Finnestad Ancestry

Here is a sign entering Sauda where the Søndenå farm is located.   The sign is used to designate the county (fylke) and municipality (kommune). Rogaland and Sauda signage

From wikipedia: Rogaland is a county in Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum-industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%. Etymology Rogaland is the Old Norse name of the region - revived in modern times. (Until 1919 the name of the county was Stavanger amt.) The first element is the plural genitive case of rygir, the name of an old Germanic tribe (see Rugians). The last element is land n 'land, region'. Coat-of-arms The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1974). It shows the old stone cross in Sola, er ected in memory of Erling Skjalgsson after his death in 1028. Geography Rogaland is mainly a coastal region with fjords, beaches, and islands, the principal island being Karmøy. Boknafjorden is the largest bay, with many fjords branching off from it. The third largest urban area of Norway is located in Rogaland. Stavanger, along with ...

The Frue community was located within the municipality of Hetland. According to Wikipedia: Hetland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was created as Hetland formannskapsdistrikt in 1837. On 1 July 1922 Randaberg was separated from Hetland to create a municipality of its own. The split left Hetland with a population of 10.167. In addition, areas of Hetland were moved to Stavanger in 1867, 1879, 1906, 1923 and 1953. On 1 January 1965 the districts of Riska and Dale with 2.077 inhabitants became a part of Sandnes. The rest of Hetland, with 20.861 inhabitants, was incorporated into Stavanger. Randaberg is a municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway, located just to the north of Stavanger. Randaberg was separated from Hetland July 1, 1922. The northernmost conurbation of Stavanger/Sandnes can be found here. The name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm Randaberg (Norse Randaberg ), since the first church was built there. The first ele...

The next few entries I will be revisiting the areas of Norway where the Olson/Finnestad family had lived prior to moving to America. The family of Ole and Mari started in the county of Rogaland, municipality of Hjelmeland, community of Fister. Based upon documents I have found, Ole and Mari lived in Fister from at least the time of their marriage, July 4, 1844 until November 3, 1862 when they purchased a farm in the county of Rogaland to the municipality of Hetland, community of Frue, where the Finnestad farm was located.