Working for the Travland family

Here is the letter written by Berta Kingestad from "In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants" by Solveig Zempl with a mention (2nd paragraph) of working for Taletta and Peder Pederson Travland.

By the end of the year, Bertha had left (4th paragraph) the Travland family.

1880 US Census - Travland family

Here is the 1880 US Census for the Travland family, living in Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois.

Following the death of his first wife, Iverdine (Finnestad) Lewis was living with his parents, Peter Peterson Travland and wife Taletta (Larsdatter).   Iverdine and Lewis' three surviving children, Peter, Tobias and Ole were also residents of the household.

Living next door was Taletta and Peter's son, Ole with wife Mary Ann (Olson) and their daughter, Lena.

Taletta Larsdatter & Peder Pederson Travland

Here is a photo* of Taletta Larsdatter and Peder Pederson Travland, most likely taken in the 1860's in Haugesund, Rogaland county, Norway before the Travland family moved to the United States, based upon the photography studio listed on the back of the photo.  

The photo may have been taken in Stavanger, Norway during the 1870's on a trip back to Norway, but without the lower half of the photo it's impossible to know.

With a little research, I located a photograph from the Jan Greve studio with the backing intact that resembles the markings on the photo of Taletta and Peder.

A short history of the photographer, Jan Greve can be found here (click the 'translate' button to read in English).  

"Photographer Jan Greve was a studio photographer in Haugesund first (see nedanom), since in Stavanger during the years 1876-1895, in the years 1887-1895 with the drilling Mathias as companion."

*Photo provided by Trish Hodgens, the great granddaughter of Matilda (Ogel) and Lewis Travland.

Taletta Larsdatter & Peder Pederson Travland - marriage

Here is the marriage record from Time parish, Rogaland county, Norway for Taletta Larsdatter and Peder Pederson Travland.

Taletta and Peder were married June 25, 1844 (entry #13).      Peder and Taletta's fathers, Peder Johnson and Lars Pederson are listed in the columns to the right of Peder and Taletta's age.     The last column of information indicates when Peder and Taletta were vaccinated after their birth; it appears Peder in 1816 and Taletta in 1823 or 1825.

Taletta Larsdatter - confirmation

The baptism record for Peder Pederson Travland's future wife, Taletta Larsdatter is not available.  I had come across the records for her younger and older siblings, but the years covering Taletta are missing, making verification of her birth date difficult.  Her birth appears to have been 1813 according to records from Kyllingstad, Gjesdal, Rogaland county, Norway.    The parish records from the Lye Gjesdal parish for the period between 1801 - 1815 are not available online.    

The confirmation record (#17) for Taletta would indicate she was born late 1813 or in the first few months of 1814.

This confirmation record is from the parish of Lye (also known as Time) located in Rogaland county, Norway.    Taletta was baptized October 13, 1828.   Taletta's parents are listed in the 6th column, Lars Pederson and Bertha Elizabeth Torkelsdatter.