NÆSS

In our family, Ole Larsen of "Ludal which is part of Fjære" married Anne Hansdatter of the Næss farm. Even though the name of Næss was originally associated with the mother, that is the name that was handed down to their descendants because they stayed on the Næss farm. That happened again a couple generations later when Grethe Larsdatter Næss married Severin Johansen. Of their seven children, all took the last name of Johansen except the son who inherited the Næss farm. He and his children took the last name of Næss.

As early as the 1865 census, Anders Olsen was living away from the farm he was born on and living in Larvik. He still used Næss as a surname. All of his children had the surname of Olsen (Anders' patronymic name) rather than Andersen (the traditional patronymic name).

Beginning in 1923 the government required everyone to adopt a surname that would be passed from one generation to the next. My great-grandfather, Edvard, used the name his father used, Næss. Although he was called Olsen (his father's patronymic name)  in the 1865 census, his daughter's family Bible has his middle name as Andersen. His daughter (my grandmother) was named Karen Elise Andersen (not Andersdatter or Edvardsdatter) Næss. My great-grandmother apparently chose the surname Knudsen, rather than Knudsdatter, after her father's first name, Knud.

Since our Norwegian ancestors could adopt whichever surname they chose, and since siblings often all chose different names, it complicates genealogy research. In the outline above, I have tried to use the name each individual used.

• My grandmother, Karen Elise Næss, went to the home of "Uncle A. Rogeberg" in Chicago when she arrived in the USA in 1904. How did he fit into the family? As far as I know, they did not stay in touch after my grandmother married. Why?
• Does anyone know anything about retinitis pigmentosa (which causes blindness) running in any of these families? Three of Karen Elise Næss's grandsons have the disease, and they were told it was passed down from her.

Photo of Nes (Næss) Farm

Norwegian Cousins
Site of Jan Oddvar Thorsen, great-great-grandson of Anna Kristine Hansdatter and Ole Larsen (Næss).
"Pedigree Chart for Torill and Torstein," great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren of Anna Kristine Hansdatter and Ole Larsen (Næss).

A Sampling of Parish Register Pages

Marriage of Edvard Andersen Næss and Karen Olea Knudsen (2nd line)

Marriage of Karen Olsdatter and Knud Nerisen (3rd line)
The word in front of Knud's name is "enkemann"—widower. The word "pige" preceding Karen's name means "maid," or unmarried.

Karen Olsdatter's confirmation (first line)

• 1965 to 1984: My mother's sisters—Information on Elise, Edvard, and Olea Næss.
• 1982: A member of the local Daughters of Norway—Translation of the reunion information for me.
• 1999: Ex-husband of a distant non-Næss cousin—Enough identification of my relatives to allow me to post a query on the RootsWeb Norway genealogy e-mail list.
• 1999: A RootsWeb Norway genealogy e-mail list member who looked up my family in her bygdebok. I am eternally grateful! Refer to the previous credit, and you will see why I believe that information is provided to us in the order in which we can use it.
• 2000: A Norwegian cousin found as a result of the help described above—Aage had all the Næss descendant names compiled for the 1965 census (see below) and sent me photocopies of the whole stack.
• 2003-2004: Finn, a descendant of my great-grandfather's sister Maren—Information on that branch and a photo of my great-great-grandparents, Anders and Edel Andrea Næss!
• 2003-2004: Bente, a descendant of my great-grandfather's sister Anne Petrea—Information and photos from that branch.
  
• 2007: Another cousin—Bjarne has shared old photos with me and helped me with translations. Best of all, he has given me my first look at the old Nes farm!
  

• Krohn-Holum, J. W., Hedrum bygdebok, Larvik (Hedrum kommune), 1978 : Details on the ancestors who passed ownership of Bruk 9 of the Næss farm from one to the next.
• Information gathered for the Næss family 1965 reunion by Anne Kristine Høijord. It contained a thousand names. The biggest thrill for me was finding my own name in it! My aunt Florence Barrows had submitted our family's information for the reunion. I finally felt connected to my Norwegian relatives. (My grandmother's cousin, Elna Sorensen, had passed on the reunion information to my aunt.)
• Norwegian censuses on line.
• www.nordicnames.de.
• National Archives of Norway Digitised Parish Registers.
  

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Updated 12/12/09