The goal of my work is to preserve and present the history and stories of my family, for the benefit of present and future generations. It is a large family; many of my ancestors of a century ago have descendants numbering in the thousands. It is to these relatives, both near and distant, that I hope the site will be most useful.
My name is George Larson. I began studying my family’s history around 2008, after archiving my late mother’s collection of old photographs and home movies. The bug bit me pretty hard, and I worked quite hard at it for about a decade. I have done most of my research online, with extensive travels to visit distant relatives, ancestral home sites and gravesites.
My father’s ancestors all came from Gudbrandsdalen, a valley in central Norway, in the late 1800s, while my mother’s, for the most part, came to North America prior to the Revolutionary War, from England and present-day Germany. Dad’s immigrant grandparents settled in western Wisconsin. A generation later, his parents homesteaded in western North Dakota; another generation, and my parents moved to Washington state.
Mother’s ancestors also expanded west, with various branches progressing from Maryland and New England, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, to the Dakotas, where my mother was born and met Dad.
Surnames of my nearest ancestors include (besides Larson) Myers, Moen, Drayer, Samuelson, Volden, and Sprung. More distant and marriage-related surnames are Pederson, Sletten, Nesseth, Erickson, and Johnson. I am also researching the ancestry of my wife, née Thiel Beechel, with surnames Beechel, Litch, Mohler, Thiel, Green, and Jordan.
I am not an accomplished genealogist, and sometimes settle for less than a professional standard of proof for facts I assemble. I find that seeking the stories behind the facts is far more rewarding than facts alone. You must not consider my work authoritative, but I dearly hope you find it engaging, and worthy of the sharing.
Ryan Volden
Nov 6, 2017
Incredible site, you managed to trace my family back to 1750’s. Not sure if you are still updating to current but if you need any information on the Volden branch let me know.
George
Nov 6, 2017
Thank you, cousin. I think you are the first Volden to comment here. I would love to update your branch. Please email me to exchange information – glarson@bendbroadband.com.
Dawn Johnston
Mar 8, 2018
This is an awesome site you have created. My youngest son was named after my great great grandfather – Gunder Moen.
sallie
Apr 17, 2018
My great grandfather had a ranch in Thunderhawk. Are you on FB? I have an article talking about his success in 1910 on his farm. I would love to know if you have more photos of the town. I saw the country store your family owned then. My great Grandfather had to know your family from that time. sallieboballie@aol.com
Stephen Myers
Dec 23, 2018
Really great web site. I am really glad I found my papers on the site. You have done a great job building it.
Tricia Scott
Sep 12, 2019
My father-in-law (David Kasold) just passed away today . We are trying to find out his father’s name (His Mom was Edna Purdy) and his siblings names(Anna was one). Can you please send me a link or answer the questions . Thank you so much
Kathy (Lillevold) Rush
Oct 16, 2019
Hi George, I have known of you for quite a while, through Joanne. She sent me your story and I am so impressed. Obvious you have some awesome computer skills. I was with Joanne (niece of Ella), Ella, Ella’s daughter, Donna when we found about this tragedy. I had already been doing research on all of my roots for several years. All of my roots are from Oppland Fylke – 3/4s from the Fron Parish area and the other 1/4 from south in Tosten Parish.
I get really lazy sometimes and don’t follow up on suggestions. That’s probably why I didn’t follow up on your name or the Kjorstad name. I suspect your pal is a grandson (or son) of the lady I got a lot of information from. I have a picture of her and me together. She lived across the street from the main area of Vinstra. I had the opportunity to visit her after chatting for so many years. Again, I’m so impressed with your work. It’s amazing. Kat
Dean Huseby
Aug 23, 2020
Loved your website. I am developing a website to eventually house my 120 articles on Norwegian and Norwegian American culture and family history and three family history books. Thanks for developing yours to give me ideas on design. Still in a very rough form.
Dean Huseby
San Diego
George
Aug 23, 2020
Thank you. I look forward to reading your articles and linking to them where appropriate. Please let me know when any are posted or ready for posting.
Dan Helgeson
Sep 3, 2020
George,
I would like to help with your research. Can you send me email?
Thanks,
Dan