Jill's Genealogy Journey

Stories, Discoveries & Tips

Evelyn Frances Fjerstad

mtDNA – Part 2

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I finally ran the mtDNA test on my dad. This test looks at the maternal line and can be run on everyone, not just women. You might recall that I was able to hook into others’ research when I ran this test on my mom: https://jillholman.com/genealogy/marie-marguerie-and-mtdna/

No such luck this time – we don’t have any close matches yet (genetic distance = 0). And among the matches we do have, there is no agreement on earliest known ancestor, nor anything in common in trees that I can find. And of course there are a lot of missing trees. Hopefully more cousins will test and provide tree information back several generations so we can make progress here soon. (You might also recall that this family is tricky for traditional document research and we have had a bit of a brick wall for years: https://jillholman.com/genealogy/john-margaret-williams/)

So our maternal line back from Margaret Emma Jones is still a mystery for now.

Maternal line back from my dad

We can also learn a bit about our ancient ancestors from mtDNA. The T haplogroup is in the book The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. See the chapter on Tara.

For our ancestors, scientists currently believe the mitochondrial haplogroups evolved something like this:

  • L – Africa 192,400 years ago (Mitochondrial Eve)
  • L1-6 – 170,000 years ago
  • L3 – 71,600 years ago
  • N – 70,000 years ago
  • R – South Asia – 60,000 years ago
  • R2’JT – 55,000 years ago
  • JT – Near East/Europe – 50,000 years ago
  • T – 33,300 years ago
  • T2 – 23,800 years ago
  • T2b – 10,600 years ago
  • T2b24 – 7,500 years ago

For the earlier date estimations, check out figure 6 here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2694979/pdf/main.pdf

For the T date estimations, check out S2_fig here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118625

Resources

And remember, get your old people tested as soon as possible!

The Fjerstad Timeline

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Here is the most current and correct information for the Fjerstads now that a few more documents have surfaced.

Pete Fjerstad’s Ancestors
  • 5 Jan 1778 – Ole & Ingri marry Leikanger, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway (index)
  • 1801 – Povel & Christi & kids are in Leikanger, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway (census)
  • 26 Oct 1835 – Sjur Nilssen & Guri marry in Etne, Hordaland, Norway (marriage)
  • 2 Oct 1864 – Lasse born to Johannes Paulsen & Anna Lassedr in Balestrand, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway (baptism)
  • 13 Sep 1866 – Anna born Norway to Nils & Anna(death cert, 1900 census)
  • 1875 – Nels O Sjurson is in Martin, Rock, MN (census)
  • 8 Apr 1885 – Anna immigrated (emigration database)
  • 12 Apr 1886 – Lasse immigrated (emigration database)
  • 22 Nov 1889 – Lasse Fjerstad & Anna Jordahl married Arendahl, Fillmore, MN (marriage cert)
  • 14 Jan 1893 – Johannes Paulsen Fjarestad buried in Balestrand, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway (buriel)
  • 15 Jun 1893 – Anna immigrated (emigration database)
  • 1895 – Lars & Anna & baby Johan are with brother Ole & a mother Anna in Arendahl, Fillmore, MN (census)
Pic of Fjerstads1922
Amanda, her son, her husband, Anna holding Fran & Atchie circa 1922
  • 2 Oct 1895 – Pete b. Fillmore MN (grandma, death cert, draft card)
  • 2 Sep 1898 – Claire Fjerstad born Staples MN (funeral card, death cert)
  • 1900 – Lasse & Anna with 4 kids & brother Ole in Arendahl, Fillmore, MN (census)
  • 1910 – Louis & Anna with 6 kids in Brookings SD (census)
  • 7 Feb 1914 – Lars died
  • 1915 – Anna owned land in Hansonville (plat book)
  • 1917 – Pete farmed in Hendricks MN (draft card)
  • 1919 – Claire & Pete married Hendricks MN, she worked in a bank at the time (Fran & Margaret)
Pic of Fjerstads1922
Claire holding Fran
circa 1922
  • 1920 – Pete & Claire in Toronto, Deuel SD, he worked in a restaurant (census)
  • 1920 – Anna & 2 sons in Hansonville Lincoln MN (census)
  • 23 Jan 1920 – Frances Fjerstad born to Peter and Clair Deuel SD (birth cert)
  • 1930 – Pete & Claire in Yellow Medicine MN with 7 kids, he’s a car mechanic (census)
  • 1930 – Anna is with son Henry’s family in Saginaw, Saginaw, MI (census)
  • 1934 – Anna is in Mpls at 3853 44th Ave (city dir)
  • 16 Feb 1937 – Glen and Fran married in Milbank living in Ortonville MN (marriage cert)
Pic of Fjerstads1940
Fran & her father Pete
His mother Anna holding Fran’s son Boyd
Four Generations!
  • 1940 – Claire has 8 kids in Madison, Lac Qui Parle, MN (census)
  • 1940 – Pete is in the State Reformatory in St Cloud (census)
  • 1940 – Anna is with Bert and Harold & 2 kids on 44th Ave (census)
  • 1942 – Pete is in Madison, Lac Qui Parle, MN (WWII draft card)
  • 8 May 1950 – Anna is with daughter Bertha’s family in Brooklyn, Hennepin, MN (census)
  • 7 Jun 1950 – Anna dies Hennepin MN (death cert)
  • 30 Aug 1951 – Claire dies St Paul MN, marriage box says separated (funeral card, death cert)
  • 23 Jan 1968 – Glen Holman dies Hennepin Co MN (death cert)
  • 2 Aug 1974 – Pete dies Hennepin MN (death cert)
  • 17 May 2002 – Fran dies Hennepin Co MN (death cert)
  • (As always, there are no details about living descendants to protect their privacy.)
Pic of Fjerstads1941
“Fjerstad Brats August 24, 1941”
(that was written on the back)
L-R back: Fran, Robert, Margaret, Lorraine
front: Paul, Mary Ann, Dick, Dean, Jody


 
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Appreciation for an Old Photograph

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Four Generations Photo
Claire, Pete holding Fran, Atchie & Margaret seated
circa 1921


Okay a little description . . . this photograph has been through the wringer! It is bent and torn in several places. There are numerous spills, discolorations and even some thumbprints. There are two thumbtack holes. There are stains and specks and smudges. One corner is very mangled and three corners are missing and it looks like another part of it is going to break off at any moment!


So there it is in all it’s pathetic glory! I’m so grateful that it has made it to me! It is pretty old, from about 1921 or 1922. (Margaret died the end of 1923, so it could not have been taken after that. ) It is a four-generations picture, so that is valuable and it has clearly been through a lot in the past 90 years.


Okay here’s the full old-photograph analysis . . .

  • The coloring is quite yellow and the surface shiny.
  • The size of the original is 3.75 inches x 6 inches.
  • Written on the back: Mom & Dad Fjerstad, Fran, Atchie & Atchie’s mom.
  • Fran looks to be about one or two years old, her mom was about 23, her dad was about 26, Atchie (May Williams was Claire’s mom) was about 46 and Margaret (Claire’s grandmother) was about 83 years old.
  • I’m not sure where it was taken. Fran was born in 1920 in Toronto, South Dakota and I know they moved around a lot between the towns on the border between South Dakota and Minnesota. So I’m not quite sure where they were at this exact moment. I’m guessing this picture was taken in front of the house where they lived because their clothes look pretty casual.

Does anyone else have any more information about this photo?

The Basic Facts:
Margaret (Emma) JONES WILLIAMS
b. 9 Jul 1838, Chester, England
d. 4 Dec 1923, Staples, Todd, MN
m. 31 Aug 1867, England
May (Atchie) (Mary E) WILLIAMS ATCHISON
b. 25 Dec 1875, Beaver Dam, Dodge, WI
d. 15 Dec 1971, Staples, Todd, MN (Mary Rondorf home)
m. 27 Oct 1897, Staples, Todd, MN
Claire (Clara) ATCHISON
b. 2 Sep 1898, Staples, Todd, MN
d. 30 Aug 1951, St. Paul, Ramsey, MN
& Peter Ole FJERSTAD
b. 2 Oct 1895, Amhurst, Fillmore, MN
d. 2 Aug 1974, Robbinsdale, Hennepin, MN
m. 1919, Hendricks, Lincoln, MN
Evelyn Frances FJERSTAD HOLMAN
b. 23 Jan 1920, Toronto, Deuel, SD
d. 17 May 2002, Brooklyn Center, Hennepin, MN
m. 16 Feb 1937, Milbank, Grant, SD

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