FOR EMIGRATION LISTS, CENSUS, PARISH LISTS TRY THE NORWEGIAN DIGITAL ARCHIVES
Okay, this is what we know. In 1868, Nils and Elen Bergerson
with their five children immigrated to the
United States from Norway. Nels was born on Farm Kragerud, Sør
Odal, Støms Parish, Norway, Sept 18,
1830, baptised Sept 19, 1830 on Farm Moen, Sør Odal, Støms
Parish, Norway. His wife, Elen, was born in
Hønefos, Romerike, Norway, Oct 27, 1827. Nils' father's
name was Berger, his mother's name was Mari
Gudbrandsdtr. Elen's father's name was Erik Nilsen. Until I find
a bygdebook for Elen's family, however, this is definitely questionable.
I had Nils' death record from Lamoni, IA where it stated that
Nils' father was Nils and his mother was Olene H. Odon. I am wondering
who gave the information or maybe it was the Norwegion accent.
His aunt's name was Oline and the family came from Odal.
In 1801, on farm Kragerud in Strøms Parish, County
Hedemarkens, Sør Odal, Norway, we find: Berger
Nielsen, head of the family, age 50, Farmer (gr-grandfather to
Nils(1830))
Ragnil Tomasdaughter, his wife, age 55 (gr-grndmother to Nils
(1830))
Niels Bergersen, Grown child of head, age 22, Soldier (grandfather
to Nils(1830))
Chierstine Bodil Von Rummelhoff, age 79, receiving a pension
Marthe Anthonsdtr, her grandchild, age 23
Catrine Anthonsd, her grandchild, age 20 (grandmother to Nils
(1830))
Bolethe Anthonsd, her grandchild, age 14
Probate for Nils Bergersen Krakerud was completed at Hveberg in Grue, Jan 1827. I need to send for this record.
The bygdebooks for Odal show Nils Bergersen's (from farm
Skårer) son Berger Nilsen from (farm)
Kragerud bought Søndre Hauggard (farm)for 550 dlt in 1843
from Sven Gundersen and sold in 1850 to
Gulbrand Andersen from Hauggard for 400 dlr. Berger Nilsen from
Kragerud& Mari Gulbrandsdtr had two children at Hauggard.
Gulbrand Andersen was married to Oline Gudbrandsdtr (Mari's sister)
from
(farm)Møen.
Elen and Nils were married in Oslo, Akershus, Norway in 1854.
There are also farms Hauggard, Møen, Skårer,
Roverud.....I will be searching the Norway Digitalarkivet
forever!!!!
We were able to find the family in 1865 Norway with the
help of Inger(a wonderful person on the Norway
Roots List)They were living in Brandvold, on the farm Roverud.
In the 1865 census, the family was shown
as:
Nils Bergers. aged 37, a farm manager
Elen Eriksd. aged 38
Bernt Bergers. aged 11
Mathilde Bergers. aged 7
Agnette Ols. (foster daughter) aged 6
Agnes Bergers. aged 4
Gustav Bergers. aged 2
Berthe Bergersd. (listed as a domestic, also Nils' younger sister)aged
23
In 1865, on the farm Haugaard, Strøms Parish, Søndre
Odalen, Norway:
Gulbrand Anderson, aged 44, Main Landowner(Nils' (1830)Uncle)
Oline Gulbrandsd, aged 41, his wife(Nils' (1830)Aunt-His mother's
sister)
Anders Gulbrands, aged 11, their son
Gulbrand Gulbrands, aged 7, their son
Thore Bergersd, age 32, their domestic (also Nils' Bergerson's
sister)
Sven Svenson, age 32, supervisor (married Nils' sister Katrine
Antoinette)
When they left Norway, their given names were:
Nils born 1830
Elen born 1827
Bernt Emil born 1855
Mathilde Olave born 1858
Agnes Emilie born 1862
Gustav Nicolai born 1864
Maria Birgitte born 1867
I found Gulbrand Bergersen leaving Oslo the 13th of ? 1870
Occupation Tømmermand(carpenter) age 40 Residence: Trogstad,
Norway Destination: Kvebek On Edda Lines
It doesn't look like he was with anyone else.
The passenger list shows Berger Bergersen Odalsv aged 59 (passenger
#2076A)from S. Odalen traveling to New York with Niels Bergerson
(my gr-gr grandfather)(passenger #2076B) in May of 1869. Who the
heck could it be? And what happened to him then? How come Gulbrand
left six months later and stayed in England? Did their father
get sick on the boat and die in England maybe? He sure disappeared.
We found the family living in Mission Township, LaSalle
Co, Illinois on the 1870 census, with other
Norwegian families, where both Nels and Ellen were baptised Nov
22, 1870 in the Reformed Latter Day
Saints Church. In 1870, their names were:
Nelse
Ellen
Benjamin
Tilda
Amelia
Nathan
Maria
Emma (?) was born in 1869. And died after her 1st birthday.
In 1880, the family had moved to Hickory Township, Bourbon
Co, Kansas. Benjamin (Bernt)had married
Lizzie Peterson and they already had two sons, Perry (Rary) and
Burdett (Clarence B). Agnes(Amelia)
had married Frank Odell in Illinois. Their names changed again:
Nels
Ellen
Gustave
Maria
Bent
In 1889, the family moved to Lamoni, Iowa, following the
route of their church. On January 4, 1893, May
Birtha married Henry H. Hill in Glenwood Co, Iowa. It turned out
Henry's real name was Ulysses G Carey.
He had taken an assumed name after some trouble in the family.
Ulysses (Henry) and May Birtha had four children:
Perle Mary
Hazel Birda
Violet Marie
Harold Daniel
Ben (Bernt) has divorced Lizzie & remarried a girl named
Emma Smith who was born in Hopkins, Mich about
1870. (this really interests me. I wonder if there is a connection
with Joseph Smith, the first president of the
Mormon Church. Joseph Smith and his family are buried in Rose
Hill Cemetery also) They had a son,
Norman, born 12/23/95. Emma died Jan 11, 1896. Their son died
1/18/1896, a week after his mother. Bernt died in Kansas City,
Ka.
Clarence B was ordained Deacon 1898 ordained Priest 1920 at Radville,
Sask and died 1936 in Zion Hill,
Sask. His brother, Perry, died 1931 in Sask.
Gustave (Gus)married Nellie Baird. He died in 1937 in Grand
Forks, ND.
Mathide Olave married Herbert Persels. She died in Osceola, Ia
in 1947
Nels passed away in Lamoni in 1907. Ellen passed away in Creston, Iowa in 1910.
GULBRAND FOUND!! An email to the Bergerson Mailing list which mentioned the name GULBRAND BERGERSEN brought a connection with Eleanor Chad Bergersen, whose husband is a descendant of Sidney Hill Bergersen. She has found the following:
as per the 1881 census:
HOME FARM - WOTTON - SURREY.
Gulbrand Bergersen 35 Bailiff & Steward born Norway.
Emma Bergersen 37 born Yalding, Kent, England
Emil Gulbrand Bergersen 11 Scholar born Marylebone, Middlesex,
England (born March 1870)(Christened at St. Mary's April 06, 1870
)
Robert E.W. Bergersen 9 Scholar born Yalding, Kent, England (b
abt 1872)
Bertha Jenny Marion Bergersen 8 Scholar born Wotton, Surrey, England
(Christened October 20, 1872)
Harold Albert Bergersen 7 Scholar born Wotton, Surrey, England
(Christened December 07, 1873)
Sidney Hill Bergersen 5 Scholar born Deptford, Kent.
Gulbrand also farmed 362 acres employing 15 men & 2
boys.
The copy of the marriage certificate for Sidney Hill Bergersen
and Sue Radclyffe shows they were married April 5, 1906, at Chiswick
Parish Church, Middlesex, England, both being of 'full age'. S.H.B.
was a marine motor engineer from Edithdene, Chiswick Lane. He
was the son of Gulbrand BERGERSEN, 'licenced victualler'.
Sidney and Sue's wedding certificate was witnessed by S.H.B.'s
older brother, Harry Albert BERGERSEN. This definitely connects
him to the BERGERSEN family in the 1881 Census living at Wotton,
Surrey, England.
Eleanor has learned, through her family, that Harry BERGERSEN owned a bar or tavern in the 1940s. Perhaps he inherited his father's inn?
For some reason, even though in 1922, Sidney and Sue BERGERSEN lived in a famous house in Weymouth, Dorset, England, called Faircross, there is no record of their presence there except for an album full of photos. People currently living in the town have found records of the original owners, and other owners, but not the BERGERSENs. Hmmm . . . . . it is a mystery. A local ( Dorset Diary ) newspaper even did a couple of articles about the house, including a photo . Apparently, according to someone in Dorset, during the years that the BERGERSENs lived at Faircross, the house was owned by the military.