No, Really!!!
Thanks to this contribution from Sheila Geier, I now have documents that spell Ms. Olsdatter’s given name as Helene, Helena, Hellina, and now Lena! Behold, Ole Larson’s marriage registration of 1886.
Bride’s name: Lena Olson. Just another routine variant, except now we enter into a whole genre of popular jokes.
Some other variant names in this document: Olson, because “…datter” was too foreign. Groom’s father, Lars Larson. Not correct at all, but understandable reasoning by the registrar. If Ole’s last name was Larson, then his father’s last name must be the same.
Father of the bride: Ole Bretlong. This must be a variant of Brettingen, the farm in Norway where Helene was born. I am still leaning toward the idea that Ole Lien, the father’s name on Helene’s death certificate, might be a flat-out mistake. Mother’s name Anna Hass (or Hans?), compared to Anne Hansdatter in the Norwegian records.
Another reinforcement of my pronouncement on spelling: it’s all over the place. Don’t depend on it to prove, nor especially to disprove, anything.
