Blogging for Cousins

On July 17, 2013 I was on the way to Colorado with my daughter and two granddaughters when I idly checked my e-mail.  Just because I could.  (Love my smart phone!)  In awe I saw an e-mail from Anders in Norway.  While I am not sure, I believe that Anders is the grandson of Edit Hansen de Lange the daughter of my Great-grandfather Adolf Hansen and his second wife Nathalie Bull-Egeberg.  Eventually I hope to get it all figured out but for now it is enough to say that my Great-grandfather married twice and had two sets of children.  Four of the children from his first marriage (including my grandfather Adolph) immigrated to the United States in the 1890s/1900s.  His other children remained in Norway.  It has long been my wish to make contact with those still in Norway.  Now through the internet and blogging it is beginning to happen.

When Anders contacted me, he included some notices that Adolf had placed in a Norwegian newspaper in 1887 regarding the deaths of his wife Dorette and infant Aagot Dorette in June and July of that year.  I never knew about Aagot!  I knew that Dorette died in 1887 but did not know about the birth of the daughter Aagot.  While I have not found an exact translation for Aagot I am guessing it may be the equivalent of Agatha.  It doesn't really matter though, what is important is that I have a new Great-Aunt and I know where she and her mother are buried.

The goodies that Anders included with his e-mail included the history of Christ Cemetery in Oslo where Dorette and Aagot are buried.  I have found the burial records for Dorette and Aagot at the Norwegian Digital Archives and will attempt to determine Dorette's cause of death from there.  It is interesting that it appears that Aagot was not christened but there is a burial record for her.  Maybe she was so ill from birth that she was not predicted to survive.

Anders found my blog while searching for information on his Great-grandfather and has provided me with some important information about Adolf Hansen the Norwegian Composer.  The neat thing about blogging is that it is available where you are.  Without the internet I would not have been able to go as far as I have in my research.  Long live technology!