Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog: March 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Fab Finds on a Brief Hiatus

Hello all of my wonderful readers! I'm writing this post to let you know that there won't be a Fab Finds post this week or next week. I'm a bit overwhelmed with things to do at the moment.

One of the projects I'm working on is making my blog into a book. Or should I say several books. I've chosen Blurb.com for this project. The choice was between Blog2Print.com and Blurb. With Blog2Print I found that I couldn't edit the text of my blog once it was slurped into their website. And I didn't like that, so I went with Blurb.

I'm trying to get the first of my blog books finished before March 31st so I can take advantage of their 20% off sale. I have another reason for trying to hurry and finish this project. I would like to have my blog book printed and ready to show the class I'm teaching at our upcoming Family Discovery Day in May. I'll talk a little bit more about this event in a bit.

First, I want to show you what my blog book likes like so far. Here are some screenshots. Because my book is still in draft mode, these pages may change.

This is the book's front cover. I still haven't decided if this is the color I'm going to go with or not.

And here are a few pages from the book.

And this is the work space in Blurb.

I do like Blurb's edit functionality. I can create my blog book to look pretty much exactly as I want it to look. But that means there's lots of work involved and it can be quite time consuming. I've gotten "Image Resolution Warnings" for a few of my photos. These photos were fine online in my blog, but wouldn't look very nice in my book.

So, I've had to scan these photos again and upload them into Blurb. And I have to go through and edit my posts so they make sense in book form. For instance, I need to point the reader to the page number of a photo or document. Also, I'm planning on creating a Table of Contents, which I assume I will be doing by hand. That's one feature I liked about Blog2Print. It creates a Table of Contents automatically. I also need to proofread the book before I press the order button. So ya. Lots to do still.

I mentioned that I will be teaching a class at our local Family Discovery Day in May. That's another huge project I have on my plate right now. The syllabus for that is due on April 8th. I also need to continue working on my presentation which includes creating a PowerPoint slide presentation for my class. By the way, I was asked to give a presentation about Family History Blogging. How fun is that!?

If you attended RootsTech this year either in person or virtually, you may know that they had a Family Discovery Day on the last day of the conference. The wonderful people at RootsTech are providing selected RootsTech sessions for local Family Discovery Day events to be held around the world. Our local Family Discovery Day will have opening and closing general sessions and a variety of classes. To find a Family Discovery Day in your area, click HERE.

Besides trying to finish my blog book and my Family Discovery Day class presentation, I also have my usual family and church responsibilities to take care of. So, something had to give. And I'm afraid it's going to be my Fab Finds posts for the next two weeks. My Fab Finds post should resume on April 10th.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Monday, March 23, 2015

Remembering My Dad On His Birthday

Note: This is a repost from last year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. I changed the title and made a few edits to make the post accurate for today's date. Happy Birthday Dad! We really do miss you!

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have turned 79 years old. He passed away almost six years ago.

Jan Albert Iverson in 1938 - 2 Years Old

Jan Albert Iverson ~ 2 Years Old

My dad, Jan Albert Iverson, was born on March 23, 1936 to his parents, Ingrid Anna Gillberg and Arthur Harry Iverson. He was the second of four children born to Ingrid and Arthur. Jan had an older sister named Joan and two younger siblings. His younger siblings are still living, so I won't give their names here for privacy reasons. His older sister, Joan, passed away in 1993 from cancer.

This is a picture of my dad at his home in North Hollywood, California. I love that this picture of my dad shows the inside of the home that his father, Arthur, built with the help of others.

My dad spent the first ten years of his life in the Los Angeles area of California. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Portland, Oregon. This was after his mother, Ingrid, had remarried following the death of my dad's father, Arthur. Ingrid and her second husband, Wayne, had three children. One of Ingrid and Wayne's children, Pamela, passed away in 1972 at only 24 years of age. She had leukemia. Their other two children are still living, so again, I won't give their names here for privacy reasons.

My dad loved sports and played basketball, football, and track during his sophomore year of high school.

This is a picture of my dad when he was 15 years old.

My dad served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the East Central States Mission from May 1956 until May 1958. This is a picture of him taken in 1956 before his mission. He was 20 years old at the time this photo was taken. In his Mission Journal, he mentioned living and traveling in the following states: Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi, and Maryland.

Elder Jan Albert Iverson - 20 Years Old ~ 1956

In the summer of 1958, my dad was inducted into the United States Army. He went to Basic Training at Fort Ord, California from August 1958 to October 1958. This photo of my dad was taken in October of 1959.

After he completed Basic Training, my dad served at the Presidio in San Francisco, California. While he was there, he met his future wife (my mom). Her name is Elizabeth.

They became engaged in the spring of 1959. Then came news that my dad was being sent to Korea. In August of 1959 he left for Seoul, Korea and served overseas for eleven months. He and Elizabeth wrote letters to each other while they were apart. They even sent tapes to each other. My dad was a wonderful artist. He loved to draw and paint. We have a cartoon that he had drawn showing himself sitting at a desk listening to one of the tapes Elizabeth had sent to him. I will be sharing that cute cartoon in a future post.

After his return to the United States, he and Elizabeth were married. This is a photo of my dad and mom on their wedding day.

My dad was a wonderful husband and father. He loved his family. He also had a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He served in many callings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during his lifetime.

He worked hard to provide for his family. He worked as a computer programmer for many years.

My dad had a love for genealogy and family history. He served as the Family History Center Director at our local Family History Center for about five years. My mom served as an Assistant Director alongside my dad.

It was while my dad was serving as a Family History Director that he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He hadn't smoked during his life. The suspected cause of his cancer was acid reflux that he suffered from for years. He bravely and patiently endured the trials that went along with his cancer diagnosis. He had major surgery to remove the cancerous portion of his esophagus and then had chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

On April 29, 2009, a year and a half after being diagnosed with cancer, my dad passed away. He is very much missed by all who knew and loved him. But, we are comforted by the knowledge that we will see him again someday.

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, March 20, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 20, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Genealogy! Just Ask! by Amy Archibald, author of Revealing Roots and Branches
Blogging with Evernote at Congress by Jill Ball, author of GeniAus
KINDLE-ING GENEALOGY: SEND TO KINDLE FOR WINDOWS by Bill West, author of West in New England
Tuesday's Tip: Researching Your Deaf Ancestors in U.S. Federal Censuses by Miriam J. Robbins, author of AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
Eleven Things I Would Do Differently AND And A Dozen Things I Got Right by Roberta Estes, author of DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy
New records from Deceased Online by John D. Reid, author of Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections
BREAKING: Clue Wagon is Now a Dating Website by Kerry Scott, author of Clue Wagon
Casting Call for The Genealogy Roadshow by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
Putting your ancestors’ lives in context by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Are You Doing Thorough Back Ups of ALL of Your Work? by Carol for Worldwide Genealogy ~ A Genealogical Collaboration
6 Genealogy Sources You May Have Overlooked by Judy Webster, author of Genealogy Leftovers
Free access to ArkivDigital this weekend & Special Offers! by ArkivDigital Blog
RootsTech 2015 Breaks Records and Keeps Giving by Paul G. Nauta for FamilySearch Blog
Importing Facebook Photos to Create Your Family Story by Crestleaf Blog
But The Date Is Set In Stone by Ian Hadden, author of Ian Hadden's Family History
ANIMATED ATLAS AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE, AND OTHER INTERESTING TIMELINE AND MAP SITES by Dayna Jacobs, author of On Granny's Trail
Cleaning up Legacy using reports! by Shannon Thomas, author of Our Life Picture by Picture
New Records tell more about my Dietz Great, Great Grandparents by Becky Jamison, author of Grace and Glory
An Interview with Dr. Blaine Bettinger, "Praying for Spit" by Jennifer Shoer, author of The Scrappy Genealogist
Finding New Death Certificates on Seeking Michigan by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small
MICHIGAN DEATH CERTIFICATE IMAGES RELEASED–1921 – 1939 AND DAY TWO OF THE MICHIGAN DEATH CERTIFICATES JOURNEY–NOW WHAT? by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS
Sepia Saturday: A Scrapbook Finds a Home by Wendy Mathias, author of Jollett Etc.
Free Video for The Write Stuff: Using Nonfiction Writing Techniques to Write a Better Family History by Lisa Alzo, author of The Accidental Genealogist

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 11 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Alex Coles

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

A Norwegian Passport ~ Ole Iversen

Jana's Place

Moonrise in Winter

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A Norwegian Passport ~ Ole Iversen

Last week I shared the Migration Record of my 2nd great-granduncle, Ole Iversen with you. That document was found in Norway's Digital Archives website. While I was doing research in that amazing website, I found the passports for Ole Iversen, his wife Anne and their daughter Guri. How exciting!

Today I'd like to share Ole's passport with you.¹ I'll share Anne's and Guri's passports in future posts.

The full image above may be a bit difficult to read, so here's a cropped portion of the image showing Ole's information.

Information found in this document

Given name: Ole
Last name: Iversen Marteplads
Gender: m
Age: 35
Issued/presented: 20 April 1858
Individual remarks: af Naes, 65 Tommer, undersat, blaa, morkebrunt
Id: og00000000903791
Serial number: 121
Fee: 64 s

I cropped the "Individual remarks" section of the document even further.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I don't read or speak Norwegian. So once again I posted a translation request in the Norwegian Genealogy Group that I belong to on Facebook. And as before, I did get help. Two kind people responded. I was especially interested in this "Individual remarks" section of Ole's passport. It appears that this is a physical description of Ole Iversen. How cool is that!?

With the help from the kind people in the Facebook group, here is the translation of the "Individual remarks" section.

Individual remarks: of Nes, 65 Tommer = inches tall (5'5"), undersat could mean stocky build, blaa means blue which must refer to Ole's eye color, and morkebrunt = dark brown which must refer to Ole's hair color.

We don't have a photo of Ole, so reading this physical description of him is really wonderful.

Ole and his family immigrated to the United States in April of 1858. The Migration Record for Ole and his family didn't have a specific date. It only had April in the date column. Since Ole's passport was issued on 20 April 1858, this tells me they left Norway sometime after that date.

Norway's Digital Archive is such a wonderful website. If you have Norwegian ancestors, I highly recommend giving it a try. And, if you'd like to access the passports section of Norway's Digital Archive, click HERE.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

1 “Passport protocol for Hallingsdal bailiff's office 1856-1865,” database, The Digital Archive (https://www.digitalarkivet.no : accessed 24 February 2015), entry for Ole Iversen Marteplads, 1858, Buskerud, Flå, Gol, Hemsedal, Hol, Nes, Ål, Hallingdal bailiff; citing: The State Archives in Kongsberg.^↩

Friday, March 13, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 13, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Presenter Interview: Lisa Louise Cooke, Genealogy Gems by Cynthia Shenette, author of Heritage Zen
Introducing Lisa Alzo, Guest Genealogist by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, author of The Olive Tree Genealogy
Bullying and Elitism by Tony Proctor, author of Parallax View
Ancestor's Mental Health or Any Medical Records Can Be Very Hard to Come By! AND 20 Free and (Relatively) New Genealogy and Family History Resources, Part 4 by Diane L. Richard for UPFRONT WITH NGS Blog
Breaking Genealogical Stereotypes: Interview with D. Joshua Taylor by Crestleaf Blog
Narrative Project: Writing a Simple Birth Story by Devon Lee, author of A Patient Genealogist
Being a Beginner Again by Barbara Poole, author of Life From The Roots
More than 4,500 Facebook groups and pages for genealogy by Gail Dever, author of Genealogy a la carte
Facebook Tags Forgotten Ancestor by Family Sleuther, author of Family Sleuther
Cousins ... Removed? by Amy Archibald, author of Revealing Roots and Branches
Genealogy Do-Over : Who Lived Where, The 1838 Norwegian Matrikul or Land Register by Mary Perkinson Nelson, author of Celebrating Family Stories
Genealogy on Facebook by NikiMarie, author of Copper Leaf Genealogy
Fearless Female…. by generationsgoneby, author of Generations Gone By's Weblog
Recording Family History by Taneya Koonce, author of Taneya's Genealogy Blog
Supporting Documents - A DAR Resource by Valerie Craft, author of Begin with 'Craft'
How and Why to Use Genealogy Gophers by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small
Finding the Connection to a DNA Match Within An Hour! by Melvin J. Collier, author of Roots Revealed
Without Means of Support Part 3 by Michelle Ganus Taggart, author of A Southern Sleuth
Genealogy is a marathon, not a sprint by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Creating My Who Do You Think You Are? Story by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 10 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Elizabeth Ross

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Leaving Norway ~ Ole Iversen

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Leaving Norway ~ Ole Iversen

Last week I shared the Migration Record of my paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Iver Iverson. In that post, I mentioned that I also have the Migration Record for Iver's brother Ole. Today I'd like to share that record with you. It just so happens that it is the exact same record as Iver's. That's because Iver and Ole were listed on the same page in the Migration Record for 1858, which is part of a Parish Register for Nes, Buskerud, Norway.¹

Iver is listed inside the blue rectangle on this page and Ole and his family are inside the red rectangle near the bottom of the page.

Before we look at the information about Ole and his family in this document, I'd like to tell you a little bit about them.

Ole Iversen was born on 1 November 1822 and was christened on 8 December 1822 in Nes, Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway. He was the son of Iver Stenersen and Guri Olsdatter.²

When Ole was 33 years old, he married Anne Gunbjornsdatter. Their marriage took place on 29 September 1856 in Nes, Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway.³

Their daughter, Guri, was born on 28 May 1857 and was christened on 14 June 1857 in Nes, Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway.⁴

Guri was only about a year old when Ole and his young family immigrated to the United States. What must it have been like for them to make this long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858? I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for them.

Let's look at the information in the Migration Record. I don't speak or read Norwegian, so reading some of the words in this document was a bit difficult.

Here's a cropped view showing Ole and his family in the Migration Record.

I couldn't figure out what some of the words were in these columns, so I asked for help in two of the Norwegian Genealogy groups that I belong to on Facebook. I uploaded these images and posted my query. Within half an hour two kind and helpful people from one of the groups translated the words in the document for me. I was told that the word in front of Ole's name is an abbreviated form of "husmann" which means tenant farmer. And I was told that the word in front of Anne's name is "hustru" which means wife, and that the word in front of Guri's name is "barn" which means child.

Information for Ole

Number: 52
Date: April
Name: Ole Iversen Mar. (Mar. is short for Marteplads, Ole's place of birth)
Age: 36
Destination: Amerika

Information for Anne

Number: 53
Date: April
Name: Anne Gunbjornsdr Opdal (Opdal is Anne's place of birth)
Age: 1827 (year of birth instead of age)
Destination: Amerika

Information for Guri

Number: 54
Date: April
Name: Guri
Age: 1
Destination: Amerika

Ole and Anne had two more children after they arrived in the United States. Here's the complete list of their children.

Guri Olesdatter (1857-1922) [born in Norway]
Isabelle Marie Iversen (1863-1954) [born in Minnesota]
Iver O. Iversen (1864-1928) [born in Iowa]

Ole's parents, Iver and Guri, and his brother Christopher, immigrated to the United States in 1861. I will be sharing their Migration Record in a future post.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

1 The National Archives of Norway, Digital Archives, Buskerud county, Nes, Parish register (official) nr. 9 (1834-1863), Migration records 1858, Ole Iversen, page 593. Line 52.^↩
2 "Norway, Baptisms, 1634-1927," index, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 March 2015), Ole Iversen, 01 Nov 1822; citing FHL microfilm 123840.^↩
3 ] "Norway, Marriages, 1660-1926," index, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 March 2015), Ole Iversen and Anne Gunbjornsdr, 29 Sep 1856; citing Nes I Hallingdal, Buskerud, Norway; FHL microfilm 278,204.^↩
4 "Norway, Baptisms, 1634-1927," index, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 March 2015), Guri Olesdatter, 28 May 1857; citing FHL microfilm 123,841.^↩

Friday, March 6, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 6, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Slave Name Roll Project by Schalene Dagutis, author of Tangled Roots and Trees
What's In A Name? AND Relative Finder - Cousins Around Every Corner by Amy Archibald, author of Revealing Roots and Branches
About Genealogy Conferences and Salt Lake City. . . One More Thing by Denise Levenick, author of The Family Curator
The Two Companies that will print your Genealogy Blog Books by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
Genealogy Tool – Common genealogical words in eight languages AND My genealogical words list now includes EIGHT languages–Latin added! by Christina George, author of CHRISTINA GEORGE
USING INSTAGRAM TO SHARE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY by Leigh Anne, author of Your Homebased Mom
19 Strange Professions of Your Ancestors That Don’t Exist Today by Crestleaf Blog
Findmypast Announces Free Weekend 6-9 March 2015 AND New records available to search during Findmypast’s Free Weekend by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaPress
Copyright and the photo negatives by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
SWEDISH GENEALOGY RESOURCES AND JUST WHAT IS IN A CITY DIRECTORY? by Linda Stufflebean, author of Empty Branches on the Family Tree
Win a 6 Month U.S. Discovery Membership to Ancestry! by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, author of The Olive Tree Genealogy
Searching the Obituary Daily Times by Ken McKinlay, author of Family Tree Knots
Who Do You Think You Are? Sweepstakes Begins March 8th by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaBloggers
Why I Wrote This Post...You Just Won't Believe One of The Reasons! by Barbara Poole, author of Life From The Roots
Rootstech 2015 and Is It Worth Attending Again? by Valerie Elkins, author of Family Cherished
Respecting my Grandmother's Life Trials AND Timeline Puts my Grandfather's Life in Perspective by Becky Jamison, author of Grace and Glory
Genealogy Gophers Website is Launched - Free Genealogy Books by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings
FamilySearch Family Tree 2014 and beyond (#RootsTech #RTATEAM) by Ancestry Insider, author of The Ancestry Insider
TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY: RATION BOOKS by Lacey Holley, author of Adventures of an Untameable Genealogist
A BOX FULL OF TREASURES, SIGNATURES & MORE by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 9 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Kristin Cleage Williams

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Leaving Norway ~ Iver Iverson

Jana's Place

Temple Square: Winter 2014 ~ Part 3

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Leaving Norway ~ Iver Iverson

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 Iverson

My 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

1 The National Archives of Norway, Digital Archives, Buskerud county, Nes, Parish register (official) nr. 9 (1834-1863), Migration records 1858, Iver Iversen, page 593. Line 30.^↩