Norwegian American Genealogical Center

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Home › Research Links

Research Links

These are some websites available to help you in your search for genealogical information. $ signifies there is a fee to use the site.

  • 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated in 1942. This unique elite unit was to consist only of Norwegians and Americans with direct Norwegian descent.  Soldiers picked out for this elite unit had to have a working knowledge of the Norwegian language and preferably already knowing how to ski.
  • Anason Family in Rogaland County, Norway and Juneau County, Wisconsin  The Anason family has its roots in Rogaland County in western Norway. The earliest known member of the Anason family came from a region of Rogaland that has since become part of Vest-Agder County, Norway. Thormod Lovass Anason emigrated to the U.S. in 1869 and settled in Juneau County, Wisconsin. He married Herborg Olsdatter in 1876 which connected him to the Suldal Norwegian American settlement in Juneau County. Author: Lawrence W. Onsager, Andrews University.
  • $ Ancestry.com Ancestry.com operates a network of genealogical and historical record websites focused on the United States and nine foreign countries, develops and markets genealogical software, and offers a wide array of genealogical related services. Paid membership is required to access records.
  • Castle Garden CastleGarden.org is an educational project of The Battery Conservancy. This free site offers access to an extraordinary database of information on 11 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened.
  • Cyndi’s List A categorized & cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet with a list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.
  • Digital Archives of Norway The Digital Archives offer online access to digital Norwegian archived material. Here you can search databases/tables, read transcripts and browse digital images as well as listen to digitized sound from the archives.
  • East Lemonweir Church Membership, 1854-1867 (History & Biographical Sketches) This church record accompanied by a brief biographical sketch for each member covers the first 13 years of the memberships, baptisms, marriages and deaths during the pioneer period in the history of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Lemonweir (present town of Lindina) in Adams (present Juneau) County, Wisconsin. Author: Lawrence W. Onsager, Andrews University
  • Ellis Island  Search for your relative’s arrival in the database of 51 million+ passenger records. The first Ellis Island Immigration Station was officially opened in 1892.
  • Family Search Family Search maintains a collection of records, resources, and services designed to help people learn more about their family history. It is a genealogy organization operated by the Genealogical Society of Utah and is the genealogical arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • Find A Grave  Find graves of ancestors, search for a cemetery, view recently added names and more.
  • Folkebladet – Norwegian Newspaper from 1877-1952  Minnesota’s Norwegian newspaper from 1877-1952. Issues are text searchable, or you can browse by date.
  • Fylkesarkivet in Sogn of Fjordane The website includes the following for Sogndal of Fjordane: library database, farm names encyclopedia & mountain pastures of 1930, photos, Land Registers, Censuses & Church Records.
  • Juneau County, Wisconsin Bygdebok: A Genealogy of the Norwegian Settlers, 1850-1950  All known Norwegian families who settled in Juneau County between 1850 and 1950.  An attempt has been made to trace each family one generation back into Norway.  Author: Lawrence W. Onsager, Andrews University
  • Nordmanns Forbundet (Norwegians Worldwide) This is a membership organization under the patronage of H. M. King Harald of Norway for Norwegians living abroad, whether they have emigrated, or are living abroad for a shorter period of time.
  • Norway Feast Day Calendar  FamilySearch  has created an entire system that has all the feast days (both fixed and moveable) mapped out from 1501–1900 with additional information available on the site as well (including an article on the Scandinavian Feast Day Calendar).
  • Norway Heritage The database is mainly transcribed from passenger lists, but in some cases, information about Norwegian emigrants was added from other sources like newspaper announcements and voyage accounts. There are also some entries from the Norwegian Police Emigration Records.
  • Norwegian-American Historical Association The NAHA Archives are a rich resource of information for family historians and genealogists. The focus of NAHA is Norwegians after they arrived in America, and is historical in nature rather than strictly genealogical.
  • Norwegian Emigrant Museum The museum’s purpose is to reveal the workings of a process: emigration, immigration and return migration. To fulfill this purpose, the museum intends to be a meeting place between the past and the present, between the “family at home” and the “family out there”, to be a symbol for all Norwegians and their descendants at home and abroad, and a place where they can confirm their identity and their connections to Norway.
  • Norwegian Emigration Center The Norwegian Emigration Center was established in 1986 to assist descendants of emigrated Norwegians in search of their roots – exactly 150 years after the two brigs “Norden” and “Den Norske Klippe” had left Stavanger with 167 people onboard, bound for America. Today they are also focusing on immigration to Norway.
  • Norwegian Heritage Center/Livsreise Livsreise includes interpretations of the journey from Norway, features the cultural heritage brought to Stoughton WI and shares stories of individual immigrants. There are changing exhibits and displays highlighting Norwegian heritage and arts from Vesterheim Museum. It is also home to a genealogy center that operates in cooperation with NAGC&NL.
  • Norwegian Historical Data Centre (NHDC) The Norwegian Historical Data Centre (NHDC) is a national institution under the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Tromsø, the Arctic University of Norway. Their main goal is to computerize the Norwegian censuses 1865 onwards,  together with the parish registers and other sources from the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • Oakland: The First Norwegian-American Seventh-day Adventist Church in America  In December 1861, several Norwegian families, led by Andrew Olsen and Tarel Johnson, organized the first Norwegian-American Adventist church in Oakland Township, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Oakland Township is part of the Koshkonong Norwegian-American Settlement, which includes southeastern Dane County, southwestern Jefferson County, and northern Rock County, Wisconsin. Author: Lawrence W. Onsager, Andrews University.
  • Oluf Rygh: Norwegian Farm Names The database currently covers Volumes 1-17 of Oluf Rygh’s series on Norwegian farm names. These volumes cover farm names of modern counties (fylke) and names in parenthesis are the older county names used in this database.
  • Plymouth Lutheran Cemetery, Lindina Township, Juneau County, Wisconsin  The Plymouth Cemetery records are just a part of the rich history of the Suldal Norwegian American Community in Juneau County, Wisconsin. It was estimated in 1908 that there were about 1,200 Norwegians from Suldal and about 500 from Upper Telemark in the settlement. Suldal is a rural district in Rogaland County in western Norway. Author: Lawrence W. Onsager, Andrews University.
  • Reform (Norwegian Language Newspaper)   This link leads to a searchable site housing REFORM a Norwegian language newspaper published in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  The collection includes about 2400, issues from 1896 until 1941.  For all of those years, the Reform was published and edited by Waldemar Ager, a novelist as well as a journalist. The collection is hosted by the University of Wisconsin Special Collections Library.  It is stable and searchable, with many tools installed by ResCarta.  For example, it is possible to transcribe an original passage printed in Fraktur script into a modern font.
  • Rootsweb Rootsweb is now part of Ancestry.com
  • Slekt & Historie (Ancestry & History) Developed by Johan I. Borgos, it contains articles on history, genealogical research terms, culture, photos, and a visitor forum.
  • Slekt og Data (formerly DIS-Norge) The Genealogy Society of Norway, Slekt og Data is the largest association for genealogists in Norway.  The mission of the association is to create a nationwide forum for family and personal history in which computers and the Internet are used. Its mission includes spreading knowledge about this effort and encouraging genealogical research in Norway.
  • Sons of Norway As a Sons of Norway member, you can reconnect with your heritage, learn about modern Norway, build a strong financial foundation and participate in philanthropic endeavors that make a positive impact in your community.
  •  Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center  The Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center (located at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL) is a national library and archives providing resources for the study of Swedish immigration to North America.
  • U.S. Board on Geographic Names The original program of names standardization addressed the complex issues of domestic geographic feature names during the surge of exploration, mining, and settlement of western territories after the American Civil War. Inconsistencies and contradictions among many names, spellings, and applications became a serious problem to surveyors, map makers, and scientists who required uniform, non-conflicting geographic nomenclature. It serves the Federal Government and the public as a central authority to which name problems, name inquiries, name changes, and new name proposals can be directed.
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management Land Office Records This website provides live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including image access to more than five million Federal land title records issued between 1820 and the present. There are also images related to survey plats and field notes, dating back to 1810.
  • Vesterheim Civil War Page This database contains information on Civil War soldiers born in Norway, plus many born in Sweden and Denmark. It also includes information on men serving in other American wars, from the Revolutionary War (two men, so far) to the Second World War.
  • Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum Located in Decorah, Iowa, Vesterheim is the national Norwegian-American museum and heritage center, with over 30,000 artifacts, 12 historic buildings, a Folk Art School, and a library and archives.
  • Home
  • Research
    • Getting Started Guide
    • Naming Patterns
    • Norwegian Genealogical Terms
    • Library Catalog
    • Introduction to Our Collections
    • Research Links
    • Recent Acquisitions
    • Research Tools In The Naeseth Library
  • Databases
    • Supporter/Life Member NAGC Proprietary Databases
    • Civil War Wisconsin 15th Regiment
  • Hire an Expert
    • Research and Translation Services
    • Fees
    • Request Form
  • Education & Events
    • Events
    • 2021 Class Schedule
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Calendar
    • Outreach
  • E-Store
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Membership
    • Membership
  • About
    • History & Mission
    • Staff
    • Founder & Current Leadership
    • Annual Report
    • Newsletter
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Hours & Location

Become a Member

By becoming a member, you not only gain benefits for your family history research, you also support a worthy cause.

Your annual membership helps you, your family, and a wide community discover their roots and preserve a treasured heritage.

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Support NAGC & NL

NAGC & NL relies upon donations of all types from its members and friends throughout the world.

All gifts, whether large or small, are essential to the work of the Center, an important non-profit organization of international scope that is dedicated to preserving Norwegian-American history and heritage.

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Testimonials

“Dear Jerry, I want to thank you personally, as well as the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library, and the Wisconsin Historical Society on campus for your collaborative assistance in helping me trace my family history. I also write you today to share the exceptional outcome of my recent trip to Norway. My daughter had the privilege of singing with the Eau Claire Alumni Choir at Normandy on July 4 commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, and in Paris at Church of the Madeleine with 13 other choirs from around America on July 8, 2019. We decided to go see their performances. When we travel that far away from home we enjoy staying for at least 2 weeks, so we added on another week and chose to add time in Norway. And that's what brought me to you in the first place. This trip sparked an interest in seeking more information about my ancestral history. Knowing that we would be going to Norway made me eager to learn more about my heritage. Prior to that I was only able to piece together parts of our family history on my Mom's side of the family. She is 100% Norwegian, and with your help, I learned that her Dad's side of the family arrived in America in the 1880's. Her grandma Foss had a fire in her home so all of the records from that side were lost. Her Mom's side of the family (Rolstad) settled in Wisconsin in the 1860's. Beyond that I knew a few names, but the rest of the records were spotty. Your efforts were helpful in figuring out a solid four generations back on both sides of my mom's family. You also figured out a few of my ancestors in the fifth generation back.”

- Cindy (Arizona)

Read More Testimonials ›

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415 West Main Street, Madison, WI 53703-3116
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