Genealogy Jottings

These days it takes a lot of work before I can identify and add the name of another direct ancestor to my family tree. So many of my lines remain blocked with those pesky brick wall ancestors. Any time I can go back another generation offers an excuse for a small celebration.

I am happy to report that this week I found a new ancestor for the first time in ages. I did so by turning my attention to my mom’s Nordic roots. I had last examined these lines in 2013 and 2014, the years I visited Norway and Finland.

Because we plan some travel to those countries again later this year, I decided to take a fresh look at my Norwegian ancestral lines in hopes of extending them. One set of my third great-grandparents, Johan Larsen (1824-1876) and Sara Andrina Möllersdatter (1816-1880), lived in the Helgeland district of Nordland, Norway. It lies on the west coast, just south of the Arctic Circle. My records showed the names of their parents except for Sara’s mother.

When I left off the research on Sara back in 2013, I had collected only her marriage and baptism records. Neither document named her mother.

This week I looked for Sara’s Lutheran confirmation record. I located it in the Alstahaug parish church book found in the online repository, Norway’s Digitalarkivet (https://www.digitalarkivet.no/). There, in 1834, was an entry for 18-year-old Sara. There also was her mother’s name, Marit Nilsdatter.

Marit then is my newly-found fourth great-grandmother. She and Möller Zacariasen were Sara’s parents. I have no dates yet for their lives, but they likely were born in the 1700’s.

Tempting as it would be, I must finish the work on Sara’s life before I do more research on Marit and Möller. Genealogists always work backwards in time, and it would be premature to jump back another generation before collecting everything I can find on Sara. That means locating her on the Norwegian census records and completing my information on her children.

Although my focus must be on Sara and Johan, I am allowing myself to smile a bit at the discovery of Marit Nilsdatter’s name. Not often do I make a discovery like this.