Erik Bergersen SANDER (c. 1739-1818)

Berger and Marte's son, Erik, was baptized early in the year 1739. Unfortunately my Norwegian isn't quite good enough to decipher exactly what date the document shown below indicates. Note the upper left hand corner. Ancestry.com (Norway, Select Baptisms, 1634-1927) has the date as 23 Jan 1739.


SAH, Grue prestekontor, Ministerialbok nr. 1, 1712-1748, s. 366-367.

Erik married Eli Sørensdtr Årstad, daughter of Søren Toresen Årstad and Marte Tostensdtr Fuglerud, on 25 Oct 1768 (outlined in red). This is also confirmed in the Brandval-Hokåsen bygdebok (Amundsen & Neskvern, 2012: 23).


SAH, Grue prestekontor, Ministerialbok nr. 2, 1749-1774, s. 411-412.

Eli was baptized on Septuagesima Sunday, the 9th Sunday before Easter in 1744. If my calculations are correct, that would have been on 2 Feb.


SAH, Grue prestekontor, Ministerialbok nr. 1, 1712-1748, s. 434-435.

They had at least two children, Brede (b. 7 Mar 1779) and Eli (b. 20 Apr 1789). Erik, his wife Eli, son Brede, and daughter Eli along with two servants are listed in the 1801 Norway Census. 

Eli, died c. 1809 and was buried 8 Jan 1809 (outlined in red).


SAH, Grue prestekontor, Parish register (official) no. 5, 1805-1814, p. 138-139.

Erik died ten years later on 8 Jan 1818 and was buried on 20 Jan (See entry #7).


SAH, Grue prestekontor, Ministerialbok nr. 6, 1814-1830, s. 102.

Eli Eriksdtr SANDER (1789- )

The Grue parish records show the birth and baptism of Erik and Eli's daughter, Eli Eriksdtr SANDER, on 26 Apr 1789 and 1 Jun respectively.


Hedmark fylke, Grue, Ministerialbok nr. 3 (1774-1792), Kronologisk liste 1789, side 456-457. Image courtesy of Digitalarkivet.

On 5 Jan 1817 Eli married Svenning Svenningsen Helgebøl, the son of Svenning Eriksen Helgebøl and Kari Andersdtr Skulstad.


Hedmark fylke, Grue, Ministerialbok nr. 6 (1814-1830), Ekteviede 1817, side 199. Image courtesy of Digitalarkivet.

Svenning was born on 26 Dec 1789 and was baptized on 31 Jan 1790.


Hedmark fylke, Grue, Ministerialbok nr. 3 (1774-1792), Kronologisk liste 1789, side 486-487. Image courtesy of Digitalarkivet.

Eli and Svenning had at least three children: Eli (b. 7 Jul 1818), Karen (b. 11 Jan 1821), and Maren (b. 3 Sep 1825, d. 1857). Svenning passed away c. 1846.

On 6 Apr 1848, their daughter, Karen, married first cousin Brede Bredesen SANDER, the son of Eli's brother, Brede Eriksen SANDER and his wife, Anne Larsdtr Skaare.

We know from a 1944 newspaper article, "Roadside Ramblings," that Eli migrated to the US and lived for a while with Brede SANDER in Winneshiek County, Iowa. She helped care for his family after Karen died in 1868. Strangely she does not appear with them in either the 1860, 1870, or 1880 censuses. What happened to Eli for now must remain a mystery.