The MOHN Family (pronounced like ‘Joan’)
Click for PDF of Mohn Family Tree (30MB+)
This is a page containing info and links for the MOHN family tree. The four families that contribute directly to my generational mix include Mohn, Gunderson, Nelson, Mallery. Within those are many cousin families, including just to name a few,
Bassett, Brock, Christie, Errington, Essington. The Mohn and Gunderson families shared a common relationship in that both those families, among others, make up assorted families that were born and lived in and around the Eidsvoll parish near Christiania (Oslo), Norway. They also share a common time-table for their immigration to the U.S. and all settled generally around the New Market area of S.E. Scott County, MN in the mid 1800s. The Nelson family immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s from Denmark and settled in the Greenvale Twshp area of Dakota County, MN. The Mallery family arrived in the U.S. the earliest of all these families, arriving around the 1630s, and have seen 8+ generations of Mallerys in America. Our branch of the Mallerys originated in Connecticut and has progressed through New York state, Indiana, and eventually to Minnesota in the early 1800s settling in the Eureka Twshp area of Dakota County. Norweigan Naming (the “Gard”) The gard (farm) was the basic unit of the old Norwegian society. We can define a gard as a geographical unit where one or several families lived. Most of the people also had their work at the gard where they lived. For Americans searching family in Sogn og Fjordane (and generally in Norway), the use of gard names as family names may cause problems. Up to around 1890 the gard names were not only family names, but more often they were used as addresses. If for instance a boy was baptized Ole and the name of the father was Anders, he became Ole Andersson (son of Anders). A girl baptized Anne with a father named Anders, became Anne Andersdotter (daughter of Anders). If the parents of Ole, at the time of Ole’s birth, lived at the gard Hovland, Ole would be known as Ole Andersson Hovland. Hovland denoting the place (gard) where Ole lived. If Ole later on moved and settled at another gard, for instance at Moen, he would be known as Ole Andersson Moen. Moen then becoming his new family name and address. In this way a person could change his address (and family name) many times during a lifetime. This practice is often bewildering for Americans searching family in Norway, having a specific gard name as a starting point for the research. When the parson or the harbor authorities in Norway wrote down the name of an emigrant, they mostly included the gard name (address) at the time of departure. A person living most of his life at a gard called Hovland, but living at the time of emigration at the gard Moen, would have been put down in the church records as leaving from Moen. A problem may occur when the immigrant coming to America took another gard name as family name than shown in the passenger lists. A person emigrating as a Natvik (gard in Årdal) might in America become an Offerdal (another gard name in Årdal). This change could depend on the time a person had lived on a gard, or he might choose as his permanent family name in America the name of the gard he was born at.
We know in Norway there was a long tradition for people who moved away from their birthplace to take on that placename as their “last name.” Mohn-Moen is likely to have been such a place-name.
The name “Moen” means (more or less) “the place clear of pines” i. e. the clearing, the meadow, the field, a place where no trees grow, sort of like a heath. As important to the meaning of the word is the letter “n” in the name. It is used in Norwegian like we use “the. According to some, the literal translation for “moen” is mo = heath, en = the, OR “the heath.”
heath (hēt̸h) …noun
Etymology: ME hethe < OE hæth, akin to Ger heide, wasteland, heath < IE base *kaito-, forested or uncultivated land > Welsh coed, forest.
- a tract of open wasteland, esp. in the British Isles, covered with heather, low shrubs, etc.; moor
- any plant of the heath family; esp., any of various shrubs and plants (genera Erica and Calluna) that grow on heaths, as heather
There are many places in Norway called Moen for example Lillmoen, Stormoen and of course Gardemoen the aiport in Oslo.
EIDSVOLL BYGDEBOKER (excerpt from Tonsaker Farm history, Moen sub-farm)
MOEN 1) Ola Olsen, born 1787 and married to Berte Larsdtr, br 1837- about 1860. Was probably of the old cottar’s family at Moen (about 1770 Sven, 1801 Ola Svensen) and had self used the place in(side) long time before he 2/10.1837 got deed at the property for 270 dalar. Took mortgage deed at the magistrate Borchsenius for 150 dalar. 29/9.1837 contract of division with sale at A-2: to the sold share of farm follows the place Moen with påstående house and it inngjerdte area which of alders time has tilhørt the. It consists of of Nordløkka, which courage east støter to bygdevien, courage south to Sandholts fields, courage west to N. Tynsåks hageeng and courage north to Isle.s; Søløkka, courage east to bygdevien, courage south to Isle.s small leased farm house (Berget), courage west and north to the mentioned hageengene; Slettløkka, as in east, west and north bounded by Isle.s property. Thereto spans the property a piece of selgerens slåtthagen and havneløkka to A-2. –2) Ole Olsen, well son or son-in-law to 1), born 1833 and married to Karen Gurine Olsdtr, br to 1869, then he sold for 400 dalar to Christian Olsen in(side) Nordstun. Thereafter croft to Nordstun until the property 1941 blevsolgt to: 3) title for highest rank of secondary school teacher Henrik Olaf Grimeland of Naustdal in(side) Sunnfjord, born 1883. Has begun to use the farmland, but yet not travelled house or got herd.
Family Tree PDF
The above link will open a page to view a PDF of the Family Tree oriented around showing the direct chain of descendants and ancestors, as best derived to date. Also included are limited branches showing sibling and cousin relationships for the most recent generations. Size is 24×48 inches (file size is appx 31MB, so will load slow).
MohnFamilyDatabase (MAY NOT BE CURRENT)
The above link will take you to a full Family Tree website where you will be able to register and be given access to make additions and corrections to an ever expanding tree. All such changes and additions are incorporated into a single master file.
Navigating and Making Changes/Additions to Family Data
LOGIN
From the GEDCOM Site you will see some summaries of the family data as well as optional links on top. The first thing you will need to do is Login to the site, which is located at the top-middle of the page. If you have an account, you may enter your username and password to login. If you do not have an account, you will also see an option to “Request a New User Account.”
For new user accounts, once the required information is entered you will get a confirmation message and then an email asking you to “confirm” your request. Once done, the administrator will still need to approve the new user account. Once the admin has approved, you may login.
NAVIGATING
Once you log into the site, you will default to a “MyGedView Portal” page or the “Welcome Page.” The “MyGedView Portal” page may be customized by each user to show differing data if preferred by clicking the “Customize MyGedView Portal” under the welcome in the upper-right.
Clicking on any individual’s record will display the specific data for that person. You can also use the search in the upper-right corner to locate a starting person. There are various optional views for any person, including “Personal Facts and Details” or “Close Relatices.” For ease you can press “All” to view all. If a change is needed, go to the “Options for Individual” box in the middle of the page. “Edit” lists various editing options. “Quick Update” will allow you to edit all data for a person at once, which is easiest. The change will be visible in the record once the Admin approves each change made.
ADDING A PERSON
Go to an individual’s record that is a close relation (i.e. father, mother, son, daughter) and click on the “Close Relative” option. You will now see options for adding a new father or mother (near top) or a new child (near bottom of child list). There are additional edit options at the bottom of this page.
