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"My mother's maiden
name was Johnson. She can't remember anything
else since her father died when she was young.
Can you help me find my ancestors?" - RS
"My
last name is Olson and I think my family may be
from Norway. Please send me information on all
the Olsons in Norway. Thanks." JO
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It
would be very difficult for anyone to help the two people
whose queries are shown above. There's no real
information here to figure out which of the hundreds of
Olson's or Johnson's these might be -- that's if the
family was actually called by the surname Olson or
Johnson in Norway.
 To start
researching your ancestors in Norway there is one key
element: You
must know some facts about your immigrant ancestor
-- the person who left Norway. How do you start? By
locating all the information you can in the U.S.
(or other country) about your immigrant ancestor before
you try to research in Norway.
Immigrant
information includes the following:
- name in the
U.S. (Canada, Australia, or other country)
- name in
Norway *
- birthdate and
place *
- marriage date
and place
- immigration
date and place
- death date
and place
- names of
siblings
- names of
parents
- name of
spouse (along all of the other information listed
in #1-8 above for the spouse)
*
VERY IMPORTANT to confirming what you find in
Norwegian records.
The more pieces of
the above information you have, the better luck you will
have in finding your ancestor and his/her family in
Norway.
You'll
find this information in these sources:
- birth
certificate (of ancestor, ancestor children,
ancestor siblings)
- marriage
certificate or record (at county level and in church records)
- death
certificate
- church
records (marriage, baptism, burial)
- naturalization
records
- tombstone
inscription
- obituaries
- bibles
- letters or
journals
- census
enumerations
- court records
- wills and
probate records
- deeds
- military
papers
- tax lists
- passenger/immigration
lists
- newspaper
articles
- local
histories
- interviews
with family members
You may
find information about your ancestors in the papers and
records of his/her brothers or sisters or other relatives
in the U.S. You never know what clue you'll find, so
don't overlook any source.
Be careful of what
assumptions you make before you collect some facts. And
don't believe everything someone tells you in an
interview - verify it with another source.
Once you
have collected key information, you're ready to begin
your research in Norway. There are several good web sites
listed below that discuss this process. Think of these as
"required reading."
Writing a Good Norwegian Research Query
by Linda Schwartz
Getting
Started Articles by John Follesdal
Genealogical
Wordlist - Norway -
from LDS
What
is a Bygdebok? by Johan I. Borgos
Norwegian-English
Dictionary - an online dictionary from John Follesdal
Norwegian-English
Dictionary by Einar Haugen. The best available. You can
order it online.
Norwegian
Naming Patterns by Johan I. Borgos
Norwegian
Farm Names by Johan I. Borgos
 Don't
forget to check out the other sources listed on the Norwegian Resources pages.
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