Finnestad Ancestry

The third child of Ole and Mari Finnestad was Maria Olsdatter who died as an infant before my great great great grandparents bought a plot at the Finnestad farm, so Maria never had the last name Finnestad. Because she died in Norway, I do not know whether they had kept death certificates in the 1850's. Maria was born March 7, 1948 and died May 15, 1851.

Church records from the village of Fister in Hjelemeland, Norway document the burial for Ole and Mari Finnestad's third child, Maria Olsdatter. Maria Olsdatter was born March 7, 1848 and died May 15, 1851. The photo* below is the Fister church, built in 1867, several years after Maria had died. I do not know whether this church replaced another or whether there is a second church in the village. I have not come across any records that confirm exactly where she may have been buried, but considering the village of Fister is quite small, hopefully it will not be too difficult to locate when I eventually go to Norway. * Photo: Arne Toftøy-Andersen

Of Ole and Mari's children I was able to track down, I have been unable to locate the whereabouts of Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughter, Mary for the 1910 US Federal Census. I imagine getting 100% accuracy of all US residents is quite a difficult task. She does pop up in 1920 which I will post at a later date. Bert and family were already living in Saskatchewan by 1910. Maria, as I had stated in a previous post, had died at the age of 3 in Norway. The twins, Iverdine and Bertha, along with Rakel I have been unable to trace and do not know whether they left Norway, following their siblings and parents.

From the Hetland/Frue Parish records, Maria (entry #68) was confirmed October 5, 1873. As of today, this is the last document I have been able to find from Norway, prior to the Olson family moving to the United States as the "Finnestad family".

According to the Hjelmeland/Fister parish records, Maria was born to Ole and Mari on January 18, 1859 and baptized April 3, 1859. Note this is the 2nd Maria born to Ole and Mari, after the death of Maria #1 on May 15, 1851.

Entry #12 indicates that Maria Olsen died May 15, 1851. She was 3 years, two months and 8 days old at the time of her death.

According to the Hjelmeland/Fister parish records, Maria was born to Ole and Mari on March 7, 1848 and baptized June 18, 1848.