal census.