Well, it is “official.” I will be visiting Norway, along with my lovely wife, this coming August, for a self-planned “roots” tour. I am not going to spend the next six months boring you with details of our emerging plan, but here is a genealogical tidbit I developed over the past couple of days.
I got to wondering if we have any relatives still living in Norway. Ole Larson had one sibling who did not emigrate, as far as we know. Her name was Embjør Larsdatter, christened 19 Sept. 1823. Hereafter, I will spell her name Embjor, for convenience of typing. She apparently removed to the seaport city of Bergen, where she married one Peder Endresen on 11 August 1850.
I scoured the LDS index, but found no children of this couple. There was one false alarm; in Gausdal parish, adjacent to Embjor’s childhood home in S. Fron, an Engebret Pedersen was born in 1860, son of Peder Engebretsen and Embjor Larsdatter. At first I thought that Embjor’s husband’s name may have been mistaken or mis-transcribed from the Bergen church record, but it turned out to be a different Embjor Larsdatter altogether. So, no leads in that regard. I might add that the bridegroom was a widower 51 years of age when they married, while Embjor was 27.
There is, however, a “shirttail” relative: Knut Kvernflaten of Faavang (near Tretten), who has served as an informal guide to both Orrin Moen, and to cousins Lois and Myrna. Knut is related by marriage to both the Moen’s and the Larson’s (biologically related to certain branches, of course). He told me he was related to Orrin Moen’s mother, Leonora Hovde (Moen). Ergo, he must also be related to Leonora’s mother, Laura Fransen (Hovde), sister of my great-uncle Axel Larson’s wife, Mina (“Aunt Minnie”). I am excited that Knut said he will be in the area when I visit.
Still investigating whether there may be biological relatives of the Moen’s still living in Norway. Stay tuned.
