I'm looking for information on Lars OLSEN, b. 9 Mar 1865 in Husnes. According to family history, he was raised on the Bjelland farm on Hardanger fjord and emmigrated to Chicago, USA circa January 1891.

I'm also seeking information on Lars' parents, Olav OLSSON (b. 1825?) and his second wife Lisbet LARSDATTER BRINGEDAL(b. 1820?). Olav's first wife was Gislaug OLSDATTER (1829-1864?). There is some debate as to which wife was actually Lars' mother, as some of the dates I have are definitely suspect.

The best website I've found on that subject (and quite a number of other excellent topics when you are ready for them) is in the link below.
Scroll down to the heading 'My Articles' - follow that link and choose 'Norwegian Kirkebøker -- Parish Records'. Using it you'll learn how to read and use those. You can order microfilm copies of the Kvinnherad parish books from the nearest LDS Family History Center to you. You'll also be able to use their microfilm reader(s) at the center.

I had time to do just a bit more browsing in this Kvinnherad bygdebok that includes those farms. I cannot find the names of Olav Olsson's parents but under the history of the Bjelland farm it lists Olav Olsson (1825-1907), married Gislaug first (no date for the marriage included here) and that they had two children, Kristi in 1858 and Guro in 1860. Then Gislaug died in 1864. Olav then married Lisbet Olsdtr (1820-89) and they had one son, Lars in 1865.
After Lisbet died - Olav married again in 1891. This time to a widow named Anna Andersdotter Langeland (1845-1921) who had a number of children of her own.

To find the parents of Olav Olsson - check the Kvinnherad baptisms for the year 1825 (give or take a few months with that, people, even careful resesarchers, sometimes get a date wrong). This book seems to hint that Olav's father was a man of the same name who lived on another Husnes farm, Sunde, but I cannot find him listed in the history of that farm.

Thank you for your kind help!

You mentioned checking the church records--I'm a relative newbie at this. Might you point me to a good website or book that would explain the process of researching church records?

I appreciate your time and effort.

Interesting family!! Olav O. Bjelland appears to have been married first to Gislaug Olsdtr (1829-1864). After she died he married Lisbet Olsdtr (1820-?). Gislaug and Lisbet were sisters, both the daughters of Olav Larsson Fugleberg/Bringedal (1781-1870) and Guro Torsdotter Bringedal (1787-?). The girls had several other siblings, among them Lars (1811-1846), Tor (1813-?), Jens (1816-?), Guro (1831-?) and three others that didn't survive to be more than 5 years old.
(Source, pp. 35-36 of Erling Vaage's "Kvinnherad 4 - Husnes - Gards- og ættesoga")
I'll try to get time to check what I can for the Bjelland farm later this evening (It is in the same book). But if Lars was born in 1865 - then Lisbet was his mother. But he had the same maternal grandparents as his siblings.....

When in doubt about dates, check the original church records!! It really isn't that difficult.

My great grandfather was Tolef Jakobsen Kviteberg who moved from Rosendal (I believe) to the island of Halsnøy in 1839. My genealogy search deadends with him, but I have visited the area three times and have substantial information on the subsequent family which I would share with you if you think there is a connection.
Tom Bie, Norfolk VA

Can you share a bit more.... when was 'Tolef Jakobsen' born? Who did he marry? Did he emigrate?

Tolef Jakobsen Kviteberg married Elizabeth Hansdatter Fugleberg. Don't know when. They bought a farm (Høylandsbygd) on the island of Halsnøy in 1839 and the family adopted the name, Hillestad. My grandfather was Jakob Tolefsen Hillestad, a boatbuilder on the site now occupied by a shipyard building oil rigs.

Born 1810 or so- second son of Jakob Davidson and Kari Jonsdotter, of 11 children. Married Lisbet Hansdotter (b. 1812) of Fugleberg, second daughter of Hans Larsson and Eli Knutsdotter, of 8 children in Hans' second marriage.
His given name is spelled Torleiv in one of the Kvinnherad bygdebøker and Tolleiv in another. The reference to that family on the Hillestad farm lists 10 children born, with at least two dying in infancy.
You can still buy the bygdebøker from the Kvinnherad kommune and the church records are excellent on LDS microfilm.

The names Kviteberg, Fugleberg and Hillestad all show up in the records I have. Would you tell me where I can access, or buy, the bygdebok you referred to? Many thanks.


_Tom Bie (great grandson of Tolef Kviteberg)

The Kvinnherad books are available for use in the LDS library in Salt Lake City.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.a...
They may also be in the collections of several other libraries, such as the University of North Dakota (http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library/Collections/Famhist/) or the University of Minnesota. Other libraries to check - the Vesterheim collection or the Norwegian-American Historical Association.
If you get the publication details for the volume you'd like to see - you can also make efforts to borrow the book by inter-library loan through your local public library.
Kviteberg and Fugleberg farm histories appear to be included in volume 2 of the series of books, and Hillestad in volume 5.