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| HOME SITE MAP |
NÆSSHedrum, Vestfold, and Skien, Telemark, Norway |
| GRANDPARENTS | GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | 2ND GREAT-GRANDPARENTS | 3RD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS |
| Karen Elise Andersen Næss
1866-1964 Larvik, Vestfold, Norway Skotfoss pr. Skien, Telemark, Norway Chicago, Illinois Amberg, Wisconsin |
Edvard
Andersen Næss 1861-1943 Hedrum/Larvik, Vestfold, Norway Skotfoss pr. Skien, Telemark, Norway |
Anders
Olsen Næss 1824-? Næss Farm, Hedrum, Vestfold, Norway |
Ole
Larsen Ludal which is part of Fjære, Hedrum, Vestfold, Norway DESCENDANTS |
| PHOTO
OF ANDERS AND EDEL ANDREA |
+Anne Kristine Hansdatter,
Næss ANCESTORS |
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| +Edel Andrea Iversdatter Sundby
Østre Farm,
Hedrum, Vestfold, Norway 1828-? |
Iver
Reiersen Mangelrod Farm, Hedrum, Vestfold, Norway 1774-1839 |
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| +Anne Pedersdatter Næss Farm, Hedrum, Vestfold, Norway 1792-1829 |
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| +Olea Knudsen 1862-1945 Gjerpen Parish, Telemark, Norway Fantenberg Farm, Solum Parish, Telemark, Norway Larvik, Vestfold, Norway Skotfoss pr. Skien, Telemark, Norway |
Knud
Nerissen 1821-? Gjerpen Parish, Vestfold, Norway Fantenberg, Solum Parish, Telemark, Norway Skotfoss pr. Skien, Telemark, Norway |
Niri
Knudsen About 1790-? Gjerpen, Vestfold, Norway Skien, Telemark, Norway |
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| +Anne Karine Mathisdatter About 1792-? Gjerpen, Vestfold, Norway Skien, Telemark, Norway |
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| +Karen
Olsdatter 1830-? Solum, Telemark, Norway |
Ole
Halvorsen Solum, Telemark, Norway |
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| +Gunnild Eivindsdatter Solum, Telemark, Norway |
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Norwegian namesIf you're not familiar with Norwegian naming practices, you might wonder why the names in the chart above are different from one generation to the next. Until about 1900, Norwegians were identified by the first names of their fathers. A boy would be known by his first name and his father's first name plus "son," and a girl would be known by her first name and her father's first name plus "daughter." Examples are Anders Olsen, son of Ole Larsen, and Edel Iversdatter, daughter of Iver Reiersen. For formal records such as tax rolls, they also were identified by the name of the farm they lived on at the time.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.
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.
 Elise Naess (second line) arrived in New York City Sept. 19, 1904, on the ship United States. MISSING PIECES (Do you have one of them?)
PHOTOS AND LINKS Norwegian
Cousins Edvard Andersen
Næss (and Family) Photos
Portraits of my great-grandparents, my grandmother, and her brother Adolph. Photos of Lars Olsen Næss Descendants
Lars
was the brother of my
great-great-grandfather Anders Olsen Næss. The following are some
of his children and their families. I am grateful to John and Caroline
Carlson's great-granddaughter Laura for sharing
these photos with me
via e-mail.
Bjarne's Photos of the Family of Hella Larsdatter Finn's Photo
Portrait of Ander and Edel Andrea Næss. Edvard Næss Family Bible Transcription 1930s Christmas Card from Olea Næss Næss
Family Reunion, 1965
I didn't know a thing about this until 1979, when my Aunt Florence told me about it and let me copy the invitation and other information she had received from a cousin, Elna Sorensen Blomberg. It took more years for me to find someone to translate it. It was frustrating to see that someone had also compiled genealogy information for the reunion because my aunt didn't have that. I even tried to send a letter to the person who had collected it but didn't receive a reply. (It was 20 years after the reunion by then.) More time passed, and in 2000 I made contact with a cousin living on the Næss farm. Wonder of wonders, he had the genealogy information I'd thought was lost forever! When he photocopied it for me, I was thrilled to find my own name included. My Aunt Florence had submitted it along with the rest of my family's information in 1965. It took me a while, but I entered all of the names into my database and they are all (except living persons) on my Naess descendants page. 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) Karen
Olsdatter's confirmation (first
line) LATEST ON THE NÆSS BRANCH March 25, 2007 I've finally had time to work on my Næss branch lately, and I hardly know where to start telling about it. I've completed entering the thousand or so names compiled for the 1965 Næss reunion and added them to the descendants page, and I've added a page about the reunion itself. I had a big breakthrough the other day when I received a response to a query I'd posted to the RootsWeb Telemark County message board about my great-great-grandmother Karen Olsdatter's mother. A woman gave me a link to a scan of the parish register showing Karen's marriage to my great-great-grandfather Knud Nerisen. That was the first I knew of the original registers' being on line (although I'd found the record in the LDS' transcribed Vital Records Index). I started searching them and didn't stop until I found all the information I needed. The marriage record showed Karen's father (Ole Halvorsen) but not her mother. I tried to find her christening record, but the records for girls in the right time period in the Solum parish were missing. Next I tried confirmation records, and there she was! Both her parents' names were there, but her mother's name was barely legible. The part preceding "sdatter" began with "Ei" and ended with "d." I went to the Nordic names site and scrolled through men's names beginning with "Ei" until I found "Eivind." I had it! My great-great-great-grandmother's name was Gunnild Eivindsdatter. I also found my great-grandparents' marriage record and the death record for Knud Nerisen's first wife. I keep thinking of more things to look for! If you are interested in searching the parish registers, they are at the National Archives of Norway. A very helpful guide to using the registers is provided by John Follesdal at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~norway/na20.html. You need to know the parish and approximate year to start searching. If you don't have that, try searching the LDS site's Vital Records Index, which contains transcriptions of the parish registers. The original records contain a little more information than the transcriptions. CREDITS—PEOPLE
If necessary, be sure to add me to your contact list so I can reply. Updated 10/22/08 |
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).