Finnestad Ancestry

Here is a photo taken last month of the marker for my great great great grandparents, Mari and Ole Finnestad, their daughter, Sarah and their granddaughter, Josephine.   Josephine was the daughter of Caroline (Quitno) and Ole Finnestad Jr. The recap posted last year of the burials of their children can be found here .     As I posted yesterday , Mari's year of birth was 1923, not 1924. Here is a photo of the Union Cemetery in Lee County, Illinois.    The marker above is located in the second row up from the left side of the Union Cemetery arch.

Here is the death certificate information for the second child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad, Sarah. This is one of the rare documents I've seen where Ole and Mari's names are spelled correctly (though Mari was also spelled Mary once they arrived in America).   The one error I see is that Sarah's birthday was actually July 5, 1846 and not July 8th.    Sarah was the only adult child of Ole and Mari that never married.

Ole and Mari Finnestad, along with their daughter Sarah and granddaughter Josephine are buried at the Union Cemetery in Lee County, Illinois. I had posted photos after the granite marker had been put in place last year, so here are photos in the summer, without snow. I still have no idea whether the plot had a previous marker; if it did, I do not know what became of it. Sarah was the second child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad. She never married or had children, so that branch of the Finnestad family tree ends with her. Josephine was Ole Jr and Caroline Finnestad's daughter. Ole was born February 14, 1814 and died November 22, 1906. Mari was born July 12, 1824 and died November 1, 1905. Sarah was born July 5, 1846 and died August 21, 1923. Josephine was born February 13, 1886 and died December 6, 1902. Here is the archway to the cemetery with an arrow pointing out the location of the granite marker for Ole Finnestad, wife Mari, their daughter Sarah and granddaughter Jose...

In 1920, two of Ole and Mari's daughters, Sarah Finnestad and Elizabeth Knutson were living next to each other in Flagg township, Rochelle, Illinois. Elizabeth's daughter, Edith was living with her mother, Elizabeth.

In 1910, Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth and her husband, Ole Andreas Knutson were living in Flagg township, Ogle County, Illinois. Also living with them at the time was Elizabeth's younger sister, Sarah. A grandson is listed by the name of Albert Johnson who was 11 at the time of the census, born in Iowa. I have not been able to locate his parents names and proceed with locating all of the descendants of Elizabeth and Ole Knutson as of this post. If I do, I will be updating the Finnestad family tree spreadsheet.

Ole Sr, wife Mari, daughter Sarah and granddaughter Dina Josephine's headstone was installed this past Sunday, January 4, 2009 at the Union Cemetery, located at 19 Perry Road (corner of Perry Road and County Line Road) in Lee County, Illinois. Here are the photos, provided by the Unger Horner Funeral Home of Rochelle, Illinois.

Here is a short history of the Union Cemetery where Ole Sr, wife Mari, daughter Sarah and granddaughter Dina Josephine are buried at 19 Perry Road, Lee County, Illinois. Oddly, Union Cemetery is only 7 miles from where I grew up at University & Keslinger Roads in DeKalb County, yet no one in my lifetime knew of this history regarding my great-great-great grandfather and grandmother.

The above plot map is a close-up of Ole Sr Finnestad's plot and indicates he is sharing space 71 with Bernie Knutson, on the lower right hand corner. It is my guess that the plot was shared with Bernie Knutson as he may have been related to Ole & Mari's eldest daughter, Elizabeth's husband, Ole Andreas Knutson. Above is an overall map of the plots located at Union Cemetery in Lee County, Illinois. Above is an index card for the individual plots located at Union cemetery, 19 Perry Road, Lee County, Illinois. I received these documents from the previous sexton, Mr. Jordal, who had been retired when I stopped by the cemetery in August 2008. Even though he is no longer the cemetery sexton, he had the documents at his house, which is just beyond the cornfield to the west of the cemetery. Since the only other proof that I had of the Finnestads being buried at Union cemetery was the CD I had obtained through Calvary Lutheran church, I decided to scan a copy o...

From the Hjelmeland/Fister parish records, Serina (listed as the second list #6), was confirmed October 14, 1860.

According to the Hjelmeland/Fister parish records, Serina was born to Ole and Mari on July 5, 1846. She was baptized August 9, 1846.