Finnestad Ancestry

Here is another link from a Norwegian website that lists the farm where our ancestors had farmed: http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/navnegransking/rygh_ng/rygh_soek.prl?s=e&AMT=&start=Search&HERRED=&SOGN=&GNAVN=finnestad&GNR=&LITTREF=&REFORDF=&BIND=&SIDE=&SOEKESTRENG=&med_amt=on&med_herred=on&med_sogn=on&konkordanse_streng=hurtigliste&sort_tfunn=-&sort_amt=1&sort_herred=2&sort_sogn=3&sort_gard=4 Click on option #4 (should indicate farm #31) for the correct farm. Sorry but I cannot translate for you. :) Farming in those days and in Norway was different than the way Americans are used to farming, but here is another web link that explains it better (or more confusing) than I could: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/na27.html

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