Finnestad Ancestry

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...

Dina Josephine Finnestad died at the young age of 16, 2 months prior to her 17th birthday. Above left is a copy of the Lee County death certificate. She had tuberculosis in both lungs. At the top is a copy of the Calvalry Lutheran Church death records. Dina is listed under 1902, the last entry of the year. Dina was the eldest daughter of Ole Jr and Caroline, granddaughter of Ole and Mari.

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of Dina Josephine's confirmation class. Here is the ledger with the classmates listed from the Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Dina was confirmed May 12, 1901. She was 15 at the time of her confirmation. In attendance were her parents, Ole and Caroline Finnestad.

It's not likely the Finnestad family had a camera or the ability to have professional photos taken, so photos of the Finnestad family in the early days probably do not exist. Fortunately, Calvary Lutheran Church located at 19 Perry Road and County Line Road in Lee County, Illinois had kept records from the late 1800's to the present. Above is a photo of Ole Sr and Mari's granddaughter, "Dina" Josephine Finnestad and her confirmation class in 1901. Dina is wearing a ribbon in her hair, middle row, 3rd from the right. (As for all documents, click on them for a larger view)