June Bride
A "Bertha Elefsan" is listed as the mother of my second great grandfather, Ole Knudsen Stigen, on his death certificate. "Bertha Elefsan" is, of course, an Americanization of her name, which was most likely Berthe Ellefsdatter, meaning "daughter of Ellef." I have her as being born around 1820 - information I retrieved from the 1865 Norwegian Census for Modum, Buskerud, Norway.
Berthe's husband, Knud Knudsen, was also born around 1820, according to this census, and I have already found the parish register entry for his birth - 24 September 1820. My third great grandfather was born on Ager farm, Lunder, Norderhov, Buskerud, Norway (Norderhov 1819-1837, page 46, line 36; Lunder, Viker i Norderhov, 1814-1876, page 84, line 35.) So I thought I would peruse the Stange parish records, where the 1865 Norwegian Census indicates Berthe Ellefsdatter was born, in hopes of finding my third great grandmother's date of birth as well.
As luck would have it, I perused the Stange Klokkerbok, 1814-1825 and the Stange Ministerialbok, 1826-1835 and discovered no Berthe Ellefsdatters had been recorded in the births and baptisms. Perhaps Berthe Ellefsdatter's age in the 1865 Census had been listed incorrectly or her birth parish listed incorrectly? I remembered I had discovered her in the parish records before and had discovered she had come from Fuhre farm. So I looked for Fuhre farm in the 1950 farm lists for Stange and could find no such farm listed. I began to wonder if the Fuhre farm was a farm in Buskerud rather than Stange or if I had simply imagined the name.
I needed to see where I had come up with the Fuhre farm. I knew I had seen it in the parish registers, but I had neglected to document where. Perhaps, it was in a marriage entry that I also had not documented properly?
I then began studying the parish record books for Modum, Buskerud, Norway from 1833-1841. No marriage record.
I looked at their children's birthdates and then it hit me. Their firstborn child was Caroline Knudsdatter Stigen, whom I had listed as being born around 1840. The other children were born in the mid to late 1840's. Suspicious, I revisited the 1865 census data for this family. Caroline's age as listed would indicate she had been born in 1845, not 1840. So I had entered the wrong birth year and had been looking in the wrong parish records all along.
After revisiting the 1865 Norwegian Census for the Stigen farm of Snarum, Modum, Buskerud, Norway and discovering the census revealed Caroline's birth year to be around 1845 rather than 1840, I studied the marriages for 1844 in Modum. Finally! I found the marriage of Berthe Ellefsdatter and Knud Knudsen. Their marriage can be found in the Modum 1841-1850 Ministerialbok on page 287, line 30.
Both bride and groom are listed as being born around 1820 and the fathers of both are listed. The groom is listed as coming from the Ager farm and the bride's father is listed as Ellev Hanson, no farm listed. However, in another column, the bride's farm is listed as Aamodteie, meaning "belonging to Aamodt" farm. Therefore, the bride was from a subfarm or bruk of the Aamodt farm. I will have to look elswhere for the name of the actual bruk.
I know I saw Fuhre farm somewhere!
Berthe's husband, Knud Knudsen, was also born around 1820, according to this census, and I have already found the parish register entry for his birth - 24 September 1820. My third great grandfather was born on Ager farm, Lunder, Norderhov, Buskerud, Norway (Norderhov 1819-1837, page 46, line 36; Lunder, Viker i Norderhov, 1814-1876, page 84, line 35.) So I thought I would peruse the Stange parish records, where the 1865 Norwegian Census indicates Berthe Ellefsdatter was born, in hopes of finding my third great grandmother's date of birth as well.
As luck would have it, I perused the Stange Klokkerbok, 1814-1825 and the Stange Ministerialbok, 1826-1835 and discovered no Berthe Ellefsdatters had been recorded in the births and baptisms. Perhaps Berthe Ellefsdatter's age in the 1865 Census had been listed incorrectly or her birth parish listed incorrectly? I remembered I had discovered her in the parish records before and had discovered she had come from Fuhre farm. So I looked for Fuhre farm in the 1950 farm lists for Stange and could find no such farm listed. I began to wonder if the Fuhre farm was a farm in Buskerud rather than Stange or if I had simply imagined the name.
I needed to see where I had come up with the Fuhre farm. I knew I had seen it in the parish registers, but I had neglected to document where. Perhaps, it was in a marriage entry that I also had not documented properly?
I then began studying the parish record books for Modum, Buskerud, Norway from 1833-1841. No marriage record.
I looked at their children's birthdates and then it hit me. Their firstborn child was Caroline Knudsdatter Stigen, whom I had listed as being born around 1840. The other children were born in the mid to late 1840's. Suspicious, I revisited the 1865 census data for this family. Caroline's age as listed would indicate she had been born in 1845, not 1840. So I had entered the wrong birth year and had been looking in the wrong parish records all along.
After revisiting the 1865 Norwegian Census for the Stigen farm of Snarum, Modum, Buskerud, Norway and discovering the census revealed Caroline's birth year to be around 1845 rather than 1840, I studied the marriages for 1844 in Modum. Finally! I found the marriage of Berthe Ellefsdatter and Knud Knudsen. Their marriage can be found in the Modum 1841-1850 Ministerialbok on page 287, line 30.
Both bride and groom are listed as being born around 1820 and the fathers of both are listed. The groom is listed as coming from the Ager farm and the bride's father is listed as Ellev Hanson, no farm listed. However, in another column, the bride's farm is listed as Aamodteie, meaning "belonging to Aamodt" farm. Therefore, the bride was from a subfarm or bruk of the Aamodt farm. I will have to look elswhere for the name of the actual bruk.
I know I saw Fuhre farm somewhere!
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