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lands
Starting member
USA
29 Posts |
 Posted - 25/09/2003 : 15:39:27
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Hi,
We are in the process of tracing our families. Our ancestors came to the USA in 1850 aboard the Drafna, so far we have been able to find good infromation except for two descendants.
1) Randi Halstensdatter STOEN (b) sept 14 1826 Nor
(d) sept 7 1862 USA we thought that the datter part of the name means female as listed on the ships passenger list yet his gravestone lists him as the SON of Halsten Olsen Stoen.
Is Randi a male or a female name ?
2) We have information on Tosten H Stoen (b) sept 1 1859 (d) oct 25 1910 other than that we know nothing of him.
Any information that we could get in regards to these people would be greatly appreciated.
Thx
Steve |
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jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 25/09/2003 : 18:38:50
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Hi,
Randi is for sure a female firstname in Norway. 
And the last name Halstensdatter means Hallstens' daughter.
Up until 1900, almost all females in Norway where given their father's first name + "datter" as a last name.
Btw; this tradition is still in use on Iceland.
Where did they live? The US 1880-census shows some Stoen in Big Bend, Chippewa, Minnesota plus a family in Emerald, Faribault, MN.
Have you found out where the Stoen name comes from in Norway? It should be a farm name, and the closest I could find is "Støen", of which there are 45 in the 1801-census.
Accoring to a book who interprets old norwegian farm-names, the farm name "Støen" describes a landing place, ie a place where they used to pull their boats up from the ocean/water/river.
Jan |
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lands
Starting member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 25/09/2003 : 20:18:49
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Thx Jan for the quick response,
Still a little cofused over the Randi name as his head stone definately say "Son of Halsten" and the birth and death dates are correct. It may have been a transcription error from the original passenger list, perhaps it should be Halstensen ? Not to worry we will get that sorted out. The family were the original pioneers in the Highland Township (near Decorah) Iowa (1853) and there are still some of them farming there. We are aware that Halsten the original immigrant was born on the Stoen farm and yes the o does have a slash through it.
We are however not sure of what part of Norway that the farm was in but feel sure that we will be able find that out from a relative that has made several trips to Norway.
Thanks very much for the interpretation of the farm name we will add that to our file.
Again thank you
Steve |
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Jo Anne Sadler
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
1100 Posts |
Posted - 25/09/2003 : 21:29:30
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Recommend you read the article on this site - Those Norwegian Names-Tips for Online Researchers, very informative and it has examples of immigrant name progressions/changes.
Datter was used in Norway but after immigrating that was dropped and men and women both used the son/son.
Have you contacted the Decorah Historical Society, they do research by mail and have helped me in the past.
Good luck. |
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Borge
Veteran Moderator
Norway
1297 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2003 : 00:38:48
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quote:
Originally posted by lands
Still a little cofused over the Randi name as his head stone definately say "Son of Halsten" and the birth and death dates are correct. It may have been a transcription error from the original passenger list, perhaps it should be Halstensen ? Not to worry we will get that sorted out.
Actually the "Halstensdatter" is an addition made by the transcriber (me) as an asumtion based on the other information available, you can see that indicated by the astrik *. Also note that Randi in the original list is listed as "m" (male), so this is a strange variation - I have never before seen males being named by the female name "Randi". I'll make the editions to the passenger list, the "datter" to "son" and change "Hoen" to "Stoen" or "Støen". I do not know if you noticed the link to the scans of the original list in the heading area of the page with the transcript: http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_scan.asp?jo=464 |
Børge Solem |
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lands
Starting member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2003 : 04:29:34
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Borge,
THANK YOU very much for your response and the corrections. This has helped us tie up some loose ends. Tracing ones family is not an easy task and can be very time consuming. Thanks to people like yourself and others that respond to the postings on this GREAT site, it makes things a whole lot more enjoyable and easier to do.
Many Thanks
Steve and Lisa |
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lands
Starting member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 26/09/2003 : 04:56:52
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Jo Anne,
Thanks for your response, fortunately we are only about 1.5 hours drive from Decorah and we have frequented the Library there and have been able to get great information and fortunately again 90% of the infromation that we have aquired was picked up on line and with the help of relatives. Our next trip to Decorah will definately include going to the Historical Society.
Thank You
Steve and LIsa |
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Stoen family
