Welcome

Welcome to my genealogical website. Here you will find the entire text of my book on the Norwegian settlers in the Manitowoc County area of Wisconsin, entitled Manitowoc-skogen, and my research on a number of families in the United States, Canada, Norway, and Great Britain. If you find this site and the information presented here useful, please leave a comment or contact me. Otherwise enjoy your visit.


Recent Updates or Additions


Last updated on November 10th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The family of Hans Syversen (1724-1767) and his wife Kari Nielsdatter (1833-1793), who farmed at Granum in Etnedal.

Continue reading about The Family from Granumsbergene in Etnedal

Last updated on April 25th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Jens Bjørnsen, who owned the farm Hovland in Lunner in Norway from 1726 to 1738. Descendants in the agnate line have used the surnames Antonsen, Berg, Bjerke, Bjerkek, Gilbertson, Gulbrandson, Herstuen, Johansen, Johnson, Moe, Molstad, Nauring, Sandvold, Stenberg, Sjøvold.

Continue reading about The Bjerke Family

Last updated on April 25th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Henrik Henriksen, who lived at the farm Spetalen in Stange in Norway in the 1740s.

Continue reading about The Rohne Family

Last updated on November 10th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Hans Syversen (1724-1767) and his wife Kari Nielsdatter (1733-1793), farmers at Granum in Etnedal in Valdres in Norway.

Continue reading about The Family from Granumsbergene in Etnedal

Last updated on April 21st, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Peder Pedersen (died 1727) and his wife Anne Olsdatter (d 1739), farmers at Rud in Nord-Aurdal in Valdres in Norway.

Continue reading about The Family from Rud in Nord-Aurdal

Last updated on April 25th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of John Bush (1790-1866) and his wife Mary Holden (1787-1862), natives of Lincolnshire in England. In the 1850s they emigrated to the United States and settled in Wisconsin, as did their three sons and their daughter Nancy.

Continue reading about The Bush Family

Last updated on April 24th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Pierre Vaillant (died 1735) and his wife Jeanne Faucheux (died 1721), of the Parish of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade in Quebec. The family members who settled in Frontenac County, Ontario, in the first half of the 1800s changed the name to Vallier.

Continue reading about The Vallier Family

Last updated on April 20th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The family of Charles Vallier and his wife Mary Sophia Gee (died 1899), who immigrated from Ontario to Wisconsin in 1855, and moved to South Dakota about 1879.

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Last updated on April 20th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

This ancestral chart includes lines of descent in these families:

From Belgium: Stache, Maccoux, Bodart, Desjardins, Wolput, Moureau, Faucomont, Ralet
From Canada: Gagnon, Brunette, Bisson, Grignon, Pelligore, de Langlade
From Germany: Stein, Weyand
From New England: Chesley, Ames, Rider, Lowell

Continue reading about A Stache Ancestral Chart

Last updated on April 26th, 2011 by Robert A. Bjerke

The descendants of Robert Dowie (1816-1871) and his wife Jane Bellonby (1814-1881), who emigrated from Gateshead, County Durham, to Kingston, Ontario, about 1848.

Continue reading about The Dowie Family