Finnestad Ancestry

A decade ago I posted  a 1900 US census record for the widower, Lambert Johnson following the death of his wife, Andrea Elizabeth Knutson.      Andrea 'Lizzie' had passed away two years prior to the census; her husband had moved in with his older brother Jacob.    At the time I was not aware that Jacob Johnson was the father of Rachel (Finnestad) Vallem's youngest child, Elmer James Vallem . I also posted the census records to confirm where Andrea and Lambert's children went to live following the death of their mother.   I did not know at the time that two of the children, Lillian and Truman were living with their aunt, Ellen* Josephine (Johnson) Govig and uncle Benjamin Govig.    Ellen was Lambert's older sister.    Their brother, Jacob, father of Elmer James Vallem was the oldest of the Johnson siblings. Andrea 'Lizzie' Elizabeth (Knutson) Johnson was the daughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) Knutson and Ole Andreas (Andrew...

Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Andrea Elizabeth (Knutson) and husband Lambert Johnson were buried at the St John's Lutheran Cemetery (South) which is located northeast of Cylinder, Iowa. Here is a photo of Andrea's headstone. Andrea (Lizzie) was born January 29, 1873 in Stavanger, Norway.   She died August 27, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa. Here is a photo of Lambert Johnson's headstone.  Lambert was born April 24, 1870 in Illinois and died October 22, 1918 in Palo Alto County, Iowa. Here is a photo of the entrance to the cemetery. Here is a view of the cemetery located at the corner of 360th Street & 550th Avenue. Andrea was the daughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

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.

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.

Not much had changed for Andrea (Knutson) Johnson's husband, Lambert, from 1905 to 1910 when the US Census came out . He was still living with the family of Ida Govig in Cylinder, Iowa.

By 1905, Andrea's widower, Lambert (#528) had moved back to Iowa and was living in the town of Cylinder, Fairfield township, Palo Alto County. The 1905 Iowa census doesn't provide sufficient information to determine if he was living at the same household as Ida Govig, though the 1910 US Cenus does confirm they were living at the same household. Ida Govig was eventually the wife of Orville Olson, son of Mary and Stephen Olson. Mary was Andrea's older sister. Lambert's children, Lillie and Truman (#664 and #665) were still residing with their aunt and uncle, Benjamin and Ellen Govig, also in Cylinder, Iowa. (This census document reverted "Helen" back to "Ellen"). Lambert and Andrea's youngest child, Elmer was still living with his grandmother, Elizabeth Knutson, though no census record was taken mid-decade in Illinois.

Last week after some digging, I finally discovered who married Andrea Elizabeth Knutson. Considering people generally meet at school, church, work or live in the neighborhood, it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination that Andrea would marry someone that also attended the same church. I posted her confirmation record from the Calvary Lutheran church and it seems her future brother-in-law, Lewis T Johnson was on the same page. Also on this same page are the children of Rachel and Lewis Vallem; Peter and Ole. Andrea Elizabeth Knutson married Lambert Johnson, I believe sometime in 1891. They eventually moved to Cylinder, Iowa where her sister Mary Olson and family were living. I have also tracked down three children born to Andrea Elizabeth and Lambert: - Lillie, born January 17, 1892 in Illinois - Truman Levi, born August 30, 1895 in Rochelle, Illinois - Elmer Levi, born August 12, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa Andrea died August 27, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa, two weeks ...