What did Jens do for a living?

he was a stone mason- it was listed on a few USA census.

ahhh... i will read up on the patronymic names... that really makes things confusing, but it is what it is!

in 1875 the family was in mn, usa.
in 1880 the family was in wheeling, rice, mn, usa.
in 1885 the family was in holden, goodhue, mn, usa.
in 1900 the family was in chicago, west town, il, usa.
in 1920 karen berg was in chicago, il, usa.

parents:
karen born 24 dec 1833 in norway, died 11 apr 1920- source is death certificate.
jens born 12 mar 1837 in norway, died 28 oct 1907- source is death certificate.

children:
caroline born 31 august 1870 in norway, died 12 jul 1936- source is death certificate.
ragnhild born june 1871 in norway- source 1900 census.
olive born may 1891 in il, usa- source 1900 census.
ole was 22 in 1885, born in norway- source 1885 census.
anna was 22 in 1885, born in norway- source 1885 census.
lena was 19 in 1885, born in norway- source 1885 census.
rachael was 17 in 1885, born in norway- source 1885 census.
robert was 12 in 1885, born in mn, usa- source 1885 census.
*robert was 2 in 1875, but listed as born in norway.

rosa was 5 in 1875, born in norway- source 1875 census.

1900 census says family immigrated in 1875.

You can add the 1910 census -- Caroline married to a Meeker and her mother, "Carrie Berg" also lives in the household, 27th ward, Chicago, Illinois.
Both Caroline and Carrie list immigration year of 1872.

Never be completely surprised at these variations in information.
Names changed, sometimes drastically, as immigrants tried to fit in to American society.
And dates? well, I can't remember dates all that well either if suddenly asked and many people are far more "date challenged".
Census takers could often misunderstand and/or make a transcription mistake in struggling to understand a foreign accent.
Information on death certificates did NOT come from the deceased (the BEST source) and probably from some family member in grief who may not be thinking clearly -- so don't take that as gospel either.

yes- sorry, i did have that census, i just forgot to add it.

you're right- i have found variations in dates, ages and names. karen has been listed as karen, karn, carrie and even corn- all of which i can imagine if you did not speak norwegian or another scandinavian language.

i was very close to my greatgrandmother, and of course now i am kicking myself that i never asked any questions about her family. she was 64 when i was born- she was always old to me, and died when she was 92. i guess i just could not really fathom, at a younger age, that someone so old would have parents, let alone grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

thank you so much for the direction you have given me- every bit helps!

i think that you might have found something here... i went to the site myself, and i feel a bit stupid, but i cannot come up with the same results that you did- can you perhaps let me know how to use this database?

thank you!

I think I found them!

Jens Samuelsen and Karen Trulsdatter, in Oslo in 1865 census: http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/WebCens.exe?slag=visbase&am...

Emigrants in 1871: http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&am...

Jens (nr 68) born 12. march 1837 in Lærdal parish. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=11598&...
Born out of wedlock. Father Samuel Torchelsen Bergen and mother Anna Roarsdatter Næset.

Karen (nr 28) born 24. Dec 1833 in Modum parish http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=1153&i...
Parents: Truls Guldbradsen and Barbro Knudsdatter.
Mariage (nr 51) 11. July 1822 in Modum parish http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=1154&i...

this is absolutely amazing to me- i cannot thank you enough. there are tears in my eyes!

and for you to have written the names of the parents out was particularly helpful, as i cannot read the script from the original book otherwise!

thank you so very much!!! i cannot say thank you enough!

i just noticed something that confused me: the marriage from 1822 you mention... i assumed that it was for karen and jens, but then i realized that the marriage was in 1822 and they weren't born until the 1830's. and i am unable to read the script, so i cannot tell who is bride and groom.

can you help me out?

also, according to karen's death certificate, her maiden name was thorsen (thorsdatter)... would this fit with her fathers name truls?