Family History Part 2

On a damp, rainy day as summer came to a close, I decided to pick up where I had left off with the research of my family history. I checked the sources I had used before, but didn't really find anything new... I had basically gone as far as I knew how to.

I ended up at the website of the Genealogy Society of Norway. I was hoping for a breakthrough to help me go further. I decided to enter the DISchat where I hoped to make contact with someone who could point me in the right direction. Once I established that I didn't speak or write Norwegian, I connected with some very helpful folks who suggested I try my luck on the Slektsforum (The Genealogical Forum). I posted what I knew about the family that remained in Norway when my great-grandfather came to America. I knew some names and knew they lived in Trondheim, Norway.

Within an hour, I recieved a reply that offered some new information. I knew that my great-great grandparents (Adolf and Anna) had eight children listed on the 1900 Norwegian Census records: Christiane, Oscar, Gudrun, Karl, Gustav, Aasta, Arnulf, and Trygve. With the first reply to my post I learned of two more children; Johannes, born in 1878, and Johan Martin, born in 1872. I was interested to learn that Johan was born prior to Adolf and Anna's marriage. His mother was Mathilde Gunnelie Bye, and she and Adolf were not married. Johan died of pneumonia as an infant in 1873.

Several other replies followed offering more information. Then, I received a reply from Petter Stene, a Norwegian gentleman who has been active in researching his family's genealogy for several years. He offered some information that was exciting and a little shocking at the same time. It seems that Petter's great-grandmother had a son named Henry Alfred Eide with Karl Otto Monrad (my great grandfather). They were not married. Henry was born in 1907, the same year Carl came to America. His baptism records indicate his father "living in America".

Petter has since provided more information and we have exchanged numerous e-mails and spoken on the phone. I guess you could say we are "distant half-cousins", and it is very exciting to make contact with new relatives!

Petter did some more research and has contacted another relative- a grandson of one of my great-grandfather's brothers. I've not made contact with this new relative yet, but I am looking forward to doing so...

More to follow for sure.

Family History Research

Some time around last Christmas, I began researching my family history. My Mom and Dad and I were going through some old photographs that I was scanning to preserve and make copies for myself. My grandmother had passed away not too long before this, so there were photos that I had not seen that were discovered when the family dealt with her home and belongings.

There were many great old photos of my dad, aunt, and uncle growing up. A few of my brother and I when we were young that I had never seen. My favorite is a picture of my Grandma Jo with my brother and I. It brought back all kinds of memories when I first saw it.

From Monrad Family Photos

Since that time, I became very interested in learning more about my family's history. I decided to begin with the "Monrad side" of the family first. Armed with an introductory subscrition to Ancestry.com, I began my search.

I was amazed at the information I found within minutes. I found old US Census records from 1910 and 1920 showing my great-grandparents. I found the ship register showing my great grandfather Carl coming to America from Norway in 1907. With each new record I found, I learned more and more about how to search for documents, opening the door to more information.

SS Ivernia, the ship that brought my Great Grandfather Carl Monrad to America in 1907.

From Monrad Family Photos

Carl Otto Monrad, 1885-1971.

One day I decided to begin searching Norgegian sources. I had always heard that Norway had excellent resources for genealogical records. I ended up at the website for the Norwegian Digital Archive, which offers vast records of Census data and church registers going back centuries. The first record I located was the Norwegian Census for the year 1900, where I found my Great Grandfather as well as the names of his parents and siblings.

At the same time, my Uncle Brad came up with some pictures believed to be that of my Great-Great Grandparents Adolf Groth Monrad and Anna Rebekka (Olsen) Monrad.




I continued my search and found more and more information. I began to build my family tree and found that each new fact I gathered helped to open the door to another... I was amazed at the information available at my fingertips, but eventually I rached a point that I couldn't go any further. I had simply gone as far as I knew how to.

I was thrilled to have learned what I had, but one of my goals was to hopefully make contact with some relatives living in Norway. I found that it was easy to trace the family back to a point, but I had no idea how I would trace the family "forward" to modern times...

Then, the weather got nice, summer arrived and the project was put on hold.

This story gets more exciting. Oh yes, it does...