Finnestad Ancestry

Barnel Oluf Oleson was the 11th and final child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad. Church records from the Hetland church in Stavanger, Norway document Barnel's birth and death. Below is a photo* of the "Our Lady Church" or "Hetland Church" Barnel was born July 8, 1866 and died February 18, 1868. *Photo by Arne Toftøy-Anderson

Barnel Oluf Finnestad, the 11th and final child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad was born July 8, 1866 in Norway.    He died February 18, 1868, also in Norway, so I do not have a death certificate. Barnel was the second child of Ole and Mari to have been born while they lived on the Finnestad farm.

It's been some time now since I'd tracked down all of my great great great grandparent's children. Ole and Mari Finnestad had 11 children (7 girls & 4 boys). Maria and Barnel died as infants in Norway. Bert died in Outlook, Saskatchewan. The rest of the Finnestad siblings died in the United States. I have posted photos of all of the headstones except for Maria and Barnel in Norway, Elizabeth and Rachel (those will be forthcoming) and the twins, Iverdine and Bertha. While I know the dates Iverdine and Bertha passed away, I've been unable to locate their final resting place. However, the other night I decided to go through the Calvary Lutheran Church records and located confirmation of Bertha's burial. According to the church records, Bertha's husband, Ole Andreas Haaland handled the burial on April 30, 1929. While funeral services may have been held at the church, I am waiting on confirmation from the Union Cemetery sexton (next door to the church...

Here is a summary of Ole and Mari Finnestad and their 11 children along with their final resting places: Ole Oleson Finnestad February 14, 1814 - November 22, 1906 Union Cemetery - Lee County, Illinois Mari Iversdatter Skaar Finnestad July 12, 1824 - November 1, 1905 Union Cemetery - Lee County, Illinois Elizabeth Olsdatter Finnestad Knutson April 10, 1844 - March 14, 1930 Lawnridge Cemetery - Rochelle, Illinois Sarah (Serina) Olsdatter Finnestad July 5, 1846 - August 21, 1923 Union Cemetery - Lee County, Illinois Maria Olsdatter March 7, 1848 - May 15, 1851 Fister , Norway Dana (Iverdine) Olsdatter Finnestad Travland December 2, 1850 - November 3, 1879 Union Cemetery - Lee County, Illinois Bertha Olsdatter Finnestad Haaland December 2, 1850 - April 29, 1929 Union Cemetery - Lee County, Illinois Rachel (Rakkel) Marie Olsdatter Finnestad Vallem December 2, 1853 - April 8, 1932 Lawnridge Cemetery - Rochelle, Illinois Ole Oleson Finnestad June 4, 1856 - July 7, 1928 Fairview Cemet...

Here is a summary of the death certificate information for Ole and Mari Finnestad and their 11 children: Ole Finnestad Sr Mari (Iversdatter Nord Skaar) Finnestad Elizabeth (Finnestad) Knutson Sarah Finnestad Maria Olsdatter Iverdine (Finnestad) Travland Bertha (Finnestad) Haaland Rachel (Finnestad) Vallem Ole Finnestad Mary (Finnestad) Bell Bert Finnestad Rasmus Finnestad Barnel Finnestad Their burials can be found here .  The family trees can be found here.

According to the 1900 US Federal Census, Ole Sr and Mari Finnestad had 11 children, 8 had survived as of 1900. I believe I have found the 11th child. Reviewing the Norwegian digital archives (above), Oluf was born July 8, 1866 at the Finnestad farm in Norway. A year and a half later, the archives indicate (below) he passed away on February 18, 1868; the cause is unknown. There is a first name, which looks like "Bernel", though the handwriting is difficult to read. There were two archives for Oluf's birth, the first which is the parish register "copy": http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?show=208&uid=72400&urnread_imagesize=full&hode=nei&ls=1 I could read the Ole Olson portion, but due to the handwriting, I was unable to decipher Mari's last name, though Finnestad clearly showed up. I checked the 2nd archive, which is the "official parish register": http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?show=53&uid=72445&urnread_images...

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...