Ancestry Magazine

From the time I filled out my first family tree for a homework assignment in second grade, I knew two things: I was Norwegian, and I liked learning about my family. Fortunately, one of my grandmother’s aunts—Aunt Bertye—was still with us and never ran out of family history to share. One day when I was 15, I sat down with 94-year-old Aunt Bertye, a box of old photos, and a tape recorder, and I had her identify as many people in the pictures as she could. Bertye was able to recognize the people in most of the photographs, with one exception.

The mystery photo was a picture of three older men and one woman and had been taken in Norway. Aunt Bertye was quite sure one gruff-looking man was her grandfather, Torkel Gulliksen; she thought the woman might be her grandmother, Dorthea. The two men in the back were anyone’s guess. The individuals remained unidentified for about 20 years.

I knew that Torkel, Dorthea, and their children had immigrated to the U.S. in 1882. However, Torkel and Dorthea never made the transition to American life and returned to Norway in 1896, leaving their children in the States. Bertye remembered fondly that they gave a doll to each of their grandchildren before leaving. Sometime before 1913, Torkel died in Norway and Dorthea returned to America to be with her children.

Still, I wanted to know more and I’d always hoped to connect with distant cousins, so in 2002 I posted a message on RootsWeb mentioning that I was researching Torkel’s family in Norway. It took two years, but eventually I received an e-mail from a Danish man named Lars. He was a descendant of one of Torkel’s brothers.

I e-mailed a copy of my mystery photo to Lars, thinking he might find it interesting. I was amazed when he e-mailed back a copy of the exact same photo, although, as he pointed out, the corners on his weren’t bent.

Who did Lars think the people in the photo were? We agreed on Torkel. But according to Lars, who had sent me a fantastic photograph of Torkel and Dorthea that proved the woman in the mystery photo couldn’t be Dorthea, the woman was actually Torkel’s youngest sister, Sofie.

As for the men in the back, Lars had other photos of one of them, but without labels. All he knew was that his photos were taken in Holmstrand, Norway. I searched for more information on Torkel’s siblings. Through census and church records available through the Norwegian Digital Archives, I learned that one brother, Christian, had moved to Holmstrand.

Lars identified the last man as another brother, Gunder. Interestingly enough, I learned that Gunder immigrated to the U.S. in 1871, and I found in the Minnesota Historical Society death index that he died in Minnesota in 1920.

Had Gunder gone back to Norway for a visit? A check of New York passenger lists revealed that Gunder Nygaard, 63, of Canby, Minnesota, arrived in New York City on 18 September 1906 on the ship Hellig Olav after visiting Norway. As far as I can determine, this was the only time he went back.

With all of this information, Lars and I dated the mystery photo to approximately 1906. From church records, I learned that Torkel and Christian died within three years of the time this photo was taken.

I also discovered something else: this mystery photo, which I originally had little hope of ever identifying, was a record of the final reunion of siblings who had been separated for decades.