born approximately 1837 & 1833, respectively.

married approximately 1860 in Norway, I would guess.

immigrated to the USA in 1870's with their two children, Caroline and Ragnhild, born 1870 & 1871, respectively.

they had one girl, Olive, born 1891, in Chicago.

the information I have found is through US census online and 2 death certificates (for Jens and Karen).

I would love to get in touch with relatives, or anyone who might have more information on the origins of the family (I have no idea where in Norway they were from).

Thanks!

Karen was born 1833 and had a baby 1891, when she was 58? Is that your information?

i know- it sounds unbelievable, but according to all the census, that's what it says. i have nothing else to go on, no other information. i have searched digitalarkivet with no luck.

The 1900 US census lists that the daughters, Caroline and Ragnild, were also born in Norway and all four of those born in Norway in the family list that they immigrated to this country in 1875.
For birthdays they each list
Jens - March 1836
Karen - Dec 1832
Caroline - Aug 1869
Ragnild - Jun 1871
Karen indicates that she has been married for 40 years has had 7 children and 5 of them are still alive as of the date that census was taken.
The more details that can be provided - the better the chances to find WHERE in Norway they came from.

Have you located any obituaries? Checked for church records where they may have been members of the Chicago congregation?

A woman named Karen married to a man named Jens in the 1865 Norwegian census - a possibility worth your time to check further.
http://www.rhd.uit.no/folketellinger/ftliste_e.aspx?ft=1865&...

thank you for your post- actually, you pointed out something i missed (i'm a novice!)... i did not notice that Karen had 7 children, of who 5 are still alive, according to the 1900 census.

i do have the death certificates for karen, jens and caroline.

census says caroline was born in 1869, although her death certificate says 1870.

census says karen born was born in 1832, although her death certificate says 1833.

karen's death certificate also lists her parents as born in sweden- the link you sent me from the norwegian census lists parents born in norway, and the name is olsen, not berg.

i am not sure about which church they attended in chicago, if any. according to jens death certificate, he moved to chicago in 1894.

i am so appreciative at any help or direction- i seem to have run into a wall, and was not really sure where to go from here, but you have given me some ideas.

thank you!

you're making me wonder if olive was karen's child, even though the census lists her as such. perhaps she was an illegitimate child of one of karen and jens' children?

I have checked up Jens Olsen from Kragerø. Given names and ages match, but he is still there in 1875 census: http://www.rhd.uit.no/folketellinger/ftliste.aspx?ft=1875&am...
And there are no little daughters in 1875.

Ole Theodor's confirmation in 1881 http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=4805&i...
Ole Theodr has taken in use Bjordam as a family surname in 1900 census: http://digitalarkivet.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&am...
I haven't found Jens Olsen in 1900 census.

thank you, but it is a jens berg i am looking for, not jens olsen (but i admit i am confused about how norwegian surnames came from the farm or locality of the individual, so perhaps you are correct with the name olsen?).

i have found jens berg and karen thorsen in the american census' from 1875 to 1920, and i have also discovered that they had a total of 7 children, thanks to thoraway! i now found most of, if not all, of the 7 children in the usa census'.

Jens would have had a patronymic name like Olsen, Larsen, Hansen, (something ending in sen/son) - Berg is a farm name where he or earlier his family would have had history. Unfortunately Berg, and its spelling variations is quite common for farms all over Norway so it doesn't help narrow the field.

You can learn about Norwegian naming patterns and practices.
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/na12.html
http://www.nndata.no/home/jborgos/names.htm
http://www.norwayheritage.com/norwegian-names.htm
http://www.nndata.no/home/jborgos/farms.htm

Where in the US did you find the family in a 1875 census? The 1910 and 1920 US censuses also listed immigration year - what was the year info in those?

What were the names and birthyears (at least approximate) of the other children born to this couple?