They all went to America-Part 3

I can not take all this in. I have to go over it again! In the previous two entries, I detailed who went to America and who did not. But I want to combine it all into one post. It just boggles my mind that so many members of the family went to America all in the same 20 years or so from 1854 to 1874.

Endre Hansen Lee Nissestad and Kari Vikingsdatter Mörkve had 8 children.
They both died in 1850 in Norway.
They are our GGG Grandfather and GGG Grandmother.

I am listing their children here in order of birth....

•John Endreson born 1804, emigrated 1870 at age 65 to Kenyon MN, USA
I do not know if his second wife emigrated with him or not....
  •Kristen Jonson - emigrated 1861 age 27

    •Ingrid Endreson, wife of Kristen - emigrated 1861 age 22

    •Kari Kristenson - emigrated with parents 1861 age 2

    •Endre Kristenson - emigrated with parents 1861 age 1

  •Brita Jonson - emigrated 1861 age 26
  •Endre Jonson - emigrated 1870 age 19
  •Kars Jonson - emigrated 1870 age 16

  •Synneva Jonsdotter - emigrated 1870 age 13

•Hans Endreson, Nistad Dale born 1806 died 1878, emigrated 1869 at age 63.

Of his 7 children, 2 died as babies and ALL the rest emigrated to the USA!!!

  Endre Hanson Nese (died as a baby)

•Ingeborg Wilhelmsdotter Dale, wife of Hans - emigrated 1869 age 61

  •Vilhelm Hanson Nese - emigrated 1856 at age 21

  •Endre Hanson Nese aka Endre Dale - emigrated 1857 at age 20

  •Elling Hanson Nese - emigrated 1867 at age 27

  •Barbra Hansdatter Nese - emigrated 1866 at age 23

  Kari Hanson Nese (died as a baby)

  •Kari Hanson Nese - emigrated 1869 at age 21

I do not know what happened to Hans' children, I do not know where they went or where they settled. It seems they went to Idaho and Montana.

Synneve Endresdatter, born 1808, died 1861 at the age of 53 in Norway.

This is the information I have for her 6 children:

  •Kari Hermundsdotter emigrated 1861

  •Endre Hermundson emigrated 1867

  •Anna Hermundsdotter emigrated 1867

  •Elling Hermundson emigrated 1867

  •Brita Hermundsdotter emigrated 1874

  •Lussi Hermundsdotter emigrated 1874
I do not know where Synneve's children went. And I do not have birth dates, so I do not know at what age they emigrated.

Did Hans' and Synneve's children come to Goodhue County MN too? ...Because land was available? Or did they go to Wisconsin as so many did....?? Or did they travel on to Idaho or Montana like some did? Nor do I have any birth or death dates for Synneve's children. Also, it is possible that they came to America with their families or spouses and children, it is just unknown to me.

Wiking Endreson I died as a baby.

•Wiking Endreson emigrated in 1854 at age 41 with our Iver Vangsness.

Ole Endreson I died as a baby

•Iver Endreson Nistad (our Iver Vangsness) emigrated in 1854 at the age of 34.
He is our GG Grandfather.
•Unni Andersdatter, his wife and our GG Grandmother, emigrated in 1854 at the age of 30 with their 2 year old son,
  •John Endreson Vangsness, our Great Grandfather, came with Iver and Unni as a 2 year old. All of his brothers and sisters were born in America!

Ole Endreson did not emigrate. Nor did any of his children, as far as I know.

As far as I can make out, 26 members of the same close family (counting the wives) left Norway for America. In a 20 year period from 1854 to 1874!! It must have been a tough time, an exciting time, a time of opportunity. They must have seen little hope in Norway, more of the same old thing. They must have seen some hope for a better life in America. More land, their own land.

What is in a Name???

The Iver Vangsness group settled mostly in the Goodhue MN area and many of the Hans Endreson Dale group finally settled elsewhere, some in Montana....many taking the name "Dale". I wonder where the children of Synneve or Hans settled?? That is a lot of cousins that we know nothing about!! Also, it is important to remember that even though they do not have the Vangsness name, a name in not so important regarding Norwegian families. If brothers worked on different farms they would have most likely taken the farm name as their last name when and if they came to America.... Making them look like a different family, when they are in fact the same family. It makes looking for them much harder.

Even our Vangsness name was "iffy". I understand from John G. Vangsness' research that Iver had used the name Anderson for a while.... What is more important is the blood relation!!

What about the relatives who stayed in Norway?

John Endreson emigrated to America, but none of his children by his first wife did - at least that I know of. That would be Johannes Johnson, born 1831. He had 3 children - Gjert, Jakob and Joh. But 5 of John Endreson's children with his second wife and two grandchildren did. Also, Ole Endreson did not emigrate, nor did any of his children. He had 6 children - Johanna, Ender, Kari, Gunhild, Lars, and DF Jente. These decedents are our closest relatives in Norway. It would be interesting to try to find these people and to see what they are doing today.

Note: 
I still want to find out why Endre Hansen Lee Nissestad and Kari Vikingsdatter Mörkve died in 1850... Was there some kind of sickness that killed them ... some kind of accident?? It seems to me that the death of their parents made leaving Norway more possible than it otherwise might have been....

Who came to America, Part 2

Today, I want to talk about the rest of the brothers and sisters of our Iver Vangsness - the first member of our Vangsness family to come to America.

To refresh, the children of Endre Hansen, Lee, Nissestad and Kari Vikingsdatter, Møorkve:

In the previous entry, I talked about who came to America.

I detailed information for:
Iver Endreson Nistad (our Iver Vangsness),
Wiking Endreson and
Hans Endreson, Nistad Dale.

Today, in this entry, I will go over the rest of the children.

John Endreson born in 1804, emigrated in 1870 to Kenyon, MN when he was 65.

I do not know when his wife, Ragnhild Hohannesdatter Lee, (born about 1804) died or where she died. And his son, Johannes Johnson (born 1831) seems NOT to have emigrated. Nor did any of the children of Johannes Johnson. So, it could be the John Endreson MAY have lost his wife, possibly, and gone to America....

Hans Endreson, Nistad Dale see Part 1

Synneve Endresdatter, born 1808, died 1861 at the age of 53. Her death may have given release to her children to emigrate. She married Hermund Johanneson Nesse.

This is the information I have for her 6 children:

Kari Hermundsdotter emigrated 1861

Endre Hermundson emigrated 1867

Anna Hermundsdotter emigrated 1867

Elling Hermundson emigrated 1867

Brita Hermundsdotter emigrated 1874

Lussi Hermundsdotter emigrated 1874
I do not know where Synneve's children went. Did they come to Goodhue County MN too?

Wiking Endreson I born and died as a baby in 1812.

Wiking Endreson see Part 1

Ole Endreson I born and died as a baby in 1817.

Iver Endreson Nistad (our Iver Vangsness) see Part 1

Ole Endreson, the last of the brothers and sisters, did not emigrate. He was born in 1823 and died in 1905 at the age of 81. It seems Ole died in Norway.... His wife, Ingeborn Johsdotter Kjelven born in 1826 and died 1896 at the age of 69. Again, seemingly in Norway. It is interesting to note that Ole died the same year as our Iver Vangsness, Ole in Norway and Iver in the US.

It also seems his children did not emigrate.

Johanna Endreson Valsvik born 1852

Ender Endreson Valsvik born 1855

Kari Endreson Valsvik born 1858

Gunhild Endreson Valsvik born 1867

Lars Endreson Valsvik born 1870

D.F. jente Valsvik born 1873

Who came to America, Part 1

In the Vangsness family, the first member to come to the USA was Iver Endreson Nistad, aka Iver Vangsness. He arrived in 1854 with his wife Unni as noted in this blog earlier. You will remember that their parents died in 1850, both mother and father. And Iver, being a lot younger and only just married with a 2 year old son, must have felt it easier to leave Norway than his older brothers. 

While working on additional family tree information from John G., which has additional information that I did not have before, I have found some interesting information about who emigrated to the USA and who did not and when they did it. It turns out that Iver did not go to the USA with just Unni as I first thought. He and his brother, Wiking, who was 6 years older than Iver, left together in 1854. 

The only information I have for Wiking Endreson is that his wife, Kari Olsdotter, Hopperstad had died in 1854, either before going to America or on the journey, I do not know. But, I suspect that she died before the journey, leaving Wiking free to go it alone. So that means that Iver, Unni and their 2 year old son, AND Wiking went to American in 1854.

Iver's mother and father had a family of 8 children, two of whom died as babies. But what is also amazing is that almost all of them emigrated to the USA. Synneve died in 1861, leaving the youngest, Ole, in Norway..... It looks like.

Children of Endre Hansen, Lee, Nissestad and Kari Vikingsdatter, Møorkve:

John Endreson - emigrated 1870

Hans Endreson, Nistad Dale - emigrated 1869

Synneve Endresdatter - died 1861

Wiking Endeson I (died as a baby)

Wiking Endreson - emigrated 1854 with Iver

Ole Endreson I (died as a baby)

Iver Endreson Nistad (Our Iver Vangsness) - emigrated 1854

Ole Endreson

Once Iver and Wiking were in America they must have written letters to their relatives about their lives in the US and the land they were getting, because soon a flood of relatives started coming to the USA. In 1856 and 1857, 2 children of Hans Endreson came to America.  By 1870 a total of 4 uncles and 5 sons of Hans had made the journey.

Of the 7 children of Hans Endreson, Nistad Dale, 2 died as babies and ALL the rest emigrated to the USA!!!

Endre Hanson Nese (died as a baby)

Vilhelm Hanson Nese - emigrated 1856

Endre Hanson Nese aka Endre Dale - emigrated 1857

Elling Hanson Nese - emigrated 1867

Barbra Hansdatter Nese - emigrated 1866

Kari Hanson Nese (died as a baby)

Kari Hanson Nese - emigrated 1869

If you look at the chart below, you can see that the children of Hans are numerous, many of them are named Dale, Thom or Weum and live mostly in Montana or Indiana as well as Minnesota. This chart is hard to read, I suggest you try the option listed in the paragraph below.

Click this link to be taken to a version of the chart that can be enlarged and moved around so you can read it easier.

But, this is not the end of the story. MORE relatives have come. I will take up the descendants of John Endreson and Synneve in the next entry.