Finnestad Ancestry

Here is the 1940 US census for Elma Matilda (Johnson) Wright living with her husband, Frank J Wright.   Their entry is listed on lines 17 - 18, living in the town of Cylinder, Fairfield township, Palo Alto county, Iowa.    Frank was employed as a trucker. Elma, also known as 'Lillie' was the daughter of Andrea Elizabeth 'Lizzie' (Knutson) and Lambert Johnson, the granddaughter of Elizabeth (Olsdatter) and Ole Andreas Knutson and the great granddaughter of Mari Iversdatter Nordskår and Ole Olson Finnestad.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Elma Mathilda Johnson was born January 17, 1892 in Chicago, Illinois. Cook County had both a birth certificate and a birth register. These are the only documents I've come across that list her name as Elma Mathilda. By the time the family had moved to Iowa, Elma was known as Lillie, which was probably a nickname for Mathilda. Note the misspelling of Johnson as "Johanson" on the birth certificate. Page 1 of the birth register lists the child's name, the sequence the child represents borne to the mother, address, nationality and age of the parents (though the mother's age of 18 was cut off). Elma is listed 12th from the bottom. Page 2, which includes the mother's maiden name, Lizzie Knutson, as well as the father, Lambert Johnson (spelled incorrectly as Lamberth Johanson). The name of the doctor is listed in the column on the right. Misspellings can throw you off, and considering I wasn't aware tha...

Of all the census records I've come across, the 1925 Iowa Census is the most valuable. Below is the census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Lillie (Johnson) Wright, husband Frank and their daughter Evelyn. Page 1 provides the name, personal information, such as age, sex, education, citizenship, etc. Page 2 provides the name of the parents of the individual which is invaluable in confirming you have the correct family member and often provides names you may not have previously known. Having a document confirm Lillie's parents, (Elizabeth Knutson and Lambert Johnson) helped me verify I had the correct family. Page 3 provides military service, occupation and church affiliation. All of these can help lead you into another direction to locate even more information on your ancestors. Unfortunately, there are too few of my ancestors that lived in Iowa during the time of this census.

By the 1910 US Census, Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Lillie Johnson had married Frank Wright and moved from Cylinder, Iowa to Emmetsburg, 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.

Continuing from yesterday's post...... After Andrea's death in 1898, her husband went to live with his brother and sister-in-law in Chicago and their youngest son went to live with his grandparents, Elizabeth and Andrew Knutson in Rochelle, Illinois. Andrea and Lambert's other two children, Lillie and Truman went to live at the home of Benjamin and Helen Govig in Fairfield township, Palo Alto County, Iowa. The 1900 Census indicates Lillie and Truman were Benjamin and Helen's niece and nephew. Because the Knutson family did not move to the United States until 1880, Helen must be the sister of Lambert (Despite the 1880 census listing her name as "Ellen" and a one year age difference) rather than the sister of Andrea. Another future connection to the family: Benjamin had been born in Illinois, living in Alto Township, Lee County, Illinois. I would guess he was probably related to Ida Govig who would eventually marry Andrea's nephew, Orville Olson. As you...