Finnestad Ancestry

Here is the 1920 US Census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Lillie (Johnson) Wright who was living with husband Frank and daughter Evelyn in Fairfield Township, Palo Alto County, Iowa. Frank's brother Raymond was living with with them at the time.

In 1915, the mid-decade, Iowa census did not list family members on a single sheet, but rather an index card so you have to do some hunting to locate members of the household and other relatives. Here is the 1915 census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Lillie (Johnson) Wright. The census record for Lillie's husband, Frank Wright. The census record for Ole and Mari Finnestad's great great granddaughter, Evelyn Wright, daughter of Lillie and Frank. And the 1915 census for Ole and Mari's great grandson, Truman Johnson. (Lillie's brother) They were all still living in Cylinder, Iowa when this census was taken. Lillie and Truman were the children of Andrea (Lizzie) Elizabeth (Knutson) and Lambert Johnson, the grandchildren of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

On June 5, 1919, Ole and Mari Finnestad's grandson, Stanley August Olson completed his World War I draft registration card. Stanley, the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson was 19 at the time and living in Algona, Iowa, working at Algona Automotive (can't quite read the 2nd word).

Here is a photo* of two of Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughters, Wanda Risetter to the left, and Rita Richardson. I am not sure of the year, but judging upon their ages at the time, it looks like it may have been taken sometime in the mid 1940's or possibly early 1950's. Wanda was the daughter of Lillian (Finnestad) and George Risetter. Rita was the daughter of Carrie Evelyn (Finnestad) and Charles Richardson. Lillian and Evelyn were the daughters of Ole Finnestad Jr and Caroline Quitno. *Photo provided by Roxanne (Dearth) Hamilton.

I had previously posted cemetery photos of Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, but was unsure whether an obituary was available. Last week I received three of them from different newspapers in Rochelle, Illinois (with many thanks to the Rochelle-Flagg public library). The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle News" on March 20, 1930. While there are discrepancies between the three obituaries, they did help me verify which 4 of Elizabeth's 10th children had survived past the 1930 US Census. The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle Home Journal" on March 18, 1930. Unfortunately, the husband of Elizabeth's daughter Anna, was not listed, but at least I now know she married someone by the name of Larson. My search of records for a Larson family in Maywood, Illinois, however have been unsuccessful. The obituary below appeared in the "Rochelle Herald" on March 19, 1930. I was hoping an obituary would ha...

Today I added another tab to the online Finnestad family tree spreadsheet for the 6th child born to Ole and Mari Finnestad: Rachel Marie Oleson Finnestad Vallem. Much like the tabs for Rachel's siblings, this one also includes the next two generations. You will notice that Rachel and her descendants seem to have contributed the most to the ever expanding Finnestad family. If anyone notices any spelling or other errors, please let me know.

In 1920, Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter Ragna (Nelson) was living with husband George and their son George Edward Hausske in Cincinnati, Ohio. The family had moved from Chicago sometime between mid-1917 and 1919.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Ragna Leonia Nelson married George Adolph Hausske in Chicago, Illinois on October 15, 1915.

Following the death in 1900 of his wife Clara Knutson, Edward Nelson married the widow Alma Anderson. Clara and Edward's daughter, Ragna, was living with the new family, along with Alma's children from her previous marriage - Pearl, Grace, Ethel and Roy. By the time of the 1910 US Census, the 6 year marriage of Edward and Alma produced three more children - Edward Jr, Esther and Olga.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Clara died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1900, the same affliction as her infant daughter who had passed away 4 months earlier. At the time of her death, she left behind her husband, Edward and daughter, Ragna. Clara is buried at Mount Olive Cemetery, in Chicago, Illinois.

Here is a copy of the death certificate of Ester Bernice Nelson, the daughter of Clara (Knutson) and Edward Nelson. Ester was just a few days shy of her first birthday when she died of tuberculosis in Chicago. She is buried at the Mount Olive Cemetery, also in Chicago. Ester was the grandchild of Elizabeth (Olsdatter Finnestad) and Ole Andreas (Andrew) Knutson, and the great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

Here is the 1900 US Census for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Clara (Knutson) Nelson. Clara was living in Chicago with husband Edward and their two daughters, Ragna Leonia, and Esther (or Ester) Bernice Nelson.

Another tab added for the family tree of Ole and Mari Finnestad's daughter, Iverdine, the twin sister of Bertha.

I've had a bit of luck the past two days locating more descendants of Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth. Here is a copy of the Cook County, Illinois marriage license for Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson's daughter, Clara Dorthea. Clara married Edward H Nelson on December 29, 1891 in Chicago, Illinois.

Today I added a tab for the online family tree for Ole and Mari Finnestad's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, along with her portion of the next two generations of the family. I have been working on attempting to extend Elizabeth's descendants but have found it is quite a slow process. I have yet to find a surviving descendant of Elizabeth's to assist me in filling in the blanks.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Maine Olson married Clarence Cannon sometime in 1927, three years prior to the 1930 US Census. After the birth of their child, (W?) Robert, the Cannon family moved from Illinois to Iowa City, Iowa. Maine was the daughter of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson, granddaughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

Here is a news article about the death of Elizabeth and Ole Andreas' son, Otto Bert Knutson who died in July or August, 1895 due to being struck in the head by a baseball. I was hoping the article would have listed his siblings as I'm having a difficult time verifying the 10th child of Elizabeth and Ole as well as which of their children had died prior to the US Census of 1900 and 1910. This article appeared in the Dixon Telegraph, August 5, 1895.

Ole and Mari Finnestad's son-in-law, Andrew Haaland, filed immigration documents on March 30, 1899 in Lee County, Illinois. Andrew was the husband of Bertha (Finnestad). Below is the index card that allowed me to locate the complete document.

By 1920, Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Orville Olson and family had moved from Iowa to McIntosh, Polk County, Minnesota. The family members at that time included Orville, wife Ida (Govig), son Marvin and daughters Evelyn, Alma, Edith and Olivia. Orville was the son of Mary (Knutson) and Stephen Olson and the grandson of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson.

With some help from Kathleen Puis with the Palo Alto County, Iowa GenWeb Project, I was able to obtain a copy of Andrea Elizabeth (Knutson) Johnson's obituary: Emmetsburg Democrat, Wednesday, August 31, 1898 General Local News Mrs. Lambert Johnson died Friday and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Fairfield twp. Sunday afternoon. She was 25 years of age and leaves a husband and three small children to mourn her loss. While it does confirm Elizabeth and Lambert had three children, it doesn't provide any information on her sisters and brothers. I have only been able to find 9 of the 10 children born to Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson.

Continuing with Elizabeth Knutson's branch of the Finnestad family........ Edith Knutson was (as far as I know) the youngest daughter of Elizabeth (Finnestad) and Ole Andreas Knutson. Edith was born in November 1886 and died in 1969. She is buried at the Lawnridge Cemetery in Rochelle, Illinois. Note the year 1888 on the marker. This is an example of how grave markers are not always a reliable source of information. Either an error by the company that made the marker, or the individual involved opted to let the world know they were younger than their actual age. Or perhaps family members never really know their real age. Below is the marker for Edith's husband, Charles Ludwig. Edith Olivia Knutson and Charles Edward Ludwig married sometime in 1920. Edith was the granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad.

In 1910, Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson Truman Johnson was still living with his aunt and uncle. His sister, Lillie had moved out and was living with her new husband, Frank Wright and their father was living nearby.

By the 1910 US Census, Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Lillie Johnson had married Frank Wright and moved from Cylinder, Iowa to Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Not much had changed for Andrea (Knutson) Johnson's husband, Lambert, from 1905 to 1910 when the US Census came out . He was still living with the family of Ida Govig in Cylinder, Iowa.

By 1905, Andrea's widower, Lambert (#528) had moved back to Iowa and was living in the town of Cylinder, Fairfield township, Palo Alto County. The 1905 Iowa census doesn't provide sufficient information to determine if he was living at the same household as Ida Govig, though the 1910 US Cenus does confirm they were living at the same household. Ida Govig was eventually the wife of Orville Olson, son of Mary and Stephen Olson. Mary was Andrea's older sister. Lambert's children, Lillie and Truman (#664 and #665) were still residing with their aunt and uncle, Benjamin and Ellen Govig, also in Cylinder, Iowa. (This census document reverted "Helen" back to "Ellen"). Lambert and Andrea's youngest child, Elmer was still living with his grandmother, Elizabeth Knutson, though no census record was taken mid-decade in Illinois.

Continuing from yesterday's post...... After Andrea's death in 1898, her husband went to live with his brother and sister-in-law in Chicago and their youngest son went to live with his grandparents, Elizabeth and Andrew Knutson in Rochelle, Illinois. Andrea and Lambert's other two children, Lillie and Truman went to live at the home of Benjamin and Helen Govig in Fairfield township, Palo Alto County, Iowa. The 1900 Census indicates Lillie and Truman were Benjamin and Helen's niece and nephew. Because the Knutson family did not move to the United States until 1880, Helen must be the sister of Lambert (Despite the 1880 census listing her name as "Ellen" and a one year age difference) rather than the sister of Andrea. Another future connection to the family: Benjamin had been born in Illinois, living in Alto Township, Lee County, Illinois. I would guess he was probably related to Ida Govig who would eventually marry Andrea's nephew, Orville Olson. As you...

Last week after some digging, I finally discovered who married Andrea Elizabeth Knutson. Considering people generally meet at school, church, work or live in the neighborhood, it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination that Andrea would marry someone that also attended the same church. I posted her confirmation record from the Calvary Lutheran church and it seems her future brother-in-law, Lewis T Johnson was on the same page. Also on this same page are the children of Rachel and Lewis Vallem; Peter and Ole. Andrea Elizabeth Knutson married Lambert Johnson, I believe sometime in 1891. They eventually moved to Cylinder, Iowa where her sister Mary Olson and family were living. I have also tracked down three children born to Andrea Elizabeth and Lambert: - Lillie, born January 17, 1892 in Illinois - Truman Levi, born August 30, 1895 in Rochelle, Illinois - Elmer Levi, born August 12, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa Andrea died August 27, 1898 in Cylinder, Iowa, two weeks ...

I located the Norwegian confirmation document for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Anna Knutson. It was located at the parish records for the St Petri church in Stavanger, Norway. Anna was confirmed October, 19, 1879. In attendance were her parents, Elizabeth and Ole Andreas Knutson.