"Jump into your genes...and dig up your roots."

You have no idea how much time I spent looking up family tree quotes....you don't want to know..You might be equally surprised to find out there is a severe deficiency in the appropriate family tree quote department.  


With that setup, here are the winners:


“Why waste your time and money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you!”  - Mark Twain


"Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people."


"Every family tree produces some lemons, some nuts and a few bad apples."


"We did not all come over in the same ship, but we were all in the same boat."  Bernard M. Baruch




Some of the losers include:




"Shh!  Be very, very quiet... I'm hunting forebears."


"My ancestors are giving me "Bad Heir" days.


"When I grow up, I want to be an ancestor.


"The law of heredity is that all undesirable traits come from the other parent. 


"If you don't like your family tree then why don't you make like a leaf a leave, drift away...lay on the ground, in the mud and let people walk all over you!"   (ok that one was mine, compliments of Mr. Mattia of course ;)






Well, what I'm trying to tell you is a little translated story about Lars and Siri...

In 1854, the 22-year-old Lars Pettersen Gronneset, son of Petter Olsen Gronneset, married his barely-a-year-older cousin, Siri Enoksdtr Bernt, daughter of Oleane Olsdtd Gronneset.
Lars was the youngest son of Petter. Together the newly married couple settled on the Mandfloen farm in Trysil, Norway.

It didn't take long until along came the children....

Dec 15, 1854, their daughter Oline, was born but she died January 1855.

In February 1856,  their first son Petter was born to the world. Nor does he grow up. He died at 14 days old.
June 8th, 1857, Enok Larsen Mandfloen was born, becoming...  "well, the oldest man on the team"  - and the sole heir.   (This is who Odd and his sons, Per and Martin, come from)

Martin and Per

Odd

February 1859 brought the birth of daughter Lise.

In 1860 came Oline (2), but she died the year after.

Siri had no milk for the kids, and made "Grot-Dutt" or "Porridge-knob?" that the kids got to suck on. It is no wonder that so many of them grew up. (Not what type or porridge this translates into...)

In August 1861 Petter (2) was born, but like the first Petter, he also did not live long. He died in 1862.

In the same year (November 10th, 1862), Ingeborg saw the light of day. (This is who I come from .... and these guys too:


Just over a year later, January 8th 1864, Kari came into the world.

Exactly a year later in 1865 Peter (3)  was born.  (This is who Helene Humble: Esben and Signe and also Michael Svensdsen: Pernille, Annette, and Victoria are from)

Helene and me

Emilie and Esben

Michael Svendsen, Penrille, Thoms, Lars, Vibe

Later Sirine in 1866

Lars in 1868

Ola 1869

Martin in 1870

Teodor (1) in 1871. He died in 1872, only four months. old.

Finally, Teodor (2) in 1875. (Who's daughter is Emma Norton, a first cousin of my great grandmother who lives in Washington)

New Year's Eve 1878, brought a new day of sorrow to Mandfloen. The 14-year-old Kari had died.

[That's 15 kids in total, 6 dead before adulthood.]

From here...it gets complicated

Two years later, in 1880,  Enok (age 23), the oldest living son, was married and settled in to the side building on his parent's (his future) Mandfloen farm. Then along came Enok's children: Serine in 1881, Karine in 1883, Lars in 1885 (he died the same year), then Lars (2) came in 1886, and Sigurd was born in 1888.


Thus, in 1888 there were Siri; Lars, 9 living children ages 13-31(one spouse), and four small grandchildren ages 0-7.   It started to become too crowded on Mandfloen farm. The year before Sigurd was born, in 1887, siblings Sirine (age 21) and Lars (age 19) immigrated to the United States.  A year later in 1888 the sisters Ingeborg (age 26) and Lise (age 29) also ventured out across the Atlantic. That same year,  their brother Petter (age 23) was married, and settled on Stenrud.


Poor Siri had been living through a rough life, what with 15 pregnancies and child births and plenty of heart-ache.  She buried six of her children and waved good-bye to four who sought better opportunities in America. Siri died in 1889, at the age of 58 years old.  It was the same year Petter's son, Signe (Helena's grandmother), was born.

In 1890, Olianna was born to Enok at the side building on Mandfloen, and shortly after Siri's granddaughter Seena is born in the United States to daughter Ingeborg (age 28).


Serine, Siri's daughter, died the year after, in 1891 and in 1892 Petter had another child born at Stenrud (Petter?). Around this time in the side building on Mandfloen, Kersti was born, who died shortly after.   


In 1895 Siri's son Ola (age 26) is married to Anna Mattis  and settled in "Green Hill" - (Grönberg - Lutnæs).   Ola and Anna gave birth to Peter in 1896 and Enok had his youngest son, Einar Mandfloen, in 1898.  I


n the US, Ingeborg died on June 14th 1899 at age of 36.  She was buried at the Zion Hill Cemetery (Trysil Cemetery) in Deer Park, WA. She left behind two daughters, Seena, born in 1891, and Inga, born in 1893.  

Inga and Seena

  The girls were only 6 and 8 when they lost their mother.


Ingeborg was married to Anton Iversen, pictured here

In 1903 the youngest Teodor (age 28) wanderlust and traveled across the Atlantic to Spokane, where he expected to be greeted by his brother Lars. Lars never did not appear. Teodor went looking for his brother's residence, where he found him dead, probably from food poisoning. Lars had been married and had had a daughter, but both his wife and daughter had died before this incident occurred. In the year 1909 Enok's dying daughter Serine married Ovre in the U.S.
Two years later, in 1911, Lars followed his late wife Siri to the grave.  He died at the age of 79 and was buried in Plassen. At the time he had six living children, 21 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Today in 1994, descendants of 3 of the children live in America, there are 44 great-grandchildren alive, 125 great-great grandchildren, 177 great-great-great grandchildren and in writing 55 great-great-great-great-grandchildren; ie, the descendants of SIRI AND LARS Mandlfoen approximate 400 people and counting!



In my brach of the family, Inga Iversen married Carl Erickson (b. Feb 03, 1891, d. May 17, 1949,) 


Inga and Carl had two sons: Jimmy and John Erickson. 

Inga and Jimmy in the middle

Carl died May 17, 1949.  Inga died Dec 10, 1985.  Her son, John was my grandpa who married my grandma Katie (Katherine Fisher):  

They had three kids: Barbara, Paul (my dad), and Robert.  


Barbara has two girls: Christina and Tricia. 


Robert has Brian and Kelly.  


And Dad has Bridget, Nancy, me, Colleen, Matthew, and Samuel...

And the next generation has yet to begin.....(hurry up Nanc!)