Finnestad Ancestry

The 1940 US Census was released last week.       Here is the census for my great grandparents, Mary (Kurth) and Oliver Finnestad (starting at line 53). In 1940, three of their six sons, Oliver Jr, Verlis and Robert and two of their three daughters, Lois and (Alice) Leota were living with their parents.    Mary and Oliver Finnestad were living in Creston, Ogle county, Illinois. Oliver and was still employed as a farm laborer.     Oliver Jr was working as a meat cutter at a retail establishment and Verlis was employed with a grain company. Some of the questions on the census are difficult to read.   Below is a legible blank census form as an explanation of symbols. Oliver was the son of Carline (Quitno) and Ole Finnestad Sr.    His grandparents were Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole Finnestad Sr.

Yesterday I posted the relationships between the Finnestad family and the Travland (Trӕvland) family.   The Travland family website can be found here and the family always be in the right hand margin, listed under "related links". This was a significant event in the lives of both families.

Lawrence Vallem, great grandson of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole Finnestad Sr may have been the only individual in the family buried at a national cemetery. Lawrence had served in the US Army during World War I.   He was the eldest child born to Lena Josephine (Travland) and Peter John Vallem on October 26, 1898 in Alto township, Lee county, Illinois. Following his service in the military, Lawrence married Jennifer Cecelia Blanford on January 8, 1920 in Rockford, Winnebago county, Illinois.     Jennifer was born in Illinois on September 20, 1900 and died in Downey, Los Angeles county, California on March 4, 1995.  I do not know where she was buried. Lawrence passed away August 8, 1991 in Long Beach, Los Angeles county, California and was buried at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Riverside county, California. Here is a photo of the sign and entrance to Riverside Memorial Cemetery. Here is...

Hamilton Ordean Risetter, great grandson of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole Finnestad Sr was born in May 1910 to Clara Olette "Lettie" (Finnestad) and Christopher H Risetter.   Hamilton married Kathryn King, most likely in September 1945 as the Dixon Telegraph newspaper had an announcement of an engagement or a marriage in their September 19, 1945 edition.    Hamilton passed away in May 1969.  Kathryn was born in 1914 and passed away in 1971 and was buried at the First Lutheran Cemetery in Lee county, Illinois next to her husband. Here is a photo of the Risetter plot. Here is a photo of Kathryn's marker. Here is a photo of Hamilton's marker. Hamilton was the grandson of Caroline (Quitno) and Ole Finnestad Jr.

I have long attempted to locate information on the husband and daughter of Mary (Finnestad) Bell.    Both Mary's husband and daughter had passed away prior to the 1900 US Census and little information was known about them other than her husband was a clergyman and their daughter died as a child. This summer I digitized the Finnestad family photo and on the back was written the names of those in the photo as well as a single line "married a preacher - one daughter - May Belle who died of pn" (pneumonia).     I recently located a death record for a May Bell from the First Lutheran Church* ledger in Lee County, Illinois. May Bell passed away February 21, 1900.    Based upon the church records, May was 10 1/2 at the time of her death, indicating her birth was approximately August 1899.   The last column seems to indicate the location where the decedent had lived; in this case it states "N...

I had posted this photo of the Finnestad family taken about 1870 in Norway and recently* located the original, which is slightly clearer than the one I posted in March 2010.  The correct positions are, based upon what was written on the back of the photo: Back row: Bert, Mary, Rasmus, Ole Jr, Bertha, Serina (Sarah) Front row: Rachel, Ole Sr, Mari and Elizabeth My original guess that the photo was taken just before Iverdine and Rachel left Stavanger in May 1871 and moved to the United States was based upon the copy I'd received from Trish Hodgens.      This photo was probably taken prior to the 1900 US Census, the last census before Rasmus appeared in the 1905 Iowa Census and Bert had moved to Saskatchewan in 1903.    This makes more sense than my original post as Bert would have been 10 and Rasmus would have been 8 in a photo taken in 1871.     Iverdine passed away November 3, 1879 prior to this photo.  Narr...

Yesterday I posted photographs of Mari and Ole Finnestad's great grandson, Burdette Finnestad and wife Alice (Barnes) who were buried at the Belvidere Cemetery in Boone county, Illinois.    Just a few yards to the east of their burial plot is a chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright called the Pettit Chapel. Here is a photo of the signage for the chapel. Here are photos of each side of the chapel. The chapel was built in 1906 as a memorial to Dr. William Pettit by his wife, Emma.    The Pettit Chapel was just one of a couple of chapels designed by Frank Lloyd Wright during his career.