Maternal Ancestors
We are very distant cousins indeed, but descendants of Thor's maternal grandfather Aanund Torson can claim Queen Sonja of Norway as a relative through the Fjagesund family.
Check out the connection (pdf)
Aanund was born in Kviteseid, Telemark in 1799. He married Anne Knudsdtr NordTveiten in 1824. They had three children, but only Sissel survived to adulthood. Aanund remarried in 1840. He and his second wife, Margit, and their 3 children came to Houston County in 1853. It is believed that on May 27, 1853, they boarded the bark Johanne Marie in Porsgrunn, and arrived in Quebec July 21.From there, the typical route was on a Great Lakes steamer to Milwaukee or Chicago. For Aanund and his family, this would have been followed by an overland trek to Minnesota.
Aanund and his family settled in section 30, Sheldon Township, Houston County. Aanund suffered from rheumatism in the last decade of his life, and died in 1873. He is buried in the cemetery at Stone Church. His widow and their children relocated to Polk County in northwestern Minnesota shortly thereafter.Immigrant ship information provided by Amund & Margit's great-great-grandson Bruce Amundson It is worth noting that although Sissel and Mikkel lived close to her father in southern Minnesota, and Thor lived close to his first cousins when he resettled in McIntosh in Polk County, there does not appear to have been even an acknowledgement of that relationship. Indeed, a number of Aanund and Margit's descendants were completely unaware of Sissel's connection and/or whereabouts. Although Thor and his siblings maintained close contact with Hegland family cousins spread throughout the upper Midwest, that is clearly not true of Sissel's family. One must speculate that after her mother's death Sissel did not maintain a close relationship with her father, either in Norway or in America. Why? We will probably never know!
Thor Mikkelsen Hegland 1858-1945
Torger Hegland 1855-1934
Christi Hegland 1851-1938
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Mikkel Tarjeson (1811-1868) - Sissel Anundsdtr (1825-1917)
Sissel, Mikkel and their three children came to America in 1861.
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Aanund Torson (1799-1873) - Anne Knudtsdtr (1797-1837)
Aanund, 2nd wife Margit and their 3 children came to America in 1853
They were members of the Stone Church
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Aanund's Parents
Tor Anundson (1765-1828) - Sissel Sveinsdtr (1768-1835)
Anne's Parents
Knut Talleivson (1755-1830) - Margit Tjostovsdtr (1766-1856)
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Knut's Parents
Talleiv Savison (1716-1805) - Ingerid Knutsdatter (1713-1793)
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Margit's Parents
Tjostov Talleivson - Hege Tarjeisdtr
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Hege's Parents
Tarjei Savison - Sigrid Olavsdtr
Early Family History Drawn from Rygh's Norske Gaardnavne (Norwegian Farm Names) and other sources |
Records indicate that in 1510 Asgeir Talleivson leased some land on the farm Tveiten in Skafsa to Olav Tarjeison. There are a number of indicators (but as yet no confirmation) that Thor's grandmother, Anne Knudtsdatter N. Tveiten's family had been tied to this farm area for almost 300 years when she was born! |
Talleiv Savison Kvalen purchased the Barskortveiten farm from his brother-in-laws Jon Knutson and Jon Vaeting in 1754 for 372 riksdalars. Around 1786 Talleiv and Ingerid gave their son Knut Talleivson N. Tveiten the farm in exchange for a pension. |
