Christen Bendikson Nisesstad (gg-grandfather on my father’s side) – Like many Norwegians Christen after arriving in the United States Americanized his last name. He chose to change Bendikson to Benson. He was born on the Nisesstad (Nistad) farm on the Arnafjord in the kommune of Vik, the province of Sogn og Fjorane in Norway on December 12, 1815. He married Brita Kristensdatter Nese in 1843 and had four children. The family immigrated to the United States in 1856. He is one of approximately 180 Norwegian immigrants that were lepers. The family spent four years in Wisconsin before homesteading in Kenyon Township in Goodhue County, Minnesota. He died on June 26, 1877. His first child, Ingeborg, was my great-grandmother. The picture is of Christen's tombstone which is located in the old Hauge Cemetery outside of Kenyon in Goodhue County.  ¶ 8:43 AM