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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
 Posted - 29/03/2007 : 16:50:26
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I am searching for information on my great grandfather Johannes J. Berge, who was born June 8, 1854 or 1855. He came to the U.S. in 1874 and settled in Portage County, Wisconsin in the 1880's. His death certificate lists his father as Jens. I can track him through the U.S. Census, once he settled in Portage County, Wisconsin, but I can't find anything on him in Norway. He died November 25, 1933. He married Oline abt 1885. She was adopted and I don't have her last name, but know from the census, that she was born in Wisconsin in 1857. She died in 1913. He sometimes went by either J.J. Berge or John Berge too!
A great aunt once told me that Johannes was from the Vegårshei area, in Aust-Agder. I have also been told that he came over with a brother, but they separated when they reached the U.S. and never saw each other again. He worked in a saw mill when he first came to the states. My father always claimed that Johannes had told him that he changed his name when he came over. It was said that he added the "e" at the end, because there were so many Berg's coming over. I can't prove that, but my father and his older brother's always maintained that was true.
This is all the information I have on him and would appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks, Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Kåarto
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
5861 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2007 : 12:08:04
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Hi, as your great aunt correctly pointed out, Vegårdshei in Aust-Agder County. Vegårdshei parish was a local parish in Gjerstad parish in the 1801 and 1865 census.
Closer to Vegårdshei than Gjerstad is Søndeled/Søndreled parish, but no Berge/Berg or Johannes so fare.
http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/WebMeta.exe?spraak=e
Was he given two first names but choosed Johannes when he emigrated to USA?
J. is likely first letter in his fathers first name.
Kåre |
Edited by - Kåarto on 01/04/2007 11:25:18 |
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tlwright65
Senior member
USA
433 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2007 : 18:56:21
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| I looked under Johannes Jensen in Vegårshei too and couldnt find anything under those birthdates. |
Tami |
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Jo Anne Sadler
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
1100 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 00:42:40
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The Vegårdshel parish records are available on microfilm for rental at a local Family History Center. They include the birth records for 1854/55 as well as the moving out records (utmeldte). These records are not yet available online through Digitarlarkivet:
click here
There is a look-up volunteer for Gjerstad parish farm history book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~bwo/norway.html |
Edited by - Jo Anne Sadler on 01/04/2007 00:44:05 |
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Jo Anne Sadler
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
1100 Posts |
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Jo Anne Sadler
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
1100 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 21:29:31
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Johannes and Oline/Olini/Oleina are buried in Concordia Cemetery in Alban, Portage, WI, it states Oleina born November 18, 185-, died in 1916, not 1913:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiportag/cemetery/Strand/Concordia-ST.htm
The dates are a little chopped off, you could contact the webmaster to verify exact year of birth.
Have you gotten her death certificate?
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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2007 : 23:12:21
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Hi All,
Yes, I now know that Oline died in 1916 and found out that her maiden name was Johnson, or Johanson. Her father was Ole Johnson(Johanson). I've been to that cemetary, since my parents are buried there as well. She was born in Wisconsin, but her parents were from Hjartdal, Telemark, Norway.
As for Johannes, I have no way of knowing if he had a different first name. Like I said, I know that he went by Johannes, John or J.J., as is listed on some of the U.S. censuses.
I know that he wasn't from Søndeled, because that is where my great Aunt's family was from. She always said that they weren't from the same place, but were from the same area in Aust-Agder.
Thanks for your help and I will follow-up with your suggestions.
Thanks again,
Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2007 : 20:18:53
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I had tried all of the same searching that all of you tried for Johannes Berge and came up with nothing. That's why I thought I'd see if any of you had any better luck. I sent an e-mail to someone to see if they can do a look-up for me, so hopefully I'll find out something there.
On most of the U.S. censuses that I found him in, he listed his year of arrival as 1874. I found one that said 1875. If I go to a LDS center to look up his naturalization papers, do I need the exact date that he arrived? Is there an index for the film? I've never seen naturalization papers before, so I'm not sure what information is on them, but I'm hoping that there might be some more clues as to his real name and location in Norway that he came from.
I'm still looking for a record of his marriage to Oline Johnson, but haven't found that yet. Maybe I can find a land record, since he purchased a farm in the early 1880's.
Any suggestions are always appreciated.
Thanks, Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Kåarto
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
5861 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 21:25:20
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Hi again, these records seems promising and could need a closer investgation.
First a short introduction of he emigration from Hjartdal.
Hjartdal/Hierdal had one of the largest emigrations per cent of the population in Norway, more people left Hjartdal then there are living there today .
Could this be Oline/Olea´s father or parents?
Ole Johnsen Hjartsjå b. Sept. 17. 1834, present Hjartsjø (a forest lake) emigrated in 1851 together with Guro Høljesdatter Gjuv b. Sept. 16. 1829 and her sister Anne Høljesdatter Gjuv b. jan. 15. 1832 (Hølje is a local expression for Helge/Helga), persons nr 7, 8 & 9. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=7799&idx_id=7799&uid=ny&idx_side=-285.
Most of he emigratnts from Hjartdal used sledge or wagon via Heddal down to the Northern part of lake Heddalsvannet where they entered rowboats that took them almost down to the coast of Telemark via a smooth river down to the larger lake Norsjø. Sometimes if the spring came early and the wind was good they used a small birch as a sail (acc.eyewitness)
These tree emigrans from Hjartdal are listed on brig Alert, dep. port Kragerø in Telemark, arr. N.Y. Jul. 15. as pass. nr 153-154 and 155, buttom page http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_list.asp?jo=51
Kåre |
Edited by - Kåarto on 05/04/2007 00:12:01 |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 00:14:13
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When Johannes married Oline did they have to apply for marriage license with the county in Wisconsin? Often those license applications if still available will list names of parents.
Or the record of the marriage from the CHURCH where they married may have made note of where each of the bride and groom were born, when and where confirmed.
The LDS library catalog indicates they have holdings of a fair time period of naturalization records from Portage Co. WI. Keep your fingers crossed and start with the indexes shown for that county. Naturalizations sometimes offer valuable info - other times not. Much depends upon the time period and the records kept by the court. US naturalizations are a subject all of their own - much too complicated to summarize.
There is a good book on the subject called "They Became Americans" and you can also find any number of online articles on the subject.
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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 02:25:32
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Hi All,
I have been finding some more info out from the person helping with the look-ups in Hjartdal.
First off, I know that Ole Johanneson (Johnson) was born in 1816 or 1817. He was married to Ragnhild Jonsdtr Hjartsjo. She emigrated on the Tuskina, with a daughter, in 1843, but it doesn't show Ole as emigrating at the same time.
As for Johannes, I'm going to check with the LDS for the naturalization papers. I've got my fingers crossed. The 1920 US census states that he arrived in 1875, which is different than the 1874 that I found on other censuses. It states that he applied for naturization in 1877 or says "PA" in the box that asks if he was naturalized citizen or an alien. If it still says "PA" in the 1920 census, I'm a little worried that he might never have gotten fully naturalized. i guess I'll find out, once I go looking for the papers.
Johannes and Oline Berge's marriage isn't listed in the Portage County marriages of the 19th century, which were compiled and are available at the library. I have found other family marriages in there, but not this one. I will check with the Lutheran Church that holds the records for other Lutheran Churches that use to be located in Rosholt, WI. That is where the cemetery is, that they are buried at, so it should be a good place to start.
Thanks for all your help. You've all been a wealth of information as always.
Take care, Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Kåarto
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
5861 Posts |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 21:34:14
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Kåre - The Jon Torbjørnson you've listed above as parent of Ragnhild Jonsdtr f. 1821 was the son of Torbjørn Torbjørnson Hjartsjø and Margit Halvorsdtr Uvås. He was born about 1779 and died 1859. He has several generations of earlier family on Sud-Hjartsjø according to "Hjartdalsoga Band IIIB - Sauland". (But those 4 books do have quite a few errors in them and bear careful checking.)
But none of that gets us any closer to the Johannes Berge who is the subject of this thread.... |
Edited by - Hopkins on 05/04/2007 21:38:59 |
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Kåarto
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
5861 Posts |
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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2007 : 07:08:42
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Thank-you all!
This is wonderful! I knew so little about this side of my family, since my great grandmother Oline Berge, died fairly young. She died before my father was born, so he never had any stories about her or her family.
Johannes Berge is still a mystery. I'm going to Vesterheim Genealogical Center to see if maybe they can shed some light on this and I'm also going to look for his naturalization papers.
Thanks again.
Take care, Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Lislcat
Advanced member
USA
690 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2007 : 18:26:56
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Hi Everyone!
I was talking with my sister this past weekend and I mentioned the problems with trying to find Johannes Berge. She said that she thought that he had come over as a teenager, because my Dad had said that he had to lie about his age. I'm not sure if this is true, but if so, that means he lied on every single U.S. census about when he came over. Because of this, I did some searching and wanted you to look at what I found and see what you think.
First I started doing some searches on Norway Heritage to see if I could find a J J Berge and in one of my searches I came up with this. www.norwayheritage.com/p_list.asp?jo=1211
Then I decided to see if I could find this same person, John Johanneson Berge on the Norway 1865 census and found this.
www.rhd.uit.no/folketellinger/ftliste_e.aspx?ft=1865&knr=1235&kenr=015&bnr=0008&lnr=000" target="_blank">http://www.rhd.uit.no/folketellinger/ftliste_e.aspx?ft=1865&knr=1235&kenr=015&bnr=0008&lnr=000
If I'm not mistaken, isn't Voss near Bergen? Not at all where I was told he was from, but I was told that he came over with a brother and in this case, it would be two brothers. Please give me some input on this.
Thanks again, Wanda |
Lislcat |
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Johannes Berge
