Lars Alvaldsen Stole

Etne-soga by Ståle Dyrvik, vol IV "Folket. Stødle sokn" p 173 Stødle item 46j Sørheim p 198-9 item 34

GEDCOM Note

Came to America from Etne, Hordaland, Norway, via the Norwegian port of Bergen, July 23, 1878 (my grandmother's notes say 1869, but this is disproven by both ship passenger records and the birth dates of Lars' children, which my grandmother never knew of), landing at New York City. The family was transported on a ship owned by the National Line, for a fare of 2,000 kroner.

Lars later moved to Morris, Saratoga Township, Grundy County, Illinois. According to my grandmother, he later turned his son Otis over to a foster parent, John O. Larson of Norway, and his daughter Emma was also adopted out, though to whom is unknown. However, ship passenger records do not show either Otis or Emma, so it's likely that they arrived on another ship with John O. Larson.

Lars' wife Anna died during the Atlantic crossing, while under a 2 week quarantine off the coast of New York. Lars later remarried in Illinois, to Betsey Thompson. When Lars died, Betsey moved away, leaving no marker on his grave.

Lars was a fisherman. He was conscripted into the Swedish Navy as a youth, according to my grandmother's notes. However, it has been subsequently determined, from recently discovered new data, that most of my grandmother's data seems to have been erroneous, so it may well be that Lars was i Norwegian Navy, rather than that of Sweden.

The 1880 census of Kendall County, Illinois shows Lars as being born in Norway.

"Norwegian Churches Combined Baptism and Confirmation Records In Family Groups" (http://www.rootsweb.com/ilkendal/ChurchRecords/NorwegianLutheranRec...) shows that Lars, who belonged to a Norwegian Lutheran church in Kendall County, had a son named Alvard Stole/Stolle. This was unknown to my grandmother. The 1880 census also shows that Lars and Anna had several other children that my grandmother didn't know of. This is understandable when you consider that Otis was adopted out of the family at 16 and probably lost all contact with his siblings and parents afterward. It's a wonder my grandmother even knew of Lars Stole. It is odd, though, that Otis wouldn't recall his other siblings, or wouldn't pass on his knowledge of them.

The church Lars and Betsey attended was most likely Bethlehem Lutheran, in Morris, which is the nearest to where they lived.

According to the 1880 Census, Lars lived in Big Grove. Also, according to the 1880 census, both of Lars' parents were born in Norway. The census gives his children as John (20), Oliver [Alvard] (5), Ellen (18), Mary (15), Malinda (7), and Sarah (2) living with them was Lars' mother-in-law, Anna Sorenson, age 67, a widow. All were listed as born in Norway and Lars' parents were also shown as being born in Norway. Otis and Emma are not listed, as they had been adopted out.

Hidden in plain sight in Lars' name is the likely name of his father: Alvald Stole. This would be consistent with the patronymic naming tradition, as well as with the fact that he named one of his sons Alvald, as well.