Author Archives: Eric
Panoramas of Highland, Big Canoe, Hauge & Iowa River Lutheran Churches
On a recent sunny afternoon I took some panoramic photos at some local cemeteries. Some are pretty quiet but thanks to everyone in the community they are all well-maintained. Click and drag in the windows to change your view, and … Continue reading
Norwegian-language family relationship diagram
Universitetet i Bergen posted this really helpful family relationship chart showing almost all conceivable relations, including in-laws and half-siblings. There’s no translation provided, but the point of the chart is that you won’t need it.
1940 census now indexed and searchable
A legion of FamilySearch.org volunteers have manually indexed the 1940 census line by line to come up with a searchable database of the census records. Though the entire country has not (as of today) been completely indexed, Minnesota and Iowa … Continue reading
1966: ‘Ghost town’ of Quandahl auctioned for $15,330
A once-thriving village nestled into the Bear Creek valley, Quandahl’s history followed the path of so many other small country towns in the mid 20th century, except for how it ended: On an early October morning in 1966, the entire village … Continue reading
Visit your Norwegian ancestors’ farms without leaving home
Nothing can match the experience of traveling to Norway to visit the towns and farms where your ancestors were born and from where they emigrated, but you can now get a 360-degree drive-by view of many of those places through … Continue reading
Panoramic photo of Decorah c1908
Brunt & Parman, a wholesale and retail pharmacy in Decorah, commissioned this panoramic photo around 1908. The pharmacy produced and sold postcards and other photographic products. Founded by Isaac W. Brunt and E. J. Parman in 1893, the pharmacy operated … Continue reading
Bear Creek Woolen Mill and Highland grave mystery revealed
Reader Randy Freese asked about a lonely tombstone on a scenic bluff over North Bear Creek. The grave site provides a broad view over Bear Creek valley and the site of the former Bear Creek Woolen Mill, which was founded … Continue reading
Hauge Lutheran Church: World War II Service Roll
This Memorial Day, NorwegianRidge.com will honor the WWII service members from Hauge Lutheran Church; fortunately, it seems that all came home from the war. The list below has been transcribed from a framed poster in the basement of the church. … Continue reading
Twister strikes Canoe & Highland in June 1906
On the night of Wednesday, June 6, 1906, a tornado ripped across Winneshiek and Houston counties, and extended its range of destruction into La Crosse and western Wisconsin. Two were killed near Caledonia. A spate of storms causing unprecedented damage … Continue reading
Slideshow: Hauge Lutheran Church, Canoe Township
Slideshow: Hauge Lutheran Church, Canoe Township Continue reading
1940 census images released
The National Archives has released photographic images of all census forms collected in April 1940. Census records, by law, are released 72 years after collection, and the images are now available to download. FamilySearch.org has an indexing project that will … Continue reading
Ole Rynning’s True Account of America, 1838
Based upon his travels in America in June of 1838, Ole Rynning’s True Account of America (Sandfærdig Beretning om Amerika) gave practical information and courage to thousands of Norwegian peasants who were curious about their chances in another country. It was the … Continue reading
Must-read social history of pre-emigration life in Norway
Between Rocks and Hard Places by Ann Urness Gesme is a social history of the Norwegian farmers who made up the bulk of emigrants to America. Focusing on the Norwegian period of their lives makes this book uniquely informative and … Continue reading
Path to citizenship for the generation of immigrants
Information about naturalization, while not usually a treasure trove for a genealogist, can be helpful in confirming or discovering a few facts: the county where an ancestor lived (especially helpful during the years between censuses), their year of immigration, and … Continue reading
Free genealogy lookups available
The Decorah Genealogy Association has an excellent library of local resources, but I also have a pretty good library of books on subjects related to Norwegian genealogy, such as Norwegian local histories (bygdeboks), printed collections of church records, and historical … Continue reading
