Kristi Knudsdr (1807-1884)

Knudsdr, Knudsdtr, and Knudsdatter are three ways that her name was written. Using the patronymic naming system, she took her father’s name. Because she was a girl, she had a “daughter” suffix attached. Since her dad as Knud, she was Knud’s daughter or Knudsdr. How the “daughter” suffix was spelled depended on who was writing down the records.

Kristi Knudsdr was born in 1807 in the Hallingdal Valley of Norway. Her parents were Knud Olson and Barbra Ellingsdatter Garnås. Kristi was the seventh of the eleven children of the couple. She had siblings Aase. Agate, Anne, Elling, Elling, Kristi, Ole, Magrethe, Ole, and Knud. Her infant sister Kristi was born and died less than a year before Kristi was born. Her parents had already lost other children too. Infant mortality was a reality for people in the Hallingdal Valley during those times.

Kristi was baptized in Nes, Buskerud, Norway, on 23 Aug 1807. While we may tend to think of our ancestors living in relative isolation, that was not the case. Kristi was only one of 200 babies baptized in the Nes Parish in 1807. That parish covered several localities including the Nes local parish, Flå local parish, Gol local parish and Hemsedal local parish.

Kristi was born near the beginning of a population explosion. Despite infant mortality, the number of people in Norway doubled from about 900,000 in 1800 to 1,800,000 in 1865.

Kristi was confirmed in the Lutheran faith on 24 Jul 1825 at Gol. Like her classmates, she was rated good for Christianity and diligence. She was also listed as vaccinated. Well, with the help of Google translate, I think that is what the record is telling us.

When she was born, Kristi’s family lived at Gårnas which was located between Nesbyn and Gol. At the time of her confirmation, the family was living in the Viko or Vicko farm near Gol. The Gol stave church, or stavkyrkje, where Kristi was baptized is no longer in Gol. It has been moved to a museum in Oslo. The church was built sometime between 1157 and 1216 and in use until about 1880 when the city decided to build a new church. A preservation society bought the remnants of the original church and rebuilt it in the museum.

Kristi Knudsdr married Stengrim Halvorsen on Monday, 7 Nov 1825, at Nes, Buskerud, Norway.

They had eleven children.

1. Barbo Stengrimdtr was born in Nes, Buskerud, Norway on 29 Sep 1826. She was baptized there on 29 Oct 1826. She married Helge Asleson Bergsie on 2 Jan 1849 in Buskerud, Norway. Barbo died in Walcott, Richland, North Dakota, in 1906 at the age of 79.
2. Anne Stengrimsdatter was born in Nes, Buskerud, Norway on 20 Dec 1828. She was baptized there on 28 Dec 1828.
3. Margit Steengrimsdatter was born in Nes, Buskerud, Norway on 17 Dec 1831. She was baptized there on 5 Jan 1832. Margit died in Norway in 1907 at the age of 75.
4. Halvor Stemson was born in Norway on 14 Feb 1835. He was baptized in Gol, Buskerud, Norway on 22 Mar 1835. He married first to Ingeborg Myraset. She died. He then married Birgit Nilsdtr Lostegaard on 21 Apr 1864 at Gol, Buskerud, Norway. They immigrated to America. Halvor died in Lansing, Mower, Minnesota on 8 Apr 1927, at the age of 92. He was buried in Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church Cemetery, Austin, on 12 Apr 1927.
5. Barbro Stengrimsdatter was born in Nes, Buskerud, Norway on 19 Apr 1837. She was baptized there on 4 May 1837.
6. Guri Stengrimsdatter was born in Gol on 11 Apr 1840. She was baptized there on 3 May 1840. She married Tor Olsen on 9 May 1880, in Gol, Buskerud, Norway. Guri died in Hallingdal in 1922 at the age of 81.
7. Aasa Stengrimsdatter was born in Gol on 26 Sep 1841. She was baptized there on 17 Oct 1841. Aasa died in Norway in 1912 at the age of 70.
8. Kari Stengrimsdatter was born in Gol on 24 Jun 1844. She was baptized in Gol on 14 Jul 1844. Kari married Knute Knudsen Lestrud on 23 Apr 1872 in Buskerud, Norway Kari died in Olmsted, Minnesota, on 10 Jul 1910, at the age of 66. She was buried in Red Oak Grove Lutheran Cemetery, Austin, Mower, Minnesota.
9. Knut Stemson was born in Gol on 24 Oct 1849. He married first to ______ Hukkee about 1870 in Adams, Mower, Minnesota. She died. He then married Bertha Andersdatter Dahle on 25 Aug 1873 in Adams, Mower, Minnesota. He died in Dawson, Lac qui Parle, Minnesota, on 4 Sep 1924, at the age of 74. Knut was buried at Grace Lutheran Cemetery in Dawson.
10. Thora Stengrimsdatter was born in Gol on 2 Oct 1854. She was baptized in Gol on 15 Oct 1854. Thora married Osten Henriksen Brabant in Norway. Thora died in Nes, Hallingdal, in 1947 at the age of 92.
11. Magrethe Stengrimsdatter was born in Gol on 2 Oct 1854. She was baptized in Gol on 15 Oct 1854. She married Helge Olsen on 13 Nov 1879, in Gol, Buskerud. Magrethe died in Nes, Hallingdal.

Kristi was widowed in 1870. She was living at Gampebakken, Gol, Buskerud, Norway when the census was taken there in 1875. Her daughters Guri and Aasa, and grandson Stengrim lived in her household.

Kristi Knudsdr died in 1884. That is what some family historians say anyway. This researcher has not been able to find her burial record to prove it though. We know she was alive in 1875 when the census was taken. She was 68-years old then. By 1884, she would have been 77-years old.

Where is she in the tree?

Where can I learn more?

The Stemson Family

Selected Sources:

“Norway profile – Timeline,” BBC News, 19 Apr 2018 (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17746861 : accessed 7 May 2019)

“Norwegian language,” Wikipedia (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language#Dano-Norwegian : accessed 7 May 2019).

Arkivverket Digitalarkivet (Norway), Buskerud fylke, Nes, Ministerialbok nr. 5 (1787-1807), Fødte og døpte 1799, side 196-197 (http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20060127050296.jpg : accessed 7 May 2019); digital images, Arkivverket Digitalarkivet.

Arkivverket Digitalarkivet (Norway), Stengrim Halvorsen death and burial, SAKO, Gol kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0003: Parish register (official) no. I 3, 1863-1875, p. 277 ( http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20051116041187.jpg : accessed 7 May 2019); digital images, Arkivverket Digitalarkivet.

Arkivverket Digitalarkivet (Norway), Halvor Stengrimsen, 1801 Census, Gol sogn, RA, Folketelling 1801 for 0616P Nes prestegjeld, 1801, s. 137b-138a, p. 138 ( http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20090806630324.jpg : accessed 20 May 2019); digital images, Arkivverket Digitalarkivet.

Arkivverket Digitalarkivet (Norway), Kristi Knudsdr confirmation; 24 Jul 1825 ( http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20060130010476.jpg : accessed 12 Sep 2019); digital images, Arkivverket Digitalarkivet.

John A. Yilek, History of Norway (Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2018), p. 158.

Marcus Ramberg [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], Photo of Gol Church in winter.

Arkivverket Digitalarkivet (Norway), Kristi Knudsdr, 1875 census (http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20110110410013.jpg and http://urn.digitalarkivet.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-ft20110110410014.jpg : accessed 4 Sep 2019), pages 380-1; digital images, Arkivverket Digitalarkivet.