Finnestad Ancestry

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Ellen Jewell Sanderson with her confirmation class of 1932 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Ellen is located on the center, top of the photo. Here is the ledger for the 1932 confirmation class. Sanderson was the last child (of 14) born to Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson (though Seward had one other child with his first wife, Martha Cody).  Ellen's  grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Gordon Delbert Sanderson along with his confirmation class of 1931 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Gordon is in the second column from the left, third down. Here is the ledger for the 1931 class.  Gordon is listed as #13. Gordon was the son of Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson, his grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem. 

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter and grandson, Lillian Ruth Sanderson and Charles LeRoy Sanderson and with their confirmation class of 1927 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Charles is sitting on the far left in the middle row.  His sister Lillian is in the same row, second from the right. Here is the ledger for the 1927 confirmation class. Charles LeRoy Sanderson and Lillian Ruth Sanderson were the children of Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson.  Their  grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Violet Myrle Sanderson along with her confirmation class of 1923 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Violet is seated second from the right (next to the Reverend). Here is the church ledger for the 1923 confirmation class. Violet Myrle Sanderson was the daughter of Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson.  Her  grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Anna Isabella Sanderson along with her confirmation class of 1919 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Anna is standing in the back row, second from the right. Here is the ledger from the same year, which also includes the years 1918 and 1920.    Neither Burdette Sanderson listed in 1919 or Ester Finnestad from 1920 were descendants of Ole and Mari Finnestad.   I haven't checked Burdette's relationship, but Ester was the eldest child of Elizabeth and Alfred Finnestad.   Ester's younger brother Ingmond would eventually marry Mildred Knutson which connected Ole and Mari Finnestad's descendants to the Sanderson family.   Anna Isabella Sanderson was the daughter of Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson.  Her  grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Here is a photo of Ole and Mari Finnestad's great grandson, Walter Orlando Sanderson along with his confirmation class of 1915 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Walter is seated on the left side of the photo next to Reverend Johnson. Here is the ledger for the confirmation class of 1915. Walter was the son of Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson, his grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

The next confirmation class with multiple Finnestad descendants was 1913.    I'd posted Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Lillian's photo and ledger in 2009. Ole and Mari's great grandson, Elmer Seward Sanderson was in the same class as Lillian Finnestad. Lillian Finnestad is seated in the bottom row, far right. Lawrence is standing in the back row, second from the left side of the photo. Lawrence's parents were Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson, his grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

Another class confirmation class with Ole and Mari Finnestad's descendants was in 1911.    When I originally posted two years ago , I didn't know of the Sanderson family link. Ole and Mari's granddaughter, Carrie Evelyn Finnestad is seated in the middle row, 3rd from the left.  Carrie's parent's were Caroline (Quitno) and Ole Finnestad Jr. Ole and Mari's great grandson, Lawrence Alvin Sanderson is seated next to Carrie on the left.  Lawrence's parents were Ellen Marie/Mary (Vallem) and Seward Sanderson, his grandparents were Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem.

A couple of years ago I had posted the 1907 confirmation photo and ledger for Ole and Mari Finnestad's granddaughter, Alice Marie Finnestad.    I didn't know it at the time but Ole and Mari's step great grandson, Stanley Harland Sanderson was in the same confirmation class at Calvary Lutheran Church. Alice is in the second row on the far right.   Stanley is in the front row, sitting on the far right.

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.

Here is the confirmation ledger from the Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee County, Illinois for Rachel and Lewis Vallem's daughter, Ellen Marie. Ellen was 15 when she was confirmed on March 25, 1894. Again, no photos for the confirmation classes were provided until 1897.

Another previous post , I did not know at the time, but both Peter and brother Ole Vallem were listed on the same Calvary Lutheran church confirmation ledger as 3 of their cousins, Elizabeth Andreas Knutson, Rasmus and Bert Finnestad. Peter Vallem was 14 when he was confirmed May 19, 1889. Ole Vallem was 15 when he was confirmed June 1, 1890. Unfortunately, there were no photos provided by the church until 1897.

I didn't realize it when I originally posted it, but the daughter of Rachel and Lewis Vallem, Ella Bertina Vallem was in the same confirmation class (at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee County Illinois) as Dina Josephine Finnestad. The spelling is incorrect in the photo "Wallem", but the ledger seems to be Vallem, and also lists Rachel underneath "Mr and Mrs Ole Finnestad" the parents of Dina. Here is the photo again: "Dina" Josephine Finnestad is wearing a ribbon in her hair, middle row, 3rd from the right. Ella Vallem is in the first row on the right hand side.

The above photo was taken of the confirmation class of 1913 at Calvary Lutheran Church on Perry Road, Lee County, Illinois. Lillian Finnestad is seated in the bottom row, far right. She was confirmed October 19, 1913. In attendance were her parents, Ole and Caroline Finnestad. Lillian was 14 at the time of her confirmation. She is the granddaughter of Ole Sr and Mari Finnestad. The photo below was taken of the confirmation class of 1914 at Calvary Lutheran Church on Perry Road, Lee County, Illinois. Frances Finnestad is seated in the bottom row, 2nd from the right. She was confirmed November 8, 1914. In attendance were her parents, Ole and Caroline Finnestad. Frances was 14 at the time of her confirmation. She is the granddaughter of Ole Sr and Mari Finnestad.

Alice Marie Finnestad, granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad, was confirmed at Calvary Lutheran Church on November 3, 1907. She was 14 at the time of her confirmation. In attendance was her father, Ole Finnestad (Jr). In the photo above, Alice is in the second row on the far right.

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.

These confirmation records of 3 Finnestad ancestors are located on this document from Calvary Lutheran Church in Lee, Illinois. Andrea Elizabeth Knutson, daughter of Ole Andreas and Elizabeth Finnestad and granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad was confirmed May 19, 1889. She was 16 at the time of her confirmation. Rasmus Finnestad was confirmed March 4, 1890. He was 25 at the time of his confirmation. Bert Finnestad was confirmed December 25, 1891. He was 30 at the time of his confirmation. Both Rasmus and Bert were the sons of Ole and Mari Finnestad.