Finnestad Ancestry

I have been searching for the husband of Mary (Finnestad) Bell for quite awhile.    Her death certificate from Snohomish county, state of Washington lists Mary as a widow.    No name was listed in the space for her husband but "no one knew".     That might apply to her actual birth month and day but I can only guess.    Apparently her brother, Rasmus couldn't remember the name of his brother-in-law.   I have yet to encounter a descendant of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr that does know his name. I previously posted  information on Mary's two burials hoping the original burial place would have more information on the name of Mary's husband, however, they did not have any additional documents. At this point I believe the closest I will get to discovering Mr. Bell's first name will be the deposition Mary provided to the prosecutor's office during the trial in which she was a witness.    ...

Mary (Finnestad) Bell was placed in the International Order of Odd Fellows cemetery in Marysville, Washington at the time of her death in 1937.     The Marysville Cemetery is no longer part of the Order.  Following instructions of her brother, Rasmus, her body was disinterred in 1945 and placed at the Evergreen Cemetery in Everett, Washington next to her brother following his death. Mary was daughter of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.     

Mary Olsdatter Skåreflådå (Finnestad) Bell appeared as a witness in a murder trial that took place in Dixon, Lee county, Illinois from April 26, 1898 through May 5, 1898. The December 27, 1898 issue of the Dixon Evening Telegraph reported the initial details of the December 24th murder of Fred Tolsted on their front page.    From page 2 of the Wood County Reporter (Grand Rapids, Wisconsin) in their December 30, 1897 issue, the 'suspect' alleged the victim connected him 'unpleasantly' with the housekeeper (Mary Finnestad Bell). The local newspaper in the adjoining county, published a brief article on the murder on January 12, 1898 on the front page of The True Republican in Sycamore, DeKalb county, Illinois.     The Sterling Standard published the names of the law firm, prosecuting attorney and judge in the upcoming murder trial on page 12 of their January 13, 1898 issue. The trial began on April 26, 1898 as reported in the April 27, 1898 issue of the Dixon ...

Here is the death certificate information for the 8th child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad, Mary (Finnestad) Bell. After moving to the United States from Norway, Mary married someone with the last name Bell, but I've not yet been able to locate their marriage information.   I do know that Mary and her husband had one child, and both the child and husband died prior to the 1900 US census. Mary spent most of her time in Lee County, Illinois after moving to America and sometime after 1930 moved to Washington, where her brother Rasmus and his family resided. No misspelling with Mary's father, but her mother, Mary Skaar was spelled as "Mary S Karre".

Here is the 1930 US Federal Census record for Ole and Mari Finnestad's youngest daughter, Mary. Mary was living in Willow Creek Township, Lee County, Illinois at the time the census was taken. 1930 was the first census record that listed Mary Finnestad's married name, Bell. I had originally thought that this might be the same person as there was a "Mary" of the same age living as a servant for a James Kennedy in 1920 as well, but it wasn't until Ole and Mari's great-great granddaughter Rose confirmed that Mary had married someone named "Bell".