1. Genealogy organizations

Gjerstad historielag - this local history organization was established in 1941, and has been responsible for bringing out the 8 volume bygdebook for Gjerstad.   Unfortunately, the web site is in Norwegian, but you can contact the organization by clicking on "Kontakt", and using the form to enter your comments ("Skriv inn kommentarene dine i feltet nedenfor"), and then leave your name, address, e-mail, etc. Click on the button that says "Send kommentarer" to send your message.  To reset the form and start again use the button that says "Tøm skjema".

Eide Sognelag was founded in 1930 and had from the beginning as its main objective to maintain correspondence between those who had emigrated from Eide and their home parish.  In addition, the organization wanted to support and initiate the work of writing the history of the parish. Their web site is available in English, with photographs, a guestbook, and more!

Historielaget for Dypvåg, Holt og Tvedestrand - the local historical association for Dypvåg, Holt and Tvedestrand (In Norwegian only)

The Aust-Agder Bygdelag - is an organization for Norwegian-Americans whose ancestors came from Aust-Agder.

Aust-Agder Arkivet is the county archive for Aust-Agder fylke, but unfortunately their web site is only available in Norwegian :-(
 

2. Aust-Agder resources

Census records

• Aust-Agder census records & more (listed by municipality) from the Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. You can also search nationwide by going to the Digitalarkivet home page or by using the links below.
• 1663-66 Census for Nedenes deanery from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1801 census, Aust-Agder from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1865 census, Aust-Agder from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. Also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• 1875 census for Aust-Agder (incomplete) from the Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen or from the The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) (incomplete) at the University of Tromsø
• 1900 census, Aust-Agder from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. Also available at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• Other Aust-Agder census records (None as of 26 October 2002) from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.

Other records(Some links may not include information for this county):

• Tax lists from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Military rolls from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Church registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Emigration records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Probate registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen. See also Skifteregister - (Probate registers) at The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø (Very few are available online).
• Fire assessment registers from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Citizenship (Borgerskap) records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• Other records from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• The Digital Inn from Digitalarkivet at the University of Bergen.
• 1886 Matrikkelen from The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (RHD) at the University of Tromsø
• 1950 Matrikkelen from Dokumentasjonsprosjektet

 
 
• See also Aust-Agder kilder from the web site Slektshistoriske kilder 1500-1900 by the Norwegian genealogy organization DIS-Norge. This web site has extensive links to various genealogy databases for each fylke in Norway. (In Norwegian with some English)

 

Bygdebooks

•  Aust-Agder bygdebooks is a list I have made of the bygdebooks that cover various areas in Aust Agder. (Updated 01 October 2002)
• The following e-mail was sent to the Norway-L mailing list on 26 September 2002.
  Aanund Olsnes can be reached by e-mail at: a-olsnes@online.no
   

Subject:           Bykle-emigrants to the US Resent-Date:   Thu, 26 Sep 2002 05:40:54 -0600 Resent-From:  NORWAY-L@rootsweb.com Date:               Thu, 26 Sep 2002 13:40:40 -0700 From:              "a-olsnes" a-olsnes@online.no To:                  NORWAY-L@rootsweb.com Hi, all listers      My name is Aanund Olsnes. I live in Vinje, Telemark, Norway, and am currently occupied with the writing of a "bygdebok" on the municipality of Bykle in Setesdal (until 1902 a part of Valle).      I have the names and Norwegian family history of all (or most of) the people from Bykle who left for the US in the periode 1846-1927, but in many cases lack information on where in the US they settled. Furthermore I generally have too little knowledge on their children.      I would therefore very much like to get in touch with anyone on the list who have people from Bykle among their forebears.      Cordially      Aanund


 

LDS Family History Library online catalog

• The LDS Family History Library Catalog is now on the Internet. The link is to the "Place search" page of the web site. In addition, don't forget the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the other databases available on the LDS web site. To make your search a little easier, I have created a list of clerical districts in Aust-Agder.

3. Aust-Agder kommuner (municipalities)

4. Aust-Agder maps

Large map of Aust-Agder from the NORWAY LIST Web Site. Kommune names are underlined.
 
 
 

5. Aust-Agder genealogy query pages

Slektsforskerbasen from DIS-Norge - a list of more than 5,000 genealogists who are researching their Norwegian ancestors. Sorted by kommune (municipality). (In Norwegian with some English).

Norway-L@rootsweb.com mailing list archives is another often overlooked resource. You can search the archive to find out if others are researching the same families or places in Norway, and then contact them.
 
 
 

6. Aust-Agder museums

Risør Museum, on the other hand, has figured out that some of their visitors might not speak Norwegian!  So they have an English version of their web site to attract more visitors :-)

The Næs Iron Works Museum in Tvedestrand is a unique old iron works.  It is almost completely preserved, and consists of buildings, machinery and equipment which date back to the 17th, 18th and the 19th centuries. It is one of the important technical and cultural heritage sites of Norway.

The Niels Henrik Abel Centre for Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Niels Henrik Abel (1802 - 1829) is regarded as one the major mathematicians in the history of mathematics.  Although he died from tuberculosis only 26 ½ years old, his advanced mathematical ideas had impressed the scientific community around the world, and many of these ideas are still used in today's research and modern technology. His work was so revolutionary that one scholar stated: "He has left mathematicians enough to keep them busy for five hundred years".   Born in 1802 at the island of Finnøy in Rogaland county, his family moved to Gjerstad in Aust-Agder when he was about 2 years old. (His father became vicar in Gjerstad in 1804).
 
 

7. Miscellaneous Aust-Agder web sites

Jan Arild Stiansen lives on the Norwegian Riviera: Sørlandet, more specificly between Risør and Tvedestrand. His web site includes a database of his ancestors.

Rune Landsverk lives in Froland, a neighboring municipality of Arendal.  He has placed his Aneliste (anentafel) on the web, along with several web pages with the names of the farms in several communities in Aust-Agder. (In Norwegian).

Vegårshei in English is a web page with photographs and information about Vegårshei.

Willy's Genealogy Site has information about his ancestors from Aust-Agder, Vest-Agder, Rogaland and Hordaland.

W. D. Bjorndahl lives in Canada, but his ancestor Nils Kitelsson Borteli Bjørndal lived on the Bjørndal farm in Hornnes, Aust-Agder before moving to North Dakota in 1882.

Bob Risholm's ancestors lived in Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder, especially the communities close to Grimstad and Kristiansand.

VisitNorway.com - Southern Norway has some information about Aust-Agder on this page of their web site, but I do not know anything about the services they offer - good or bad - nor do I know anything about the company.  The Southern Norway page of their web site does, however, provide some information about Aust-Agder.  The same can be said for GoNorway.com's web page on Aust-Agder. I do not know anything about the services they offer - good or bad - nor do I know anything about the company.  However, the link is to a page that provides some information about Aust-Agder.  Neither of these companies have paid me anything to provide a link to their web sites, and the only reason that I have provided these links is that I have not been able to find a non-commercial web site in English with information about Aust-Agder.