My paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Iver Iverson, was born in Marteplads, Nes, Buskerud, Norway on 2 August 1827. Research that I inherited from my dad stated that Iver and his brother Ole immigrated to the United States in April of 1858. Last year I downloaded a digital copy of an immigration record that shows that they did emigrate from Norway in April of 1858.
While doing research for this blog post, I found a query from 2004 in the Norway Heritage website forum asking for help to find an immigration list and passenger list for Iver Iverson. This query was written by my dad. Here's what he asked:
"My great grandfather immigrated from Marteplads, Nes, Buskerud, Norway sometime between 1850 and 1860. He came to America and fought in the Civil War with the Iowa Regulars. He settled in Benson, Minnesota. I am looking for a passenger list and immigrant list showing him as an immigrant from Norway. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks."
Jan IversonMy dad passed away almost six years ago. To find his query while I was writing this blog post was bittersweet. Before my dad passed away, I focused my family history research on my mom's family lines. But now I'm researching my mom's and my dad's family lines.
In my dad's query from 2004 he didn't seem to know exactly when Iver had immigrated. After posting his query he must have found the answer he was looking for. I copied some of his research notes from his genealogy database into mine. And the notes he had for Iver Iverson indicate that he found the date of Iver's immigration from looking at a microfilm of parish records for Nes, Buskerud, Norway (film 278204). It's amazing that today I can just look online and find that information.
Iver is found in this Migration Record for 1858. It's part of a Parish Register for Nes, Buskerud, Norway.1
This document is found in The National Archives of Norway website. This website is absolutely wonderful. If you have Norwegian ancestry, I highly recommend it to you. It's free to access, which is awesome.
Iver Iverson (spelled Iversen in Norway) is found on page 593, line 30. Iver's entry is inside the red rectangle.
I cropped Iver's entry to get a better view.
And here's the information found within this record.
Number: 30
Date: 17 April 1858
Name: Iver Iversen (Marteplads)
Age: 2/8 27 = 2 August 1827 [I'm not sure why Iver's birthdate is listed instead of his age]
Destination: Amerika
In a blog post last week, I mentioned that I have digital copies of immigration records for Iver's brothers Ole and Christopher, as well as for his parents Iver and Guri. I'll be sharing those records in future posts.
Thanks for reading!
Jana
How wonderful, Jana. Your dad would have loved seeing what you found. And I can imagine how much you are learning about Norway...a little more interesting than my New England states.
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara! I have so much more to learn about Norway...and Sweden...and Portugal...and...well, you get the idea right? Lots of learning to do about my ancestors' homelands.
DeleteWhile my dad never researched his family, he was always anxious to tell me what he knew. But, sadly, I never really listened. I didn't start this journey until years after he died but every once in awhile I feel his presence and know that he's helping me along the way. I think your dad would be happy to know that he's helping you, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your tender and sweet words Debi. I know our ancestors want us to find them and tell their stories. They want to be remembered and cherished. I'm grateful for the blessing of being involved in this precious work.
DeleteThat is bittersweet indeed, Jana! But in a way, also a little gift to come back at an unexpected time to console you.
ReplyDeleteLately, I've been researching my Taliaferro line. For my own purposes, I'm delving into the entire extended family's genealogical records. The other day, I ran across an in-law whose given name was Iverson. Every time I ran across that name as I worked on that line, I couldn't help but think of you...
Thank you Jacqi!. You are so sweet!
DeleteWhat a wonderful discovery Jana. But yes bittersweet. I have Icelandic ancestry and living in Australia I feel frustrated trying to find information, but this post has inspired me to find out whether the Icelanders have an online archive database too. Fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh. I hope you find an online archive database to help you with your research!
DeleteBy the way, I love the name of your blog. Our ancestors truly are more than names on a page. Thanks for stopping by!