Tracing Sarah Austinsdatter Kjos (Minnesota)
I am tracing the history of my grandmother, Sarah Austinsdatter Kjos, born around 1865, probably in southern Minnesota. Her father was Austin Tostensson Kjos from Vanders, Nor. Her mother (name unknown) from Voss, Nor. and related to Knute Rockne (Notre Dame coach). Sarah married my grandfather, Ole Folkesson Frankson (originally Trydal)who farmed near Spring Valley, Minn. Would appreciate any informtion. Thank you.
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Hello I do have some data dating back to the early 1800's - possibly further _if anything turns up I will surely let you know. My husbands family is also knutes' family... my father in law told many stories of his adventures with knute I believe they were cousins I will try and confirm that for you.My father in law was Galen Morris Rockney.best of luck!
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I did not mention that Galen Rockney is also from Min.
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Dear Lorrie....Thanks for the information. I am trying to find out how my great grand mother was related to Knute Rockne. Her name was Sarah Kjos (she married Ole Folkeson Frankson (Trydal). They were married in the late 1880's in Fillmore County Minnesota. Sarah's father was Austin Tostenson Kjos from Vanders, Norway. Her mother's name is forgotten, but she came from Voss, Norway and was a cousin of Knute Rockne.Some of Knute Rockne's family still lives here in South Bend, Indiana, where Knute coached football at Notre Dame.
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Hi there ... My grandfather and Knute Rockne were double first cousins (two Rokne brothers married two Gjermo sisters; one set, Anders and Brita, had my grandfather and his siblings and the other set, Lars and Martha, had Knute and his siblings) and I have a lot of information about the "Knute Rockne" branch of the family ... particularly the direct line from "Old Knute" also sometimes called the "Big Blacksmith" ... would be happy to share what I do know, although you might also be interested to know, if you don't already, that Norwegian naming customs dictated that the families were known by the name of the farms they lived on ... and when they moved, they simply changed their surnames ... not too confusing ... Anyway, as understand it, the name "Rokne" (anglicized to Rockne) is derived from the Norwegian "hruka," or haystack ... Since the family farm was located near a mountain that looked like a haystack, the name Rokne was given to the farm ... To make matters even more interesting, there were two Rokne farms ... Big Rokne and Little Rokne ... Our family, including the coach Knute Rockne, come from the Little Rokne farm and have no blood relationship with the Rokne/Rocknes who came from the Big Rokne farm ... I have been corresponding with two other cousins who are related as well ... Let me know if you'd like more information. Regards!!
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Kathleen, I would like to find out more info you may have. My grandfather was Aad John Rockne. He came into the country as Aad Johnson. I have found him in Chicago just before the fire with what I believe are his brothers, O, Fred, Erick and Heims. These are how their names are spelled in the census. I have also been told that he had a sister who married and lived in Chicago but we do not know here name. The story is that Aad was a cousin of Knute's father, Lars. If you have anything that would prove or disprove this I would appreciate knowing. This i one of those family stories that I can't find any solid evidence for or against.
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Hi again ... Right off the bat, the name Aad John Rockne doesn't ring any bells vis-a-vis the information I have seen. However, if he was a cousin of Lars Rokne, he would also have been a cousin to Anders Rokne, my great-grandfather. It is curious that he shared the Rockne surname because that is a farm name and, as I think I told you in my previous message, there was both a "Big Rokne" farm and a "Little Rokne" farm. Our family, including Knute Rockne the coach, comes from the Little Rokne farm. I don't know enough about who actually lived on the farm to know if there were extended family members (other than Knut (the "Big Blacksmith") Rokne, his wife, Martha, and their seven children ... Knut, George, Lars, Anders, Olav, Rannveig and Kristi ... I have been working on another line lately and my Rokne/Rockne information is somewhat inaccessible right now (my office needs a bit of reorganization, to say the least!!), but there is quite a bit of Rokne/Rockne information on Birger Rokne's website ... Birger is a cousin of mine who still lives in Voss, Norway and a rabid Knute Rockne fan ... He has set up a website called "The Unofficial Knute Rockne Homepage" or something like that ... if you search for Knute Rockne it will be one of the first options you will find ... He has lots of family history information regarding Knut and Martha Rokne and their descendants ... However, Knut Rokne (the Big Blacksmith) was also one of about seven or eight children (those Roknes were prolific to say the least!!) so there is a lot more information about old Knut's siblings that is not included there ... In my research I have unearthed a couple of cousins in the US who are also doing research on at least one of the other lines from old Knut's siblings ... I will forward your information to them to see if they have uncovered any information on Aad John Rockne in their research as well ... Look forward to hearing from you again ... I'll be happy to provide any information I have, but I think perhaps we will find Aad John as a descendant of one of old Knut's siblings ... When I get my office reorganized (soon, I hope!!), I'll send you what I have on the others ... Regards, Kathleen (perhaps we're cousins??)
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Kathleen, Thanks for the reply. I have talked often with Birger, he sends the best jokes. I did not find a lot of information on his site, just the basic names and dates. I did know about the Rokne farms which is why I am assuming Aad was from one of them. I just can't seem to find a connection. I'm also not certain if those names I listed were brother, cousins or if they also changed their names to Rockne. Plus a lot of the time Aad is changed to Ed. I really appreciate your information and you forwarding my email to them. The Knute Rockne link is family lore though my great uncle was a dead-ringer for the coach. My mother saw a picture of the coach in an encyclopedia as a kid and asked her mother why Uncle Knute was in the book? Knute was his nickname, I'm not sure why although considering his real name was Milfred Ira I'd have gone with Knut too:) Would love to see more Rockne researchers out here. Kathleen
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I would like to have contact with Kathleen Rockne who has information on my 3 cousin Knute Rockne. My grandfather was born in Voss, Norway on March 26, 1888. He came to the USA when he was 18. He married my grandmother Mary E. Creecy. They had 3 children. My dad lives in Idaho & we're trying to get family history on the Rockne family. I'm very interested in hearing from anyone that has information on my grandfather as a child in Norway. My grandfather died in 1920 in Montana where he had a Big Ranch. My dad never knew his dad and has asked for my help in finding relatives. I'd appreciate any response especially from anyone in Voss, Norway. Thank you.
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Hi Joy ... I believe I would be the Kathleen Rockne you have asked to contact ... I would be happy to help you if possible ... I have fairly extensive information on the direct line back to my great-great grandfather, Knut K. Rokne (the so-called "Big Blacksmith"), and his wife, Martha Kvitno (sometimes "Kvitne") and some not so extensive information back from them ... I am not aware of any of our family members living in Idaho other than my immediate family, who were basically born and/or raised here ... but the Norwegian naming practices are fairly confusing, since people took the names of farms and there were several Rokne farms, so many people in the Voss area could have used the surname "Rokne" when they lived on those particular farms ... since Knute Rockne turned out to be well known in America, many people in this country with the surname "Rockne" assume they are related, but often they are not ... I would, however, be happy to let you know what I know ... You did not mention your father's or your grandfather's names, so I have no way of knowing if they appear in our family tree or not ... let me know ...
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