Sunday, October 30, 2011

I Married a Viking, ARGH!

I guess the argh would only be appropriate if he were a Viking Pirate, but alas, no. Swash-bucking is not part of my husband's heritage (that I'm aware of). His paternal family line are scholars. Brilliant educators who love to learn and farmers who lived in Singsaas, Sor-Trondelag, Norway since the fifteen hundreds.

My interest in genealogy was reawakened in 2007 after I found a book my husband's grandfather, Gustov Sandro wrote about his family history. He actually wrote this in high school and it went back several generations. I went through and copied the names into Ancestry.com. to start the tree.

Yes, by now everyone who has read this blog knows that I love, love Ancestry.com.

The interesting thing about doing genealogical research on Norwegian genealogy is that the children are named after their fathers. For example, Berit Ellefsdatter Busethvold, is the daughter of Ellef Ellefson Buseth, and he's the son of Ellef Svendson Buseth. The surname is actually a place name. This is the town or farm they were raised in (I think). I just wish I spoke or read Norwegian. It would make researching a bit easier.

Honestly, it does get a little confusing, and I'm still learning. Norwegian records are excellent because most of the church records have been translated into a 'bygdebok'. I was lucky enough to find all my husband's family records online, and I traced his oldest male line through the fifteen hundreds to a Jartru and Oluf Knudson.

I plan on focusing my upcoming posts on his family tree since the main reason I spend so much time on genealogy is so my children know where their ancestors came from. I want them to see their place in history and how fate has placed them exactly where they are at this very moment. Throughout the course of history there have been disasters, famine, disease; yet, somehow these people met, married, raised children and continued the cycle which led to today.

I find it totally amazing.

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