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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
 Posted - 09/11/2005 : 05:05:02
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Hi,
My great-grandfather, Nils Johanes Olsen, was born in Avaldsnes, on the island of Karmsoy in Rogaland County in Norway in 1861. He married Dorothea Marie Sandstrom. They emigrated to the U.S., where he first settled in Wisconsin before moving to Washington. Dorothea died in 1903 and Nils died in 1933 in the town of Carolls Point, Washington.
His father was Ole Rasmusen and mother was Berthe Karen Endresdatter. He had a brother, Ole Johan Olsen, and two sisters, Ingeborg, S and Inger O Olsdatter. His grandfather was Rasmus Z Olsen, who was born in 1809. The farm, I believe on which Nils and his brothers were born was called Strompevig.
I would love to be able to go back farther in our family history to see who else we are related to and, perhaps, find out a little about the town where he was born and the farm his family owned or on which the Olsens/Rasumusens lived and grew up.
Does anyone out there have any information about this they could share? It would surely be appreciated by our family, that's for sure. My father, who died in 1999, finally learned who his great grandfather was thanks to a Norwegian I met, but I lost the other information this good person gave me.
We are all proud of our Norwegian heritage, and this is information I would like to pass to my brothers, and my 10-year-old son.
Thanks again,
Monte Olsen
Eugene, OR USA
Is there anywhere I could find this information? |
Edited by - monteolsen1 on 09/11/2005 05:07:07 |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 16:40:27
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Yes, there is a location for online information. The island is actually called Karmøy and they have an active history/genealogy group which has been placing a great deal of information online -
http://www.slektsforumkarmoy.no/english/
The complication came from the farm name listed in the 1865 census -
http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=f61147&gardpostnr=277&sokefelt=skjul
A farm name NOT listed in the County Books section of the website for Avaldsnes - but the census listed a school district name that must mean that they lived near those actual farm names which ARE included -
So online at that locality specific website under the farm name "Kvalavåg" they can be found.
I tried to capture and copy the exact detail information here but ran into difficulties. You can find the detail by visiting the Slektsforum Karmøy website - click on the County Books link and find the listed link for the Kvalavåg farm. Click on that link and browse down until you find the family of Ola Rasmussen and Berta Karine Endresdatter. Ole/Ola's father was Rasmus Sakarias Olssen - Sakarias being a name that was sometimes spelled with a Z by some writers.
You will find a great deal of information also about the earlier generations of those families in the information listed under County Books. |
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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 18:36:53
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Wow! I haven't been to the site to check things out, yet, but I thank you very very much for your wonderful help. It is amazing, stunning, really, how much information is available online. With the help of good people like you, the information can be found. I sure wish my dad Nils's grandson, was around so I could give this information to him. I will certainly pass it on to other members of the family, though.
Thank you very much.
Monte Olsen
Eugene, OR |
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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 19:13:13
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Mr. Hopkins,
If you don't mind, I have a few more questions. Is there any way to find out what happened to Ole Johan and the other siblings? I haven't been able to find information about them - marriages, births, etc. I guess I'm hoping to see if there are direct descendants with whom I could correspond still living in the area. I know that a couple of my grandfather's brothers did go back to Norway to visit some of Nils's relatives, possibly his brothers or sisters or their children.
I saw this, which appears to be a section heading:
ANDRE OPPSITTERE
and then this word or name:
Strompevik
Is Strompevik the school district or is it the farm? Were most people neighbors so is it possible that Ola and Rasmus and their children would have known most of the other people listed in a specific section?
If these questions are a pain, please feel free to tell me to buzz off.
One bit of information for you is that Dortea died giving birth to a son, Charlie, possibly, in 1903 in Carrolls Washington. Nils then returned to Norway and found another wife. One of Nils's sons, Charlie, disappeared. Nils had six children, I believe, and most of them lived to be in their mid to late 80s. Nils died from pneumonia following a walk he took into Longview, Washington from his homestead in Carrolls Point, Washington. This wasn't a short hike, probably 12 miles or more. He got caught in cold weather and, unfortunately. died.
He is buried alongside Dortea Sandstrom. I believe that many of the Sandstroms also relocated to the Pacific Northwest. My father knew two sisters who were his cousins, and they lived well into their 90s, well beyond when he died from a fall in 1999.
I am not sure where Nils's second wife was died or buried or if she may have returned to Norway.
Thanks again for the information. It is truly eye-opening.
Monte |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2005 : 21:49:50
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More questions "a pain"? Well maybe sometimes.... but I'm in a very patient mood at the moment so maybe not. (Insert Loud Chuckle.)
I have no more information than was available on that website about more recent generations, marriages, etc. You already know more than I about that. You might join with a membership to with the group on Karmøy - what are the chances that a family member still in the area has an interest in family history and be a member too? But others living there but not related might recognize a name and perhaps be able to find a contact? maybe... or if all the family members that you can directly point to left the area - it might not work. You'll never know until you try.
And the group on Karmøy will probably be interested in learning what happened to your family after they left. Be ready to gather your family information "post-emigration" to give back.
I have used Norwegian bygdebøker a little more than you - so I'll give you my own GUESS about the term Strompevik. It is probable that the farm Kvalavåg is the parent farm - and as population increased the farm was divided into sections for more families to try to earn a living, more houses and any necessary out-buildings added. The term Strompevik is or was probably a name given to a section of the original Kvalavåg farm. It might be only a small plot of land and the residents might actually have been renters or 'contract' farmers. The hardcopy of that Avaldsnes book should have a narrative section at the start of that farm section which may describe the history. The online listings do NOT include the narratives from the books. You might be able to borrow the book by Inter-Library loan through your public library, OR find someone who owns it already and is willing to make a copy of that part of the book for you. Check the LDS Library catalog - they might have the book on their shelves in the Salt Lake City Family History Library.
Keep in mind - those narratives will be written in Norwegian, of course. So you will want to at least own a good Norwegian-English dictionary at hand when you get a copy of it. Or you might be lucky enough to have a friend or neighbor who can help with translation. (I work at translations one word at time with a dictionary I bought through an online bookstore.)
I think you will find the articles at the following website helpful to your continued research in Norwegian resources -
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~norway/articles.html
You MIGHT find someone who owns that particular book at one of these online lists of volunteers willing to do limited "look-ups" or perhaps make a copy of a page or two.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~norway/lookups.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~bwo/
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wgnorway/lookups.html
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1psuviking
Starting member
USA
16 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2005 : 00:04:39
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Just nice to see my name mentioned. It's not often you see or hear the name Nils. I have only met or have heard of someone knowing someone with the name. Good luck in your search. I only know limited information about my Norwegian heritage. My father was born in Norway, but left there at the age of 15. He was a merchant marine who landed in Philadelphia, Pa. around 1950. He never knew his father, Kristian Johannessen. Apparently he only saw him once and that was in a train station around the age of 12. His mother met him there for some reason. I think its sad that my father never knew him and in turn I never got to meet his mother and my grandmother. She passed away about 10 years ago in Norway.
Nils Kristian Johannessen
4 Woodvale Dr.
Atco, NJ. 08004
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Nils K. Johannessen |
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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 22/11/2005 : 03:02:58
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Thank you, Nils.
My son's middle name is also Nils, so here, in Eugene, Oregon, your and my great grandfather's names are being passed along. Thanks very much for your good wishes.
Monte Olsen |
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skbristol
Junior member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 22/11/2005 : 05:06:39
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Hi Monte,
I'm a relative newcomer to Norwegian genealogy as well, but I've found this online dictionary to be quite helpful for translating bygdebøker.
http://home.online.no/~otjoerge/files/word.htm
Also, to Nils: I went to a high school prom (his) with a guy named Nils in Grants Pass, Oregon. And there are many more in my family tree -- you're not alone out there!
Sara |
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skbristol
Junior member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 22/11/2005 : 05:08:39
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| By the way, you won't find "ANDRE OPPSITTERE" in that dictionary I mentioned, but I believe it means "another leaseholder." |
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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 19/01/2008 : 05:06:04
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Thanks very much for the information everyone. I'm still looking and have become a member of the forum (going on two years now).
Our family lived in Grants Pass, OR, for several years before we moved to Portland. It's where I spent my formative years in the 1950s.
Thanks again.
Monte Olsen |
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eibache
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
6495 Posts |
Posted - 19/01/2008 : 15:05:11
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I do not know if you have looked up your ancesters in the parish records available for Norway - if not this example would be worth while to look at, see Rasmus Zacharias record here
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Einar |
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monteolsen1
Starting member
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 20/01/2008 : 01:14:47
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I'll be darned. I believe that is one of our relatives! How did you find him? That's outstanding work.
Thanks!
Monte Olsen |
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eibache
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
6495 Posts |
Posted - 20/01/2008 : 16:00:20
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The record for Nils Johannes is #97
Ingeborg Serine is #23
Inger Oline is #38
Ole Johan is #180
Ole Johan was born before the parents were married. He was baptized at home by Knut Qvalevåg, this was confirmed in church Dec 17. The parents were married Dec 7.
Their father Ole Rasmusen is
#26
and their uncle Christopher #104
Their sister Berthe Asseline #9
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Einar |
Edited by - eibache on 21/01/2008 09:03:39 |
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Topic |
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Trying to go back further with Nils Johannes Olsen
