My ggg-grandmother's (Mary Young) middle name or names was Burgess Carson. They are a combination of her maternal grandmother maiden name (Burgess) and her maternal grandfather's last name (Carson). Her name was generally written as Mary B.C. Young. This made identifying her in censuses, deeds, etc. easy. An example is shown in the photograph of her son's tombstone. It is hard to read but I have underlined Mary's name along with her husband's name John. In the square are Mary's initials B.C. There are very few Mary Youngs married to a John that has those middle initials. Mary's sister Anna's middle name/names was the reverse Carson Burgess; Anna Carson Burgess Young.  ¶ 9:43 AM 2 comments

 
My g-grandmother Bertha Larsdatter Haselhaugen was confirmed September 3, 1871. The church she was confirmed in was the Hval Church in Ringerud, Buskerud, Norway. The picture shows part of the Church records for her confirmation (#16). Notice that the farm name used for her is not Haselhaugen but Hallingby which was the name of the family that actually owned the Haselhaugen farm where Bertha and her family lived. When finishing confirmation she was given five scores ranging from 1 to 4 with 1 being the best. The scores were 3 for Læring (learning), 3 for Kristendomskunskap (Christianity), 2.5 for Flid (application, diligence), 2 for Forklaring (exemplification, explanation), and 3.5 for Evner (capability, capable of). I looked at four or five pages of confirmations and scores and I didn't find anyone that received a one and found just a few that received a four.  ¶ 1:19 PM 2 comments

 
This is the Haselhaugen farm in Norway where my gg-grandparents Lars and Ragnhild Gudbrandson and their family lived from approximately 1850 to 1877 when they emigrated to Wisconsin. The farm was owned by the Hallingby family which meant that they pretty much controlled Lars and Ragnhild's life. In Norwegian terms Lars was a 'cotter'. He did not own the farm but was allowed to live there as long as he worked for the Hallingby family and did their bidding. The Begna river passes close by. I remember reading that he had a boat that he used to take people across the river. Also the Hval Church is within short walking distance from their house. This is the church where their daughter Bertha, my g-grandmother, was married. Both Lars and Ragnhild had specific jobs they had to do in maintaining and operating the church. My Norwegian is not all that good but what I think is written with the picture are the names of people who have have owned the farm since the 1950's and the names of their parents and years when the farm has been restored or remodeled.  ¶ 3:11 PM 2 comments

 
After my family moved to Elwood, Indiana in 1948, my mother's grandfather from Minnesota, Orren Meader, visited us once or twice. While in Elwood he would travel to Tipton (about ten miles away) to visit relatives. This wasn't the first time. I knew that he had visited Indiana relatives in 1944. My best guess at who these relatives were would be Sarah Moore and her family. Sarah (the daughter of Anna C.B. Young and Reuben Bennett) and Orren's mother Emma (the daughter of Mary B.C. Young and John S. Young) were cousins since their mother's were sisters. The picture shows the obituary for Sarah Moore. If you read the obit you will find that she was a teacher at Clay School. This is the school that was built on the land that was donated by her grandparents John S. and Mary B.C. Young in the late 1850's.  ¶ 9:22 AM 2 comments