February 23, 2024
After a hiatus of several years, I’m beginning a project to find out more about my Norwegian great grandparents and their families. Iver Christensen and his wife Mina Henrikke Kristiansdatter were born, lived, and died in Norway.
I’ve always known these great-grandparents’ names but not much else about them. Their daughter, my paternal grandmother Thea Rustad Fernelius, immigrated to the United States. I knew Thea, but her parents died long before I was born. My grandmother was a child herself when her parents died. She told me a couple of stories about them such as the time when her mother stitched a cut on her finger using embroidery thread. These sorts of stories added dimension to my grandmother’s life as well as her parents’ lives, but they didn’t tell me much about their families.
Years ago, I tried to do some research on my Norwegian ties. I learned that church records in Scandinavia are one of the best sources of information. Since the records were not digitized at that time, I made several trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake and used their microfilmed copies of the various Norwegian church records.
The records were not indexed and were, of course, in Norwegian. Even though I don’t speak Norwegian, the church records were straightforward, and I made progress in researching my grandmother’s immediate family including the birth dates, marriage dates and death dates of her parents and siblings. It was, though, slow going.
When I tried to research earlier generations, a combination of patronymic naming patterns, illegible handwriting, a foreign language, and my lack of access to the records overwhelmed me. I moved on to other, more easily researched lines. I haven’t looked at my Norwegian lines since then.
Things are different now. Norwegian church records are readily available online both through free and paid sites. Norwegian censuses can also be found at some of the same sites. In addition, I’d like to take a long overdue trip to Norway soon. It seems like the right time to dig into my grandmother’s family.
Before I started, I needed a crash course on Norwegian research. Although I’ve done some Norwegian research in the past, the advent of the internet has changed how records are accessed. Enter my old friend, the Family Search Wiki at https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page . The Wiki is my go-to source when I don’t know exactly how to proceed on a project.
For this project, I merely entered “Norway Genealogy,” and a wealth of topics popped up. The Wiki has articles on everything from “Getting Started” to “Online Learning” to “Research Strategies.” There are maps galore showing counties and parishes in Norway. Best of all, there are links to various records available online. These links are for records available on Family Search as well as other websites.
I’m spending some time reviewing many of these articles. Once I’ve figured out what is available and where, I’ll devise a plan to research my forgotten Norwegian ancestors. My Norwegian ancestors are waiting.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society