Genealogy Jottings

Visiting the port city of New Orleans last week has inspired me to collect all the ship passenger lists for our ancestors who came from Norway. Some are easier to find than others. Ole Bentsen’s ship and arrival date were in his homestead file. His wife Sofie popped up on the Ancestry.com index. Tony found the Hjelmstad clan information on the Norway Heritage website. Now I am looking for the tougher ones–my great-great grandparents Nick and Karen Bentsen and Tony’s great-grandparents, Syver Nelson, Margit Pedersdatter Vareberg, and the Thore Hvalstads. So far, we have found that most arrived through the port of Boston although Sofie and Riborg Bentsen sailed to Quebec and entered the U.S. through Canada. The book I am reading, They Came In Ships by John Coletta, is giving me some good guidance for finding these records.

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