, , , , , , , ,

Are Obituaries Always Accurate?

Published by

Laura Aanenson

on

My quest continues ~ I’m still searching for the descendants of my Norwegian and Swedish 4th great-grandparents. My focus this year is on those who left Scandinavia and settled in North America.

My Norwegian 4th great-grandparents Christian Tronson (1779-1852) and Gunvor Mortensdatter (1788-1875) had 10 known children. Several of the ten left Norway behind, immigrating to the Midwest United States.

Today is the anniversary of Peter Christian Peterson’s 1884 birth in Bremen Kansas. Peter is one of Christian’s and Gunvor’s great-grandsons.

1882 02-09 marriage record of Paul Peterson and Gurine Halvorson

Peter’s mother Gurina is a direct line descendant of Christian and Gunvor; she is their granddaughter. Listed as Guri Halvorsdatter in the 1865 Norwegian census for Sogndalstrand, her first name was later spelled a variety of ways in a variety of documents.

After Gurina’s husband died in 1913, his obituary listed her name as Regina and gave the wrong year for their marriage. Notice also, Paul’s obit says the couple has 10 children, Guri’s says 11. Thankfully clues exist elsewhere and a combination of those clues verify that Regina and Guri are one and the same, her marriage to Paul took place in 1882 and the couple had 11 children together.

Obituaries are one of my favorite genealogical tools, but the information they contain must be taken with a grain of salt. In the U.S., many important decisions related to a loved one’s death are made within a short period of time. Family members making those decisions are often struggling with personal grief and mistakes are inevitable.

So no, obituaries are not always accurate. However, they can be valuable resources in the search for information about immigration, relationships, maiden names, places of residence, occupations, memberships, and religious affiliations.

Peter Peterson’s father Paul Iver Peterson died 28 Aug 1913. His obituary (posted below) was printed in the [Marysville Kansas] Marshall County News on the 29th of August 1913. Peter’s mother Gurina died 30 Dec 1943. Her obituary (posted below) was printed in the [Marysville Kansas] Marshall County News on the 6th of January 1944.

*Sogndalstrand is pictured on this web site’s header.

2 responses to “Are Obituaries Always Accurate?”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hello!
    I came across your blog as I googled “Midland/Mysse Norway Genealogy”… I’m in the early stages of beginning my own ancestry… got a good start from my mom, & a few of her relatives in the past few decades. My mother’s father came to Chicago from Sweden in 1911, & after working a few years there, he moved to St. Joseph, MO. when the Midwest Furniture Factory opened (he was a furniture craftsman). He met my grandmother at a Lutheran Church picnic across the Missouri River about 45 minutes west – near the small town of Everest, KS., in Brown County. This is where my Norwegian great-grandparents had begun farming c. 1879 (great-grandfather Ben (Bernt)Torkelson & 2 older brothers all bought farms close to each other).

    Ben went back to Norway in 1888 & brought back his bride ion 1879, after he had built a “proper” wooden farmhouse. His bride was Gurine Tollaksdatter. What made me write to you is that Ben’s family farm was in Mydland, & Gurine’s family farm was in Mysse – just a few km away (on the other side of the ridge). So there is a unique “Mysse” tie there, church family in Sokndal, but they also settled in NE Kansas outside of Everest & Horton, Kansas… maybe 90 minutes east of where your ancestors settled, just a few years later. Interesting.

    My grandmother was Tilda Torkelson, born in 1891, oldest of their 9 children (6 survived). I took my own family by the Zion Lutheran Church north of Everest, the cemetery, where I had made several trips as a kid some 40-50 years earlier. My wife & I are planning on a Sweden/Norway trip in a few summers, & I was wanting to dig a bit deeper into both sides on my Mom’s ancestry. I did write many letters with a cousin, who told me about the Mysse/Mydland farms (she was from Mysse), & she was a teacher. But this was from the mid-1980s, & I sadly lost the letters I had received from her… I have a few photos of her sons, close to my age at the time. But the years have passed, and I’m retired – her sons are in their early 70s by now.

    Anyway, the names of “Mysse,” “Gurine” from the same Sokndal area, w a Kansas connection in America intrigued me to write to you. I have found out much more info about my Swedish grandfather, Karl Pettersson (Peterson) than my grandmother’s family. I do have research about both Gurine & Ben (Bernt) Torkelson going back to the 1780s… just wondering if perhaps we may share a cousin between our families?

    Thanks,
    Dave Cutting

    Like

    Reply
    1. Laura Aanenson Avatar
      Laura Aanenson

      Hi Dave,

      Thanks so much for writing! I read your comment with interest as the names and places match several people in my family tree. Would you please email me at where2look4ancestors@gmail.com? We can chat in greater detail there.

      Looking forward to connecting,

      Laura

      Like

      Reply

Share your thoughts below:

Hello,

I’m Laura

and I’m interested in all things genealogy. Join me as I continue my decades-long quest to learn more about my family history and the lives of my ancestors.

Recent posts