Sources

1. The "Ragnhild Letter"

So far, this is my only source for information dated earlier than 1801. Cousin Aline, in her massive effort to compile the wonderful "Larsons and Slettens 1985," sought information from all the family elders, but my grandfather's generation (Ole's children) had all passed by then. As I can personally attest from a fairly close relationship with my grandfather, even that generation had very little to say about their father's heritage, or his years in "the old country." I had always attributed that to the famously taciturn nature of Norwegians, especially men. But, as I have uncovered more facts from Norway, it has become clear that at least some of their experiences in the old country may have been too painful or embarassing to relate.

So, in 1985, our information was very limited. Ole's birth date was known, as well as the names and dates of most, but not all, of his siblings. We knew that his mother, Anne Larsdatter, had immigrated with Ole, Mari, and Marit, and that his father's name was Lars Paulson (American spelling). We knew that they came from the Gudbrandsdal region, but not from which parish or farm. Also unknown was in what year they immigrated, or by what route.

Her curiosity aroused, in 1989 cousin Aline wrote to a genealogist in Vinstra, Norway, named Ragnhild Kjorstad. Ragnhild replied with a hand-written letter in English detailing names, dates, and farms of not only all of Ole's siblings and his parents, but five generations of Lars Poulsen's ancestors, and two generations of Anne Larsdatter's. I only became aware of this letter in 2008, a year or more into my own research, when Aline sent me a copy. (My bad, I should have asked her sooner.) View the letter

In her letter, Ragnhild cited "a book of farms and families" as her source of the early information. From that wording, I expected that she meant a "bygdebok." These books, one for each parish, give a detailed history of each farm, and are titled (at least for Fron), "Farms and Families in [parish]." But I am now reviewing the "bygdebok" for Fron parish, and it seems for the most part to deal with the farm owners' families, and seldom mentions the "huusmen" (tenant farmers), from which class our ancestors came. The only place I have seen any ancestors named is the out-migration of Ole, Mari, and Marit in 1865, also recorded in the churchbook. Consequently, I am not yet citing the bygdebok as one of my sources.

2. Churchbooks (Kirkebøker)

These are the "mother lode." For most parishes, they go back to the early 1600's; unfortunately, they only begin at 1799 for Fron parish. All earlier books were destroyed in a fire at the vicarage in 1804. They contain a record of every christening, confirmation, marriage, and burial, in roughly chronological order. Moreover, they are conveniently available without traveling to Norway. Until recently, it was necessary to go to the local Mormon Family History Center, order the microfilms to be sent from Salt Lake City, then go to the Center when they arrived to view them and copy pages.

But now, these primary sources can be viewed online, thanks to the Digital Archive of Norway. English language support is limited, but once one gets the hang of it, searching for a record when the date is known is fairly easy. There is no name index, so if the date is not known, it is much harder. The LDS (Mormon) genaeology website is helpful in this regard. Their searchable index is quite complete for birth records, less so for marriages and deaths.

Of course, the churchbook entries are not only in a foreign language (Danish, because Norwegian did not officially exist in written form), but are hand-written in ancient Gothic style script. At this point, I am pretty good at recognizing most names and dates, and the farm names I am looking for. Explanatory text is more difficult, both to transcribe and translate, but I am trying to improve, as well as tapping into chatrooms and local bilingual friends. View highlights

3. Census of 1801

This was the first full-population census in Norway (at that time a colony of Denmark). Earlier counts had included only landowners and the upper classes. By 1801, huusmen (tenant farmers) were a large minority in Gudbrandsdal. By the 1830's, they outnumbered the landowning farmers. In addition, servants (tienesfolk) were counted in 1801 the first time. The Digital Archive also contains the transcribed census data, in searchable form. English Language support is better in this section of the Digital Archive. There was not another census until 1865, the year of Ole's emigration. View highlights

4. Passenger lists

Not all passenger lists of immigrant vessels have survived. Some of the ones that have are posted by Norway Heritage. It was there that I found Ole and his three companions. View highlights

5. Supreme Court sentence