Genealogy Jottings

For several years now the Colorado Genealogical Society (CGS) has worked with the Denver Public Library (DPL) to index and publish Denver records held at the library. We who volunteer for these projects often work from home. My current project is proofing transcriptions of 20th-century Denver marriage license applications, and I put in several hours a month. It is a solitary job. Thanks to the wonderful staff in the Western History and Genealogy department, though, today we genealogists had the opportunity to enjoy breakfast and meet with other volunteers and DPL staff. Nearly 100 of us attended and enjoyed their homemade Spring Fling breakfast. Thanks DPL! A great place to volunteer!

A giant in the genealogy world, Colorado’s own Birdie Holsclaw, passed away yesterday after a year-long illness. She was the second Certified Genealogist ever in Colorado, and she knew so much! I served on the Board of the Colorado Genealogical Society for many years with Birdie.  She was highly interested in technology and even back then was the only one at our Board meetings with a Palm Pilot. She convinced me to begin using the complex Master Genealogist software after I had used Family Treemaker for many years. In many ways she was the Colorado Genealogical Society, and we have all missed her bright face over the past year. RIP, Birdie.

This week I attended the monthly meeting of the relatively new Germanic Genealogy Society of Colorado (GGSC). This group organized itself about a year and a half ago and meets at the Denver Public Library. Many members also belong to the local chapter of Palatines to America. For many years, since the World Wars, people have done their German research almost covertly, but not any more. As memories of World War II fade, people with German ancestry feel more comfortable publicizing their heritage and are organizing into clubs like Denver’s GGSC. At our house, Tony is half German so we have a lot of German research we could do. A club like the GGSC is a good resource for me as we begin researching his German forebears. And I have a rumor of a German ancestor, too–the elusive Catherine who gave birth to my great-grandmother, Anna Petronella Sherman, was said to have been from Germany.

“Until you look, you don’t know what you’ll find.” I first heard this piece of advice from Pat Hatcher several years ago, and since then it has served me well. Most recently, I followed it and ordered the homestead file for my great-grandfather, Ole Bentsen, who settled in northeastern Montana. The National Archives charges $40 for a homestead file, so they are not cheap. I hesitated to order this one because I already knew where and when my ancestor had homesteaded. I finally decided to spend the money and get the file anyway just to be thorough in my research. I was glad I did! In addition to all the homestead information, the file contained Ole’s naturalization papers! This saved me hours of looking through court records and passenger lists for this information. Moral of the story: Always look; you may be surprised at what you find.

I have been researching in Norway’s digital archives recently. The Lutheran parish books of Norway contain nearly everyone’s life records. When Norwegian families came to America, they remained faithful Lutherans. I wondered about the church in its early days in Sheridan Co., Montana, where my Bentsen family settled. I found that the first pastor to the congregations there, S. J. Fretheim, had written a memoir of his experiences. Amazingly, the St. Olaf College Library lent it to me via inter-library loan. A slim, fragile volume, A Little Reminder of Pioneer Days of the Lutheran Church in the Plentywood Parish Montana 1910-1919 is chock-full of photos of the early churches and farms. Now I have a much better picture in my mind of my family’s life and hardships during the early days after they immigrated.

In genealogy, common wisdom dictates that the researcher should work backwards from the known to the unknown. This can be difficult if one does not know where to look! Luckily, I have a genealogical roadmap to follow for my research. In my family, Signe Bentsen Fleming wrote all the Bentsen family lore in her 1988 work, Bentsen-Sivertsen History: 1800-1988. Michael Hayden did the same thing for the Reed family in The Reeds of Ashmore, also in 1988. In Tony’s family, Luella J. Hall traced the Walstad family in One Man’s Descendants (1787-1971). These books do not cite sources, but the authors followed the standard genealogical practice of gathering information from relatives as the first step. They wrote these books from that material, and they provide a wonderful path for me to follow as I look for original records today. Thank you, Signe, Michael, and Luella!

Anyone wanting to pursue Norwegian genealogical research can do it easily from home these days. Norway is digitizing its parish records and making them available online at no charge at http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_reset=nytt. The records include census, baptisms, stillbirths, confirmations, marriages, deaths, arrivals and departures from the parish, and emigrations. One can document entire families using just this site! The records are not indexed, but if you know the location where an ancestor resided, you can find one record and then work your way from there by using the place and date references found in the first record. The only obstacle is learning the read the old Gothic script. I am excited about finding all my Bentsen ancestors in these records!

A week ago I attended the annual CGS seminar. This year D. Joshua Taylor from the New England Historic Genealogical Society spoke on various ways to find elusive ancestors. He discussed sources to use for American research 1780-1830, and he also talked about using old maps and pursuing family legends. We are lucky in the Denver area to be able to hear regularly such nationally-known speakers. Mr. Taylor, originally from Idaho, is a rising star in the genealogy world. I overheard more than one grey-haired researcher comment how enjoyable it was to get fresh ideas from someone who was young, dynamic, and very computer savvy.

Welcome to this new page of genealogical jottings! After more than 30 years of family history research, I have a lot of information, methodology, and reflections to share. My climb up the family tree is far from finished, so join me as I continue my journey. We will pursue this family all over the U.S., the British Isles, Norway, Finland, and Germany. Check out the family trees to see if you are related. Let’s share information and push back another generation!