Key Records Sources

For the US

NARA: National Archives and Records Administration.  Keepers of scads of information.  There are two locations near us. Main NARA downtown DC at the National Archives Museum and an adjunct facility in College Park, MD. 

• • Learn about document analysis: https://www.archives.gov/education/teaching-with-documents 

  • Genealogy research help and guidance on key record types: census, military, naturalization, etc.: https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy 

  • Can search for immigration information online. Many other topics: https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/topics 

  • Access to any hardcopy document necessitates obtaining a Readers Card. 

Many Norwegian immigrants homesteaded after arrival in the US. Our federal Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office has a searchable database. Federal homestead records can be search for at: https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx 

Other useful US sources include:

• • The Library of Congress has a Nordic Studies section. Access to any hardcopy document necessitates obtaining a Readers Card.  

  • The State archives where your ancestors lived.

  • The State historical societies where your ancestors lived.

  • Find a Grave organization for gravestone inscriptions, possibly list of family members or personal stories.  See  https://www.findagrave.com/ 

For Norway

The Norwegian National Archives has given significant attention to English-speaking descendants of Norwegian emigrees.  Four types of activities are addressed: use of their archive, online resources, reading rooms, and parish registers. See https://www.arkivverket.no/en/find-your-ancestors.  The Digital Archive [Digital Arkiv] website can be toggled to English: www.digitalarkivet.no/en/   

•  Early census records: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/content/censuses 

•  Accounting and taxation records (regnskap og skatt) https://www.digitalarkivet.no/content/85/regnskap-og-skatt

• Advanced person search (Avansert personsøk). This option is only available if records have been transcribed, which is an ongoing effort – periodically check. https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/search/persons/advanced

The National Library of Norway, Nasjonalbiblioteket, can be searched online for books, manuscripts, journals, maps, etc. See:  https://www.nb.no/search 

Within each County, farm and family histories (generically, bygdeboker) have been published over the last ~100 years. Organized by parish. Do not contain vital records, per se; are at best secondary sources, but 

• Authors present synopses of information on individual lives (court records, children, spouses, letters, fines, jobs, unusual events, role in community, etc.)  

• DC Lodge Library has a few bygdebok volumes. Main source in US is the University of North Dakota’s Special Collection. A few other organizations in US have bygdeboker. Can be purchased. Not available online at Nasjonalbiblioteket even with a Norwegian IP address, unless purchased. The exception might be an old edition.

Family Search has two good options for investigations.

• Family Search portal for Norwegian census information and data:  https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Norway_Census 

• Family Search Wiki with the map of Norway that has hyperlinked counties to local information.

Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening’s [Norwegian Genealogical Society] journal, Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift (1910 onwards)

• Several issues/year; see https://www.genealogi.no/nst/ . Can view TOCs online. 

• Can buy hardcopy or pdfs of issues through the mid-1990s. Try Inter-Library Loan.

Wiki for genealogical sources and research: https://www.genealogi.no/wiki/index.php/Slektshistoriewiki:In_English

Norsk Biografisk Leksikon. 1st published in 1921–1983 with 19 volumes and >5,000 articles (NBL1). Updated in 1999–2005 with 10 volumes and >5,800 articles (NBL2). Hardcopy of NBL2 is near us at the Library of Congress. 

Slekt1 website provides links to surname books & more. See:  https://slekt1.com/litteratur/wpbdp_category/etternavn/

• The Genealogy Society of Norway, ‘Slekt og Data.’ Their website is full of research aids, including Norway’s version of Find a Grave, Gravminner.  See:  https://slektogdata.no

• Ecclesiastical biographies are available for some diocese, parishes, and a few traditional districts.

For both US and Norway, look for

Biographies of specific individuals or groups. Books on specific family lines/lineages which can contain genealogical information (AKA surname books).