Finnestad Ancestry

Genevieve Fern (Olson) Berg was born to Elebata (Ella) Bertina Vallem and George Olson on August 21, 1923 in Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois.     Genevieve married Dale Theodore Berg on January 3, 1948 at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee county, Illinois.     She passed away 9 years after her husband on April 24, 2019 in Aurora, Kane county, Illinois. Genevieve's husband was the grandson of Oscar Theodore Deidric Berg mentioned in this post .   I was fortunate to have met Genevieve in 2011 who provided me with the original photo of the Finnestad family as well as the Rachel (Finnestad) Vallem family . Genevieve was the granddaughter of Rachel (Olsdatter Finnestad) and Lars "Lewis" Pederson Vallem and the great granddaughter of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.

I have posted a few obituaries for Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) Knutson and found another from The DeKalb Daily Chronicle.    The obituary appeared in the March 19, 1930 edition, page 6 in the 5th column. There are a few omissions in the obituary.   Based upon the 1900 US Census , Elizabeth had 10 children, 5 of which had passed away prior to June 12, 1900.    The 1910 US Census also stated that Elizabeth had 10 children and 4 had survived as of April 15, 1910. The 6 children that proceeded her in death were: - Anna Knutson, the eldest daughter.    I believe she passed away sometime after October 19, 1879, the date of her confirmation and prior to July 1884 when her younger sister, Annie was born.   It seems unusual to have named another daughter Anna. - Clara (Knutson) Nelson, the third daughter born to Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson. - Olava Edvarda Knutson, the fifth daughter. - Otto Bert Knutson, the sixth child...

I had posted the Dixon Evening Telegraph obituary for Ole Finnestad Jr.     Here is an obituary from The DeKalb Daily Chronicle, July 7, 1928 edition.   The obituary appeared on the front page. The surviving sisters of Ole that were not mentioned in the obituary were Elizabeth Knutson of Rochelle, Illinois, Sarah 'Serina' Finnestad of Lee county, Illinois, Bertha Haaland of Rochelle, Illinois, Rachel Vallem of Dement township, Ogle county, Illinois and Mary Bell of Lee county, Illinois. Ole Finnestad was the son of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.

Here is the obituary for Alice Leota (Finnestad) Hansen who passed away late 2017. Alice was the daughter of Mary (Kurth) and Oliver Finnestad, granddaughter of Caroline (Quitno) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Jr. and the great granddaughter of  Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.      Alice was the last of Mary and Oliver Finnestad's 9 children to pass away.

Here is the obituary for Herbert Strausberger, the husband of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great granddaughter, Dorothy Strausberger. Dorothy Strausberger was born to Nora Elma (Peterson) and Lawrence Alvin Sanderson on August 7, 1917, in DeKalb county, Illinois.    Dorothy passed away on March 4, 1991 and was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb, Illinois. Dorothy's grandparents were Ellen Marie (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson.  Her great grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis P Vallem.

Here is the obituary for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great great great grandson, Elmer James Olson Jr. Elmer was the son of Gail (McDowell) and Elmer James Olson (Sr) and the grandson of Clarice (Drummond) and Marvin Sanford Olson and the great grandson of Ida (Govig) and Orville Ilin Olson.   His great great grandparents were Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and great great great grandparents were Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson. Elmer was one of many twins that run through the Finnestad bloodline.

Here is the obituary for Sherry (McDowell) the second wife of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great great grandson, Elmer Olson. While Sherry was not part of the Finnestad bloodline, her obituary is very helpful in locating those that have descended from Ole and Mari Finnestad. Sherry's husband, Elmer James Olson was the son of Clarice (Drummond) and Marvin Sanford Olson and the grandson of Ida (Govig) and Orville Ilin Olson.   His great grandparents were Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and great great grandparents were Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

Here is the obituary for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Burdette Finnestad. Burdette was the oldest child of the nine children of Mary (Kurth) and Oliver Finnestad, the grandson of Caroline (Quitno) and Ole Finnestad Jr. Here is the obituary for Burdette's wife, Alice (Barnes) Finnestad.

Here is the obituary* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Elizabeth (Ludwig) Corson. Edith was the youngest child (as far as I know) of Edith (Knutson) and Charles Edward Ludwig, the granddaughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson. *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

With a thank you to Beverly Skog* for providing the funeral service card for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Edith Olivia (Knutson) Ludwig, I was able to obtain a copy of her obituary from the Flagg Rochelle public library. Here is the obituary from the February 19, 1969 edition of The Rochelle News. Edith was the youngest (as far as I know) child of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas (Andrew) Knutson.    I was hoping the obituary would mention her siblings as I still have not been able to locate the missing 10th child of Elizabeth and Ole Knutson. *The great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is the obituary* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Maine Elizabeth (Olson) Cannon. This obituary was from the June 2, 1988 Minneapolis Star Tribune. Maine was the daughter of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandaughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson. *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is the obituary* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Stanley August Olson. Here is the funeral service card* Stanley was the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandson of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.     His grave marker can be viewed here . *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is the obituary* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Olaf A Olson. Here is the funeral* service card.    Olaf was the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandson of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.     His grave marker can be viewed here . *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is a copy of the obituary*  for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson Elmer A Olson. Here is the funeral service card* Elmer was the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandson of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.     His grave marker can be viewed here . *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is a copy of the obituary and funeral service card* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, William Roosevelt Olson. William was the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandson of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson. *Provided by Beverly Skog, great great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Last month I posted an obituary for Mary Olson, the granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad. The photo with the obituary wasn't very clear but thanks to Mary's granddaughter, Beverly, I have a slightly clearer photo from the obituary. It looks like Mary is holding a cake. Here is a 2nd obituary that Beverly also provided. This 2nd obituary was the only one of the two that mentioned a sibling (Edith) which may indicate that her younger sister, Anna (Knutson) Larson had passed away sometime between 1930 and 1943. Mary was buried at the Lawnridge cemetery in Rochelle; her marker can be viewed here .

Here is the obituary for Mari and Ole Finnestad's great great great grandson, Timothy Skog. Timothy was the grandson of Maine (Olson) and Clarence Cannon, the great grandson of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson, and great great grandson of Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

Here is the obituary* for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth (Knutson) Olson. Mary was born in Stavanger, Norway on May 16, 1867 as Maria Berthea Knutson .  Her parents were Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) Knutson and Ole Andreas Knutson. Unfortunately the obituary did not mention Mary's siblings; I am still missing one of the ten children born to Elizabeth and Ole Knutson. *Thank you to the Rochelle Flagg public library for providing this obituary from their archives.

Here is the obituary for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great granddaughter, LuAnn (Sanderson) Baker. LuAnn was the 5th (of 11) child born to Mildred (Lindaas) and Walter O Sanderson.  She was the granddaughter of Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson.    LuAnn was also the great granddaughter of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is the obituary for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Gordon Sanderson. Gordon was the 13th child born to Ellen Marie (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson, (though the 14th child born to Seward Sanderson who had previously been married to Martha Cody). Gordon's grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem. I believe the marriage date is in error as the Winnebago county clerk's office has listed the marriage year of 1940.  They also have listed Gordon as being 24 and Genevieve as 19 at the time of their marriage, though Gordon would have actually been 23 and Genevieve would have been 18 by September of 1940.