Viggo on horseback - 1976

Viggo M. Fosse

Greetings from Bergen, Norway!

I recently had a message from our mutual cousin Mr. Per-Harald Jensen (North Norway) that you are descended from Ole Torson Limmesand who came to the DRAGAND farm in North Norway from Vik, Sogn and about the Dragland Family Association www.dragland.org.

We share mutual ancestors in the VIK parish (on the Sognefjord, NE of Bergen), thus: Your direct ancestor was Ole Thorson Limmesand 1817-1890 who moved from Vik to Dragland farm in North Norway in the 1840s. Ole was a 1st cousin to my gg-grandmother Ingeborg Larsdatter nee:Hallset 1819-1899 m.t. Wilhelm Johannesson Dale. - Ole's parents were Thor Nilsson Limmesand 1775-1830 & Brita Sjursdatter nee: Hallset 1783-1837. Ole's brother Nils (aka: Nels Thorson) emigrated to Rice Co., MN with his family in 1875 and I am now in the process of unravelling his descendants in the USA/Canada, (surnames NELSON, LAVANGER etc in Steele & Nelson Co., ND), as well as descendants of other siblings.

- Ingeborg's parents were Lars Sjurson Hallset 1780-1858 (=Brita's brother) & Ingeborg Rognaldsdatter nee: Åse 1783-1843. Ingeborg had 2 siblings (Sjur/Sever & Brita) who emigrated in 1854/1856, and 2 children of her/their brother Rognald came to the USA also, i.e. Pastor Ragnvald O. Aase (d. in Brooklyn, NY) and Ole A. Aase (a farmer in Kenyon, MN).

Our mutual ancestors were: Sjur Larsson Hallset 1743-1835 & Brita Olsdatter nee: Hauglum 1750-1816.

I will be very interested to exchange family info, and to learn what you have on the DRAGLAND-descendants of those who came to the USA. I have LOTS of info on mutual relatives & ancestors which I will be happy to share with you. My database currently has data on ca27,000 persons. At MyFamily.com I have a site for all those who had ancestors who emigrated from Vik, Sogn. I will invite you as a Member at this FREE site where the members share family data, pictures etc. - there's also a picture of the LIMMESAND farm where Ole Torson was born.

I will also be interested to get names & addresses of other Dragland-descendants who may have an interest in their Dragland & Vik-ancestry.

Looking forward to be hearing from you, and to initiate a fruitful exchange of family data of mutual interest. Do I qualify to be a Member of the Dragland Family Association, too?

Very best wishes,
Viggo M. Fosse

Home page : http://members.xoom.com/VM_Fosse/ - Here you may be able to explore some of your Vik-ancestry (Limmesand/Hallset etc) in the Family History section, even though the database published there is more than a year old (ca12,500 names).

Todd,

Re: "Yes, you qualify and join in a New York second... that's fast!"

Thanks very much for the reply!

Your great-grandfather (Mikal Peder Olsen DRAGLAND b.1866 who emigrated in 1887), was a 2nd cousin to my g-grandmother Gjertrud Wilhelmsdatter Dale 1852-1920 from Vik, Sogn. She married Christen Markusson Nese 1854-1933, and they moved to the FOSSE farm in Hardanger (due east from Bergen) in 1885. Their youngest son Markus Christenson Fosse 1891-1971 was my grandfather, and I am the current owner of the Fosse farm. I/we live in Fana (suburb of Bergen), and I will move to the Fosse farm this year.

- I was a graduate student at UC Berkeley, California in 1976/77, and I also visited California in 1989 and Oregon/Washington/Illinois in 1991. There are some pictures from these visits at the Arnefjord-Vik site.

- At the Vik-site there are also two pictures of my gg-grandmother Ingeborg Larsdatter Hallset 1819-1899 (=Ole Torson Limmesand's 1st cousin) with her husband Wilhelm Johannesson Dalea 1821-1903.

Will it be possible to get an outline of your great-grandfather's descendants? and maybe also for his other siblings? and other Dragland-relatives?

Looking forward to hear from rest of Dragland clan, also.

Thanks for posting the picture of yourself at Ellis Island! Do you have other pics of your Dragland family, ancestors, and relatives?

I have attached a document which I received from one of our mutual relatives (Hans Rendall, Trondheim, Norway) and I will be very interested to know if you recognize the people in Fig. 2 and/or 3. As you will see, he thinks one of them may be of Mikal/Michael Olsen Dragland (your grandfather?).

your cousin,
Viggo M. Fosse