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How Knutson Became Newton
Sometimes I get a story from an Ancestry.com member that’s just so wonderful I have to share it. The following, from Kathy Kennard, fits that description perfectly:
“My great-grandfather, Hans Knutson, came from Norway and, according to family history, had a bit of a lisp. When he told the officials his name, they understood him to say Newton, rather than Knutson. That was the name that was written down. He liked it, according to a relative, so he decided to keep it, although it was never changed legally.
Most of my great-grandfather’s sisters kept the Knutson name; only one used the name ‘Newton’ like Hans. I, however, didn’t know this for many years, which made tracing this family a bit difficult.
One day, my mom made the remark that Hans had some relatives named Moe. She wasn’t sure how they were related but just had some recollection of that fact. So I did a little research and found the Moe family. It felt like a small and somewhat odd lead but I was willing to go anywhere it took me.
I found a Kari Moe who came from Norway at about the same time Hans had so I contacted someone from her family. The man that I spoke to was adamant that his grandmother, Kari, was not related. Her maiden name was Knutson, not Newton and he knew the Newton clan, as they were all neighbors, and they were just not related. ‘Surely someone would have mentioned it before now,’ was his response.
Several months later, this same man called me. His aunt had just passed away and it was his responsibility to clean out her house. In her Bible, he found some obituaries: one was the obituary of his grandmother. It listed each of his grandmother’s sisters and her brother, Hans Newton. He called me in excitement and to apologize. He also wanted to let me know that on the wall was a picture of Hans Newton with each of his sisters, and he was happy to make a copy for me.
I now have a picture of my great-grandfather and the history of the Moe family, which I would have never had if I hadn’t followed that one lead through Ancestry.com.”
Thanks Kathy. And if anyone else has a story to share, send it to stories@ancestry.com.
By the way, if you want to learn tricks, tips and how-tos for success with immigration records, do what I did: take all the hands-on advice you can get from Ancestry Weekly Discovery editor, Juliana Szucs Smith. Attend her FREE online class, Coming to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. You can register for the live class or watch it at a later date in our archive (live classes hit the archive about a day after broadcast) at http://learn.ancestry.com/LearnMore/Webinars.aspx.
Past Articles
World Archives Project Update
Over the past few months we have released 3 new projects keyed through the World Archives Project, England, Newspaper Index Cards, Sydney and New South Wales, Sands Street Index, 1861-1930 and Perth, Scotland, Survey of Inhabitants, 1766, 1773. The indexes for these projects, containing more than 1.27 million records, can be searched for free due to the efforts of 5500+ contributors!
The… Read more
Family Tree Maker 2011 is here!
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Browse the Place Pages
I posted a blog about the new pages in new search a few weeks ago. But there were so many changes that I think each one should have a dedicated post. The location of an Ancestor’s birth or residence greatly influenced their life story. By browsing by location, I found a book about Hopewell New… Read more
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Family Tree Maker Webinar on September 15th
Family Tree Maker 2011 is almost here. Join us for a free webinar on September 15th at 8:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time and discover why it’s the best version yet.
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Create new fan charts.
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If you’re a family historian that enjoys getting to know your ancestors, you’ll love our new U.S. School Yearbook collection. Now, with more than 60 million yearbook records available, you just might find that grandpa was voted class clown or even discover great-grandma’s salutatory speech.
The new U.S. School Yearbook collection makes starting your family history… Read more
Learn Family History Tips from Encore Performances of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?
Have you been watching the encore episodes of the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? that have aired recently? During the past couple of weeks, it’s been moving to relive Lisa Kudrow return to the place where members of her family had been murdered in the Holocaust, and exciting to see Sarah Jessica… Read more
Family Tree Maintenance Wednesday August 25th 12:01AM MT
The Ancestry.com Family Tree Service will undergo scheduled maintenance Wednesday for about 3 hours beginning at 12:01 AM Mountain Time. (6:01 AM GMT, 2:01 AM Eastern, 1:01 AM Central, 11:01 PM Pacific)
During this time Ancestry Member Trees, OneWorldTree, some portions of My Canvas, the sections of the Home Page that are related to Member Trees, and the sections of MyFamily.com that… Read more
Find Your Immigrant Ancestors–Free Online Class
Coming to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors
Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 8:00 PM Eastern (New York)
Your immigrant ancestor’s trip to America is among the most compelling chapters in your family history. Join me September 1st for a free online class to learn what you need to know to identify your ancestor in passenger arrival records. We’ll… Read more
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