Norwegian Connections From The Artic Fjord To The American Prairie Genealogy

Description

Norwegian Connections
From Arctic Fjord to American Prairie
Author: Jacobson, Judy
Volume  totaling
268
pages. Book is in new  condition.  Per  the publisher.
As she has done in a number of her other publications (e.g.,
Southold  (Long Island) Connections
, and
Detroit  River Connections
), genealogist and librarian Judy Jacobson has  universalized an individual family history by giving it broader significance as  an example of settlement patterns. In this case, her focus is upon her husband’s  Norwegian ancestors, the Jacobsons, and others who left the Arctic circle  fishing communities like Arberg, Harstad, Moen, and Fredriksberg, commencing  with the outbreak of the American Civil War, for homesteading and other  opportunities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and other states of the Great Plains.  Although many Norwegians emigrated for religious and political reasons, the  author reminds us economic dislocation in Norway–owing to the uncertainties of  the fishing and mercantile industries–reached such proportions that  approximately 200,000 Norwegians emigrated in the 1880s. By the turn of the  century, Norwegians represented the largest ethnic group among the 183,000  persons living in North Dakota.
After providing the reader with ample background on the history  of Norwegian immigration, Mrs. Jacobson turns to her principal objective: to  record the genealogies of families from the Arctic fjords. In this context, she  sheds light upon the unusual naming practices that make identifying Norwegian  ancestors difficult. For example, Norwegian children typically did not take  their father’s surname, and surnames were in fact derived from the father’s  given name. This phenomenon helps to explain why the book ends with a given-name  index and a surname index (as well as with indexes of subjects and place names).  This important lesson in Norwegian onomastics is followed by detailed  genealogical and biographical accounts, drawn from primary and secondary  sources, of the following families: Eide, Eidissen, Erichsen, Frostad, Gjertsen,  Hemmingsen, Ingebrigtsen, Jacobson, Johansen, Pedersen, Rasmussen, Sagan,  Seversen, and Simonsen. Rounding out this fascinating volume are illustrations  of various Norwegian communities of origin, several genealogical appendices, and  an extensive list of sources.
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