Knud “Knute Stenerson” Ingemundsen

Knud Ingemundsen went by Knute Stenerson in America, taking his surname from his grandfather, Stener Ingemundsen. He was born on February 19, 1862, on the farm Lillehøiset in Veggli, in the NumedalNumedal A long valley in southern Norway, running north-west from Kongsberg, where Flesberg, Rollag and Veggli lie. Numedal and its farms → valley, and grew up at Helle, where his parents, Ingemund Stenersen and Ragnild Svensdatter, moved in 1867.

He sailed from ChristianiaChristiania Norway's capital, spelled Kristiania from the late 1800s and renamed Oslo in 1925. Emigrants from eastern Norway sailed from its harbor, and the city's police kept a register of them as they left. All the words on April 29, 1887, as Knud Helle, a laborer of twenty-five with a ticket all the way to Edgerton, Wisconsin, and reached Quebec on the Montreal on May 18. A week later, in Veggli, Ragnild Tostensdatter of Mogstue gave birth to his daughter, Bergit. She was Clara Kjemhus’s mother.

After a year of farm work in Dane County, Wisconsin, he worked around Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, and in the North Dakota harvests. In 1889 he and his brothers Sven and Gunder bought forty acres of woods near Pelican Rapids and started selling lumber to their neighbors. Stenerson Bros. followed the railroads with yards across the Red River Valley, and in 1909 became Stenerson Bros. Lumber Co., with its headquarters in Moorhead and Knute as vice president. He was also president or vice president of four banks.

He married Lina J. Sten in 1893, and they adopted a daughter, Karen Amalia. His passport application says he was naturalized at Fergus Falls in 1895. He and Lina visited Norway in 1905. He died on April 19, 1925, and is buried in Pelican Rapids.

His story, from the records

Veggli and the spring of 1887, the lumberyards, and what the records don’t say.

Timeline

• Feb 19, 1862Born Hoiset, Veggli, Buskerud, Norway
• Mar 9, 1862Christened Veggli, Buskerud, Norway
• 1862Lived Rollag, Buskerud, Norway
• 1865Lived Høiseth, Veggli, Rollag, Buskerud, Norway source
• Apr 29, 1887Emigrated Christiania (Oslo), Norway, Departed aboard Rollo as Knud Helle, age 25, laborer of Rollag. Contract registered 28 April 1887; agent J. Krantz; fare 153 kroner. Booked destination Edgerton, Wisconsin (intended destination, not proof of residence). record
• May 18, 1887Arrived Quebec, Quebec, Canada, Arrived in Quebec aboard the Montreal as Knud Helle, indexed as Knud Hills, age 25. record
• Jun 13, 1893Married Lina J. Sten, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States source
• Dec 9, 1895Naturalized Fergus Falls, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States record
• 1900Lived Pelican Rapids, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States source
• Sep 9, 1905Arrived New York, New York, United States, Returned aboard the Cedric from Liverpool, second cabinsecond cabin Second class on an ocean liner, between first cabin and steerage: a stateroom shared or to oneself, and meals in a dining saloon. All the words, with his wife Lina, for Pelican Rapids. source
• Apr 19, 1925Died Minnesota, United States
• —Buried Pelican Rapids, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States

Family

Parents

Ingemund Stenersen 1829–1908
Ragnild Svensdatter 1827–1892

Spouse

Lina J. Sten

Children

With Ragnild Tostensdatter

Bergit Knudsdatter 1887–1962

With Lina J. Sten

Karen Amalia Stenerson adopted 1891–1982

Siblings

Stener Ingemundsen 1852–1854
Sønnef Ingemundsdatter 1855–1890
Stener Ingemundsen Helle 1857–1899
Svend Ingemundsen 1859–1936
Bergith Ingemundsdatter b. 1867
Baby Ingemundsen 1869–1869
Ingemund Ingemundsen 1872–1951
Gunder Ingemundsen b. 1864

Farms

Lillehøiset born here

Chart

Photographs (3)

Sources

1. Residence · 18651865 Norway census — Høiseth, Veggli, Rollag, household of Ingemund Stenersen. National Archives of Norway ↗
2. Emigration · Apr 29, 1887Christiania emigrant register, April 1887, folio 495 The Christiania police’s register of emigrants, April 1887. Knud Helle is the last line: twenty-five, a laborer from Rollag, booked to Edgerton, Wisconsin, for 153 kroner. National Archives of Norway, Oslo police district, emigrant register 1885–1887, folio 495. View the record
3. Arrival · May 18, 1887S.S. Montreal passenger list, Quebec, May 18, 1887 Knud Helle, twenty-five, on the Montreal’s passenger list, the fifth line here. Library and Archives Canada, RG 76, reel C-4535. Image: Ancestry. Ancestry indexes the name as Knud Hills. View the record
4. Marriage · Jun 13, 1893First English Lutheran, Fergus Falls — Knud Stenersen and Lina J. Sten marriage, 13 June 1893. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
5. Naturalization · Dec 9, 1895U.S. passport application 184470 (1920), Knud I. Stenersen Knute’s passport application, March 1920. U.S. National Archives, M1490, roll 1104. Image: Ancestry. View the record
6. Census · 19001900 U.S. census — Knut and Lena Stenerson household, Pelican Rapids, adopted daughter Mollie
7. Arrival · Sep 9, 1905New York passenger lists (T715) — Cedric, 9–10 September 1905, Bergit Knudsen and Knud/Lina Stenersen. Ancestry ↗ (account needed)
8. Pelican Rapids Press — Mrs. Lena Stenerson obituary, 23 April 1936, p. 1. 23 April 1936 p. 1 column 1; Minnesota Historical Society ↗ ; yearbook portrait/biography: National Library of Norway ↗

Leads, from other researchers’ trees:

• FamilySearch Family Tree on MyHeritage (account needed)