The Donald and Donella (Ueckert) Erstad Home PageUpdated May 8, 2009 |
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Donald B. Erstad
Box 84
Scranton, ND 58653
701:275-6101
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By using a bygdebok from Oksendalsora, along with valuable information shared by some of the Erstad relatives, I have been able to trace the Erstad side of the family back to the early 1700s. The book is in Norwegian so translating it a slow and painstaking process. Usually the names are listed by farm so that is how I found most of the ancestors. My great grandfathe Martinus Erstad came to the USA in the late 1800s and lived in northern Norman County in Minnesota. His youngest son Was Gunder who maried Nora Olson. She died when my father was two years old, and Gunder remarried Amanda Amundson. My father Miles was born in 1906 and died at Crookston, MN in 1975. I am also looking for information on any ancestors of Ben P. Benson who came from Sweden and settled in Grand Forks County of North Dakota near the town of Fordville. He married Evelina Carlson. They had eight children including Mae Benson who was my Mother, and lived in Crookston, Minnesota until her death on November 5, 1998. The reports that I have included on this page are far from complete and I am always looking for new information to include in them. Most of the information has been received from other relatives and I have tried to enter it as carefully as possible. If you find any mistakes or have additional information please contact me. Other names we are looking for are Ueckert, Trollope, Amunrud,and Rocksvold who are on my wife's side of the family. I would like to hear from anyone with information on these familys and would be happy to share any information that I have. In September of 2004 we traveled to Norway and visited Oksendal. While there we found the remains of the old house on the Erstad farm where my great great grandfather Nils Johanson Simonhjell lived with his family. He worked on the Erstad farm and had a very small piece of land where the house called Erstadosen stood. Eventually the entire family moved to the United States. Some of them took the Erstad name and some took the name of Nelson. Most of them ended up near Sundal in Norman County of Minnesota. Oksendal is a sub parish of Sundalsora in More og Romsdal County of Norway, and My great grandfather Martinus had a brother named Jacob who is credited with naming the township Sundal in Norman County, Minnesota. I have used the name Erstad as a point for reference to my family. Actually the names in the records in Norway would be somewhat different. It was sometimes customary for immigrants to use the name of the farm or community where they lived as a surname when they came to the USA. I believe my great grandfather Martinus lived in Decorah, Iowa as Nilsen and changed his name to Erstad when he moved to Minnesota. His brother Jacob used the name Erstad when he left Norway. Recently I have been contacted by a few relatives that have come across this web page. I am always anxious to hear from anyone that has any questions or additional information. |
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